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Thursday September 12, 2019

September 12, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 12, 2019

There is deep angst in Canada ahead of this fall’s election

We may have voted for hope, optimism and sunny days in 2015 but Canadians don’t appear to be very optimistic heading into the Fall of 2019.

August 14, 2014

Canadians do see a strong economy right now. Assessment of their personal finances has gone from 32 per cent positive (Q4 2015) to 46 per cent today and their assessment of their job security has grown from 39 per cent positive (Q4 2015) to 52 per cent today.

On the eve of the writ dropping, one would assume from these numbers that the federal Liberals would very much like to have the 2019 ballot question be: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”

But it won’t be, because despite these views and some impressive economic numbers at the macro level, Canadians aren’t optimistic about their longer-term prospects. Pocket-book issues and concerns over affordability are a common thread connecting most of the top issues Canadians identify as priorities: healthcare, the economy, housing, climate change, and taxes.

Our concerns are more than economic. There is deep angst about the direction of the country. Canadians are questioning the value and the very role of government, politicians and political parties in their lives and many politicians are going to run into the buzz saw of growing cynicism once they start knocking on doors. For starters:

January 3, 2014

* 67 per cent (unchanged since 2016) agree that the country’s economy is rigged to the advantage of the rich and powerful

* 61 per cent (vs. 56 per cent in 2016) agree that “traditional parties and politicians don’t care about people like me”

* 57 per cent (vs. in 47 per cent November 2016) say the country is “going in the wrong direction”

* 52 per cent (up dramatically from 37 per cent in 2016) agree that “Canadian society is broken”

This level of angst and cynicism among Canadians is going to pose a challenge for all political parties. Delivering policy ideas along with messaging to motivate supporter turn-out will be difficult, and they will need to find a balance between positive, forward-looking messages and empathetic, “we get you now” messages.

Imagine if you were a federal candidate hearing this at the door while looking for a vote: “I think the economy is stacked against me, I don’t think you care about me, I think our society is broken and our country is headed in the wrong direction. Tell me how you are going to fix this and why I should vote for you?” (Global News) 

 

Friday November 2, 2018

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday November 2, 2018

Statistics Canada’s request for banking data of 500,000 Canadians provokes privacy investigation

June 22, 2010

Federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien says he is investigating Statistics Canada’s request for private banking information on 500,000 Canadians.

Therrien said Wednesday that numerous people have complained to his office about the agency’s effort to gather detailed information on transactions held by Canadian financial institutions, from cash-machine withdrawals to credit-card payments to account balances.

The formal investigation will include an examination of the requests Statistics Canada has made to businesses in multiple industries for data they collect on their customers and business partners, he said.

Canada’s chief statistician, Anil Arora, said traditional methods of gathering data aren’t good enough to measure Canada’s economy and changes in society.

February 17, 2014

“More than 75 per cent of purchases are conducted online by Canadians and Statistics Canada has to have access to these data in order to provide all Canadians with the timely and quality statistics they need in areas such as housing and debt and the impacts of transitioning to a gig economy,” Arora said.

Therrien’s last report to Parliament mentioned Statistics Canada’s growing reliance on “administrative data sources,” mainly information collected by businesses about their customers. Many of those businesses have contacted the privacy commissioner to make sure that sharing it is OK, his report said.

Therrien suggested that wherever possible, Statistics Canada should tell the companies involved to strip names and identifying information from the data before sending it over.

August 23, 2016

“To ensure transparency, we recommended StatCan let the Canadian public know how and why it is increasing its collection of data from administrative and other non-traditional sources,” the report said.

Arora said the privacy commissioner was consulted as Statistics Canada planned its pilot project on financial data, but added he has asked Therrien to take a second look.

Statistics Canada can compel businesses to supply a wide range of data.

“I understand the concerns that Canadians have and want to assure them that their personal information is carefully protected and never shared publicly,” Arora said.(Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

Link to Cartoon on TheSpec.com. 

 

Thursday December 8, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Thursday December 8, 2016 Families could pay up to $420 more for food in 2017, report finds The average Canadian family may need to dish out as much as $420 more for food next year Ñ and consumers could have president-elect Donald Trump to thank for part of the price bump, the lead author of a new report says. Canada's Food Price Report, published by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, was released Monday evening. The annual report, which looks ahead to 2017, cites weather disruptions caused by La Nina, energy-related costs Ñ including the potential effect of carbon pricing on the agricultural sector Ñ and a weak Canadian dollar as factors in the expected price hikes. Economists forecast the loonieÊcould fall as low as 70 cents US in 2017, and a weaker dollar would reduce the buying power of importers. "Everything we actually import from everywhere will increase in price," says Sylvain Charlebois, lead author of the report. But Charlebois, who works with the faculties of management and agriculture at Dalhousie, suggests there's one more major factor that could contribute to the increase in food prices: the incoming U.S. President. "We are expecting Canadian shoppers to be Trumped at the grocery store," said Sylvain Charlebois, lead author of the report. The annual report, which has come from the University of Guelph in years past, says the "proverbial sweet spot for food inflation" is between one and two per cent each year.ÊÊAt that rate, the increases are manageable for restaurateurs, grocery stores and consumers, the authors say. The latest report looks forward to 2017 and finds that food prices could increase between three per cent and five per cent Ñ with meat, vegetables, fish and other seafood projected to jump by as much as four to six per cent. Regionally, Ontario and British Columbia are expected to see most of the increases. (Source: CBC)Êhttp://www.cbc.ca/news/business/food

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 8, 2016

Families could pay up to $420 more for food in 2017, report finds

The average Canadian family may need to dish out as much as $420 more for food next year — and consumers could have president-elect Donald Trump to thank for part of the price bump, the lead author of a new report says.

