Valeriote Campaign Down in the Dumps

Or at least several dozen of his signs are!

It's been a tough week for Frank's campaign. While Frank, Scott Brison and various other Liberals have been playing with their mud-pies the Liberal Mole decided to make another appearance.

Stephen Taylor has the scoop not only on the upcoming Liberal Green Shift Newsletter but Liberal Staffer's extremely poor taste in humour with their own version of the newsletter.

I guess it's not hard to figure out where Frank and his team get their examples from.

To round things off, the 2nd Quarter Party Financial reports are out and they reveal that Liberal fundraising is as anemic as ever. Angry in the Great White North has two good blogs along with Blue Blogging Soapbox.

"Doing the right thing" sounds good on paper and maybe by the end of the by-election Frank will have figured out what it really means.

Being Frank...

Another interesting little tidbit I learned on Sunday night.

If you look at Frank Valeriote's bio page , his Fast Facts page or his Community Involvement page, a couple of things stand out.

First off is the regurgitation and repetition between the three pages. If there's anything these pages highlight is the fact that it's all about Frank and his well-deserved reputation as a board-sitter.

Secondly, Frank takes great pains to highlight his service to the Catholic School Board, and by extension the Catholic community as a whole. While there is no doubting his service to the Catholic community in the past, it's strange that none of these pages disclose that Frank is no longer a Catholic, or at the very least a practicing Catholic. I've checked every page of his site and can find no mention whatsoever of Lakeside Bible Church, his current house of worship. If you look at his Wikipedia page, it still lists his religion as Catholic.

As far as religion and politics go, I couldn't care. Personally I'm an Anglican who hasn't stepped foot in a church since I was married and probably won't again until I'm ready to be buried. On the other hand, I'm not running for office in a city with a significant Catholic population who believes that I'm still a Catholic.

Frank is right to be proud of his Italian-Canadian Catholic heritage, but is being somewhat disingenuous when he fails to disclose that all is not what it was before. Many people in Guelph might be ready to vote for Frank simply based on his Catholic faith and would be very shocked and disappointed to learn, after the fact, that he's no longer a practicing Catholic.

So a simple question. Which is it Frank, Church of Our Lady or Lakeside Bible Church? Inquiring voters need to know.

A different by-election question

If Gloria Kovach is successful in this Federal By-Election (of which I have no doubt), then she will be required to resign her seat as Ward 4 Councillor for the City of Guelph.

Past tradition would see Guelph City Council appoint Cam Guthrie, who finished in third place in the last Municipal Election.

The question is - is it time to break with this past practice? Should a by-election be held to replace Gloria Kovach in Ward 4? While there are cost implications to a by-election, that is but one factor. Look at it this way, if this practice was in place at the Federal level then Brent Barr would be your new MP.

Have your say in the poll on the right.

Start spreading the news

Yesterday's Mercury editorial tried to set the tone for the ongoing by-election:

A good byword for the byelection
July 28, 2008
GUELPH MERCURY

The Guelph candidates will do themselves no favours with voters if they move into attack mode and indulge in personal slanging matches instead of involving themselves primarily in fervent discourse and debate with their opponents on the things that matter most to voters.

There's no reason to think that civility won't be the byword in the Guelph byelection. On this score, we hope the candidates don't disappoint.

When it comes to blogs, as the Mercury's own Guelph Votes demonstrates in many of the posted comments, the exact opposite is often the norm. For the most part, the partisan back and forth is generally ignored by the greater public and the media.

The infamous Oliva Chow dog posting by Liberal official Mike Klander demonstrates the part that isn't ignored. Liberal blogger Steve Valeriote serves up another example today with his post entitled Arf Arf.

Generally this type of puerile posting is chuckled at by some and ignored by most. When the blogger is a relative of the Liberal Candidate, Frank Valeriote, the perception is a little different.

I don't think Frank should be responsible for what everyone in his family does. It's obvious Steve Valeriote has no respect for Gloria Kovach, despite her impressive record of local, national and international work, but you would think he would show some degree of respect for Frank Valeriote and the difficult campaign he faces. Juvenile antics from a relative of the candidate certainly won't make that campaign any easier.

H/T Christian Conservative

Under the L for Lawsuit? Part Two

It looks like calmer heads have prevailed over at the Mike Nagy Green campaign. A post I previously blogged about that called Prime Minister Harper a "white collar crook" no longer exists on the site.

Someone must have been reading yesterday's Mercury Editorial.

H/T to the Nagy campaign for dumping this post.

