Bob Bratina

Wednesday May 19, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 19, 2021

Liberal MP Bob Bratina sticks to his guns on LRT

Give Hamilton East-Stoney Creek Liberal MP Bob Bratina this much: When it comes to LRT, at least, he’s a politician of conviction. 

This week Bratina announced he will not seek re-election, because he disagrees with his government’s decision to invest $1.4 billion in light rail transit in Hamilton. 

“I just can’t defend it,” Bratina said in an interview with The Spec’s Matthew Van Dongen this week. “They are saying this is a good project for Hamilton but I know in my heart it is not … I don’t know how I could continue as a member of the governing party.”

In his own party, Bratina’s opinion is an outlier. Infrastructure Minister and Hamilton native Catherine McKenna, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Labour Minister Filomena Tassi, who also represents Hamilton-West-Ancaster-Dundas, all support the project. Tassi reportedly cheered during the announcement.

Hamilton’s other high-profile political voice, Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath, and her party, also support LRT. So do other local MPs and MPPs, although it’s not clear where Conservative MP David Sweet stands — he, too, is not running again.

July 22, 2011

No doubt the decision is hard to swallow for Bratina. He has long opposed light rail in this city, and tried to derail it repeatedly when he was on council and then in the mayor’s office. To rub salt in the wound, Bratina says he was not consulted about the agreement between the federal government and the provincial government, and that his concerns about “affordability” were totally ignored.

So be it. Bratina is at least consistent in his opposition, and he cannot be accused of hypocrisy on this file. No doubt the Liberals will find another strong candidate to compete in the riding, and the NDP has also been historically competitive there.

To digress with a bit of political gossip, there is a juicy rumour circulating that Bratina plans another run for mayor in the next municipal election coming in 2022. Bratina won’t rule that out, but says he is focusing on his job as MP for the remainder of his federal term. He referred to the rumour as “speculation.”

The plot, if he does run, looks like this. Anti-LRT Hamilton councillors successfully push for the matter to be deferred to a referendum question on the next ballot, and we could see incumbent Fred Eisenberger running on a pro-LRT ticket while Bratina runs on an anti-LRT platform as Eisenberger challenger Vito Sgro did last election. 

May 29, 2013

It’s good political drama, but unlikely to unfold that way. Bratina may well seek another term as mayor, and he could possibly win. But Ottawa and the provincial government have been clear that this $3.4-billion LRT investment is for LRT only, and they want an answer sooner rather than later so the thousands of jobs generated during construction could serve as a post-pandemic jobs recovery project. That doesn’t work if shovels aren’t in the ground until after the local election in the fall of 2022.

All the smart money says if the project is delayed that long the provincial and federal investment will be off the table. That would mean the end of LRT, and also that local taxpayers would be footing the bill for infrastructure investments (underground services and the like) along what would have been the route.

That won’t stop anti-LRT councillors and others from trying to stall or outright kill the project. Which raises an interesting question: Where is Progressive Conservative MPP Donna Skelly in all this? She has always been strongly anti-LRT, but her government now supports the project. The Spectator reached out to Skelly for comment on the matter, but she has yet to respond. Her response will be interesting. (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Saturday March 4, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday March 4, 2017

Angry Hamilton steelworkers demand answers from Bratina at rally

Frustrated Hamilton steelworkers and pensioners scorched local Liberal MP Bob Bratina’s ears on a bitterly cold day as they demanded results from a federal government they say has ignored their pleas of help.

About 100 protesters attended a late-afternoon rally Thursday outside Bratina’s Centennial Parkway constituency office accusing the Liberals of ignoring steelworkers and pensioners.

“You have been there a year and nothing has been introduced, ” Vince Van Schyndel, a member of Local 1005, told Bratina after he waded into the decidedly hostile crowd to hear steelworkers’ complaints. Van Schyndel said the federal Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) legislation is preventing the provincial government from providing benefits and pensions to pensioners.

On Dec. 15, 2016 a judge agreed to allow U.S. Steel Canada to negotiate a purchase agreement with the American-based Bedrock Industries Group. In addition, the judge dismissed objections from United Steelworkers Union Local 1005, the City of Hamilton and salaried workers, arguing their issues can be resolved in the future.

The steelworkers believe any restructuring plan will hurt them and the pensioners because pensions and benefits are being ignored in the complicated bankruptcy process. Union officials have stated company pension funds need more than $1 billion to top up underfunded pension and health care benefits plans.

Gary Howe, president of Local 1005, said the CCAA “has been used to take things away from the people that worked many, many years to earn them.”

Bratina, who represents Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, apologized to the gathering and acknowledged it is difficult to introduce legislation as one MP.

He said once the company emerges from the CCAA process, the federal government could help its successor become sustainable.

“I’m sorry that we are in the situation we are in, ” said Bratina, a member of the federal government’s steel caucus. “I don’t blame you guys for being upset. But we will be working hard to make sure the right thing is done.”

