Wednesday October 18, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 18, 2018

Mayor getting ‘antsy’ about LRT holdup

Council asked the province back in August to let HSR and its Amalgamated Transit Union workers operate and maintain the $1 billion provincially-funded light rail system.

Despite follow-ups with the Ministry of Transportation, Eisenberger says the city still hasn’t received a response or even a sense of when it might arrive.

The mayor says he’s starting to get “antsy” about the holdup and the impact it could have on the project’s timelines.

A contract was expected to be signed with a private sector consortium around June 2018, with major construction getting underway in 2019.

The request for qualifications (RFQ) process to identify prospective bidders was concluded in April. The next stage in selecting a builder is sending out a request for proposals (RFP).

But the RFP can’t go out until the province responds to the city’s request. If the answer is a full or partial yes, that changes the parameters of the already completed RFQ, which probably means starting all over again, adding months to the timeline.

That’s frustrating because, as Eisenberger notes, until the project gets to the RFP process, the community won’t know what LRT operating cost will be.

“I’m anxious to keep the process moving,” says Eisenberger.

The mayor says when he asks the province why it’s taking so long, all he gets is “bureaucratic talk.” He’s being diplomatic. As someone who’s asked the same question, I call it gobbledygook.

Coun. Sam Merulla, who originally predicted the province would respond quickly, shares Eisenberger’s concern that the delay is knocking the legs out from under the timelines.

Like Eisenberger, Merulla doesn’t care that the delay means a contract might not be signed before next year’s provincial and municipal elections. Both figure LRT will be an election issue regardless of how far along the process is. For Merulla this is about the province being upfront with Hamilton and showing “leadership.”

“They need to move on it. If they reject it, we can just move forward. By delaying the answer, they’re only compounding the problem.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Saturday October 14, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 14, 2017

The Next Big Thing in the Cannabis Industry

 
Canada has a pot problem, as Quartz Media recently warned us, but it’s a lucrative problem to have. One thing holding back this $8-billion market Forbes Magazine, April 13, 2017) is supply, and one little-known company plans to be the steward of it in a big way.  
 
When Canada legalizes recreational marijuana in less than a year, in line with a bill pushed through by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, legal supply is likely to be limited. There may not even be enough even if we are only considering medical marijuana usage. Keeping an eye on Insys Therapeutics (NASDAQ:INSY), Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (NYSE:SMG), Zynerba Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ZYNE), Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE: IIRP), Teva Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TEVA).
 
The supply picture is so fantastically tight that Health Canada has had to streamline the approval process for growers because medical marijuana users have tripled in number since last year alone, according to Quartz. When it becomes legal recreationally, a Deloitte report estimates the economic  impact will be worth $22.6 billion annually in other words, more than the combined sales of beer, wine and spirits.
 
Meet Cannabis Wheaton the world’s first cannabis streaming company, backed by a powerhouse team, with the biggest industry trailblazer leading the way.
 
Not only is Cannabis Wheaton jumping into a huge potential market where supply is forecast to struggle to reach demand, but it’s offering a lifeline to new and existing growers who need financing to get off the ground fast.
 
Producers need a miracle grow strategy, and Cannabis Wheaton is stepping in to fill the gap with a ‘royalty’ business model that is new to this market.
 
And for investors, the major upside is that this model removes the risks associated with putting all your money into a single-crop producer.
 
Cannabis Wheaton is intending to ‘stream’ pot, and 15 partners have already been lined up, along with 1.4 million square feet of growing acreage. (Source: Markets Insider) 

 

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Thursday October 12, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 12, 2017

Tough Times for Sears and CRA

Sears Canada workers are feeling confused and angry after learning on Tuesday that the retailer plans to close its remaining 130 stores.

June 23, 2017

If Sears gets court approval, it would start liquidating the stores as early as Oct. 19, putting the retailer out of business and about 12,000 employees out of work.

“Many of us feel frustrated, anger, betrayal,” a Sears manager told CBC News in an email on Tuesday. He and another employee interviewed asked that we not publish their names because they still work for the retailer and fear retribution.

“People don’t know what to do,” said the manager about staff at his location. “Many people went home already as they were physically upset and needed some personal space.”

