Bob Bratina

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

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)

 

Friday September 26, 2014

Friday September 26, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 26, 2014

Bratina gave documents to Clark

By Andrew Dreschel — Hold onto your ballots, folks. This story is going to get smudgy and smeary in the best tradition of municipal politics.

Hamilton Mayoral RaceIt turns out Councillor Brad Clark’s gotcha moment against mayoral rival Fred Eisenberger was really a gimme from Mayor Bob Bratina.

Instead of receiving some allegedly damning LRT memos through a freedom of information request as he led people to believe, Clark actually got them directly from the mayor.

According to Bratina, he found the memos dating back to Eisenberger’s time as mayor while cleaning out his desk drawers in preparation for leaving office and passed them on to Clark.

“He had FOI-ed them so I knew he was after documents in the mayor’s office, which I had. So I gave them to him,” Bratina said.

Clark is using the documents as campaign fodder, arguing they show Eisenberger misled council and the public by keeping LRT information secret.

Eisenberger says they’re actually innocent briefing notes, that it’s Clark who’s trying to pull a fast one through false accusations.

“This whole thing is misleading,” says Eisenberger.

Speaking of which, didn’t Clark’s news release clearly state that his FOI request “generated” the reports?

Yes it did. And earlier Ken Audziss, Clark’s campaign manager, told me they got the information “through the FOI process and then ultimately that’s how we received it.”

Does that mean they’re, er, lying? Not at all. This is election season, after all.

Audziss says they wouldn’t have got the info from Bratina if not for the FOI request. “The mayor’s office generated these documents and when they provided them to us it was specifically in reference to the request.”

And please don’t jump to any rash conclusions that this means Bratina is supporting Clark for mayor, even though they’re both against LRT. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator)

Posted as a lawn sign at the Andrew Haines residence:

Photo by Andrew Haines.