He said Ottawa will change the Canadian Pension Plan to increase benefits to $20,000 from $13,000 for those who don’t have a company pension. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Graeme’s Gallery 2014: Hamilton

The tradition continues with a whole Spectator opinion page devoted to:Graeme Gallery 2014 - Hamilton

January 24, 2014
July 9, 2014
January 31, 2014
August 20, 2014
November 28, 2014
October 28, 2014
October 25, 2014
August 23, 2014
March 10, 2014

Coming tomorrow: Graeme’s Gallery, the special world edition…

Tuesday December 2, 2014

Tuesday December 2, 2014Bye Bye Bob Bratina

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 2, 2014

Departing Mayor Bob Bratina says he accomplished nearly all of his goals over four years, despite being “victimized” by city hall culture.

The 70-year-old former radio personality, who chose not to run again for mayor to pursue a federal seat under the Liberal banner, pointed to successes such as the new stadium and a downtown boom he said hinged on the arrival of McMaster’s health campus and the James Street GO Station.

“The time that I was mayor, Hamilton’s attitude toward itself began to change dramatically,” he said, adding he’s most proud of presiding over that emerging positivity.

Bratina said his one regret is the “compromised” city hall culture revealed in a survey of demoralized staffers last year — but he also argued he was a victim of that culture.

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The famously feisty mayor was often at odds with councillors — particularly over light rail transit — and was even censured in a history-making 2012 council vote. The city’s ethics watchdog followed up later that year with a formal reprimand.

“They just wanted to make me look bad,” said Bratina in dismissing the highly publicized censure by councillors, which followed conflicting explanations about a $30,000 raise given to his chief of staff, Peggy Chapman.

“The circus that happened at times was inevitable. … If you say regret, well (it is) the fact that the culture continues, the culture that victimized me.”

“I’ve done my thing. I have no regrets. Some day, you know, in my very old age I might write a book about it, but I don’t think the time is now, because the city has to move forward, this council has to move forward and I may play a role as a federal representative, that remains for the electorate to determine. So there’s no point in going over old ground, really. It’s there, it’s on the public record. The public, as far as I know, determined that I probably would have won as mayor again and so that’s fine.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

 

LETTER to the EDITOR

The only upshot of Bob Bratina’s political narcissism is that I’ll be able to enjoy more caricatures of him by Graeme MacKay. Growing up in Montreal, I enjoyed great editorial cartoons by Terry Mosher (a.k.a. Aislin). Now in Hamilton, I enjoy the brilliance of an equally great satirist and artist in Graeme. He has such a unique and consistent style that it’s obvious when the cartoon is his. Even so, I searched for his signature on his cartoon of Bratina packing up his office. Was it left off accidently?
Eric Miller, Hamilton

Friday October 31, 2014

Friday October 31, 2014Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 31, 2014

Bratina touted as a ‘game changer’ for federal Liberals

The Liberals believe outgoing Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina is the man who will finally wrestle Hamilton East-Stoney Creek away from the New Democrats.

“We’ve got a game changer here,” Tyler Banham, president of the Ontario Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario) said Wednesday night at Bratina’s nomination meeting.

“Bob Bratina has never lost an election and I like to say (Liberal Leader) Justin Trudeau has never lost an election.”

About 70 people attended Bratina’s meeting at the Renaissance Centre on Barton Street East, including Hamilton’s provincial cabinet minister Ted McMeekin, Hamilton Centre Liberal candidate Anne Tennier, former mayor Larry Di Ianni and former Hamilton alderman Mary Kiss.

Bratina was acclaimed to the post two days after the municipal election saw Fred Eisenberger elected as his successor. The one-term mayor opted not to run again to become a Liberal candidate. He was Ward 2 councillor from 2004 to 2010.

New Democrat MP Wayne Marston has held the riding since 2006 when he defeated Liberal cabinet minister Tony Valeri. He defeated Di Ianni in 2008. In 2011, he received 45.2 per cent of the vote. The Liberal candidate garnered 13.2 per cent.

Bratina told reporters after his acceptance speech — in which he said his life had “a sense of destiny” — that Marston was a “fine person,” but said Hamilton has lost from not having a government MP and that the government after the election will be lead by Trudeau.

“It’s really not a matter of personalities,” he said. “It’s about getting back into power of Canada, which is the federal government. We have had a great tradition in this area of Liberals being in power and influencing the government.”

He said that hasn’t happened under Marston, Hamilton Centre NDP MP Dave Christopherson and Hamilton Mountain NDP MP Chris Charlton “and it’s time for a change.”

He said he was so impressed by Trudeau he decided not to run for mayor again and seize the opportunity to run for the Liberals.

“I’m the ideal candidate for this riding at this time,” Bratina said.

Marston welcomed Bratina into the race, explaining “I don’t go to war with people.” He added he was not worried about Bratina. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)