A Sears memo sent to staff Wednesday said workers will lose their jobs as early as within the next few days, but that some will stay on for a few months. It also explained that employees will lose their benefits as soon as they’re terminated. (Source: CBC) 

Meanwhile, The federal government appears to be doing away with a controversial tax policy interpretation that would have seen employees taxed for discounts they get at work.

Amid a growing controversy, a spokesperson for National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier said Wednesday that the government will pull the new wording at the heart of the debate from the Canada Revenue Agency website.

Spokesperson John Power said the CRA made the original decision to change the wording, not Lebouthillier.

“This document was not approved by the minister and we are deeply disappointed that the agency posted something that has been misinterpreted like this,” he said in an emailed statement.

The CRA will hold an internal review on the wording change, which will be followed by a consultation on the issue with industry groups, Power added.

The former wording in the employer’s guide on the issue of employee benefits was to be reinstated as early as Wednesday afternoon. (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

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Wednesday October 11, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 11, 2017

As Trudeau heads to Washington, Trump again muses that ‘NAFTA will have to be terminated’

As he prepares to welcome Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump is musing again about terminating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

July 17, 2017

“I happen to think that NAFTA will have to be terminated if we’re going to make it good. Otherwise, I believe you can’t negotiate a good deal,” Trump told Forbes magazine  in an interview published Tuesday.

“(The Trans-Pacific Partnership) would have been a large-scale version of NAFTA. It would have been a disaster. It’s a great honour to have — I consider that a great accomplishment, stopping that. And there are many people that agree with me. I like bilateral deals.”

Trump is scheduled to meet with Trudeau at the White House on Wednesday, the same day the fourth round of NAFTA renegotiation talks will begin in a Washington suburb.

August 24, 2017

Trump has threatened to terminate NAFTA on several numerous occasions, appearing to see such threats as a useful negotiating tactic.

The latest remark was slightly different. In the past, he has usually said he will cancel the agreement if the U.S. cannot secure a good deal. This time, he suggested that a good deal can only be secured after a cancellation.

Canadian officials have brushed off the Trump administration’s previous harsh rhetoric, saying such words are inevitable in any trade negotiation. And Trump has frequently declined to act on his musings about trade and other subjects.

Trump spoke amid growing concern that the negotiations could be headed for failure because of the Trump administration’s positions. The fourth round, scheduled to run Wednesday to Sunday, is seen as a crucial test of the level of U.S. interest in reaching an amended deal. (Source: Toronto Star) 

Letter to the editor (October 18)

RE: Oct. 11 Hamilton Spectator editorial cartoon

The price for disobeying your elders

Mr. Mackay’s cartoon shows what happens when immature manic leader of the entitled millennials tries to outplay his fatherly opponent. Lack of respect for seniors wisdom of maturity and elder persuasion at any time eventually gets the results that are duly deserved.

As a member of a 212-year old immigrant family from the U.S. that was asked to leave over concerns of loyalty for the USA, I would venture that Mr. Trudeau and his team have fumbled the ball on the goal-line, mainly because of he and his father’s socialistic communist attitude toward answers for all things.

This is bankrupting Canada and its neighbour’s ability to support and defend it and is deserving of the cards that have been dealt!

Larry Pedlar, Burlington

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Saturday September 30, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday September 30, 2017

McMaster going tobacco, smoke-free

McMaster University will become the province’s first tobacco and smoke-free campus next year.

As of Jan. 1, 2018, using tobacco and all oral smoking devices will be prohibited on McMaster campuses.

This includes the Hamilton campus, inside and on the grounds of the Ron Joyce Centre in Burlington, as well as at all McMaster-owned properties.

The university said it is working to help students, faculty and staff adapt to the new policy and educate the community before it comes into effect.

“McMaster University recognizes the unique relationship that many Indigenous cultures have with traditional and sacred medicines,” says a post on Mac’s Daily News website. “As such, exemptions to this policy will be granted, upon request, to members of the McMaster University community.”

There will be phased-in enforcement of the designation starting in January.

For the first months, anyone found in contravention of the policy will be asked to stop or referred to supports and resources. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)