2019-14

Thursday April 18, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 18, 2019

Ontario gas stations could be fined $10,000 a day for missing anti-carbon-tax stickers

Buried in Ontario’s budget bill are fines of up to $10,000 per day for gas station operators who don’t display government-mandated stickers about the price of the carbon tax.

August 17, 2016

The budget contains a new piece of legislation called the Federal Carbon Tax Transparency Act that would require gas stations to display the sticker on each pump. The sticker shows the federal carbon tax adding 4.4 cents per litre to the price of gas now, rising to 11 cents a litre in 2022.

The legislation lets the government send inspectors to see if gas stations are properly displaying the stickers and sets out penalties for non-compliance.

Individuals could be fined up to $500 each day, or up to $1,000 a day for subsequent offences. Corporations could be fined up to $5,000 a day, or up to $10,000 a day for subsequent offences.

Obstructing an inspector would carry a fine of at least $500 and up to $10,000.

December 1, 2018

“This is a new low, even for (Premier) Doug Ford,” NDP energy critic Peter Tabuns said in a statement. “It’s bad enough that he’s wasting public money on partisan promotion, but now he’s threatening private business owners with massive fines for failing to post [Progressive] Conservative Party advertisement.”

Similar critiques came from federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, who denounced the fines as “ridiculous.”

“Not only is this a violation of freedom of speech, it will cost small business owners across the province who don’t want to take part in this government propaganda campaign,” McKenna said in a statement.

“This should be denounced by all political parties as a new low for our political discourse.”

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said Ford is wasting tax dollars and abusing legal tools to bolster his anti-carbon tax campaign.

“This has nothing to do with transparency and everything to do with helping his federal cousins win the election,” Schreiner said in a statement. (CBC News) 

 

Wednesday April 17, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday April 17, 2019

What Jason Kenney’s UCP victory in Alberta could mean for the rest of Canada

After a bitter four-week campaign fraught with controversies and personal attacks, Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party has unseated Rachel Notley and the NDP in Alberta’s provincial election.

October 6, 2018

The UCP win marks a return to centre-right politics for Alberta after Notley disrupted 44 years of Progressive Conservative rule with her win in 2015. It also marks the first time a government has failed to win a renewed mandate in the province on its first try.

Holding on to 24 seats, Alberta’s NDP have been relegated to opposition status while the UCP will enjoy a majority rule after winning 63 seats on Tuesday night.

Much of the campaign focused on Alberta’s struggling economy, employment, and building pipelines after global oil prices crashed in 2015 and thrust the province into a recession.

Standing before cheering supporters after his victory on Tuesday night, Kenney announced the province was now “open for business” and vowed to stand up for Albertans.

As the premier-designate prepares to “fight back” against the federal government, here’s what the election results could mean for the rest of the country.

Kenney’s win in Alberta is expected to be a major headache for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after the former federal cabinet member repeatedly vowed during the campaign to challenge the federal Liberals on everything from the provincial carbon tax to how Ottawa distributes funds to the provinces for government services.

David Stewart, a political sciences professor at the University of Calgary, said Kenney has made it clear that he plans to have a confrontational relationship with the federal government.

“I think they [Trudeau government] should be prepared for the end of the carbon tax, the end of any kind of cooperation on climate change with the province of Alberta, and from having any kind of ally in this part of the country,” Stewart told CTV News Channel after the election results came in.

Kenney has already promised to push for a cut in federal income taxes on Albertans as well as changes to Employment Insurance to better assist those who lost their jobs during the energy recession.

The former federal cabinet minister under Prime Minister Stephen Harper has also taken aim at how federal money is redistributed to provinces. He has also threatened to hold a referendum in 2021 to remove equalization, a program that forces “have” provinces to give money to Ottawa to distribute to “have not” provinces.

Even Notley’s working relationship with Trudeau came under fire during the lead-up to the election, with Kenney accusing them of a “Trudeau-Notley alliance” that put Ottawa’s interests ahead of the province. (Source: CTV News)

Jason Kenney Before he became premier gallery

July 16, 2009
July 16, 2009
July 11, 2012
July 11, 2012
May 15, 2013
May 15, 2013
2015-06-12
2015-06-12
October 16, 2015
October 16, 2015
May 31, 2016
May 31, 2016
October 6, 2018
October 6, 2018

 

Tuesday April 16, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday April 16, 2019

Fire torches Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

A massive fire engulfed the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of the French capital Monday, toppling its spire and sending thick plumes of smoke high into the blue sky as tourists and Parisians watched in horror from the streets below.

November 16, 2015

A spokesman said the entire wooden frame of the cathedral would likely come down, and that the vault of the edifice could be threatened too.

“Everything is burning, nothing will remain from the frame,” Notre Dame spokesman Andre Finot told French media. The 12th-century cathedral is home to incalculable works of art and is one of the world’s most famous tourist attractions.

