Unfortunate entry into the campaign

It is regrettable that Terry Kilrea used his entry into the election campaign to blast the plan for a francophone centre in the west end of the city. The race for Bay Ward is so fractured, that another entrant into the race does little to clarify things.
But looked at from a distance, the attack on the francophone centre (and the implied assault on the francophone community in Ottawa) can only be seen as divisive.
This morning's Le Droit has an editorial calling Kilrea a "clown". Surely this is indicative of the interpretation which French-speaking residents have applied to Mr. Kilrea's comments.
My own view is that the "divide and conquer" approach has been over-used in Ottawa politics. We need to stop pretending that the interests of our rural and urban residents are diametrically opposed. It is time to move to another level of politics in which we cherish the diverse elements of our community and strive to work together in building a better city.