Local federal candidates aren't fazed by the prospect of a summer byelection campaign.

"I suppose there is a danger that not everybody is going to pay as much attention (to the campaign) . . . but you take your elections when you get them," NDP candidate Thomas King said after news reports emerged Wednesday from Ottawa that byelections were expected to be called by today (July 25) in Guelph and two Quebec ridings.

Frank Valeriote, who is trying to retain the local seat for the Liberals, said considerable effort will be needed to reach local citizens. "Some will be on holidays, and those who aren't I think won't be in an election frame of mind," he said Wednesday.

However, when Valeriote has knocked on doors and made calls recently, he's found people "generally receptive to hearing what we have to say," he said. Residents realize Guelph needs an MP following the resignation of longtime Liberal MP Brenda Chamberlain in April, and "they are prepared to be engaged in the process," he said in an interview.

City councillor Gloria Kovach, who will carry the Conservative banner in the byelection, said she's been going door to door for several months already.

"To me it's not just an August campaign. It's been a campaign from winter," she said.

Campaigning in the summer "will be difficult because people are focused on families, on vacations," and if there were no big issues it might be harder to get people involved in the byelection, she said.

However, there is a big issue, as the Liberals have made a proposal for a carbon tax, offset by cuts in personal and corporate income tax, the centrepiece of their platform for the next general election.

"I think that will motivate (local voters to head to the polls) as a protest to make sure that (carbon tax) doesn't happen," Kovach said in an interview.

Green Party candidate Mike Nagy said the byelection should be in mid-September instead of Tuesday Sept. 2 or Monday Sept. 8 - the two dates cited as most likely in Wednesday's news reports out of Ottawa.

A mid-September byelection date would likely increase the voter turnout and thus be "more democratic," he said in an interview.

"Unfortunately, byelections generally have a low turnout, and a summer byelection will be more so," Nagy said.

He said he'd prefer a Sept. 8 date over a Sept. 2 date, as a Sept. 8 byelection date would make it possible to register returning University of Guelph students to vote here.

However, he said he expected a good turnout by the party's devoted local supporters even for an early September byelection.

A byelection in the Montreal riding of Westmount, which was held by the Liberals, had to be called by July 26 under Elections Canada rules.

The other vacant seat in Parliament is the Montreal-area riding of St. Lambert, which was won by the Bloc QuÈbÈcois in the January 2006 general election.

A byelection didn't have to be called in Guelph until six months after Chamberlain's resignation, but local Green Party members have felt for months that the three byelections would all be held at the same time, said Nagy.

Valeriote said the results of the three byelections will reflect voters' satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the Conservative government.

In Guelph, he said, the big issue will be who has demonstrated the ability to best represent this city in Ottawa.

"It's not what you say, it's what you do," Valeriote said.

The byelection results in Quebec might indicate how that province would vote in a general election, but not so in Guelph, said King.

"It just feels as though there is a whole different dynamic at work here. I think people are looking more at the candidates than they are at the parties," he said in an interview. "Depending on how you look at it, it's either a four-horse race or a two-horse race" in Guelph, King said.

"If you ask me, it's a two-horse race" between the NDP and the Liberals, he added.

Kovach said she had no inside information about Harper's decision, but "everything seems to indicate we will have" a byelection in Guelph in September.

She said the byelection results won't necessarily have an effect on the timing of a general election.

"There is no reason we can't continue to govern until the fall of 2009," she said.

Nagy, the only one of the four candidates who ran in the 2006 election, is trying to become the first Green candidate to win in Canada. A Green win here, he said, would "send a signal to the world that things are changing in the political spectrum . . . the BBC would call."

Kovach said she plans to be in her seat for this Monday's council meeting and plans to continue her council duties during the byelection campaign.

"I'm very good at multi-tasking," she said.

This will be easier in August than at any other time of year, though, because there are no meetings of council or its committees scheduled for August, as city hall is gearing down for a long holiday break after Monday's council meeting.

While Kovach said she had no holiday plans for August, Valeriote said he'll have to postpone some holiday plans he had for his family.

"We'll probably enjoy our August in September," he said with a chuckle.