2019-24

Wednesday July 10, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday July 10, 2019

Doug Ford says he acted ‘immediately’ on patronage scandal caused by former chief of staff Dean French

Premier Doug Ford says he addressed the patronage scandal created by his former chief of staff Dean French “immediately.”

June 27, 2019

Taking media questions in public for the first time since the controversy broke late last month, Ford — in Alberta Monday for the Calgary Stampede before heading to a meeting of premiers in Saskatoon — said “you know something, I think I addressed that pretty quickly. As a matter of fact, I addressed that immediately when we were in Toronto.”

However, he added, “we aren’t here to talk about Dean French. We’re here to talk about internal trade. This is the first opportunity this country has ever seen in recent memory that from coast to coast, from the east to the west, we have like-minded premiers” which is “incredible for the entire nation.”

Ford also accused the media of wanting “to get into the weeds” when the public wants to know about jobs and the economy.

“Do you really think when I walk down the street in Alberta, people worry about Dean French?” Ford added.

Opposition critics immediately slammed Ford. NDP MP Taras Natyshak (Essex) said the premier was “hiding out instead of taking responsibility for the patronage appointment scandal that has rocked his government,” adding he “finally popped his head up only to pass the buck in Cowtown.”

April 17, 2019

Natyshak said “make no mistake about it, Doug Ford is the conductor of his own gravy train. He hands out tickets to his cronies and he ditches them when he gets caught. Ontarians expect better conduct from the premier of this province.”

Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser said Ford’s evasiveness when asked about French “demonstrates a lack of respect for the people of Ontario.”

The Calgary gathering of five premiers — Ford, Alberta’s Jason Kenney, Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe, Blaine Higgs of New Brunswick and Bob McLeod of Northwest Territories — comes ahead of this week’s meeting of all premiers and territorial leaders at the Council of the Federation.

Kenney characterized the pre-meeting — which included a visit to the Calgary Stampede — as a “brief and fairly informal get-together” to talk about jobs and the economy.

Moe, the host of this year’s federation meeting in Saskatoon, said the five are a “table of mutual interest” and not an ideological group, despite their similar political leanings. (Hamilton Spectator)  

 

Saturday June 29, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday June 29, 2019

Time to remind the G20 there’s more to Canada’s economy than trade with China

China’s latest trade attack — this time on exports of Canadian meat — is a fresh warning of the current volatility in global commerce.

As the world’s largest trading nations gather at the G20 summit in Japan this week, there have been stern warnings that a failure to resolve the tariff dispute between the United States and China will have a dire effect on the entire global economy.

But despite repeated warnings of trade Armageddon, the North American economy has shown itself to be surprisingly resilient and the latest economic indicators tell us that Canada is actually doing quite well.

And as painful as it is for Canadian producers that have benefited from the Chinese market, the dark cloud of politically motivated trade action may have a silver lining.

For one thing, it tells Canadian exporters that China, willing to cast aside a long, close trading relationship in favour of  short-term political bullying, may not be a reliable trade partner.

For another, it is a reminder that, for Canada, exports to China are by no means the only game in town.

Certainly in the run-up to the G20 meeting in Osaka that officially begins Friday, spillover from the U.S.-China trade battle has been seen as a key subject of discussion. Whether there is any hope of a resolution is widely disputed.

“We were about 90 per cent of the way there and I think there’s a path to complete this,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin this week, insisting he is optimistic talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will lead to progress.

But there have been many other signals from the U.S. administration that there are large issues outstanding. Trump has warned of a “plan B” — including more tariffs — if China does not back down.

So far Xi has been equally intransigent, unwilling to give up key elements of his country’s long-term technology plan, the Made in China 2025 strategy, in exchange for short-term trade peace.

Between those two poles, Canada has been caught in the middle. U.S. hostility toward China, including its demand that Canada arrest Chinese Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, has led directly to the Canada-China dispute. (CBC) 

 

Friday June 28, 2019

June 28, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday June 28, 2019

Canada has ‘broad international coalition’ of support on China file, Freeland says

Canada is fortunate to have assembled a “broad international coalition” of countries who support Canada and believe arbitrary detentions are harmful, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Friday at the G20 summit in Osaka.

August 10, 2018

Freeland, who spoke to reporters alongside her cabinet colleague Finance Minister Bill Morneau, said China has been hearing about the detention of two Canadians from a range of countries, adding that efforts continue here at the summit.

The Prime Minister’s Office said Trudeau had “brief, constructive interactions” with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the first day of meetings at the gathering of major economies.

Video footage from a working lunch on Friday showed the two leaders sitting beside each other but not interacting for several minutes while cameras were positioned on them. Trudeau could be seen making an effort to interact with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, located on his other side.

Trudeau and Xi greeted each other prior to the interaction in the footage, government officials said.

December 5, 2017

Canada has been open for a long time to having conversations with China in addition to discussions unfolding at some diplomatic levels, Freeland said Friday, adding it remains “very, very open” to having conversations at the summit at higher level.

At present, communication has proved to be difficult because the Chinese have indicated they have no interest in speaking with senior officials including Freeland or Trudeau.

To try and get through to China, Canada is now relying heavily on the influence of U.S. President Donald Trump to raise the issue in his own bilateral meeting with the Chinese president on Saturday. The president committed to doing so following a meeting last week with Trudeau in Washington.

