2022-16

Thursday May 12, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 12, 2022

Use Highway 407 to ease GTA traffic woes

Premier Doug Ford raised some eyebrows last week when he talked about highways, and actually made a lot of sense.

December 11, 2018

That’s not what we’ve become accustomed to hearing from the premier in this area. He seems bound and determined to build new highways wherever he can, no matter the financial cost and environmental consequences.

But when it comes to Highway 407, the underused, mostly private toll route across the northern GTA, Ford hit the bullseye.

“I would never have sold it,” he said. “What did they sell it for, $3 billion? And it’s worth, what, $20 billion now? So I don’t believe in selling off toll roads.”

Two things on that. First, current estimates actually put the value of Highway 407 closer to $30 billion, making the sale back in 1999 look even more foolish. And second, it was a Progressive Conservative government, the one led by Mike Harris, that sold off the highway for what we can now see amounted to a handful of beans.

But never mind. Ford wasn’t part of that government and it’s a long time ago. The essential point is that even a PC premier can now see the folly of selling a valuable public asset for far below its long-term worth.

Wednesday May 10, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 10, 2022

As cost of living soars, affordability becomes top Ontario election issue

August 14, 2014

In every Ontario election poll that’s publicly available, the number one concern of voters is the rising cost of living. 

Affordability has rocketed past the perennial top issues of health — even after two years of a global pandemic — and jobs, with the unemployment rate at record lows. 

While the Ontario party leaders are often talking on the campaign trail about making life more affordable, it’s a wonder that they’re not hammering the issue even harder, given how strongly it’s resonating with voters.

“The smart politicians won’t just talk about [the cost of living] as an issue, they will understand it’s a character test,” said Greg Lyle, a veteran pollster and president of Innovative Research Group.

Tuesday May 10, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 10, 2022

Ontario Liberals pledge they would bring back Grade 13 on an optional basis

Young Doug Ford: The Series

The Ontario Liberals would reintroduce an optional Grade 13 to allow students to catch up on learning lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, leader Steven Del Duca said on the campaign trail Friday.

The measure that would be brought in if the Liberals were elected next month would not be a “victory lap,” the party leader said, and would be available for a minimum of four years.

“This is going to be a structured option for our kids,” Del Duca said in a park near a high school in Kitchener, Ont.

“Structured so that they can get more mental health supports, so that they can learn more about personal finances, so that they can learn more about civics and citizen engagement and all of the tools that they need to be able to catch up from the past couple of years.”

Saturday May 7, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 7, 2022

Let’s take a deep breath over Roe V. Wade

Could we all take a deep breath?

May 13, 2017

A leaked draft decision from the U.S. Supreme Court about abortion has created a bizarre political firestorm here in Canada. The most dangerous place to be these days is between a live microphone and a Canadian politician wanting to tell us how they will fight until their dying breath to protect Canadian women against the insidious evil emanating from south of the border.

Can we bring a little sanity to the situation?

First, the court has not banned abortions. A draft internal document was leaked on a case challenging abortion law which may or may not reflect the court’s final decision. If the leaked decision stands, abortion will lose its constitutional protection and individual state legislatures will be able to regulate or outlaw it. Although a dramatic change, it would not create a nationwide ban

This case has no effect on Canada where there hasn’t been an abortion law since 1988 when the Canadian Supreme Court found the existing law unconstitutional. No successive government was able to come up with a replacement and no major Canadian political party currently supports reopening the issue. Although several Conservative MPs and a second-tier leadership candidate have tried to raise restrictions, it is simply not on the political radar.