Bob Rae – mackaycartoons

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

June 3, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Kathleen Wynne accuses Andrea Horwath of ‘unprincipled’ stand over possible Tory coalition

Voting New Democrat could result in a coalition government led by the Progressive Conservatives, Premier Kathleen Wynne said on Saturday, even though the Tories have shot down the concept of teaming up with another party.

2003 Debate

Wynne accused NDP Leader Andrea Horwath of betraying her party’s long-standing commitment to social justice by refusing to rule out propping up Tim Hudak’s Conservatives if a minority government results after June 12.

Wynne also contrasted the priorities of New Democrat icons with Hudak’s plan to slash spending and cut 100,000 public-sector jobs to balance the budget.

“It is shocking that the party of Jack Layton and Stephen Lewis — the party that has traditionally supported social programs, the party that should have supported our budget — would be thinking about supporting Tim Hudak,” Wynne said at a rally.

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“Andrea Horwath’s NDP is a party that used to have principles. It used to stand for something.”

Horwath has taken an “unprincipled stance” by not ruling out supporting the Tories in a minority government, Wynne said.

[caption id=”” align=”alignright” width=”234″] 2007 Debate[/caption]

“A vote right now for Andrea Horwath might be a vote for Tim Hudak. But a vote for Kathleen Wynne is a vote for Kathleen Wynne.”

So far, Horwath has only said she’ll deal with the election outcome after the votes are in. In recent days, she has stepped up her attacks on Wynne by calling the Liberals “rife with corruption.”

2011 Debate

In a statement released Saturday afternoon, Horwath said Wynne was grasping at straws.

“I have to say Ms. Wynne is in La-La land. She needs a bit of a reality check if she thinks New Democrats are going to allow her to sweep Liberal corruption under the rug in the province of Ontario. Ontarians deserve much, much better than that.

“And they certainly do not want to see a Hudak regime take over that’s going to fire hundreds of thousands of people in some strange attempt to create jobs. That math does not work out.” (Source: Toronto Star)

More: Two decades of Ontario Elections

SOCIAL MEDIA

Posted at the cartoon of the day at Yahoo Canada News.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

June 20, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday, June 20, 2013

Bob Rae quits as MP

Bob Rae, who served as interim Liberal leader following the party’s disastrous showing in the 2011 election, is stepping down as an MP.

Rae told his Liberal colleagues of his decision during Wednesday’s party caucus meeting, an announcement that was met with tears and applause, according to sources.

Rae recently accepted the role of chief negotiator for First Nations in talks with the Ontario government about development of the Ring of Fire, and is to tour the nine Matawa communities in the mining and resource-rich area of Northern Ontario this summer. Rae is a former NDP premier of the province.

At a news conference with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau in the foyer of the House of Commons, Rae said that work as a lawyer and mediator was taking more and more of his time and he felt he needed to focus on his role with the First Nations. He didn’t say when his resignation would be effective.

“This is not about money, this is about time. I’m not being paid for my work in the North,” Rae said, adding that his decision was about, “How can I effectively serve the interests of the people I’ve been asked to serve?

“The passion and the enthusiasm that I feel for the First Nations of Canada, the need for a different kind of partnership between Canada’s first people and those of us who’ve come later on, is absolutely necessary,” he continued.

Rae thanked his caucus colleagues and said “above all, I want to thank my leader,” saying he has enjoyed his time working with Trudeau. He added that he and Trudeau had been discussing his departure. (Source: CBC News)

Friday September 28, 2012

September 28, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Friday September 28, 2012

Justinmania raises prospect others will drop out

Federal Liberals are facing the prospect of a short list of candidates for their upcoming leadership race following confirmation Wednesday that Justin Trudeau will throw his hat in the ring.

Many Liberals have been practically giddy over the dream of Trudeau’s name being on the leadership ballot — a dream that will become reality when the 40-year-old MP officially announces his candidacy at an event in Montreal next Tuesday.

