Meed Ward issues a statement on the sustained personal attacks, lies and defamation being heard during the last week of Burlington’s mayoral race.

News 100 blueBy Staff

October 16th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Mayoralty candidate Marianne Meed Ward issues a statement on malicious attack advertising.

“Our campaign, and only our campaign, continues to be the target of numerous, sustained personal attacks, lies and defamation, which are ramping up in the last week of Burlington’s mayoral race. The latest is a flyer slandering me while promoting the current mayor, and a series of Facebook and Instagram ads and videos which use the same slanderous content as the Campaign Research push poll in August/September.

Rusin 2

What has a flyer about the pros and cons of two mayoralty candidates got to do with a person running for the ward 3 council seat?

“Negative personal attacks and smear campaigns have no place in this election, or any election, anywhere, against any candidate. These tactics divide our community. Every candidate should be condemning this appalling behaviour, especially where it is used to promote their own candidacy.

“The public are not fooled, and have told us they are in fact disgusted by this. We’ve been overwhelmed with support from the community, with residents contacting us to say there is no place for these tactics, regardless of how they are voting.

Meed Ward“I want to thank the decent people of Burlington for calling for this to stop, and for rising above. Residents will cast their votes based on platform and track record, not lies and slander hiding behind numbered companies and anonymous polls.

“The smear campaign will not intimidate or silence us from continuing to speak out for reasonable growth, not overdevelopment, which has emerged as the key issue in this election. We will continue to advocate for our community and for better decisions on development with a new mayor and council who will work with residents.”

Mayor Goldring said in a news report that he was aware of the attack ads and was not involved with them or supportive of them.

The flyers that were distributed by ward 3 council candidate were his and his alone. Rusin has opposed Meed Ward for more than five years. He has used whatever electronic media he could find to trash the woman.

Running as a council candidate gave him the platform he needed to continue – his nomination became a megaphone to get his message out.

It will be interesting to see just how many votes he actually gets.

Greg Woodruff was very firm in his condemnation of the flyers, and the electronic tricks and games that have been played.

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13 comments to Meed Ward issues a statement on the sustained personal attacks, lies and defamation being heard during the last week of Burlington’s mayoral race.

  • Don Fletcher

    Do we not have a “objective” strongman at City Hall who could silence Mr.Rusin with legal threats, and prevent him from ever running again for public office in Burlington? Most of you (particularly ECoB & Pepper Parr) know who I am referring to, and yet not a word from this individual. Very curious!!!

  • Puzzled

    If I were the management of Burloak Realty, I would distance myself so quickly from their Broker/Agent, Mr. Peter Rusin, that it would make your head spin. Having someone with his
    mean-spirited attitude representing your company surely must be counter-productive. Why have Rusin around at all? Don’t you realize he is damaging your fine company’s reputation as seen by the general public, not to mention damaging the reputations of your other agents, who are much more professional?

    • Stephen White

      Great point! I have said many times that what you purchase, and who you contract with for services, is a reflection of what you value. If a company employs individuals who engage in this kind of scurrilous behaviour then they should be held to account, their businesses boycotted, and publicly shamed for condoning this conduct.

  • Grahame

    I posted this reply in a previous article but feel that it is appropriate to repost:

    Mr Rusin was a mayoral candidate in 2014, running against Rick Goldring.

    During his campaign he was quoted as saying :

    “The Mayor has a lot of explaining to do” said Rusin “and I am looking forward to asking questions on behalf of the people of this city.”

    Rusin criticized the mayor over leadership and transparency issues surrounding the pier situation.

    “This leader hid behind a group of lawyers” he said.

    Rusin questioned the mayor’s leadership skills and said bad decisions have been made.

    “Do you want a mayor who will avoid problems or a mayor who will work tirelessly to solve them?”

    “This council and leadership hasn’t been doing it, aren’t doing it and they are incapable of doing what needs to be done,”

    There you have it, according to Mr Rusin, Rick Goldrings time as mayor he has shown that he is Not a Leader, Avoids Problems, Is Incapable, and Lacks transparency.

    In the 2014 election he criticized Rick Goldring, now in 2018 he is attacking Marianne Meed Ward and supporting Rick Goldring. In my opinion Mr Rusin LACKS ANY CREDIBILITY, it seems as though he just wants to stir the pot, then sit back and laugh at the reaction he receives from the residents of Burlington.

