Author: Graeme MacKay

Wednesday August 22, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday August 22, 2018

Trudeau stands by ‘racism’ comments to heckler

October 25, 2017

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is standing by his comments to a heckler last week after telling her she was intolerant.Trudeau was speaking at a rally in Sabrevois, Que., when a woman started yelling that she wanted back the $146 million from Quebecers that he’s “given to illegal immigrants,” referring to the amount the Quebec government says asylum seekers have cost since a recent surge in irregular arrivals.

“That intolerance with regard to immigrants doesn’t belong in Canada. That intolerance with regard to diversity, you don’t belong in Canada,” Trudeau said in French Thursday night.

February 23, 2017

“Madame, your intolerance doesn’t belong here.”

The woman then asked Trudeau if he was tolerant toward “Quebecois de souche,” a reference to Quebecers who can trace their ancestry to the earliest French settlers.

In a video posted online, Trudeau can be heard telling the woman her racism isn’t welcome.

The woman who confronted Trudeau was later the subject of debate on social media over her ties to white supremacist groups. She is a member of the Facebook group for Storm Alliance’s Quebec wing. The group says it is “made up of Canadian citizens whose goal is to make our Country stronger, to make it a Country that takes care of its own communities.” It was part of a protest last year at the Lacolle, Que. border crossing, against a rise in asylum seekers.

Speaking in Ottawa Monday, Trudeau said he won’t “flinch from highlighting the politics of division.”

“It’s important that we have people who come at problems from very different perspectives because that actually ensures that we solve them right,” Trudeau said. (Source: CTV News) 

 

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Tuesday August 21, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday August 21, 2018

Provincial government’s assault on democracy deserves jeers not cheers

You’ve got to hand it to Premier Doug Ford, and even if you don’t, he’ll provide the hand — as in a round of applause — himself.

April 1, 2017

Not content with arbitrarily slashing the size of Toronto council and cancelling regional chair elections already underway in York, Peel, Niagara and Muskoka, Ford recently took another broadside against democracy by limiting the number of questions he and his ministers will take during Queen’s Park news conferences to five and drowning out any additional media queries with loud clapping from dozens of government staffers.

At Ford’s announcement of $25 million to help Toronto combat gun violence on Aug. 9, journalists present noted that 50 provincial employees milled about for an hour or so until it was time to provide the premier and Attorney General Caroline Mulroney with an unhindered exit.

For some reporters it may have felt like déjà vu as similar shenanigans had been employed a week prior when Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod announced plans to end the province’s Basic Income Pilot program.

According to Cynthia Mulligan of CityNews, after Ford and Mulroney left following the Aug. 9 news conference, most of the staffers scurried away themselves and showed little interest in answering questions about their reasons for being there. One of them did, however, let slip they were there on the taxpayer’s dime, which raises all sorts of questions, chief among them: how does permitting 50 government employees to stand around for an hour to clap like trained seals on cue fit with the pledge to reduce waste and make life more affordable for Ontarians?

While we’re at it, how does employing a “journalist” to rhyme off a collection of government-approved highlights in a series of taxpayer-funded videos via the Ontario News Now online channel square with the election promise of greater accountability and to be “the government for the people”?

Although both the Ontario News Now and “clap out” tactics began during the election, the fact the government seems intent on keeping them — and using our money to fund them — is deeply disappointing. Even Deputy Premier Christine Elliott seemed vexed by the clap out, and said she’d discuss it with Ford.

Someone should and remind him democracy isn’t a nuisance that rears its head every few years when the election writ drops. Democracy is about being accountable to the citizenry, and part of that entails answering questions from journalists who are there as proxies for the voting public.

Here’s hoping the government hits the “pause button” it’s so fond of on the clap out and other similar strategies. After all, open and transparent government is something we can all cheer for. (Source: Newmarket Era) 

 

Saturday August 18, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday August 18, 2018

Donald Trump suggests U.S. deliberately freezing out Canada in NAFTA talks

U.S. President Donald Trump is suggesting the United States has deliberately left Canada on the NAFTA sidelines as negotiations between Washington and Mexico have heated up in recent weeks.