December 11, 2015

Canada’s Food Price Report, published by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, was released Monday evening.

The annual report, which looks ahead to 2017, cites weather disruptions caused by La Nina, energy-related costs — including the potential effect of carbon pricing on the agricultural sector — and a weak Canadian dollar as factors in the expected price hikes.

Economists forecast the loonie could fall as low as 70 cents US in 2017, and a weaker dollar would reduce the buying power of importers.

Friday April 25, 2014“Everything we actually import from everywhere will increase in price,” says Sylvain Charlebois, lead author of the report.

But Charlebois, who works with the faculties of management and agriculture at Dalhousie, suggests there’s one more major factor that could contribute to the increase in food prices: the incoming U.S. President.

“We are expecting Canadian shoppers to be Trumped at the grocery store,” said Sylvain Charlebois, lead author of the report.

 

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday April 6, 2016 Panama Papers: Document leak exposes global corruption, secrets of the rich The financial secrets of heads of state, athletes, billionaires and drug lords have been exposed in the latest Ñ and biggest ever Ñ leak of records from an offshore tax haven. The leak includes 11.5 million confidential documents shedding light on the assets and murky fiscal dealings of everyone from the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan to soccer player Leo Messi, movie star Jackie Chan and associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The records, dating as far back as 1977, come from a little-known but highly influential Panama-based law firm called Mossack Fonseca, which has 500 staff working in 40-plus countries. The firm is one of the world's top creators of shell companies Ñ corporate structures that can be used to hide ownership of assets. German newspaper SŸddeutsche Zeitung obtained the files from a source and shared them with global media partners, including CBC News and the Toronto Star, through the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. CBC News will be exploring more of what's in the documents, including Canadian connections, in a series of stories this week. "These findings show how deeply ingrained harmful practices and criminality are in the offshore world," said Gabriel Zucman, an economist at the University of California at Berkeley and author of The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens. Zucman, who was briefed on the media partners' investigation, said the release of the leaked documents should prompt governments to seek "concrete sanctions" against jurisdictions and institutions that peddle offshore secrecy. While offshore accounts are not in themselves illegal, the leaked records show they are often used to shield illicit dealings. In a written response to questions from the media consortium, Mossack Fonseca said it "do

April 6, 2016

The annual report, which has come from the University of Guelph in years past, says the “proverbial sweet spot for food inflation” is between one and two per cent each year.  At that rate, the increases are manageable for restaurateurs, grocery stores and consumers, the authors say.

The latest report looks forward to 2017 and finds that food prices could increase between three per cent and five per cent — with meat, vegetables, fish and other seafood projected to jump by as much as four to six per cent. Regionally, Ontario and British Columbia are expected to see most of the increases. (Source: CBC)

 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Thursday, March 21, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday, March 21, 2013

Manulife withdraws low mortgage rate

Manulife has rescinded a promotional offer it had been offering consumers of a record-low five-year mortgage rate after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty indicated his displeasure with the lender’s decision.

On Tuesday, Manulife Bank dropped its posted interest rate for a five-year fixed-rate mortgage to 2.89 per cent. That’s the lowest posted rate for that time frame the company has ever offered. But in an about-face later in the day, the company pulled the offering and reverted to its former rate above three per cent.

“After consulting with the Department of Finance, Manulife Bank has withdrawn the promotional campaign and reverted to our previous posted rate,” the company said in a statement.

Earlier this month, Bank of Montreal made headlines by dropping its benchmark five-year rate to 2.99 per cent. Ottawa expressed fears at the time that it might spark a race to the bottom and encourage more reckless borrowing from Canadians at a time when policymakers were urging them to tighten their belts.

“My expectation is that banks will engage in prudent lending — not the type of ‘race to the bottom’ practices that led to a mortgage crisis in the United States,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said of BMO’s move.

On Tuesday, Flaherty told reporters he was pleased with Manulife’s decision to withdraw the offer.

“I had one of my staff call them and indicate my displeasure, which is the same thing I did with BMO, except I called myself,” the finance minister said. (Source: CBC News)

Saturday October 15, 2011

Saturday October 15, 2011Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 15, 2011

Hours later, Occupy Toronto takes to the streets

After nearly a three-hour discussion of if and when they should march, Occupy Toronto demonstrators finally took the streets and marched to Dundas Square. Their occupation lasted only 10 minutes, before the group walked back to St. James park.

The group chanted “we say fight back” and “we are the 99 per cent” as they marched on the roads, while also stopping at traffic signals.

The next general meeting at 6 pm will likely focus around plans for Monday as the financial district reopens for business.

Jim FlahertyOccupy Toronto demonstrators want to discuss and make decisions collectively, but the large group size without a hierarchy speaking order means discussions frequently are tangential and meander between logistics, political rhetoric and procedural issues.

As one participant said in frustration, “I’m not even sure what we are discussing right now.”

“This is really frustrating,” said another participant Michael Goodbaum, 23. “I don’t even know why we are trying to reach consensus on the structure of the protest, when we should actually be out protesting. But I don’t really want to criticize the movement, because these are just growing pains.”

The group also ditched the people’s mic system – where the crowd repeats everything a speaker says – for a short while in favour of using a megaphone for “accessibility issues” for people who find the repetition distracting and difficult to understand.

Others were concerned that some of the participants might have more control over the group’s actions, because of their involvement in the action or facilitation committees. (Continued: Globe & Mail)