Tuesday February 7, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 7, 2023

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are stuck in the mud and hoping a health care deal helps pull them out

December 21, 2016

Justin Trudeau told us he was roaring into 2023 to “meet the moment” but lately his Liberals have been regrouping, retreating and running around in circles.

In a speech to his caucus prior to the resumption of Parliament, he said the Liberals would put forward a “positive vision for the future,” including good jobs, safe communities with clean air, and “an economy that works for everyone.”

At the top of the list was a fix for health care, which he promised would mean not only more federal money but better health care outcomes. Mr. Trudeau had just announced that he was convening a meeting with premiers for Feb. 7, a sign that a federal-provincial deal on health care is close. That was supposed to be the first big item on the Liberal agenda in 2023.

So this week Mr. Trudeau has an opportunity to take back the initiative.

A prime minister’s meeting with premiers never goes by without disagreement, but it is a place where the PM’s voice carries the loudest. And if the meetings do end with a level of federal-provincial agreement, sealed by a major, multiyear injection of federal cash, then Mr. Trudeau will tout progress on an issue at the top of Canadians’ concerns.

November 24, 2015

At this point, the Liberals are getting a little desperate for that kind of agenda-setting. Anything where the news is something the Liberals are doing, rather than something they are undoing, or something they wish they could do over. So this is a big week for Mr. Trudeau.

His Liberals would like to carry a health care deal into a spring of initiatives and a budget that is expected to centre on clean-tech incentives and industrial strategy.

But that’s just a hope right now. Mr. Trudeau’s government has had setbacks and scandals and made blunders before, but the Liberals have eventually regained the ability to set the political agenda with a flurry of activity. That is one of the home-field advantages of being in power: Government actions have consequences, so their agenda is consequential. Yet lately, Mr. Trudeau’s team seems less able to control it.

Mr. Trudeau’s government is encountering problems of a third-term government that has been through a lot.

One is that things come undone or are shown to have been done badly. (Continued: Globe & Mail) 

 

Saturday February 3, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 3, 2023

Ottawa contracts comprise up to 10 per cent of McKinsey Canadian revenue

Global management consulting giant McKinsey and Company says its contracts with the federal government make up as much as 10 per cent of its gross revenue in Canada.

June 17, 2017

The Canadian revenue figures for McKinsey’s Canadian operations, contained in a U.S. court filing, show how integral federal government contracts are to the New York-based firm, which has offices in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.

McKinsey’s contracts with Ottawa are being investigated by the House of Commons committee on government operations and estimates, because of the company’s ties to the Liberal government and the many international controversies in which it has been involved.

The Globe and Mail has reported that the total value of federal contracts awarded to McKinsey since 2015 is at least $116.8-million, up from a previous estimate of $101.4-million provided by the government earlier this month.

The filing was made in May, as part of a court case in Puerto Rico. The document lists many of McKinsey’s significant clients in different countries.

January 15, 2013

The court documents also say that private-sector clients – such as Montreal-based Bombardier, Toronto Dominion Bank, Mastercard, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Canadian Tire, Shell PLC and State Street Corporation – each accounted for 1.01 per cent to 5 per cent of McKinsey Canada’s revenue during the same period.

The filing mentions individual United States government departments. For instance, the U.S. Department of Defence is listed as accounting for 20.01 per cent to 25 per cent of the gross revenue for McKinsey’s Washington branch during the period from March 1, 2021 through Feb. 28, 2022.

Alley Adams, head of external relations at McKinsey Canada, said contracts awarded to the firm represent a small share of the Canadian government’s outsourcing compared to other consulting firms. Deloitte, Ernst and Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers were paid a combined total of about $338-million in 2020-21 and $354-million in 2021-22, according to a Carleton University analysis.

Jennifer Carr, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service, told MPs the growth in outsourcing ends up costing taxpayers and is hurting morale among federal workers. (The Globe & Mail) 

 

Friday February 3, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 3, 2023

Federal Environment Minister might intervene in Ontario’s Greenbelt development plan

October 28, 2021

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says he might try to stop some of the development that could result from Ontario’s plans to allow housing on once-protected Greenbelt lands, warning that the province’s move defies efforts to prepare for climate change.

The Minister made the remarks at a news conference in Toronto on Thursday, while responding to questions from the environment-focused online publication The Narwhal.

Mr. Guilbeault was taking aim at Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s move last month to remove 3,000 hectares from the Greenbelt – an 800,000-hectare protected area of farmland and countryside that arcs around the Greater Toronto Area – to allow developers to build 50,000 homes. The plan would also add 3,800 hectares elsewhere to the protected area. Mr. Ford had previously promised that he would not open the Greenbelt to development.

Mr. Guilbeault did not detail specifically what he is considering doing, but he said Ontario’s plan “flies in the face of everything we’re trying to do in terms of being better prepared for the impacts of climate change.”

The Narwhal says the Minister warned that the federal government “will be looking at the potential use of federal tools to stop some of these projects.”

November 9, 2022

Mr. Guilbeault suggested he could use federal species-at-risk legislation if any proposed development threatened the survival of vulnerable animal populations. The federal government did this in 2016, when it blocked a housing development in a Montreal suburb over concerns about western chorus frog habitat.

“You can imagine that if similar projects were to be proposed on lands that were part of the Greenbelt, then I have a legislative obligation to intervene,” Mr. Guilbeault said, according to the Narwhal.

He also mentioned Ottawa’s Impact Assessment Act, which is already being used to scrutinize Mr. Ford’s Highway 413, a proposed expressway that would carve through Greenbelt land.