    I don’t understand why a reputable company like Burloak Realty with many great agents would want to be associated with this type of person.

  • Marshall

    Does Peter Rusin actually represent Burloak Realty with his, I hope, futile but slanderous run for council? I sometimes wonder whether there is a group of real estate agents that act more for the developers rather than the homeowners who are wishing to sell their homes. When the election is over, will Burloak Realty cease their association with him?

  • Hans

    I disagree with Rusin’s slimy ad – there is no basis for any of it.
    MMW has the kind of Class that I want in my mayor.

  • Anna

    As a resident of Ward 3, Peter Rusin’s campaign has been immensely confusing. He had no website at all until recently, and now he seems entirely focused on Meed Ward rather than the actual ward he’s running to represent!

    Based on lawn signs, at least, he’s a non-factor in the ward race. I suspect, based on lawn signs and the fact they have the most polished campaigns, that Rory Nissan and Gareth Williams are the frontrunners for the ward, making this all a bit of a weird circus sideshow.

  • Penny

    I would like to remind residents that Mr. Rusin is not only going after Marianne, but also other candidates running for election as well as residents who stood up and challenged both the Council and City Staff. Citizen Engagement will not go away when the election is over.

    Residents finally are realizing that talking “amongst themselves” goes nowhere. Candidates running in this election have all advocated for ward level committees and greater citizen engagement. It is the responsibility of the residents to make sure the new council “walks the walk” and this commitment does not go the same way as “The Shape Burlington” Report.

  • George

    Good for you Marianne to make the above release. You are by far the best candidate and have our votes. Keep up your spirit and your good work.

  • Stephen White

    If Mr. Rusin is supposed to be running for Councillor in Ward 3 why is he spending so much time, energy, effort, attention and obviously, money, running ads against Marianne Meed Ward? He isn’t directly running against her. I would have thought his focus would be on winning election as Councillor….unless of course he’s just another “pocket puppy” for his buddies in the real estate development industry.

    Perhaps the answer to the first question will be found in who is contributing to his campaign. When the election is over and once the campaign contributions are posted on the City’s website it will be an interesting exercise cross-referencing campaign donations with business affiliations and employment.

    As for Marianne, she obviously has endured this extreme assault and personal barrage of nonsense, invective and innuendo with an astonishing amount of grace, dignity and composure. One of several more reasons why she deserves to be elected Mayor on October 22nd.

  • Gfraser

    These Trump-like tactics are appalling and demeaning and are meant to appeal only to the most baseless and ignorant individuals. All candidates, by now, should have condemned these Trump-like negative innuendos and Inaccuracies.

    Any candidate promoting this type of Trump-like smear campaign should have their candidacy sanctioned and revoked from the ballot by the City Officials.

    I saw enough of this deplorable and childish temper tantrums during city Council meetings as well as witnessing Mayoral candidate lambasting a specific challenger instead of promoting all the good deeds they have accomplished during their tenure.

    It seems that all levels of government, we elect self righteous, condescending, arrogant and power hungry bullies, both male and female, who forget that they work for their constituents and for the betterment of the community and country and not for their own ego driven Glory.

    We have a chance this election to set things correct. Being a politician was once a Noble calling. Let’s try to show Ontario that it can be again.

    Vote for whoever you want, but please make sure that individual has integrity, commonsense, the ability to communicate, compromise and listen. To be respectful and to possess the passion and personal attributes to be a community and city leader.

    • Mary Jenkins

      Gfraser I agree! It’s funny that the person who is screaming “foul” the loudest was one of the first ones out of the gate, bashing the current mayor and belittling the many accomplishments of our former MP. I believe this set the tone for the campaign. I do not condone these latest tactics at all, but also feel that people who live in glass houses should probably not throw the first stone. I am astounded when I see people say that they are going to vote for someone because they were a “victim of nasty politics”. I can understand “not” voting for a candidate who resorts to nastiness but at the end of the day folks, we should be voting for the person most qualified for the job. There is a big difference between talking about something and actually knowing how to work with a team and the upper levels of government and actually get what needs to be done, done. Tune out the “hype” and do your homework. Watch previous city council meetings on line, check out the candidates past accomplishments and come to your own educated conclusions.

  • Susan L.

    I am encouraged to see this type of unacceptable behavior is not tolerated in Burlington.