Lowering the Barr

I have had a great deal of respect up until now for how Brent Barr handled his ouster as Conservative Party Candidate for Guelph. All that changed after Sunday. I was over at my friend T's for a BBQ Sunday evening and had a chance to catch up on everything that was going on while I was off on vacation.

While it was widely reported that Brent attended the Dion Green Shift event at the ICC, what wasn't reported was what Brent had to say when the reporters were not around. I guess Brent didn't realize that a Conservative supporter was standing not more than three feet away from him during the entire event. It's been the talk among various conservative circles in the city every since. The fact that he won't be "supporting or voting for that bitch Kovach" was one of the more pleasant things he had to say. Apparently he was also seen days later canvassing with Frank Valeriote, although there seems to be some dispute over that report. I guess it's possible they just happened to meet on the same street at the same time.

I think just about anyone would be bitter if they had experienced what Barr has, but politics is a long term game. Stephen Harper won't always be leader of the Conservative Party and the people running things today won't always be running things. I would suggest that running into the arms of the Liberals is not the best course of action for Brent if he wishes to continue enjoying the support of both small and large C conservatives.

The choice is Brent's, but for the sake of those who do still support him I think it would be wise if he were to take a consistent approach both in public and private. At least that way everyone knows where they stand and can make their own informed decision.

Stephane Dion, The Comedian

How else can you interpet this knee-slapper from Saturday's Guelph Mercury:

MK: Has it been difficult for you that the (election) call has been so drawn out?

SD: He had no choice, Mr. Harper. It was the last day (the byelection in Westmount-Ville Marie had to be called by today). He deprived the people of Guelph and Westmount-Ville Marie and St-Lambert of their MP for as long as it was possible for him. It’s time now to choose and I’m very confident the right choice will be Frank Valeriote.

Considering our former MP Brenda Chamberlain was virtually non-existent since getting re-elected in 2006, comedy is the only reasonable explanation for Dion's answer. On top of that, you can add John Godfrey's refusal to resign his Don Valley seat until August 1st, thereby ensuring it would not be included in this round of by-elections. Godfrey started his new job as headmaster of a private French school in Toronto on July 1st and is now collecting two salaries, one courtesy of Canadian taxpayers.

Speculation is that Godfrey delayed his resignation to prevent the Liberals from having to run two campaigns in Ontario in addition to the two campaigns in Quebec. The Liberal party is currently running on fumes, having to resort to a $2 million dollar loan at 9% interest in order to fund their operations. When you include the massive debts still carried by all of the leadership candidates, including Dion, the Liberals just don't have the time or money to fight 4 by-elections. They have to remain focused on debt-reduction and fundraising.

By-Election Mischief

It didn't take long for the games to start with various candidate's signs.

On my way to breakfast this morning at Angels I noticed several signs knocked down or damaged. I'm guessing that most of the damage was done after Saturday's night out for people. The worst one though, was at the corner of Gordon and Wellington St.

A Tom King sign there had a small Canadian flag inserted in the top corner. Duck taped to the centre of the sign was an American flag, obviously a dig at Tom being born in the US.

These election time games are ridiculous. Just once I wish they could catch someone doing this stuff and charge them with vandalism or mischief. Regardless of your political stripe, running for public office is a difficult, time consuming and expensive effort. Hundreds of volunteer hours are spent distributing signs. People's hard earned money is used to purchase these signs in support of the various candidates. It would be refreshing if people would show some respect and common courtesy for a change and refrain from damaging or defacing by-election signs.

If you notice someone damaging signs during this campaign, please consider calling the Police to report them.

I'll post a picture of the sign later on this evening (once I've found my camera cable!).

Update: Picture posted. Not the greatest, but I snapped it through the window as my car was going through the intersection)

Under the L for Lawsuit?

After making various allegations against Stephen Harper suggesting his involvement in criminal activities, the Liberal Party of Canada faces a multi-million dollar lawsuit.

I wonder how much Guelph Green Party candidate Mike Nagy is willing to put on the table for calling Stephen Harper "a white-collar crook"?

Are posts like this from Nagy a sign of things to come in the by-election?

Trust me...

Says Liberal leader Stephane Dion. Just elect us and we'll figure out all the nasty little details after the fact. About as good as "the cheque is in the mail" and all the other standard reassurances, given previous Liberal promises and their tendency to ignore them 15 seconds after being elected.

