Beer

Helping the Hosers

Illustration by Graeme MacKay – Friday February 17, 2023

Bob & Doug McKenzie take on a beer tax hike

A couple of hosers are telling the Liberal government to take off over its plans to introduce a 6.3% tax increase for beer in April.

July 23, 2004

Working with scriptwriters Larry MacInnis and former MacLean’s humour columnist Scott Feschuk, actors Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas have resurrected their beloved Canadiana characters Bob and Doug McKenzie for a series of scrappy, quick-turnaround radio ads that use their trademark humour to take on the planned tax increase.

The national radio campaign is from Beer Canada, an advocacy organization representing 50 brewers ranging in size from the Canadian divisions of the global multinationals, to regional brewers and what president CJ Hélie describes as a “smattering” of the country’s small craft brewers.

It is one of the first public outreach campaigns from Beer Canada as part of a new communications mandate under Hélie, a longtime beverage alcohol executive who joined the organization in 2021. “I believe that to be successful in government advocacy, you need to convince the public and the general electorate,” said Hélie. “You will see us continually out talking to consumers from now on.”

October 15, 2021

Beer Canada was looking for a way to deliver its message in a way that would resonate with consumers, and perhaps even get the attention of the country’s MPs, said Hélie. “We thought we had a really good message, but who would be the messenger?

“So we thought ‘How can we raise the level of discourse out there?’ We were going back and forth on ideas, when [Beer Canada’s vice-president of strategic communications] Karine Cousineau said ‘What about Bob and Doug McKenzie.?”

The McKenzie Brothers were once familiar faces in Canadian ad-land, appearing in campaigns for brands including Pizza Hut Canada, Mr. Lube, Molson Golden, and Molson Ice (alongside the late hockey great Guy Lafleur).

However, Moranis and Thomas have largely retired the characters, who last appeared publicly in a 2017 benefit for Spinal Cord Injury Ontario. Their last TV appearance was a 2007 CBC Television special entitled Bob & Doug McKenzie’s Two-Four Anniversary.

Cousineau reached out to their agents, and got a call from Moranis later that day. “He said, ‘I understand you’re looking to perhaps bring Bob and Doug back together,’” said Hélie. “That’s very unlikely, since we haven’t done anything in a long time, but what’s your pitch?’”

September 24, 2015

Hélie said the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids star was immediately receptive to appearing in ads addressing a tax that would drive up the price of beer, which was basically an uncredited third star of their appearances as Bob and Doug McKenzie.

Recorded remotely last week, with Moranis in New York and Thomas in Los Angeles, the three 30-second spots feature Bob and Doug repeating some of their signature refrains, including “coo loo coo coo, coo coo coo coo”  and “How’s it goin’, eh?” while railing against the beer tax.

In one spot, Doug (Thomas) suggests that the government consider taxing other things instead, such as yams, confetti, or liver. “Leave beer alone, eh,” he says. In another, he says that the beer tax is already like his brother’s head, overinflated.

Hélie sat in on the one-hour recording session, and said his impression was that Moranis and Thomas don’t talk often now that they live on opposite coasts, yet were able to easily slip into their respective characters. “They started riffing on potential lines they might use, and our writers were taking notes like crazy,” he said. Almost all of the ads were ad-libbed during an initial brainstorming session.

February 12, 2015

The ads drive to a dedicated site, HereForBeer.ca, where consumers can contact their local MP asking them to stop the beer tax hike. The site also features a cartoon rendering of the two characters created by Graeme MacKay, an editorial cartoonist at The Hamilton Spectator.

Since Bob and Doug were at the height of their popularity when beer was sold in “stubbies,” it’s not surprising that the campaign is largely aimed at older Canadians (as well as Members of Parliament). The media buy is largely focused on AM talk and news stations, with an emphasis on Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Atlantic Canada (a region that tends to over-index on brewing).

And if everything goes according to plan, true loves all across Canada won’t have to overpay for the “six packs of two-four” Bob and Doug sing about in their version of “Twelve Days of Christmas.” (The Message) 

 

Wednesday October 26, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 26, 2022

New Mayor, Strong Mayor?

Some said the race to become Hamilton’s next mayor was hers to lose from the outset.

October 1, 2022

And indeed Andrea Horwath took charge of her political destiny, winning a close race to become the first woman to wear the chain of office in the city.

Horwath pulled out the victory over main rival Keanin Loomis, who traded the lead as votes trickled in throughout the evening. Bob Bratina finished a distant third.