The sharp federal criticism of the Ontario Premier emerged just days before a Feb. 7 meeting between Canada’s premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to hash out a health care funding deal.

January 12, 2023

Mr. Guilbeault was speaking at an event marking $8-million in federal funding for nature conservation projects. He also had harsh words for the Ontario government’s plans to restrict the powers of the province’s local conservation authorities to intervene in ecologically sensitive development plans. He called the legislation “terrible” and said he was “saddened and shocked” by the changes.

Last month, Parks Canada said the opening of Greenbelt lands close to the Rouge National Urban Park, on the eastern flank of Toronto, could cause “irreversible harm” to the park’s wildlife and ecosystems. (The Globe & Mail) 

 

Thursday February 2, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 2, 2023

Loblaw ends No Name price freeze, vows ‘flat’ pricing ‘wherever possible’

December 8, 2016

Loblaw will not be extending its price freeze on No Name brand products, but vows to keep the yellow label product-pricing flat “wherever possible.”

“The more than three-month price freeze ends January 31 — but we’re not done,” a Loblaw spokesperson said in an email to CTV News Monday. “Looking ahead, we’ll continue to hold those prices flat wherever possible, and switching to No Name will still save the average family thousands this year.”

September 29, 2022

Loblaw announced in mid-October it would freeze prices for 1,500 products sold under its No Name private label. At the time, Loblaw chairman and president Galen G. Weston said the price of an average basket of groceries was up about 10 per cent, something he said was much out of Loblaw’s control.

The Canadian retailer noted Monday, food inflation has continued to increase, costing the company more to stock shelves.

The country’s inflation rate slowed again in December 2022 to 6.3 per cent. However, Statistics Canada said grocery prices were up 11 per cent for the month compared to the year before. This was down a tick from November’s 11.4 per cent.

June 18, 2020

Canada’s grocery chains have been under fire for making steady profits amid high inflation. Third-quarter profits at Loblaw Companies Ltd rose nearly 30 per cent compared to a year ago. Quebec grocery giant Metro Inc. reported a first-quarter profit of about 11 per cent. (CTV) 

Canada’s largest grocer is stepping up its public relations strategy to convince people that it is not to blame for higher prices. But experts say consumers grappling with food affordability are in no mood to hear that message.

On the day that its 11-week price freeze on No Name products ended on Tuesday, Loblaw Cos. Ltd. -0.13% decrease was active on Twitter, responding to people who criticized the company with messages explaining that “food inflation is a global issue” and that price increases were the fault of suppliers who had themselves raised prices. Other Loblaw tweets heralded the price freeze for helping consumers “at a time they needed it most.”

But the defensive tone didn’t sit well with many, and is emblematic of a larger communications challenge facing Canada’s grocery retailers, who have reported significant increases in both sales and profits amid inflation. As the last point of contact in a sprawling supply chain, grocers have been a target for shoppers’ understandable anger over the affordability of basic necessities. (The Globe & Mail) 

Thank you Bryan Trussler for the inspiration for this cartoon.

 

Wednesday February 1, 2023

February 1, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 1, 2023

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner isn’t ruling out a bid for the leadership of the Ontario Liberals.

A group of high-profile Liberals — including former cabinet ministers Deb Matthews and Liz Sandals, and current Liberal caucus member Lucille Collard — released a letter Sunday urging Schreiner to join the party and run to be its leader.

October 18, 2012

“Our party needs to rediscover a politics of purpose and principle. We need to reach out to a new generation of voters. We need to open up to new people and new ideas and to embrace the kind of energy and enthusiasm that is driving grassroots activism and engagement across the province,” the Liberal group wrote.

“And that’s why we’re turning to you … We believe that your strong principle-based approach and your ability to connect and motivate activists — especially young people — is exactly what our party and province need now.”

Speaking to CBC Radio’s Metro Morning on Tuesday, Schreiner said he is mulling over the unusual proposal.

“My response is: give me time to think about this. Most importantly, give me time to consult with people — especially my constituents in Guelph and my friends and colleagues in the Green movement and people across the province — about the best way I can move forward to advance the issues I care about,” he said.

November 22, 2022

Schreiner had previously dismissed the idea when it was broached late last year, but he said the letter “really challenged” him to consider how he might “work differently” on issues like the climate crisis, housing affordability and protecting the Greenbelt.

The Liberal group argued that as Liberal leader, Schreiner would have a broader platform to rally Ontarians opposed to Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government.

“I think I owe it to people to think about it,” Schreiner told Metro Morning.

The party has been without a permanent leader since Steven Del Duca stepped down last year following a devastating election loss — the party’s second such result in a row.

Several Liberals have publicly said they’re exploring a run at the top job, including MP and former Ontario cabinet minister Yasir Naqvi, MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith and current Ontario Liberal caucus member Ted Hsu.

he letter and companion DraftMike.ca website are not going over well with some Liberals.

September 28, 2012

Erskine-Smith wrote on Twitter that purpose and principle are indeed needed, along with “serious renewal” in the party.

“But we don’t need gimmicks, open letters, or Hail Marys,” he wrote. “There is no substitute for hard work and grassroots engagement. We need serious leadership. For a change.”

In response to those comments, Schreiner said Tuesday that he considers the letter “genuine outreach” but that he needs time to consider his options.

Schreiner has been the leader of the Ontario Greens since 2009 and in 2018 won the party’s first seat in the legislature.

His performance in the 2022 election debate was widely praised and he is well liked at the legislature, but despite the party’s high hopes of winning a second seat in that election, the Greens remain a caucus of one. (CBC)