Guelph Liberals continue a negative campaign

It's only day seven of the by-election, but there's every indication that the Dion/Valeriote Liberals plan to continue with an extremely negative campaign in Guelph.

This time, it's Liberal MP Scott Brison jumping into the thick of things, insulting Ms. Kovach, with a hypocritical statement about this negative campaigning from Mr. Valeriote himself.

First, the Liberals called her a seal. Then, it was a "sock puppet". Now, Brison and the Liberals are comparing her to a sheep. A sheep? Really? Wow, I don't think the citizens of Guelph would be likely to associate Ms. Kovach with any of those!

From the Guelph Mercury: "Liberal MP Scott Brison yesterday said his party wants the byelection to focus on ideas, but at the same time took a shot at Gloria Kovach, saying the Conservative party candidate is qualified to be "part of Stephen Harper's flock of sheep."

Will these baseless negative attacks never end? Fortunately, the local media in Guelph has begun to pick up on the negative vibes coming from the Liberal campaign.

Also from the Mercury, Brison said that Kovach was qualified "to be part of the Stephen Harper team, because Stephen Harper likes MPs he can muzzle, he likes MPs he can silence and he likes MPs who are able to subordinate their own opinions and defer to his judgment."

Of course, Brison's not from around Guelph, so he knows very little about Ms. Kovach. But the people of Guelph know her well, and they well know that she's always been her own woman, independantly minded, and not afraid to speak to the issues at hand. A case in point is her clear opposition to the proposed 6.5% municipal tax increase in Guelph. She's one of the only three councillors who have vocally come out in opposition to this increase. A "sock puppet"? A "sheep"? That sure doesn't sound like the Gloria Kovach I've met, nor the Gloria Kovach that Guelph knows.

Attack, smear, slander. That seems to be the majority of what's coming out of the Guelph Liberal campaign. Then to top it all off, Mr. Valeriote has this hypocritical little concluding statement quoted in the Guelph Mercury: 'Elections should be about "attacking problems, not people."'

Mr. Valeriote, you ought to take a bit of your own advice. Shame on you.

UPDATE: The Guelph Mercury has posted on their GuelphVotes blog regarding the negative tone of the Valeriote campaign.

h/t to Stephen Taylor... who's post also reports on a major communications leak from Liberal HQ.