The cause of the catastrophic blaze was not known, but French media quoted the Paris fire brigade as saying the fire is “potentially linked” to a 6 million-euro renovation project on the church’s spire and its 250 tons of lead. Prosecutors opened an investigation as Paris police said there were no reported deaths.

Flames shot out of the roof behind the nave of the cathedral, among the most visited landmarks in the world. Hundreds of people lined up bridges around the island that houses the cathedral, watching in shock as acrid smoke rose in plumes.

The iconic building in the center of the city is the most visited monument in Paris, with more than 12 million visitors a year — nearly double the people who visit Eiffel Tower.

February 22, 2003

French President Emmanuel Macron postponed a televised speech to the nation because of the stunning blaze and was going to the cathedral himself.

Paris deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said emergency services are trying to salvage the famed art pieces stored in the cathedral.

Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, Notre Dame is the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages as well as one of the most beloved structures in the world. Situated on the Ile de la Cite, an island in the Seine, the cathedral’s architecture is famous for, among other things, its many gargoyles and its iconic flying buttresses.

Among the most celebrated artworks inside are its three stained-glass rose windows, placed high up on the west, north and south faces of the cathedral. Its priceless treasures also include a Catholic relic, the crown of thorns, which is only occasionally displayed, including on Fridays during Lent.

The cathedral was immortalized in Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” published in 1831, and has long been a subject of fascination in popular culture as well as the traditional art world. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

“Watch Those Flames Lick That Spire” – I couldn’t help the fact that this 1980’s song from the HouseMartins re-ran through my head as the Cathedral burned:

 

Saturday April 13, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 13, 2019

How Doug Ford’s budget has hurt Trudeau and helped Scheer

The sound coming out of Conservative backrooms on Parliament Hill in the hours following the presentation of this week’s Ontario budget was that of a collective sigh of relief.

April 12, 2019

From Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer’s perspective, his party dodged a pre-election bullet on Thursday.

By all indications, Premier Doug Ford’s fiscal plan will provide the Trudeau Liberals with less lethal ammunition to use against their Conservative rivals in the upcoming federal campaign than they had hoped for.

Yes, the fact that Ontario will remain in the red beyond Ford’s current term in office is liable to blunt Conservative Party of Canada attacks on the ruling Liberals for accumulating deficit upon deficit since they have taken power.

But it will also make it more difficult for Trudeau to turn the tables on Scheer and predict that the election of a Conservative government would result in a fiscal bloodbath.

November 20, 2018

And yes, the course charted in Thursday’s budget will — over time — impoverish Ontario’s social services. The plan to keep the growth in program spending below the rate of inflation for the next five years cannot but result in a thinner social safety net. The province’s most vulnerable constituencies stand to be the first and the hardest hit.

But the full impact on most Ontarians of the measures sketched out on Thursday will not have been felt by the time Scheer and his Conservatives go door-knocking next fall.

July 28, 2018

In the immediate, the first batch of post-budget media analysis has left federal Conservative strategists with an embarrassment of riches to counter the Liberals’ post-budget apocalyptic scenarios.

Take this summation by my columnist colleague Martin Regg Cohn: “There are no savage cuts in the first Ford-Fedeli budget, which could easily have been delivered by former premier Dalton McGuinty back when he belatedly discovered austerity.”

Or this one from Globe and Mail columnist Tim Kiladze: “If anything, it looks more like something that would come from the Liberals he replaced — the ones he swore had been reckless with the province’s finances.”

Those comments were not written to complement the Ford Tories but to highlight the gap between their rhetoric and their actual budget. (Source: Chantal Hebert, Toronto Star) 

 

Friday April 12, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday April 12, 2019

Ontario tightens purse strings, PCs don’t plan to balance books until 2023-24

May 17, 2018

Ontario’s books won’t be balanced within the Progressive Conservatives’ mandate, but the government’s first budget serves up an era of gradual belt-tightening with a side of booze.

The Tories peg the current deficit at $11.7 billion, and they don’t expect to eliminate the red ink until 2023-24. Drastic and widespread cuts that many had feared did not materialize in this budget, but the path to balance shows that much of the heavy lifting comes at the halfway mark to the next election, and after it.

March 27, 2009

The budget constrains spending growth – and shows cuts in post-secondary and social services – but is still nearly $5 billion larger than the last budget from the previous Liberal government, who the Progressive Conservatives often slam for their spending habits.

“We have developed a reasonable path to balance,” Finance Minister Vic Fedeli said. “Our path to balance in five years is a thoughtful and a measured approach to take … Our entire premise is to protect what matters most.”

The budget contains no new taxes. In addition to tackling the deficit, the government is also taking aim at the net debt – currently pegged at $343 billion – through ensuring surpluses and unused reserve or contingency funds go to paying it down.

March 20, 2004

As well, planned legislation would require the government to develop a debt burden reduction strategy, and make the premier and finance minister pay 10 per cent of their salaries for each missed reporting deadline for documents such as the budget and quarterly economic accounts. (Source: Global News)