Dion touts tariffs for 'free-riders'
Liberal Leader proposes action against climate-change villains while hinting at a fall vote

BILL CURRY

July 24, 2008

OTTAWA -- Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said yesterday he would impose tariffs on imports from countries that Canada deems are not doing enough in the battle against global warming.

But a leading trade expert said the plan would run afoul of NAFTA and the World Trade Organization and would infuriate Canada's major trading partners.

While Mr. Dion's office asserted new tariffs could comply with Canada's existing trade laws, it said key details, such as which countries would be targeted, would not be decided until the Liberals are back in government.

On an unrelated note, I've finally finished sorting through the hundreds of emails that awaited my return from vacation, both at home and at work. Some good stuff related to the upcoming local by-elections. More tomorrow.

London Telegraph Editorial

This was published while I was on vacation. A friend of mine emailed the link to me to ensure I saw it. I just had to post it as I know it will make a bunch of left-wingers puff up and explode when they read it.

The world needs leaders at the G8 summit

Of all the leaders, only Stephen Harper - the talented but curiously neglected Canadian prime minister - is able to point to a popular and successful record in office.

Some will regard it as alarming that, in current times, world leadership should rest with Canada. But the Canadian Tories are a model of how to behave during a downturn.

They have kept spending in check and reduced taxes. They are playing their full role in world affairs, notably in Afghanistan.

Rather than canting about saving the world (Mr Harper, in his quiet and courteous way, is a Kyoto-sceptic) they have addressed themselves to curing remediable ills and, above all, to putting their own affairs in order.

If the rest of the world had comported itself with similar modesty and prudence, we might not be in this mess.

Sue-Ann Levy and vacation plans

I always enjoy reading Sue-Ann Levy's columns in the Toronto Sun. One of her favourite ways to refer to Mayor David Miller is "His Blondeness". Today's article features another winner - "Socialist Silly Hall".

I just might have to borrow that one in the future.

I won't be blogging for a week or so. It's vacation time and we're off to the cottage tomorrow morning. I just recently discovered that I could use my Blackberry as wireless modem for my laptop. I was considering taking everything with me. That thought died rather quickly after the wife informed me that I would be missing some vital body parts if I were to carry out my plan.

Next I considered leaving the wireless stuff behind and just bringing the laptop. I figured chances are good that sometime during the week I'll have to run into town for something, right? That plan died a quick death when 15 minutes later my wife popped her head into the room and said "... and if you're thinking about sneaking into town during the week and going online with your laptop, think twice ". Foiled again.

So we're off to spend a glorious (unplugged) week of fun and frolic.

Now where did I put that portable TV. :)

Note: New template today. I hated my initial template, but I picked a quick Blogger default to get things up and running. I initially wanted a 3 column template, but Blogger doesn't offer any in that format. A quick Google search and I found this site, with easy instructions to modify Google's default templates. What I like about this is you still retain the ability to add Blogger Widgets, which you don't always get with other custom templates.

The Guelph Funnies

I had a good chuckle when I read this post today at the Guelph Tax Revolt blog.

Personally, I think they went too easy on the Guelph Civic League, otherwise known as the Guelph Chapter of Tax and Spend Incorporated.

To me, the Guelph Civic League represents nothing more than municipal versions of the NDP and Green Parties, masquerading as a citizens group to skirt Ontario's prohibition of municipal political parties.

Don't believe me - check out the who's who of their supporters page featuring typical left-wing notables such as the Central Student Association University of Guelph, the Council of Canadians, CUPE Local 241 and the Guelph and District Labour Council. The League's Communication Coordinator, Tony Leighton did so well in a recent Mercury opinion piece that I think someone should nominate him for Outreach Coordinator as well. He's a natural.

Breaking News

Apparently there was some sort of bomb threat, complete with suspicious package at Gloria Kovach's election office on Victoria Road last night.

A friend of mine who lives near there called me this morning. He said the Guelph Police had the whole place taped off and the bomb squad from Waterloo was there.

I listened to CJOY news on the way into work this morning, but they weren't reporting anything about it.

I guess there's something about a message of lower taxes for everyone that just drives people crazy. You'd think people would be more pissed about Dion's massive tax grab Green Shaft program. On the other hand Frank Valeriote doesn't seem to be supporting Dion's plan in any way, so I guess Guelph has nothing to worry about.

Stay tuned.

Update: the wife just emailed me to let me know that it's front page news in the Mercury this morning. The story isn't online yet, but you can view the pdf of the Merc here.

Update 2: story online now.

Update 3: from GloriaKovach.ca