2020-31

Thursday September 24, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 24, 2020

Covid: US death toll passes 200,000

More than 6.8 million people are known to have been infected in the US, more than in any other country. 

September 15, 2020

The milestone comes amid an increase in cases in a number of states, including North Dakota and Utah. 

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the new death toll was a “horrible thing” and claimed China “should have stopped” the virus. 

He also defended his record, claiming that had the US not taken action, “you could have two million, 2.5 or three million” dead. 

JHU reported the new death toll of 200,005 on Tuesday. The university has been collecting US and global coronavirus data since the outbreak began late last year in China. The first case in the US was confirmed in January.

President Trump’s administration has been repeatedly criticised over its handling of the outbreak. 

August 26, 2020

“Due to Donald Trump’s lies and incompetence in the past six months, [we] have seen one of the greatest losses of American life in history,” Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Monday. 

“With this crisis, a real crisis, a crisis that required serious presidential leadership, he just wasn’t up to it. He froze. He failed to act. He panicked. And America has paid the worst price of any nation in the world.”

But on the same day, Mr Trump said he and his administration had done “a phenomenal job” and gave himself an “A+” for his handling of the pandemic. 

He said the US was “rounding the corner on the pandemic, with or without a vaccine”. (BBC) 

 

Friday September 25, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 25, 2020

Feds begin new sitting by boosting COVID-19 recovery benefit

January 23, 2020

The federal government has announced it is increasing one of a trio of promised new COVID-19 aid benefits, to be equivalent to the amount received through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit that will expire at the end of the month, a move that may have secured the political support needed for the Liberal minority to stay afloat.

Kicking off the first full day of the new parliamentary session, the Liberals tabled Bill C-2 to implement the new benefits, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal minority seeks opposition support to avoid a snap election during a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The House of Commons began its as-normal-as-possible sitting for the first time since the pandemic put a pause on regular business back in March. Debate in response to Wednesday’s speech from the throne will continue throughout the day, offering more MPs time to speak to whether they liked what they heard, and if it’ll be enough for them to support the government in a confidence vote.

October 23, 2019

The minority Liberals will need to garner at least some support for the throne speech from across the aisle, or risk seeing their government fall. Early indications were that this support, may not be as secure as the Liberals might like. The Liberals currently hold 154 seats, the Conservatives have 121, the Bloc Québécois hold 32, the NDP have 24, the Green Party has three and there are two Independents and two vacancies.

The speech fixated primarily on how to keep supporting Canadians financially through COVID-19, while repairing inequalities the pandemic has exposed. Billed as “an ambitious plan for an unprecedented reality,” it included a commitment to keep up certain business aid benefits, to create a national child care and job creation plan, and emphasized that Canada has to tackle climate change, systemic racism, and gender inequity.

With the Conservatives already ardently against the speech, and the Bloc Quebecois sounding like they haven’t seen enough yet, but could come around if billions in new health funding is sent to the provinces, the Liberals are looking to the NDP for support.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh had said right after the throne speech that he wanted to see CERB extended and a form of paid sick leave implemented. (CTV) 

 

Tuesday September 29, 2020

Sketch summary from the First debate of the 2020 Presidential Election.

These were the moments that defined President Trump’s first presidential debate against Joe Biden.

Joe Biden faced a barrage of attacks from President Trump, but he fired back several times in ways that drifted outside expectations.

A full display of sketches drawn during the 2020 campaign can be viewed in Special Features.

 

2020 RNC
2020 DNC

 

Wednesday September 23, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 23, 2020

Trudeau, Payette may be headed for awkward encounter over throne speech, observers say

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Julie Payette are headed for what could be an uncomfortable public moment on Wednesday, when Payette delivers the speech from the throne while her office is under a cloud of controversy due to harassment claims.

December 5, 2019

The Governor General is always the centre of attention when a throne speech is presented — but never before like this.

Earlier this month, the Privy Council Office confirmed it had hired a private company to conduct a probe into claims of a toxic work environment and verbal harassment at Rideau Hall. The probe was triggered by a CBC News story detailing reports of mistreatment.

