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Tuesday March 19, 2019

March 26, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday March 19, 2019

Education changes are more and less than they seem

If you were among those who felt anxiety about the Ford government’s education reforms, you probably heaved a sigh of relief when they were finally rolled out last week.

March 13, 2019

The government made noises about changing or even killing all-day kindergarten, but ultimately ended up supporting it, at least so far. It didn’t mandate larger class sizes for early year students.

After vilifying and killing the previous government’s sex education curriculum, the government ended up restoring virtually all of the elements from the curriculum it professed to hate. The new-not-new curriculum covers most of the same ground, which is bound to make social conservatives angry, since they threw their support behind Ford’s PC party leadership in part because he pledged to kill sex-ed. But while that segment of Ford’s base must feel betrayed, students will be better served, and parents — most of whom supported the modern curriculum — will be happy with the outcome.

A “back to basics” math curriculum is also in the reforms. There are mixed opinions on that, but the fact is math scores were trending downward, so some changes are appropriate.

February 8, 2019

Then there’s the classroom cellphone ban, which is almost entirely symbolic since most school boards have local policies that are working. It’s also probably unenforceable, but if it does no real good, it also does no real harm.

Although maintaining current class size caps from kindergarten to Grade 3, Education Minister Lisa Thompson announced that an average of one student will be added to classes in Grades 4 to 8, which average high school class sizes increasing from 22 to 28. That sounds reasonable.

Not so fast. While Thompson said “Not one teacher — not one — will lose their job because of our class size strategy,” many education experts disagree. The government says any teacher reductions will be realized through retirement and attrition, but the fact remains that at the end of the rollout, there will be thousands fewer teachers in the system than there are today.

In fact, a Toronto District School Board document reveals the class sizes will mean the loss of approximately 800 high school teaching positions, along with 216 in Grades 4 through 8. The same report states that with the government’s earlier round of cuts — $25 million for special programs — 82 high school positions will disappear. Estimates are that total job losses through attrition will be between 16,000 and 18,000.

Then there’s the fact that class sizes aren’t what the seem. While the government funds for an average of 22 students, the reality is that classes often reach 30 or more to accommodate smaller specialized classes. Union officials are predicting these changes will mean class sizes of 40 in some cases.

Then there’s this. Arbitrarily increasing class sizes will lead to collective bargaining with teacher unions and boards getting off to a terrible start before negotiations even begin. In many cases local agreements include class size provisions, so unions will be fighting the provincial-controlled changes from the start.

These reforms may not be all bad, but they’re certainly not all good, and they open the door to stormy weather in our education system. (Source: Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: 2019-10, bull, china shop, cuts, Doug Ford, education, health, Ontario, progress

Thursday April 20, 2017

April 19, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 20, 2017

Canadian envoy fires back at Trump over dairy claims

Canada’s envoy to Washington has shot back at criticism by President Donald Trump and U.S. milk producers, saying the facts don’t support a charge that the Canadian dairy industry is to blame for the woes of some American farmers.

January 26, 2017

“Canada does not accept the contention that Canada’s dairy policies are the cause of financial loss for dairy farmers in the United States,” Ambassador David MacNaughton said in a letter to the governors of Wisconsin and New York that was released Tuesday night in rebuttal to Trump’s surprise criticism of Canada earlier in the day.

“The facts do not bear this out.”

The U.S. president’s surprise decision to call out Canada by name Tuesday put dairy farmers north of the border on notice that they are in America’s fair-trade sights.

Trump launched his broadside after a brewing trade spat that has seen the U.S. dairy lobby accuse Canada of “systemic disregard” of its trade obligations, while the Canadian industry accused its American rival of “scapegoating.”

October 10, 2015

Trump also signalled he wants to do more than simply tweak the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying he is looking for “very big changes” to the trilateral pact that includes Mexico, or else he will scrap it once and for all.

Trump levelled the threats — some of his strongest-ever anti-Canadian rhetoric — during an event at a Wisconsin factory where he unveiled his “Buy American-Hire American” executive order.

After what has been a relatively warm beginning in relations with Canada, which included what was seen by many as a positive trip to Washington by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump dropped the gloves on Canada’s well-guarded dairy sector.

He appeared to be taking dead aim at the Canadian industry and its supply-management system during an appearance in Wisconsin, a state he took from the Democrats with his “America First” anti-trade message.

It is also a state that is feeling the effects of Canada’s decision to impose import taxes on ultra-filtered milk, a protein liquid concentrate used to make cheese. It had been duty-free but Canada changed course after its milk producers complained. (Source: CBC News)


The Telegram, St. John’s, Nfld., April 25, 2017

Posted in: Canada Tagged: America First, bull, Canada, cow, dairy, diplomacy, farm, free trade, Milk, NAFTA, tearsheet

Tuesday January 5, 2016

January 4, 2016 by Graeme MacKay
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Tuesday January 5, 2016 New pedestrian crossover, student crossing rules require drivers to wait New provincial legislation is now in place that will impact you on the road Ñ and on foot. It's now mandatory for drivers and cyclists to stop for the entire time it takes a pedestrian to navigate a crossover or a school crossing with a guard. Drivers could be fined up to $500 for disobeying the new rules, and they could also lose three demerit points. Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Carolle Dionne said enforcement will be stepped up to make sure the laws are being followed. "We are committed to using the new laws as an enhanced deterrent in reducing pedestrian-related injuries and fatalities," she told CBC News. "We investigate so many of these each year and it's important that we keep our pedestrians safer." Dionne said road safety is a shared responsibility Ñ and pedestrians, drivers and cyclists need to be courteous to each other, and share the road. Pedestrians have a role in making sure the new laws are enforced properly. Dionne said they need to make sure "that, when they do decide to start crossing, they don't start crossing when the lights are flashing, [and] don't walk or cross at a red light. They have a big role to play in their personal safety as well." The new law applies to crossovers and school crossings where there is a guard. Crossovers are not the same as a crosswalks. They are marked by specific signs, overhead lights, and push buttons. (Source: CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/pedestrian-crossover-rules-opp-1.3388949 Ontario, safety, road, pedestrian, cars, drivers, transportation, streets, signs, bull, fighting, bullfighting

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 5, 2016

New pedestrian crossover, student crossing rules require drivers to wait

New provincial legislation is now in place that will impact you on the road — and on foot.

