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Thursday August 20, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Thursday August 20, 2015 Duffy trial sapping Conservatives' morale Even a contrarian would not argue that Stephen HarperÕs campaign is off to an inspiring start. A mega-trade deal that would have given the Conservatives a win on the economic front just in time for the election call failed to materialize. Looking at the polls, there is little evidence of the lift in party fortunes that last monthÕs round of child benefit cheques was meant to result in. HarperÕs main rivals each used the first leaders debate of the campaign productively enough to keep the contest too competitive for the incumbentÕs comfort. In Quebec, the positive impact of the return of Gilles Duceppe on Bloc QuŽbŽcois fortunes has turned out to be short-lived, throwing a wrench in the Conservative game plan. The party needs the Bloc to soften up New Democrats in the ridings that Harper has targeted for gains in October. Now the Senate scandal is again front-and-centre in the media, predictably sucking out the oxygen from the Conservative election tour. Nigel WrightÕs long-awaited appearance at Sen. Mike DuffyÕs trial may not have implicated Harper further in the spending scandal but it certainly did not give the 2011 Conservative supporters who have since strayed to other parties a reason to run back to the fold. (Chantal Hebert, Continued: http://www.thestar.com/news/federal-election/2015/08/14/duffy-trial-making-it-hard-for-many-loyal-conservatives-to-feel-proud-hbert.html) Canada, election, Senate Expenses, scandal, Mike Duffy, media, election, Stephen Harper, campaign, bus

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 20, 2015

Duffy trial sapping Conservatives’ morale

Even a contrarian would not argue that Stephen Harper’s campaign is off to an inspiring start.

A mega-trade deal that would have given the Conservatives a win on the economic front just in time for the election call failed to materialize.

Looking at the polls, there is little evidence of the lift in party fortunes that last month’s round of child benefit cheques was meant to result in.

Harper’s main rivals each used the first leaders debate of the campaign productively enough to keep the contest too competitive for the incumbent’s comfort.

In Quebec, the positive impact of the return of Gilles Duceppe on Bloc Québécois fortunes has turned out to be short-lived, throwing a wrench in the Conservative game plan. The party needs the Bloc to soften up New Democrats in the ridings that Harper has targeted for gains in October.
Now the Senate scandal is again front-and-centre in the media, predictably sucking out the oxygen from the Conservative election tour.

Nigel Wright’s long-awaited appearance at Sen. Mike Duffy’s trial may not have implicated Harper further in the spending scandal but it certainly did not give the 2011 Conservative supporters who have since strayed to other parties a reason to run back to the fold. (Chantal Hebert, Continued: Toronto Star)

 

Tuesday May 5, 2015

Tuesday September 8, 2009Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 5, 2015

Thousands of parents keep kids home from school in sex-ed protest

Parents of thousands of elementary students across Toronto kept their children out of class Monday to protest the sex-ed portion of Ontario’s new health curriculum.

The hardest hit school was Thorncliffe Park Public School, where only about 130 children showed up for class out of the usual 1,350 — or roughly 10 per cent. At nearby Gateway Public School, some 400 students were away, nearly half the usual enrolment. At Valley Park Middle School, some 590 students were absent out of the total 950.

Thursday, February 26, 2015At Fraser Mustard, an all-kindergarten school in Thorncliffe Park, only 90 of 650 students turned up. The sex-ed curriculum doesn’t actually kick in until Grade 1.

“In Grade 1 they should be learning about the ABCs, not sex,” said Thorncliffe Park parent Lubna Awah, who kept her kindergarten son home.

“Boys are boys and girls are girls — why should they learn about a third (gender) in Grade 1?” asked Awah, who said she believes children will be encouraged to question their gender identity as early as Grade 1.

Awah said she learned much of what she is concerned about regarding the new curriculum earlier this spring on a flyer circulated by what she called a “Chinese Christian group,” because she said the school did not educate parents.

The new curriculum, endorsed by a coalition of doctors, educators, mental health experts as long overdue in an age of sexting, easy access to online pornography and a falling age of puberty, includes references to anal and oral sex in the context of warning students these alternatives to intercourse can also be risky because they can spread sexually transmitted disease, yet many protesters said they believe the curriculum encourages such behaviour. Critics have seized onto this, as well as possible explanations about masturbation that teachers would offer if asked by students, as encouraging all these behaviours — something educators have insisted in not the case. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

 

Saturday March 7, 2015

Saturday March 7, 2015Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday March 7, 2015

HSR bus cash vs. Hamilton LRT

Welcome to the bus battle.

