Ontario

Tuesday October 8, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 8, 2019

Ford government dodges CUPE strike but more education labour woes ahead

After narrowly averting a massive strike by 55,000 educational support workers, Premier Doug Ford’s government will now turn full attention to teacher negotiations.

Talks between the province and several unions are ongoing.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF), l’Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) and the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) represent over 160,000 teachers currently without a deal.

ETFO is currently in the process of gauging whether or not an appetite exists for job action. The union is taking strike votes with members across the province. If a majority approves, 78,000 teachers, occasional teachers and other education professionals could be in a legal potential strike position as early as November.

Laura Walton, who headed up CUPE talks with the province, said after their deal was brokered Sunday that the union stands in solidarity with ETFO and other labour groups.

Walton also indicated CUPE made few concessions in bargaining.

September 26, 2019

The deal still needs to be ratified by members, a process which could take a month. However Walton’s message to Education Minister Stephen Lecce was clear Sunday.

“Thanks for opening the piggybank and allowing us to get the services that we needed for our students, they’ll thank you too.”

Lecce responded to Walton’s statement Monday.

“I think what we have done is we’ve opened up classrooms in Ontario and I think that’s the focus and I think we’ve done so within our mandate to be fair,” he said on Global News Morning. “I think that all parties in the province of Ontario could leave this negotiation with a sense of incremental achievement on their priorities.“

Sources with knowledge of the negations told Global News the government essentially “caved to political pressure.”

The deal happened amid a federal election where Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has been seen as distancing himself from Ford due to the premier’s low approval ratings. (Global News) 

 

Friday October 4, 2019

October 4, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 4, 2019

Here’s how often Trudeau has called out Harper, Ford instead of Scheer

It’s no secret to those following the federal election campaign that Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau seems to be going after former prime minister Stephen Harper as much, if not more, than Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer.

September 26, 2019

But just how much more?

Roughly 33 per cent.

Global News has been tracking how many times at official events and media availabilities each of the two front runners reference the other — or others entirely.

That does not include photo ops, whistlestops or unscheduled remarks.

Those records show Trudeau has referenced Harper (in English) at speeches and campaign stops a total of 62 times so far over the last 21 days.

Scheer, on the other hand, has mentioned Trudeau 326 times so far in the campaign.

May 30, 2017

That’s equal to roughly seven times the amount that Trudeau mentioned him.

Global News reached out to both parties asking about their attacks but didn’t receive clear answers to the question of why they were focusing on the attacks seen so far: a Conservative spokesperson accused Trudeau of being afraid to run on his record and whipping up fear, while a Liberal said the choice for voters is whether to return to the same kinds of policies seen under the Harper and Ford governments.

A source working with Ford’s government also echoed the federal party remarks when asked about the number of times Trudeau has brought up Ford, accusing Trudeau of “banking on the fact that he can make Ontarians afraid.”

October 28, 2016

“The reason that Scheer is pounding on Trudeau is because the entire Liberal brand is Trudeau. So if you’re going to rough up the Liberals, it starts with their leader and he also knows Trudeau is a controversial figure in Canada now,” said Darrell Bricker, president of Ipsos.

“For the people who don’t like him, he is a hot button so every time he [Scheer] gets a chance to push it, he does.”

Bricker said the same isn’t true for Scheer, who polls suggest remains an undefined brand in the minds of voters.

April 17, 2019

“He’s not the Conservative brand the same way Trudeau is the Liberal brand,” Bricker said. “So what the Liberals are trying to do on the other side, because he is a bit of a blank slate, they’ve got their chalk out and they’re trying to colour him in.”

The way they’re trying to do that, Bricker said, is by making direct links in voters’ minds to two other highly controversial figures: Ford and Harper.

According to a poll by Angus Reid last week, half of Ontario voters say their opinions of Ford and his government will sway their vote on Oct. 21, with 85 per cent of those saying Ford’s government will make them less likely to support Scheer and the federal Conservatives. (Global)

Putting a lid on problems from r/canadapoliticshumour


 

Thursday September 26, 2019

September 26, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 26, 2019

Exclusive poll reveals ‘Doug Ford factor’ a big problem for Scheer’s Conservatives in Ontario

June 8, 2019

The “Doug Ford factor” that some federal Conservatives worried would hurt their chances in Ontario this election appears to be very real, and especially significant, suggests a new survey conducted in partnership between the Angus Reid Institute and Postmedia.

The poll shows that half of Ontario’s population sees their federal vote being swayed by the performance of Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government in that province — and most are not being influenced in a way that will benefit the federal Tories.

Among those Ontarians who say their federal vote will be affected by their impressions of Ford’s government, a whopping 85 per cent say the “policies and actions” of the provincial PC government will make them less likely to support Andrew Scheer’s federal Conservative party.

July 17, 2019

The “Doug Ford factor” that some federal Conservatives worried would hurt their chances in Ontario this election appears to be very real, and especially significant, suggests a new survey conducted in partnership between the Angus Reid Institute and Postmedia.

The poll shows that half of Ontario’s population sees their federal vote being swayed by the performance of Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government in that province — and most are not being influenced in a way that will benefit the federal Tories.

Among those Ontarians who say their federal vote will be affected by their impressions of Ford’s government, a whopping 85 per cent say the “policies and actions” of the provincial PC government will make them less likely to support Andrew Scheer’s federal Conservative party.