Freeland wouldn’t speak to whether there was a specific ask of Trump going into the meeting, adding it is never prudent or appropriate to detail private meetings with partners.

June 22, 2019

In addition to having the backing of the U.S., the prime minister has been trying to establish heightened support as part of a strategy to encourage China to release two Canadians detained in China and to put an end to diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

The arrests of the detained Canadians is largely viewed as retaliation for the December arrest of Chinese high tech executive Meng Wanzhou.

Meng remains under house arrest in Vancouver, where she awaits extradition to the U.S. to face allegations of fraud in violating Iran sanctions.

It is important to see whether Trump does indeed raise the issue of the detentions, how he does that, and whether it has any impact, said Thomas Bernes, a fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation, a research think-tank. (CBC News) 

 

Thursday June 27, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 27, 2019

Doug Ford to review appointments after Dean French’s niece resigns

Premier Doug Ford is investigating the French connections in the wake of the cronyism scandal embroiling his Progressive Conservative government.

March 22, 2019

Ford “called for a review of all pending appointments” on Tuesday after a relative of his former chief of staff, Dean French, resigned from the province’s Public Accountants Council.

French, who stepped down after a separate nepotism imbroglio on Friday night, is the uncle of Katherine Pal, managing director of Pal Insurance.

Pal had been named as a provincial appointee to the council on Dec. 31.

“When the premier found out about this one, he hit the roof,” said a senior Ford official, speaking confidentially in order to discuss internal conversations.

“He didn’t know about this personal connection so he’s called for a review of all pending appointments. He was really unhappy,” the government insider said.

Indeed, Ford sent a damage-control note to Tory MPPs underscoring that French has been defenestrated.

March 8, 2019

“I need to be clear he no longer has a role in our government or the party,” the premier wrote to caucus members.

“Dean’s advice and support has been appreciated, but he no longer has any influence in this government.”

French was a source of aggravation for the premier due to his headline-grabbing antics, such as loudly berating Tory MPPs and staffers.

French resigned Friday night, just hours after the premier revoked two patronage appointments he had pushed through.

French had installed his wife’s cousin, Taylor Shields, as the $185,000-a-year Ontario agent general to London, England and his son’s 26-year-old lacrosse buddy, Tyler Albrecht, as the province’s $164,910-a-year trade representative in New York.

January 12, 2019

After Ford rescinded the appointments, two cabinet ministers personally urged him on Friday morning to fire French for embarrassing the government.

The Tories felt blindsided because they assumed they would have to defend the other two patronage appointees named Thursday afternoon as Queen’s Park was preoccupied with a massive cabinet shuffle.

The patronage debacle is especially problematic to Ford, who on Saturday railed against “the downtown insiders … (and) media who criticize us at every single step.”

He charged that his opponents are “a select few (that) can’t stand that we are taking their hands out of the cookie jar.”

But opposition parties say Ford is the one driving the “gravy train.” (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Wednesday June 26, 2019

June 26, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday June 26, 2019

Get ready for disinformation in election season

Were you among the Ontarians who received a text this weekend asking if you agree the federal carbon tax needs to be scrapped?

September 17, 2015

If so, you’re in good company. We don’t know how many got the text, purporting to be from Sue with a group called Ontario Strong. Could be a few hundred, could be thousands.

If you responded, chances are you were used. Indications are this was an attempt to identify anti-carbon tax voters so they can be lobbied in the coming election.

What’s wrong with that? For one thing that declaration wasn’t made. There was no attributing information on the text other than Ontario Strong. The group is little known and no credible political or lobbying group wants to be identified as being involved. There is no contact information. No information as to what Ontario Strong is about.

Speculation is that it is tied somehow to conservative interests that want to see the Trudeau Liberals defeated. But the usual suspects deny involvement.

August 1, 2013

Welcome to the summer election campaign. It may not be official yet, but it’s real nonetheless. And there is every reason to believe fake news and trickery like this will become more and more common in the weeks and months leading up to the formal campaign.

There are rules regulating this sort of shady political advocacy. After June 30 anyone spending more than $500 is supposed to register with Elections Canada as a third party lobbyist, adhere to stated spending limits and disclose who they are, what they stand for and, eventually, where they get their money.

Well established lobby groups — Shaping Canada’s Future is one on the conservative side while Engage Canada is on the other side — will follow the rules. But many others, some little more than a zealot in his basement and others with more sophisticated infrastructure, probably won’t. And their messages will be out there. On social media. On quickly assembled websites. In texts and emails.

June 12, 2019

CBC journalists and researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab recently reported on how a disinformation campaign, which is believed to have originated in Iran, tried to get Canadian media outlets to amplify fake news. It worked in at least one case.

Reuters reported a fake story which said that six Arab countries had asked FIFA to prevent Qatar from hosting the 2022 World Cup. Global News picked up the story and gave it new legs with a national audience. Global later corrected the story.

The Iranian scammers also tried to drum up attention for a fake story claiming the CIA had backed a failed coup in Turkey.

Canadians, including thousands of Twitter users, were among the targets of this disinformation. While the subjects involved may not be relevant to average citizens, they will become more so as the election campaigns ramps up.

Politically motivated misinformation and fake news are not some distant threat. Like climate change, they’re happening right here and now. Just as we’re seeing first hand what damage climate change can bring, we’re seeing fake news in action. Our only protection is education and awareness. (Hamilton Spectator)