Random snippets from mostly U.S. newspapers. It’s interesting how familiar some of the stories from 100 years ago resemble those from 2020. If the print is too small to read simply click on the clipping.
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 20, 2019
The two men, who met at McGill, forged their bonds in debate club. In an interview with McGill News, Trudeau said the experience helped convince him he wasn’t cut out for a career as a lawyer or a debater.
January 21, 2016
Nonetheless, in 2013, like a throwback to his college days, he was smack back in a debate while running the campaign that would land him in the PMO, and Butts was advising during each commercial break.
“Butts … practically pinned his friend against the wall,” according to a 2015 Maclean’s profile. “He slung a jacketed arm over Trudeau’s shoulder and spoke in hushed tones, inches from his face. It wasn’t so much aggressive as intensely friendly — a boxer with his longtime coach — with Trudeau occasionally nodding at Butts’s words.”
January 12, 2007
That helped reinforce a stereotype that Butts served as the brain of the operations while Trudeau provided the charming smile and personality to woo voters.
Their life stories, are of course vastly different: Butts, 47, born to a coal miner and nurse in Cape Breton, graduated from McGill, and after earning a master’s degree even briefly pursued a PhD in literature at York University in Toronto.
Before finishing his degree, he entered politics, rose through the ranks of former Ontario Premier Dalton McGinty’s office and later became chief executive of World Wildlife Foundation-Canada.
90s sensation: Beavis & Butts
Trudeau, meanwhile, the son of a former prime minister, pursued a career as a teacher after McGill until decades later, Butts helped convince him to run for office.
“I often did get the sense that they often would finish each others’ sentences,” said Jonathan Kay, who helped Trudeau with his autobiography and was a columnist for the National Post.
Kay said their personalities helped balance each other out, and the stereotype of Butts as the brains behind the operation is a mistake.
“They were very much equals,” he said, adding, “when they’re together they balance each other out.” (Continued: Financial Post)
Returning to the pages of the Hamilton Spectator on November 27.
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday June 28, 2018
Doug Ford is set to officially become Ontario’s premier on Friday and he’s inviting the public to come watch.
A ceremony is scheduled to take place on the steps of the legislature after the Progressive Conservative leader and his cabinet are sworn in inside Queen’s Park.
While the indoor portion is closed to the public, the ceremony outside — which will see Ford reaffirm his oath of office and give a speech — is open to everyone.
Ford, who was elected to a majority earlier this month, has yet to say what size his cabinet will be or who will be appointed to each portfolio.
But he has made several other major announcements, including a pledge to scrap the province’s cap-and-trade system immediately once the legislature resumes.
He has also placed the public service under a hiring freeze and ordered that all discretionary spending be put on hold. (source: Global News)
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 18, 2018
The Bank of Canada raised its key lending rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.25 per cent Wednesday, the third time it has moved its benchmark rate from once-record lows last summer.
The bank’s rate has an impact on rates that Canadians get from retail banks for things like mortgages, savings accounts and GICs. The move means borrowers can expect to pay more, but savers can expect to earn more, too.
After the central bank moved in the morning, the Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank each hiked their prime lending rates by the same amount, 25 points, in the afternoon. The new rates of 3.45 per cent will be in effect as of Thursday, Jan. 18. Canada’s other big banks are expected to follow suit.
The Bank of Canada was widely expected to raise its key rate after economic data in recent months showed gross domestic product growing, the job market healthy and the cost of living ticking higher.
The bank’s benchmark rate is now at its highest level since 2009.
In the MPR, the bank nudged up its expectations for how the economy will perform this year and next. The bank now expects Canada’s economy to expand by 2.2 per cent this year and 1.6 per cent in 2019. Previously the bank was anticipating 2.1 and 1.5 per cent growth.
But while broadly positive about the economy’s prospects, the bank cited “uncertainty about the future of NAFTA” as a reason for concern moving forward. (Source: CBC)