Twenty-eight per cent of those Ontarians who claim their vote will be impacted this way qualified the impact of the provincial PC government on their vote as “massive.” The next-highest “massive” impact reported was in Quebec, but with only 12 per cent describing it in such strong terms.

February 13, 2009

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party has clearly sensed an opportunity to exploit the impact Ford is having in Ontario on federal Conservative support. Liberals have tried throughout the campaign to link Scheer to Ford. This week the federal Liberal leader lambasted Ford, calling him “Exhibit A” in Trudeau’s grim description of what he says Canada would look like under Conservative rule. “Families here in Ontario have seen just how far they are willing to go to help the wealthiest few,” he said in Hamilton, Ont. “How quickly they will make cuts to public health and to the services people rely on most.”

Trudeau’s Liberals have been the biggest beneficiaries from the Ford factor: Among Ontarians whose federal voting decisions are being affected by Ford, 71 per cent say they’re likelier to vote Liberal on October 21. But the Liberals would be wrong to assume they have those votes sewn up: 66 per cent of those provincially impacted Ontarians also said they were likelier to vote for the NDP. (National Post) 

 

Tuesday September 24, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 24, 2019

Premier Doug Ford blasts Trudeau’s ‘unacceptable’ donning of racist blackface

Premier Doug Ford has strongly denounced Justin Trudeau’s penchant for donning blackface and charged there’s a “double standard” over how the Liberal leader’s past misdeeds are being reported.

September 20, 2019

“It was unacceptable back in 2001, it’s unacceptable now,” said the Progressive Conservative premier, who has emerged as a favourite target of the federal Liberals during this election.

“The people are going to decide. They’re going to have the opportunity to decide if they want the prime minister to continue being prime minister or they want a change,” he said Friday.

Last Wednesday, Time magazine published a 2001 photo of Trudeau dressed as Aladdin at a gala when he was a 29-year-old private school teacher at Vancouver’s West Point Grey Academy.

In the wake of that, other photos have surface of him in blackface and brown face.

February 22, 2018

While Trudeau has repeatedly apologized for his transgressions, on Sunday he ducked reporters’ questions when asked if he could recall the last time he wore racist makeup.

Ford took a swipe at the media, saying there’s a “double standard right across the board” in how the controversy is being covered.

“If it was a Conservative, I think it would have been a different story,” the premier told CTV.

In a separate interview with AM640’s Alex Pierson, Ford was asked if he had ever donned blackface.

“No. I wouldn’t be that stupid,” he said to Pierson.

July 10, 2018

Last Wednesday, Time magazine published a 2001 photo of Trudeau dressed as Aladdin at a gala when he was a 29-year-old private school teacher at Vancouver’s West Point Grey Academy.

In the wake of that, other photos have surface of him in blackface and brown face.

While Trudeau has repeatedly apologized for his transgressions, on Sunday he ducked reporters’ questions when asked if he could recall the last time he wore racist makeup.

Ford took a swipe at the media, saying there’s a “double standard right across the board” in how the controversy is being covered.

Series: Young Doug Ford

The premier has been a lightning rod in the Oct. 21 federal election campaign with the Liberals mocking his “for the people” slogan in their advertising and Grit candidates in Ontario attacking his government’s policies.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer refused to utter the name “Ford” even when campaigning 700 metres from his Etobicoke home last week.

A new batch of Tory ads tie Trudeau to former Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne, whom Ford’s Tories trounced in the 2018 provincial election, but they do not mention the current premier. (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

 

Wednesday September 11, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 11, 2019

Why is it so hard for Independent candidates to get elected to Canada’s House of Commons?

May 28, 2019

Canada has not had a strong Independent movement since Confederation when there were several Independent politicians in government. They were called “loose fish” and operated separately of political structures, explains John English, director of the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International history at Trinity College.

When the party system began to take hold at the turn of the century under Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, these “loose fish” declined in numbers. The party structure became the main source of funding for candidates and also provided patronage appointments to important positions such as the railway or the post office.

November 9, 2018

Independents made a brief resurgence in the Second World War. When Prime Minister Mackenzie King broke his promise of conscription, Quebec Liberals declared themselves Independent (but still affiliated with the Liberal party for the most part).

By the 1960s, Independents became especially rare in Canadians politics, limited only to “those candidates who got kicked out of their party or decided their interest didn’t align with party values or the party leader,” English said.

The debate over the strength and influence of central party power in politics isn’t new, either. Collenette says this discussion has been occurring within parties for years, but “the question now is larger because its not contained in the party anymore.”

Promising the moon

The main reason Canada doesn’t have more Independent politicians is because “they don’t win,” Thomas said. Before campaign finance legislation changes were created in 1974, local electoral campaign officers would identify supporters and then get supporter to learn the name of the candidate. Now, voters are more likely to recognize party labels than individual names.

David Moscrop, political scientist and author of “Too Dumb for Democracy,” agrees that central party authority needs to be loosened but worries about the tradeoffs. First, it’ll require a lot of cooperation from parties, civil service, staffers, leadership and media. (“I don’t think that is going to happen,” Moscrop says.) Then you have to balance loosening party control while maintaining party cohesion. (“How do you do that?” he asks.) (National Observer)