Because the media are in the shorthand business – and because social media renders everything bite-sized and/or stupid – some people have taken to comparing me to John Tory’s campaign manager, Nick Kouvalis.
I cannot believe I have to actually spend five precious minutes of my life on this, but apparently I do. So, as a public service, here are some of the ways in which I differ from Nick Kouvalis.
• Kouvalis has been charged, criminally, for making death threats. I have never been charged with anything, although I have received two speeding tickets in my life, for which I apologize.
• Kouvalis has been found guilty of several ethical violations by the professional marketing/polling organization to which he belongs. I have never been found to have breached any professional rules or standards whatsoever – although, I was on the executive of both the Canadian Bar Association and the Ontario Bar Association, which I suppose was punishment enough.
• Kouvalis has not written any books of which I am aware, and I do not know his educational background. I have written seven books and have degrees in Journalism and Law. The journalism one is from Carleton, however, which cannot be helped.
• Kouvalis brags about using dirty tricks – fake identities and whatnot – in election campaigns. I have written books in which I have said, among other things, that dirty tricks do not work – and I have fired youngsters who show up with same. I did, however, wave around a purple dinosaur on TV once to poke fun at Kouvalis’ friend Stockwell Day. I admit that.
• Kouvalis uses front companies to conduct “polls” to push voters one way or another. I have written books in which I have said that “push polls” should be banned, and that those who make use of them are hurting democracy. I am old-fashioned about democracy, in that I think it is a fragile thing, and worth defending.
• Kouvalis says that he is good at beating Liberals, and then went on to work for BC Liberal leader Christy Clark; he has said that John Tory wasn’t much of a leader, and then went on to work for John Tory. I, for my part, worked for many years for guys named Chrétien and McGuinty, and I have stuck by them, in good times and in bad.
• Kouvalis is friends with Rob Ford and ran his campaign in 2010. I consider Rob Ford to be a crack-smoking, heroin-dabbling, baldfaced-lying, drunk-driving thug who belongs in jail, not the mayor’s chair.
There you go. Those are some of the key ways in which Nick Kouvalis and I differ. There are others.
Oh, and Mr. Tory? Best of luck. With Kouvalis running the show, you will need it.
- See more at:
http://warrenkinsella.com/2014/03/kinsella-vs-kouvalis-a-comparison/#sthash.dwxmcYIP.dpuf
