Canada

Saturday May 25, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 25, 2019

Andrew Scheer really doesn’t want to talk about abortion

“As I’ve said, many, many times before,” Andrew Scheer said on Wednesday, “a Conservative government will not reopen this debate.

May 15, 2019

“I’ve been very clear on this … I’ve made it very clear. We will not reopen this debate.”

A fair bit depends on how broadly Scheer defines the word “we.”

At any rate, the example of Stephen Harper suggests the debate over abortion isn’t one that a Conservative leader can easily avoid.

On Wednesday, Scheer was asked whether he would allow Conservative MPs to introduce legislation related to abortion and, if so, whether he would allow those MPs to vote freely on such proposals.

Such questions have been coming up a lot lately, prompted by a wave of new legislation to restrict access to abortion services in the United States and by comments Scheer himself made when he was seeking the leadership of the Conservative Party.

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have leaned into the debate, publicly pressuring Scheer over the fact that a dozen Conservative MPs recently attended an anti-abortion rally on Parliament Hill.

Howdy Doodie Andy Scheer

On Wednesday, Scheer accused the Liberals of “trying to import a divisive issue” from the United States to split Canadians and distract from the government’s recent troubles. But he also stopped short of directly answering the questions he was asked.

Based on what he said during the Conservative leadership race, Scheer’s answer to those specific questions would seem to be “yes.” Those campaign comments suggested that, while a Scheer government would not itself introduce abortion legislation, Conservative backbenchers would be free to do so and Conservatives would be free to vote their “conscience” on those bills or motions.

That roughly corresponds with official Conservative policy on such matters and relies on a legitimate parliamentary distinction between the MPs who are part of the government (cabinet ministers, parliamentary secretaries) and those who are not (the backbenchers who are members of the governing party, but not part of the executive).

If that’s still Scheer’s position, he might just say so. But he also wouldn’t be the first Conservative leader to have second thoughts about indulging the backbench. (CBC) 

 

Friday May 24, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday May 24, 2019

If Trudeau called about detainees, Chinese president wouldn’t pick up: ex-ambassador

Former Canadian Ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques says he has “limited expectations” a Canadian delegation currently on the ground in China will successfully lead to the release of two detained Canadians.

Animated!

During an interview on CTV’s Power Play on Tuesday, he said the group, which includes foreign affairs parliamentary secretary Rob Oliphant, won’t have a lot of power to make waves. But even if they did, it wouldn’t matter.

“Nobody in the Chinese government wants to meet with a Canadian minister or special envoy — even if the prime minister were to phone [Chinese] President Xi Jinping, he would not take the call,” Saint-Jacques said.

Last week Chinese officials formally arrested the two Canadians who have been detained since December 2018, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, on the suspicion of stealing state secrets for foreign power. The two men were detained after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver, following an extradition request from the United States.

Saint-Jacques even suggested that Xi would refuse a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the upcoming G20 meeting in Japan in June.

March 1, 2019

“But so far, the Chinese have been adamant that unless we promise to release [Meng], they don’t want to meet with anyone.”

Speaking with reporters after touring an aluminum plant in Quebec, Trudeau admitted Canada is in a “difficult situation with China” despite ongoing diplomatic efforts.

He said that Canadian officials continue to engage their Chinese counterparts, but criticized China for “making stronger moves” in an effort to “get its own way on the world stage.”

The prime minister said that Canada is still pushing for the release of the two men, who Trudeau described as being “arbitrarily detained for political reasons.”

Trudeau vowed that Canada is “going to continue to hold strong… to stand up for our values and our principles.”

There is a currently a parliamentary delegation in China discussing the detention of the two Canadians as part of their visit. (CTV) 

 

Wednesday May 22, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 22, 2019

Alberta beef producers carefully watch Beyond Meat veggie burger complaint

Beef producers in Alberta are carefully watching an ongoing complaint from their Quebec counterparts.

The complaint’s target? American veggie burger company Beyond Meat.

March 15, 2001

The company has swept into Canadian headlines, advertising a plant-based, meatless burger that mimics beef. It hit the news, to great fanfare, when sold at A&W fast food restaurants, and is now available at various grocery chains.

The vegan company hopes to tap into the meat-eater market because the burger more closely tastes like beef than standard veggie patties.

The Quebec Cattle Producers Federation filed a formal complaint with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last week, arguing Beyond Meat has no right to advertise their product as “plant-based meat.”

Alberta Beef Producers and Canadian Cattleman’s Association, which is based in Calgary, have announced their support for the complaint.

