Wednesday August 23, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday August 23, 2017

Patrick Brown’s disastrous tenure as PC leader

A leadership race based on who sells the most memberships can lead to a disappointing outcome. In May 2015, Patrick Brown won the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership race against a more qualified and experienced opponent, Christine Elliott. She was a three-term MPP, deputy leader of the party, and someone with vision.

June 15, 2017

Brown was a two-term, lacklustre, social conservative MP. In Ottawa, he voted against same-sex marriage and was an anti-abortion advocate. He offered no clear vision for the PC Party during the race, but used his organizing skills to sell hundreds of party memberships.

Two years of on-the-job training and Brown’s greatest talent may yet turn out to be selling memberships. He’s lost a commanding lead over the Liberals and faces serious internal rebellion.

A strong democracy requires a strong opposition — one that challenges the governing party and presents a credible alternative. Brown is struggling to deliver on both counts.

August 31, 2016

In his first year as opposition leader everything seemed possible. He was dealing with a seemingly spent 15-year-old, scandal-plagued government. He and the PCs vaulted ahead in the polls. Premier Wynne was falling out of fashion.

He swelled the party membership from 11,000 to 80,000 and won two by-elections, including his own seat in Simcoe North. He countered the Liberal attempts to brand him a social conservative by claiming to be a “pragmatic conservative.” That meant surprise support for the LGBT community and a “revenue neutral” carbon tax. Beyond that, Brown was bereft of any engaging policy ideas.

By the end of last year the hope was Brown’s young, slick image would give way to a more passionate politician with a plan for the future.

So far this year he’s failed to deliver on that hope. Instead of scoring easy points against the vulnerable Liberals, Brown attacks without having a plan. He rails against soaring hydro rates but hasn’t offered a solution. He complains about “reckless spending” but hesitates to say where he’d make major program cuts. (Continued: Toronto Star) 

 

 

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Tuesday August 22, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday August 22, 2017

Rally in Quebec turns violent after protesters opposing anti-immigrant rallies clash with police

Tensions boiled over in Quebec City on Sunday, as police were pelted by beer bottles and smoke bombs set off in garbage cans in an ugly end to a weekend of pro- and anti-immigrant rallies across the country.

The Quebec group La Meute, which is associated with the far right, called for a rally Sunday to protest against the federal and provincial government’s handling of the border crossers, but ended up having its members pinned inside a garage while counter-protesters demonstrated outside.

Once the counterprotesters turned violent, the Quebec City police declared the protest illegal. Clashes ensued and at least one protester was arrested as officers tried to block access to the building where some of the La Meute protesters had taken refuge.

By 6 p.m. the counterprotesters had dispersed and the members of La Meute, many of them carrying flags featuring the group’s wolf-paw logo, emerged from the building to begin their protest.

Television footage showed them marching in silence near Quebec City’s legislature.

The protests in the Quebec capital were far more tense than a demonstration a day earlier in Vancouver where thousands of people peacefully demonstrated in an anti-racism rally in response to reports earlier in the week that an anti-Muslim protest was planned. That latter rally didn’t materialize. (Source: Toronto Star) 

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Saturday August 19, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday August 19, 2017

Up to $10,000 fine for waterfall trespassers requiring rescue

The city will seek fines of up to $10,000 for trespassers requiring a rope rescue at Hamilton waterfalls. 

August 9, 2017

“Anyone who is a repeat trespasser or causes a rope rescue will be issued a court appearance and we will be seeking a higher fine,” said city spokesperson Ann Lamanes.

Bylaw enforcement officers went to the hospital and issued a Part 3 summons to a hiker rescued Wednesday at Albion Falls while the woman was still being treated for minor injuries.

The summons is a more serious charge than the standard $135 provincial offences notice given to 51 trespassers at Albion Falls since heightened enforcement began July 17.

Of those notices, 15 were given out the same day the woman was rescued. She was singled out for the summons because she required help. She will now have to appear in court and faces a potentially larger fine of up to $10,000 if convicted.

July 14, 2017

“The person that was rescued required the emergency services team to respond for over two hours to get her out of a prohibited area,” Lamanes said. “We have laid a more severe charge because of the impact this offender has had on emergency services and city resources.”

Less than two hours after the city announced it had issued the summons Thursday, a hiker required emergency help at Tew Falls in Dundas just after 4 p.m. A rope rescue was not required, but the woman was carried out in a basket. 