It’s now mandatory for drivers and cyclists to stop for the entire time it takes a pedestrian to navigate a crossover or a school crossing with a guard.

Thursday, February 27, 2014Drivers could be fined up to $500 for disobeying the new rules, and they could also lose three demerit points.

Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Carolle Dionne said enforcement will be stepped up to make sure the laws are being followed.

“We are committed to using the new laws as an enhanced deterrent in reducing pedestrian-related injuries and fatalities,” she told CBC News.

“We investigate so many of these each year and it’s important that we keep our pedestrians safer.”

Dionne said road safety is a shared responsibility — and pedestrians, drivers and cyclists need to be courteous to each other, and share the road.

Pedestrians have a role in making sure the new laws are enforced properly. Dionne said they need to make sure “that, when they do decide to start crossing, they don’t start crossing when the lights are flashing, [and] don’t walk or cross at a red light. They have a big role to play in their personal safety as well.”

The new law applies to crossovers and school crossings where there is a guard.

Crossovers are not the same as a crosswalks. They are marked by specific signs, overhead lights, and push buttons. (Source: CBC News)

 

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: bull, bullfighting, cars, drivers, fighting, Ontario, pedestrian, road, safety, signs, streets, transportation

Friday, May 17, 2013

May 17, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

Friday, May 17, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, May 17, 2013

Senator Mike Duffy’s actions under scrutiny

There was lots of activity around Senator Mike Duffy’s home in Cavendish, P.E.I. today but he wasn’t interested in talking.

The New Democrats have asked the Senate ethics officer to launch a probe into Duffy’s repayment of more than $90,000 in improperly claimed expenses — money that was given to him by Nigel Wright, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief of staff.

The senator has become the brunt of many jokes and outright frustration since the news broke that Wright had written Duffy a cheque from his personal account to repay the improperly claimed Senate living expenses.

“The public looks up to these people…and when they’re not displaying behavior that is becoming to that, one has to be disappointed,” says P.E.I. cottage owner Andy Weeks.

“There’s lots of people on P.E.I. that he could have picked as a senator, rather than somebody who only lives here part time,” says Cavendish business manager Rowan Caseley.

Caseley says the personal cheque written by the prime minister’s chief of staff to repay Duffy’s improperly claimed housing expenses doesn’t pass the smell test.

“That’s not like a $10 gift, or a $100 gift,” he says. “Ninety-thousand dollars is a lot of money and anybody that’s given $90,000, I’d have to put it up for suspicion.”

Duffy is one of three senators whose living expenses have come under fire over allegations they were claiming tens of thousands of dollars for accommodations in the Ottawa area under the Senate’s housing allowance rule – intended to compensate those whose primary residences are more than 100 kilometres from the capital. (Source: CTV News)

[slideshow_deploy id=’1787’]

SOCIAL MEDIA

Senator Mike Duffy in a China Shop… #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/Eq3dXk64bK

— mackaycartoons (@mackaycartoons) May 17, 2013

Posted in: Canada Tagged: abolition, bull, Canada, china shop Senate, Claims, Editorial Cartoon, Expense, Mike Duffy, Nigel Wright

Friday January 28, 2011

January 28, 2011 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 28, 2011

How the Jasmine Revolution is Being Viewed In Iran

“The Islamic world is ripe with major new developments and Khomeini’s Islam is the engine of these events,” Iran’s hard-line daily “Kayhan” wrote in a January 27 commentary devoted to the recent wave of protests in the Arab world.

August 24, 2011

The daily, which often reflects the views of the Iranian establishment — or more specifically, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — added that the third millennium is witnessing “the powerful [presence] of Islam under Iran’s leadership.”

Iranian state media has been portraying the recent upheaval in Arab countries as a struggle against Western puppets in the region, while claiming that citizens who have taken to the streets in Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere are taking inspiration from Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

November 23, 2011

“Kayhan” suggested that participants in Tunisia’s uprising, as well in as protests in Jordan, Algeria, Yemen, and Egypt are taking inspiration from Iran’s 1979 revolution, which led to the fall of the shah’s U.S.-backed regime and the creation of an Islamic republic.

” ‘Death to the U.S. Death to Israel. Islam is my religion. We don’t want American rulers. We’re not afraid of martyrdom.’ Are these slogans familiar to the ears and eyes of the world? Aren’t these slogans the same that Iranian people [chanted] in the run-up to the Islamic Revolution?” wrote “Kayhan.”

The commentary made no mention of the calls for economic reforms and political freedom being voiced in the protests. There was also no mention of comparisons that have been made between Tunisia’s uprising and the mass antigovernment demonstrations that shook the Iranian establishment in 2009. (Radio Free Europe) 

 

Posted in: International Tagged: Arab Spring, bull, china shop, Egypt, government, Hosni Mubarak, International, Islam, Islamism, pro democracy, Tunisia, Yemen

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