But it is also no secret a number of other prospective contenders have been waiting for him to lay his cards on the table before deciding whether they would pony up the $75,000 entry fee and challenge him for the job.

The question now is how many will opt to save their money and quietly fade out of the leadership conversation rather than face the celebrity star power that threatens to unleash a second iteration of Trudeaumania.

Trudeau, clearly enjoying the attention and excitement revelations of his pending candidacy had generated, refused to confirm the upcoming announcement when confronted by a horde of waiting journalists Wednesday morning.

“Thank you very much for all your interest,” he said at one point as he left a weekly meeting of Liberal MPs and senators.

“I’m pleased to hear all the buzz and all the interest in the Liberal Party’s fortunes, but I have nothing to announce today. I will let you know when I have something to announce.”

Fellow Liberal MP Denis Coderre, who will announce whether he will run for the leadership on Nov. 9, said he welcomed Trudeau’s entrance into the race. (Source: National Post)

Wednesday March 21, 2012

March 21, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday March 21, 2012

Attack ads may force Rae’s hand

You can tell when Bob Rae is getting annoyed – the contrived chuckle is superceded by a sound like a sausage stewing in its own grease. When he was asked about the new Conservative ads that attack his record as Ontario’s NDP premier on CBC’s Power & Politics, he started to fizz and pop.

The ads ask if Mr. Rae “couldn’t run a province, why does he think he can run Canada?” They have clearly chafed the interim Liberal leader. If the Conservatives are going to highlight all the bad news that happened on his watch, they should also mention the Toronto Blue Jays won two World Series, Nelson Mandela was released from prison and the Soviet Union collapsed, he told Evan Solomon. Eh? Maybe he’d been out in the unseasonably sunny weather too long without a hat.

“I’m not uniquely responsible” for the recession that sent unemployment and deficits soaring in Ontario in the early 1990s, he said. No – but the NDP government made the worst of a bad job, by the account of even the most charitable observers.

Mr. Rae now thinks the Liberal party has a “responsibility” to respond and defend his record as NDP premier. The party is planning to raise new money in response to the ad and mount a counterattack with those funds.

This has triggered a backlash from a number of Liberals I spoke to Tuesday, who are uncomfortable about the idea of squandering the party’s meagre war chest to defend the man who is still, nominally, the interim leader.

In public, Mr. Rae dismisses the thought he might run to be permanent leader as “idle speculation.” But in his own mind, it seems, he already has the job. If you doubt this, go to the Liberal.ca website and scroll to the Meet Bob Rae section, where he is introduced as “Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.” (Source: National Post)

Tuesday February 28, 2012

February 28, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday February 28, 2012

Harper denies robocall charges

Standing firm amid questions and allegations of a political conspiracy, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing in the robocalls scandal, and challenged the opposition parties to prove his Conservatives were guilty.

On the first day back for parliamentarians after a week off, the opposition parties used the majority of question period to demand answers from the government about what Conservatives knew about the robocalls and when they knew it.

A Postmedia News-Ottawa Citizen investigation revealed last week that Elections Canada has traced fraudulent phone calls made during the federal election to an Edmonton company that worked for the Conservative party across the country.

Opposition parties demanded the Conservatives come clean and provide information proving they were not involved in any telephone campaign to harass voters and direct them to non-existent polling stations.

“The prime minister must be tough on crime,” interim NDP leader Nycole Turmel said. “Will he commit all the necessary resources to investigate and prosecute and put an end to vote suppression?”

Harper rejected what he called “broad, sweeping” allegations from the opposition parties, and put the onus on the NDP and Liberals to provide evidence of wrongdoing.

“If the NDP has any information that inappropriate calls were placed — and we certainly have information in some cases and we have given that to Elections Canada — then I challenge that party to produce that information and give it to Elections Canada,” he said. (Source: Vancouver Sun)