boxing

Tuesday July 14, 2015

Tuesday July 14, 2015Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday July 14, 2015

Harper says Canadian economy in ‘downturn’ due to negative global trends

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Saturday June 13, 2015 Bill C-51 is killing the LiberalsÕ chance to become the official Not-Harper party The federal LiberalÕs cynical centre-of-the-road support of the ConservativesÕ latest anti-terrorism legislation may be hampering its bid to become the Not-Stephen-Harper party. The signs have been apparent for weeks: Liberal ÒprogressivesÓ Ñ the civic-minded, donating, engaged grassroots types vital to the survival of the party Ñ have found themselves horrified by leader Justin TrudeauÕs support for a bill that has been criticized, hyperbolically, as the forerunner to a Canadian police state. The party has faced overwhelming social media criticism from its grassroots, a sudden surge of polls showing the NDP neck-and-neck with the Liberals and the Tories and, lately, there are even more ominous signs of Liberal struggle. At least four Liberal candidates have stepped down in recent weeks and some tangential evidence suggests that a backlash over C-51 may be at least part of the reason. Of course, the trend pales in comparison to the handful of high-profile Conservative incumbents who have recently stepped aside ahead of OctoberÕs general election. It also happens to be fewer than the number of NDP candidates who have similarly done so Ñ although the Dippers find themselves short due to their unexpected success in Alberta. (Three federal candidates were elected to the provincial legislature in May.) While the Alberta bump may be contributing to the federal NDPÕs rise in the polls, C-51 may be simultaneously weighing the Liberals down. The Liberals announced they would support a mildly amended C-51 earlier this year in what was largely thought to be a bid to bolster the partyÕs flailing national security credentials. TrudeauÕs contradictory stance on CanadaÕs military mission in Iraq and Syria proved to be none too popular among the middle class heÕs so arduously trying to court. But if TrudeauÕs ob

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the government will react with “strong fiscal discipline” to the “downturn” in the Canadian economy, which he blamed on the recent turmoil in the global economy.

“Let me just state clearly what the situation is, there has been a downturn and the reason for that has been the downturn in the global economy,” Harper said in Pickering, Ont.

Wednesday January 21, 2015“It’s really that simple. Look around the world, we have another crisis downturn in Europe, we have a very significant slowdown and some other related economic problems now in China, we had very negative first quarter growth in the United States.

“So those things have obviously affected this country and in particular through oil prices and some commodity prices.”

Wednesday January 14, 2015Harper added that the federal government will not “spiral ourselves into deficit” and face credit downgrades, create an “investment freeze” by hiking taxes on businesses or take away tax breaks to Canadian families.

“Those are things we don’t do,” he said. “What we are doing, is providing strong fiscal discipline with lower taxes and we will have very large scale investment going into the Canadian economy this month alone through the increased universal child care benefits.”

Harper said that the outlook for the Canadian economy is favourable for the rest of the year, just days after Finance Minister Joe Oliver said it was too early to tell whether Canada has slumped into a recession. (Source: Toronto Star)

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Saturday, November 9, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, November 9, 2013

Column: Trudeau and Mulcair seize their moments

The new session of the House presents no shortage of opportunities and challenges for both Tom Mulcair and Justin Trudeau, as they position themselves on the left and centre of the political spectrum.

Mulcair enjoys an inherent advantage as leader of the Opposition, while Trudeau’s strengths are not in the House, but on the hustings.

JustinTrudeau-GalleryThe Senate expense scandal has been the gift that keeps on giving to Mulcair. He has been dominant in question period, relentless in asking who knew what and when. He’s also learning to control his famous temper, and even appears to be enjoying himself. Last week, when he asked Stephen Harper how many lawyers it takes not to have a meeting, he was doubled up in laughter.

This week’s gift is a letter from the RCMP seeking emails from the Prime Minister’s Office to Mike Duffy, on whether the PMO made up a story about a $90,000 loan from the Royal Bank to re-pay his ineligible expenses, when the cheque was cut by Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright. And then Conservative bagman Senator Irving Gerstein made a speech to the party’s convention last weekend in which he said he told Wright the party would not reimburse Duffy’s expenses, and “it never did.” This is at odds with information from Wright to the RCMP last summer that they discussed reimbursing Duffy a much smaller amount, but not $90,000. So that’s another version of a story that keeps on changing. Tick-tock.

 

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For Mulcair, it doesn’t get any better than this. He would have been a great chief counsel to a royal commission. It’s a lawyerly role he was born to play.