The Hamilton Fire Department has expressed concern in the past about charging trespassers for the cost of rope rescues for fear it will deter those in trouble from calling for help. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

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Friday August 18 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday August 18 2017

Donald Trump is burning every bridge he can, 1 tweet at a time

November 9, 2016

Before 9:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, the President of the United States had already:

  • Attacked not one but two sitting senators of his own party.
  • Savaged the “fake” news media.
  • Tripled down on his comments regarding the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia.
  •  Echoed the rhetoric of the far right by insisting that our “culture” was being destroyed by the cult of political correctness.

Donald Trump did all of these things via Twitter — starting at 6:19 a.m. ET with a tweet alleging that “publicity seeking” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) had purposely contorted his comments after the violent white supremacist protests over the weekend and ending at 9:21 a.m. ET with a slippery slope argument that liberals were responsible for the “beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks” by calling for the removal of statues honoring Confederates.

July 28, 2017

So, for three hours — at least — the most powerful person in the world was glued to social media, gleefully settling scores.

This is not a new reality for Trump. Since he became a candidate, he has used Twitter as a combination of a focus group and a blowtorch.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump would regularly try out new attack lines — “Lyin’ Ted,” “Little Marco” — on Twitter to see if his fans responded to them. If they did, those attacks were quickly inserted into his stump speech or his debate answers.

He would also use Twitter to fight back against his critics, to lambast the media and to, generally speaking, provoke. (Never forget: Trump is, at root, a provocateur more than he is a politician.)

November 9, 2016

Despite his promises to be “so presidential you will be so bored” if elected, Trump hasn’t changed one iota. That’s most obvious in his Twitter habits. While he went through patches — a few days, maybe a week — early in his presidency when he would lay off Twitter entirely or only tweet his speeches or other more generic political pap, Trump has always returned to his Twitter addiction with a vengeance.

His tweets have produced many of the defining moments of his presidency — none of which are good. His March tweet that President Barack Obama had wire-tapped Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign sparked weeks of questions — zero of which he could answer. His repeated attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell helped to turn Republicans in the Senate against him. His personal attack on MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski was roundly denounced by politicians — and humans — of all stripes. (Source: CNN) 

November 10, 2016

Meanwhile, for about two hours on Monday August 21, weather permitting, the entire US should see the moon slide in front of the sun. The last solar eclipse to slice across the entire continent happened 99 years ago; unlike that event, this eclipse will occur in an era of record internet usage — one in which 95% of American adults own a mobile phone. (Source: Business Insider) 

 

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Thursday, August 17, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday, August 17, 2017

Chapter 19 may be a NAFTA deal breaker for Canada

A lot of Canadian softwood lumber exporters will tell you Chapter 19 is an instrumental part of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

July 17, 2017

Softwood lumber is the longest and bitterest of Canada-U.S. trade disputes. Small wonder then that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has cautioned that removing Chapter 19 from the trade pact would be a deal breaker in the upcoming renewal talks between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Chapter 19 is a mechanism NAFTA members can use to review the fairness of anti-dumping and countervailing duties. The U.S. has a long history of slapping such duties on Canadian softwood lumber shipments, and Canada has taken advantage of Chapter 19 to reverse those actions.

A Chapter 19 panel decides each case according to the domestic laws of the country that imposed the duties. So a Chapter 19 panel does not override a country’s domestic laws, but serves as a check on how each country is applying its own rules.

June 7, 2017

“There is absolutely no doubt that it acts as a check on some of the more abusive, arbitrary and discriminatory actions of the regulators on both sides of the border,” said Milos Barutciski, co-head of the international trade and investment law practice at Bennett Jones LLP in Toronto.

Softwood lumber has long been a flash-point in Canada-U.S. trade relations, and Canada has turned to Chapter 19, both under the original Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and subsequently under NAFTA, to address what it sees as the unfair imposition of duties.

August 27, 2005

The U.S. lumber industry argues that the tariffs are necessary because provincial governments unfairly subsidize Canadian producers who log on crown land. Canadian companies argue the tariffs are improper because they pay provincial governments market rates for that timber.

“Chapter 19 has been a very important piece in every softwood lumber dispute since the original FTA was signed,” Barutciski said. (Source: Financial Post)