Council will consider its first major HSR budget boost in years this morning along with a controversial new rapid transit request from the province.

The political showdown will be over a $302 million request to the province for dozens of new buses and a garage outlined as part of a 10-year transit plan. That request would have to come on top of the existing $811 million request for LRT.

November 4, 1998Light rail advocates fear another request would muddy the water and give a cash-strapped province the chance to put off LRT funding indefinitely.

At the same time, new transit director Dave Dixon is asking for a $6 million HSR boost – including 50 new drivers and 25 new buses – over the next two years.

He said the money is critical for council to address “immediate needs” like overcrowded buses and poor service on existing routes.

But council is also struggling with a 2015 operating budget that appears on target for a 4.4 per cent average tax increase.

Finance head Mike Zegarac will start the morning with an update on whether that financial picture has improved. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Friday, October 25, 2013

Friday, October 25, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, October 25, 2013

No bus-only tickets issued, says red-faced McHattie

For SaleHamilton police did not ticket anyone in the city’s new bus-only lane, a red-faced councillor now says.

Ward 1 Councillor Brian McHattie announced at Wednesday’s council meeting that police had incorrectly ticketed 20 to 25 drivers that day, as the new transit-only lane launched on King Street. He says he got his information from an anonymous call he didn’t confirm before making a public statement.

It turns out police handed out 26 educational pamphlets to drivers using the bus-only lane — but not a single ticket or demerit point.

“It seems someone tried to lead us astray,” said the recently announced mayoral candidate, who admitted jumping the gun by publicly announcing the allegations as fact.

“I guess I was thinking you want to get on top of an issue like this, if it’s true,” said McHattie, who noted anxiety has been high among some councillors and commuters over the bus-only lane experiment.
“But in this case I moved too fast.”

McHattie said police Chief Glenn De Caire called him Thursday morning after investigating the allegations. While six tickets were issued on King, none was related to the bus-only lane.

“I’ve apologized to the chief,” he said. “This has kept him jumping.”

McHattie said an anonymous person left a message with his office staff alleging he had received a $200-plus ticket and two demerit points. The message also alleged between 20 and 25 people received the tickets.

McHattie said Wednesday night his staff had checked with police over the figure. On Thursday morning, he clarified his staff had not received confirmation from police. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Wednesday, October 23, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Mike Duffy’s lawyer says $90K cheque was a deal with PMO

Senator Mike Duffy’s living expenses were “cleared from Day 1” by then Senate government leader Marjory LeBreton’s office, and when they later became controversial, Duffy was pressured to take a deal from the Prime Minister’s Office, his lawyer told a news conference Monday.

Lawyer Donald Bayne on Monday read from emails between Duffy and LeBreton’s office as well as Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff Nigel Wright and others to support his claim that Duffy did not knowingly break Senate rules.

Bayne said that when the growing scandal became politically explosive Duffy was “in effect” told by the PMO not to co-operate with auditors, Bayne said.

Bayne said the PMO told Duffy “the Tory base” was offended by his residency claims and he would have to repay money for all four years of secondary housing claims for his Ottawa home. Duffy’s objections to repaying money he did not believe he owed, said Bayne, were greeted by “threats and pressure from the PMO.”

One of those threats, said Bayne, was that senators David Tkachuk and Carolyn Stewart Olsen, who held the majority on a Senate subcommittee, would declare Duffy’s Senate appointment constitutionally invalid if he refused to co-operate with accepting a payment from Nigel Wright.

“The PMO decided they wanted to sweep a political embarrassment to their Tory base under the rug, and they threatened Senator Duffy with wholly unconstitutional and illegal procedures of throwing him out of the Senate without a hearing if he failed to go along with it,” Bayne said.

The PMO, Bayne said, came up with a “scenario” and communication lines for Duffy to use with the media about how to explain why he was paying back the expense money. “It was a political tactic forced on him by the PMO,” Bayne said. (Source: CBC News)