But while question period is Mulcair’s on-camera moment, his real work has been behind closed doors at caucus on Wednesday mornings. It’s impossible to be in a job like leader of the Opposition and not grow into the role. Like Jack Layton before him, Mulcair’s top priority is managing his caucus, particularly his large Quebec deputation.

He did a very good job last year in keeping his Quebec MPs out of the Quebec election, though he could have done without a couple of them donating to Québec Solidaire, the left-wing separatist party. But no one endorsed any local candidates for the Parti Québécois, and that would not have played well in the rest of Canada.

And this fall, Mulcair has been equally adept at keeping his Quebec MPs on the sidelines of the wretched debate over the Marois government’s proposed Charter of Quebec Values. While Mulcair has been very clear in his opposition to it, he has been very smart to let it play out in Quebec. (Source: Ottawa Citizen)

FEEDBACK

When I saw your cartoon for Saturday I just had to cut it out for my eldest daughter.  She is in Guelph University and she, along with many of her uni friends are ardent followers of Monsieur Justin Trudeau!

I showed the cartoon to two of my other daughters and at first they wondered why because they only noticed Stephen Harper … until they looked to the right …. that’s when they both jumped up and down excitedly screaming Justin, Justin!  The youngest exclaimed that she doesn’t care what he stands for politically, she would vote for him just cause he’s so hot!! She’s only 15 so her vote won’t count for a long time.  The middle daughter will be 18 by the time the vote takes place and she is for sure casting hers his way.  All my girls think Justin is just Beautiful.

So thanks Graeme – you hit the nail right on the head with this cartoon.  You must know Justin’s gonna win!

I’ll be framing that cartoon for all my girls – future predicted.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Shared on the Facebook Page L’Expérience lol78.

Thursday November 8, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday November 8, 2012

U.S. budget crisis could push Canada into a recession

Budget monster lurks behind victorious Barack Obama

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is urging U.S. politicians to get back to work quickly on resolving their budget crisis now that the election is over, warning that failure would plunge both America and Canada into recession.

The minister has voiced concern before about the so-called “fiscal cliff,” but the re-election of both Democrat President Barack Obama and a right-wing Republican House on Tuesday has led to new fears of the risk becoming reality.

“Of course we’re worried because it would mean, were the entire fiscal cliff risk to come to reality … (it) would put the U.S. economy into a recession quite quickly and the Canadian economy would follow shortly thereafter, and would have a significant effect on the global economy,” Flaherty told reporters Wednesday.

Flaherty said all his colleagues at the G20 meeting of leading economic powers last weekend in Mexico expressed concern about how U.S. policy-makers would deal with the threat.

North American markets also seemed to take the threat seriously. The Dow Jones Industrials plunged more than 300 points at one point before recovering slightly. There was also a significant, but more modest, sell-off in Toronto.

Flaherty’s comments came amid warnings that gridlock in Washington could prevent a deal to extend about $600 billion in tax cuts and spending programs beyond Dec. 31. That would represent about a four-percentage-point hit to an economy only growing at 2 per cent.

Economists have considered the issue a no-brainer, but Obama and the Democrats have insisted that taxes on the rich rise as part of the deal, something Republicans have balked at the past two years (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Tuesday April 3, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday April 3, 2012

Justin Trudeau wins charity boxing match

Liberal MP Justin Trudeau beat Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau in their charity boxing match in Ottawa Saturday night.

The referee stopped the fight before the third round ended.

Liberal Leader Bob Rae tweeted his congratulations moments after the bout ended: “Justin Trudeau – great win all for a good cause!!”

Trudeau and Brazeau had a sell-out crowd for their bout, which benefitted the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.

The three-round headliner at the capital’s Hampton Inn followed a red-carpet event.

But it was more than just a tough fight night for Trudeau as his maternal grandmother, Kathleen Sinclair, died Saturday in a British Columbia nursing home at age 92. Her daughter Margaret married former prime minister Pierre Trudeau in 1971.

Hours before the bout, Trudeau told reporters that he was “feeling good.”

“I’ve done what I had to do to get to this point,” he said. “I’m confident with it.”

Brazeau could be seen outside the Hampton Inn alone, getting pumped up for the fight by listening to his iPod.

The two men, both of whom are known for their full heads of hair, have agreed that the loser will have his hair cut in the foyer of the House of Commons. But Brazeau will not just have to shed his long ponytail — the two men also agreed the loser will wear a jersey bearing the winner’s party logo for a week.(Source: CTV News)