“Hamiltonians deserve to have a city that they know they can trust what’s happening at city hall,” she told a jubilant crowd of supporters downtown at The Spice Factory.

She thanked Loomis, Bratina and other candidates. “We do not agree on everything, but we all love this city.”

Horwath finished with 59,216 or 42 per cent of the vote, while Loomis was runner-up with 57,553 or 41 per cent. Bratina garnered 17,436 and 12 per cent.

The former Ontario NDP leader and Hamilton Centre MPP expressed gratitude to voters. “We all believe in the same thing: We believe in Hamilton.” (The Hamilton Spectator) 

August 17, 2022

Meanwhile, Ontario’s big city mayors elected to a new term in office may soon have enhanced powers at their disposal to tackle tough issues like housing.

But experts say the use of so-called “strong mayor” powers may not be clear-cut, and their use may be limited by budgetary constraints and other factors.

Housing was a major election theme in municipal campaigns across the province, particularly related to affordability.

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government recently passed a law giving mayors of Toronto and Ottawa veto power over bylaws that conflict with provincial priorities like housing, and Premier Doug Ford says the powers will be extended to other cities in a year.

Monday night’s municipal election results mean Ford could be extending those powers to former foes in provincial politics, with former leaders of the NDP and Liberals elected as the mayors of Hamilton and Vaughan, respectively.

McMaster University political scientist Peter Graefe says it will be interesting to see how different municipalities use the strong mayor powers depending on local pressures on councils and from voters. (CTV News) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

 

Tuesday August 9, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday August 9, 2022

Ontario legislature session begins as Doug Ford’s government pushes ahead with new mandate

Young Doug Ford: The Series

Opposition parties and critics are calling on the Ontario government to provide more relief to tackle rising inflation while also expediting solutions for hospital staffing woes when the legislature returns and the provincial budget is tabled this week.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government will again table its 2022-23 budget on Tuesday, originally introduced in April and put to the test as a main plank of the PC platform during the June election.

After being re-elected, Mr. Ford said the budget would remain largely intact with the addition of a 5-per-cent increase to Ontario Disability Support Program rates that the party campaigned on, as well as a pledge to tie future annual increases to inflation. The budget promises $4-billion in additional spending for highways and roads and $10-billion for hospital infrastructure over 10 years.

August 3, 2022

But with the cost of living on the rise, inflation surging over 8 per cent and hospitals facing significant staffing shortages, critics say more measures need to be introduced to provide support for Ontarians.

Official Opposition NDP interim leader Peter Tabuns said Friday his party is calling for a new budget that increases spending for health care and education, as well as raises wages for public-sector workers. Mr. Tabuns said this would mean repealing Bill 124, introduced by the government in 2019, capping public-sector wage increases at 1 per cent for a three-year contract period. (The Globe & Mail) 

Friday October 15, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 15, 2021

Ford should rethink outdated minimum wage stand

Doug Ford’s minimum-wage policy is the product of minimal thought.

April 29, 2021

Since becoming Ontario’s premier more than three years ago, Ford has rejected any meaningful increase in the baseline wages that employers must by law pay to their workers. After freezing minimum wages during his first 27 months in office, the premier consented to a 25-cent-an-hour increase one year ago then followed up with a paltry 10-cent-an-hour hike on Oct. 1. That brought the current hourly minimum wage to $14.35.

For many of the province’s 500,000 minimum-wage earners, this month’s change felt like a slap in the face instead of a helpful hand up. Those extra 80 cents they have in their pockets after an eight-hour-day’s efforts wouldn’t even cover the cost of their bus ticket to work. Yet Ford stubbornly insists any significant minimum wage increases would shutter businesses and drive higher unemployment.

The problem with this defence is that real-life evidence and real-live economists prove it’s wrong. And if Ford needs an expert second opinion on the matter from a fellow Ontarian, he should consult David Card, the Berkeley university professor who just won the Nobel Prize in economics. The native of Guelph and graduate of Queen’s University, Card was awarded the prestigious honour this week largely for his groundbreaking work into the economic and human impacts that followed minimum-wage increases.

February 1, 2014

Before his research, many economists would have agreed with Ford that boosting wages for some people can make life worse for more by forcing business closures and job losses. If the cost of labour grows too high, the demand for it would drop as many businesses scramble to adapt and some even go bust. Or so went the reasoning — supported for a time by many studies.

