Trying to "Green Shift"(TM) the issue?

Liberal supporters are up in arms, get this, because the media is doing its job! Go figure!

The Guelph Mercury, the main paper in the by-election city of Guelph, mentioned on one of their blogs that they were going to be interveiwing Jennifer Wright, the owner of "Green Shift"(TM). Here's exactly what they said:

"Mercury staff will also be meeting with Jennifer Wright, "the founder and chief environmental activist of Green Shift."

"Green Shift™ has launched an $8.75 million suit against the Liberal Party of Canada for infringement of trademark because of the Party’s unauthorized use of the Green Shift name for their proposed carbon tax program," her press release says.

Now, of course, what do the "champions of the press" Liberal bloggers think about that? Well, looks like it's thrown them into a bit of a tizzy!

Here's just a sampling of what the Liberals had to say about it...

From "Jeff", who posted this comment on the Mercury's by-election blog: "I'm quite curious, could you clear something up for me? Was it the Mercury that sought out Jennifer Wright for an interview, or did she want to talk with your paper? If it's the former, then one has to wonder why the Merc finds it necessary to interject this issue into the campaign. If it's the latter, then it would appear Jennifer Wright actually is political, despite you assertions to the contrary, attempting to influence a by-election with her lawsuit. Which is it, neither seems particularly relevant to the people of Guelph in the grand scheme? I'm sure Conservatives and NDP supporters will disagree, which sort of says it all, doesn't it?"

Or from blogger "Liberal Arts and Minds": "So isn't it a bit strange that she will be visiting Guelph today? Yes that's right. Smack dab in the middle of a federal by election, Ms. Wright thought it would be a good time to speak to a newspaper about her non-political stance and her fight with a political party. Unbelievable. Anyone care to tell how she's not gaining publicity for her company?"

Then there's the Liberal candidate's relative, Steve Valeriote, who commented on the above post: "What I don't understand here, why JR finds it necessary to interject herself into a by-election, which makes her political, which implies that she is trying to hurt the Liberals in this riding. Now, no matter your opinion of her lawsuit, surely any fair minded observer can see how the timing here isn't exactly pure, how this goes beyond her lawsuit, how she effectively politicizes herself with this sit down. Now, all this is mute of course,if it was the Merc that contacted her, although that suggests other motives. And, why not a phone call, why does she physically need to travel to Guelph to "discuss"?"

And finally, we have Scott Tribe: "I’d be interested to hear who exactly it was that invited Ms. Wright down today to the Guelph riding; was it the CPC? The NDP? The Guelph Mercury? I’ll also be very interested to see in her talk to the Mercury how much she injects herself into the political campaign in Guelph."

You notice a couple of similar themes running through these comments? Yep, you probably spotted them too... a hint of character assasination, some deflection of the issue at hand, and even attempts to blame the other parties for this Liberal mess!

I'm looking forward to reading what the Mercury has to say on the issue. It's quite simple, really... the Liberal Party of Canada is trying to get away with trademark infringement, just because they came across what they thought was a catchy phrase for their downright idiotic "plan"... a plan that stands to do nothing but reduce the amount of "green" in people's wallets.

Being a lawyer, you'd think that Guelph Liberal candidate Frank Valeriote would be more aware about the dangers of trademark infringment. But instead, he's made the mistake of linking himself and his campaign to the lawsuit by putting the "Green Shift" on his own campaign liturature. I saw it with my own eyes when I went down to the Guelph CPC campaign office... the back page of Frank's huge campaign flyer is dedicated to Mr. Dion's new Carbon Tax.

But by doing so, he's made the huge mistake of dragging himself into the legal debate with Ms. Wright about the Liberals trademark infringement. So I guess the answer to the above Liberals questions on who invited Ms. Wright into the debate has been answered... by using the Green Shift in his campaign, it was Frank Valeriote himself that opened the door for Jennifer Wright to wade into the Guelph by-election debate.

I'm sorry guys, but he made his own bed on this one... now he has to lie in it. Ms. Wright has every right to wade into this debate, because she's been dragged into it with the Liberals continued use of her trademark.