CBC News has spoken to more than 20 sources, including current public servants and former Rideau Hall employees, who say that Payette has created a toxic workplace by yelling at, belittling and publicly humiliating staff. Payette’s second-in-command and longtime friend, Assunta Di Lorenzo, also faces claims of bullying employees.

Political scientists and constitutional experts say they expect to see Trudeau and Payette going through the motions of the throne speech ceremony while trying to downplay any suggestions of underlying tension between the PMO and Rideau Hall.

August 8, 2020

“It’s an awkward situation,” said Michael Jackson, president of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada at Massey College in Toronto. “One has never seen as prolonged a criticism of a vice-regal person as in this particular case.”

Jackson said he plans to watch Payette’s delivery of the speech very closely to see if she adds any comments of her own. While the speech itself is written by the Prime Minister’s Office and outlines the government’s policy vision, governors general are the ones who actually read the speech publicly in the Senate chamber — and can also add a preamble about their own activities.

On occasion, past governors general have injected short passages into throne speeches touching on events of national importance, such as upcoming royal visits or anniversaries, Jackson said. The Privy Council Office, which receives a Governor General’s introductory text to be included in the speech, confirmed it “typically includes a few paragraphs.” 

But in a departure from the norm, Payette added 11 to 12 paragraphs to the speech in 2019 — including a reference to the shared “space-time continuum.”

July 14, 2017

“We share the same planet,” Payette said during the 2019 speech. “We know that we are inextricably bound to the same space-time continuum and on board the same planetary spaceship.”

“I thought it was surprising for the Governor General to put her own imprint on what is a speech by and for the government of the day. These kinds of almost platitudes and digressions confused many people,” Jackson said.

Philippe Lagassé of Ottawa’s Carleton University researches the roles of Parliament and the Crown in Westminster states like Canada. He said Payette feels strongly about protecting her privacy and how she’s portrayed in the media — and he wouldn’t be surprised if she makes some reference to the controversy swirling around her office in Wednesday’s speech.

“I think it will be interesting to see if Her Excellency makes a point of addressing the criticisms in some direct or indirect way,” he said. (CBC) 

 

Tuesday September 22, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 22, 2020

No charges laid at ‘mega meet’ car rally in Ancaster; Premier Ford calls gathering ‘totally unacceptable’

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling an impromptu car “mega meet” that saw several hundred people gather in an Ancaster parking lot Saturday night “totally unacceptable” amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

July 29, 2008

Speaking to media Sunday, Hamilton police Supt. Will Mason said officers arrived at the parking lot of the Ancaster Cineplex Cinemas at 771 Golf Links Rd just shortly after 6 p.m. following a tip from the Project Eliminate Racing Activity on Streets Everywhere (ERASE) team.

Mason said the task force — which consists of the OPP as well as York and Peel Regional Police forces — had informed Hamilton police that an event coined “Mega Meet 2.0” was planned for that evening in the area. 

When officers arrive on scene, Mason said they found a “large group” of vehicles already setting up in the parking lot. 

Over the next hour, Mason said the group “swelled” to completely fill the movie theatre lot, the adjacent Indigo bookstore lot and had “spilled” into the smaller surrounding lots.

In a statement Sunday, Ford said the “reckless behaviour” seen in the lots was “totally unacceptable.”

“While Ontario has made incredible progress in the fight against COVID-19, we cannot take that progress for granted,” he added. 

With an initial response of three Hamilton police officers, Mason said the force called in the ERASE team for assistance to “prevent a repeat of previous incidents.”

May 26, 2020

No charges — neither traffic violations or for gathering in large groups — were laid during the police response, said Mason. 

On Saturday morning, Ford announced that the province would be clamping down on the number of people allowed at social gatherings in Ontario to slow the spread of the virus. 

Effective immediately, private, unmonitored gatherings are to be limited to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors. 

Saturday evening’s event garnered several hundred people — well beyond the limit, said Mason. 

“The goal at that time was to disperse the crowd as quickly as possible. That helps us mitigate both the risk of COVID-19 as well as the risk of street racing,” he said. “Stopping all of those individuals and issuing fines just exacerbates the size and the duration of that gathering.” (Hamilton Spectator)