“If they’re saying, ‘We’re selling plant-based protein,’ we don’t have any issue with that at all. That’s not misleading at all. That’s very clear what consumers are getting,” Alberta Beef Producers executive director Rich Smith told the Calgary Eyeopener.

January 16, 2019

“When they start introducing terms that they’re using in a comparative way and sometimes in a negative way in their advertising, then that’s where we think it’s unfair and misleading to to our industry and to consumers.”

Beef producers in Alberta are carefully watching an ongoing complaint from their Quebec counterparts.

The complaint’s target? American veggie burger company Beyond Meat.

The company has swept into Canadian headlines, advertising a plant-based, meatless burger that mimics beef. It hit the news, to great fanfare, when sold at A&W fast food restaurants, and is now available at various grocery chains.

The vegan company hopes to tap into the meat-eater market because the burger more closely tastes like beef than standard veggie patties.

The Quebec Cattle Producers Federation filed a formal complaint with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last week, arguing Beyond Meat has no right to advertise their product as “plant-based meat.”

Alberta Beef Producers and Canadian Cattleman’s Association, which is based in Calgary, have announced their support for the complaint.

“If they’re saying, ‘We’re selling plant-based protein,’ we don’t have any issue with that at all. That’s not misleading at all. That’s very clear what consumers are getting,” Alberta Beef Producers executive director Rich Smith told the Calgary Eyeopener.

“When they start introducing terms that they’re using in a comparative way and sometimes in a negative way in their advertising, then that’s where we think it’s unfair and misleading to to our industry and to consumers.” (CBC) 

 

Saturday May 18, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 18, 2019

It’s time to dump cold water on backyard fireworks

This weekend, and again in a little more than a month, it will be firecracker season in our neighbourhoods.

Yes, there will be the community gatherings. But if you don’t choose to go to those events, you won’t hear the fireworks set off there.

You will, however, hear the ones you don’t choose to hear. The ones in your neighbour’s backyard. Or down the street. Or in community parks. Or anyplace where fireworks fans — often, but not always, young people — gather to make big noise.

Your pets, especially dogs, will hear them. In many cases, they’ll be traumatized.

If you’re in a dense urban neighbourhood, they’ll sound like they are right outside your window.

Why do we continue to put up with this? The traumatized pets? The interrupted sleep? The risk of personal injury or property damage?

Does setting off fireworks in residential neighbourhoods represent some greater value — like freedom and liberty? Is lighting off a cherry bomb some cherished human right?

How about this — just don’t. If you feel compelled to explode fireworks, take them to a place well removed from residential neighbourhoods. If loud noises and sparks are your thing, at least don’t impose them on neighbours and others — including little children and pets who have no choice in the matter.

Fireworks are not intrinsically bad at appropriate times and places, with adequate safety and supervision in place. But they don’t belong in residential neighbourhoods where we share air space and, hopefully, a sense of civility and mutual respect. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Friday May 17, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday May 17, 2019

Conrad Black says he won’t answer to criticism of his pardon because it’s not ‘worthy of response’

‘On anything like this you’re going to get people saying it’s a back-scratching job and he’s just rewarding me for writing nice things about him, but so what?’

Conrad Black Cartoon Gallery

Media mogul and former rival Rupert Murdoch was among the well-wishers who called Conrad Black after he received a pardon Wednesday from U.S. President Donald Trump that wiped away convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice dating back to 2007.

“I had a very nice phone call from Rupert Murdoch. I hadn’t spoken with him for many years. Most thoughtful of him to call,” Black said in an interview Thursday in the living room of his home in Toronto.

“He congratulated me and he said he’d congratulated the President for doing it.”

Calls have been coming in “from all over the place, from people I knew when I was a guest of the American people (in prison) and from people I went to Grade 2 with, and all stages since then,” said Black.

“And all but one or two were really very gracious, quite affecting many of them.”

Asked how he would respond to people who say he received the pardon because of Trump’s tendency to view only facts that suit him, or due to the past business dealings the two men had, or the flattering articles and book Black has written about Trump, Black said he wouldn’t respond directly to such critics because he doesn’t find their position “worthy of response.”

“Look, on anything like this you’re going to get people saying it’s a back-scratching job and he’s just rewarding me for writing nice things about him, but so what? Some people criticize Santa Claus, some people find fault with everything,” he said.

“The President and the very gracious message the White House issued last night was very clear in saying what the motives were, and that they were an analysis by his legal counsel and their legal team of the facts of the case, analyzing the particular materials submitted on my behalf by (lawyer) Alan Dershowitz and others.”

Black views the pardon as a total exoneration. “It’s a complete final decision of not guilty. That is finally a fully just verdict,” Black told The Canadian Press on Thursday. (Source: National Post)