During a televised cabinet meeting today, the U.S. president said his administration isn’t negotiating with Canada right now, before adding that its tariffs are too high and barriers too strong.

Officials from each country have insisted there’s nothing unusual about the one-on-one discussions on the three-country deal because it’s allowing the U.S. and Mexico sort tough bilateral issues, such as their differences on autos.

But some observers have argued Ottawa has been frozen out of the critical NAFTA negotiations and could eventually be forced into accepting a deal reached between its continental partners.

For four straight weeks, U.S. trade czar Robert Lighthizer and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo have held bilateral NAFTA talks while Canada has been absent from the bargaining table.

During the cabinet meeting, Lighthizer told the room he’s hopeful for a NAFTA breakthrough with Mexico in the coming days – but Trump said he’s in no rush to make a deal unless it’s the right one. (Source: Global News) 

 

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Friday August 17, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday August 17, 2018

Scheer cautions Bernier: Members of caucus need to work together

May 19, 2017

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer issued an indirect warning to outspoken caucus member Maxime Bernier on Thursday: members of caucus are expected to be team-players, focused on the same goal.

“There is an expectation in our caucus, and on our team, that everyone is focused on working together to earn back the trust of Canadians and to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister in the next election,” Scheer said.

“Every Member of Parliament should be, as their key priority, working towards putting out the types of policies that resonate with Canadians.”

His comments to reporters in Regina come after a few days of back and forth exchanges over the Quebec MP’s public remarks.

On Sunday evening, Bernier issued a series of tweets on diversity, saying that “Trudeau’s extreme multiculturalism and cult of diversity will divide us into little tribes,” and that “more diversity will not be our strength, it will destroy what has made us such a great country.”

September 22, 2015

Bernier then questioned the naming of a park after Pakistan’s founder; and criticized the federal government looking to make a statutory holiday in recognition of residential schools as a “cult of victimhood.”

On Wednesday night, Scheer issued a statement distancing himself and the party from the outspoken Quebec MP and characterized his comments as using identity politics to divide Canadians.

Bernier followed that up Thursday morning with another round of tweets denying he was engaging in identity politics.

Facing questions about whether he’s entertaining the possibility of Bernier’s removal from caucus—something Liberals and New Democrats have called for— Scheer said he wouldn’t talk about internal caucus matters but pointed out that it would be something decided on as a team. (Source: CTV) 

 

Thursday August 16, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 16, 2018

Ottawa to declare federal holiday to mark legacy of residential school system

June 3, 2015

The Liberal government will declare a federal statutory holiday to mark the tragic legacy of the residential school system, fulfilling a recommendation made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

In a statement, a spokesperson for Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said the department is working with Indigenous peoples to determine the best date for this sort of commemoration.

July 13, 2017

“We have committed to fulfilling all of the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Call to Action 80 asks the government of Canada to establish a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour the survivors of residential schools,” said Simon Ross, the minister’s press secretary.

“That’s exactly what we will do, and we will do that in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.”

Canada Day 2017

Two days are currently under consideration: June 21, which is National Indigenous Peoples Day, and September 30, which is named “Orange Shirt Day.” It is named for the bright orange shirt given to six-year-old Phyllis Webstad by her grandmother in 1973; it was taken from her by administrators when she attended the St. Joseph Mission School in Williams Lake, B.C. The date was chosen because it’s around the time Indigenous children were taken from their homes and sent to residential schools. 

It’s not yet clear when the new federal statutory holiday will be implemented, but the official said conversations with Indigenous peoples are well underway.

June 12, 2008

Constitutionally, it’s up to the provinces and territories to determine which statutory holidays exist in their jurisdictions.

Nothing in any federal legislation would force them to follow suit and implement a day to mark the horrors of the residential school system.

So a new federal holiday would apply only to workers in federally regulated industries — like the federal public service, banks, interprovincial and international transportation companies, TV/radio, telecommunications, fisheries and Crown corporations, among others — unless the provinces took action on their own. (Source: CBC) 

 

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