But in 1993, Card and the late Alan Krueger challenged conventional theory by looking at what happened to jobs at several New Jersey fast-food restaurants after the state raised its hourly minimum wage from $4.25 (U.S.) to $5.05 (U.S.). After comparing the situation in New Jersey to what was going on at similar fast-food restaurants in neighbouring east Pennsylvania, they concluded the rise in the minimum wage had no effect on the number of people being employed.

In response to skeptical colleagues, Card launched another study in 2000 using new information. His findings were the same. And over time, he won over most of the doubters to his viewpoint. There are still vigorous debates over how governments should manage minimum-wage legislation. But the prevailing opinion of economists is that moderate and gradually introduced wage increments benefit low-wage employees, do not cost jobs and help reduce poverty.

October 18, 2006

In fact, Premier Ford should already know this. After the previous Liberal government raised the hourly minimum wage from $11.60 to $14 in 2018, he railed against what he called “a failed Liberal policy that is driving jobs and investment out of Ontario. It’s equal to the carbon tax when it comes to job killing.” The Ontario Chamber of Commerce was of the same mind and issued dire warnings of economic devastation to come.

Six months after the Liberal minimum-wage hike, however, Ontario’s unemployment rate had dropped to 5.4 per cent, the lowest it had been since 2000. Meanwhile, business profits in the province had risen while its annual inflation rate was running at a modest 2.2 per cent.

Let’s hope the worldwide publicity surrounding Prof. Card’s Nobel Prize will push Ford and the Progressive Conservatives to rethink a minimum wage policy that has so widely been discredited. In its place should be a minimum wage that rises annually and matches wage growth across the provincial workforce. It’s time for a minimum wage based on maximum wisdom. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Saturday July 27, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday July 27, 2019

Ontario’s health reforms loaded with risk and reward

This week The St. Catharines Standard and The Hamilton Spectator did something uncommon. The sister news organizations published a joint investigative feature on health-care reform in Ontario.

April 6, 2019

We did it together because the issues and challenges involved are shared by citizens of Hamilton and Niagara. The Local Health Integration Network, to be replaced by a new oversight body, covered both regions. It made sense to share our joint expertise, personified by Joanna Frketich of The Spectator and Grant LaFleche of The Standard.

We’re proud of the series, which is the most comprehensive reporting on the most significant reform to Ontario’s health system in recent history. We explained what we could, and were forthright about what we don’t know — which is a lot given the vagueness and lack of detail in the strategy.

March 19, 2019

That’s the worry. There is great potential in the reform plan. While we are not among those who describe the current system as broken, there’s no doubt it is underperforming, and too often failing health-care consumers. So you cannot fault the Ford government for wanting to improve the system, especially at a time when an aging population will increase use of and stress on health care.

There is also great risk, as there would be with any attempt to change something as vast, complex and critical as health care. If it’s not done right, the costs could be very high. Unfortunately, this government’s track record at getting things right is not stellar. The autism debacle. Public health cuts that had to be temporarily reversed. Breaking a beer company contract that will probably cost millions. Killing cap and trade for ideological reasons, forcing Ottawa to implement a carbon tax, and depriving towns and cities in millions from cap-and-trade revenue.

February 16, 2019

Can we trust the Ford government to get health reform right?

The government’s reform blueprint is called the Connecting Care Act. Read it and you’ll be surprised by the lack of detail. We know that an uncertain number of Ontario Health Teams (OHT) will be put in place. They will be made up of health-care stakeholders — hospitals, primary care (family docs and family health teams), community-based and long-term care providers. They will provide the local input on health care across the spectrum. They will report to a new super agency, called Ontario Health.

In and of itself, this structure is puzzling. Part of the province’s rationale is to reduce bureaucracy. But in the future, instead of having LHINs, we’ll have OHTs, reporting to the new super agency, which presumably reports to the ministry of health. This isn’t a smaller bureaucracy, it’s the opposite.

December 15, 2017

The new system also collapses previously independent health agencies, such as Cancer Care Ontario, under one umbrella. But CCO is recognized as a world leader. Does it really make sense to break what isn’t broken in cancer care?

It’s also the same model Alberta has had in place for years. And health-care costs in that province have not gone down under the super agency system, they’ve gone up to a point where Alberta has higher per patient costs than any other province.

It’s not all bad news. Innovative initiatives, liked Bundled Care, which was developed at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, will be rolled out across the province, promising shorter hospital stays with remote support provided to patients at home.

Once it comes back from its extended summer holiday, health reform will be prominent in the news, and we’ll continue to cover and try to explain it. For Ontarians who care, and we all should, this wave of reform demands close scrutiny and robust public discussion. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial)