Chrystia Freeland

Wednesday January 25, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 25, 2023

Bad Government – Worse Alternative

Trudeau is already into his eighth year in power and he has enough collective wisdom advising him to have understood that his political “biological clock” is ticking.

January 11, 2023

He has outstanding ministers like Anita Anand, Marc Miller and François-Philippe Champagne who would like their chance. The exceptional Chrystia Freeland is tired of just drumming her fingers on the table and may bolt if Trudeau sticks around.

If he does, there are items on his balance sheet that stand out for hard-pressed Canadians. Although plagiarized from the NDP, Trudeau has negotiated and put in place a plan to provide quality affordable daycare. Quite a feat.

At the same time, the chronic underperformers in key files such as Justice, Immigration, Transport and Public safety have been allowed to muddle along, accumulating errors until they become a crisis. Since when has it become a Herculean task to deliver a passport?

An impression of overall incompetence is beginning to stick to Trudeau. He needs a new broom to sweep clean in the PCO (Privy Council Office).

Trudeau’s worst mark on the progressive report card is in the environment.

October 28, 2021

When Guilbault wanders into a meeting of environmentalists today, those who once admired him now start analyzing their shoelaces.

Trudeau bought a pipeline to boost oil sands production but, ever eager to please, Guilbeault surpassed his master by going along with the mindless offshore oil extraction project at Bay du Nord.

Guilbeault has the temerity to try to sell it as”net zero,” by referring only to the extraction process. It’s embarrassing that he thinks he can con people into forgetting that the petroleum is going to get burned somewhere on the planet, contributing of course to global warming and climate change.

At the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, Guilbeault has just promised to restore 19 million hectares of land. That lofty undertaking, without the slightest hint of a plan (or a deal with the provinces) only served to remind Canadians of another vapid promise Trudeau made during a previous election: plant a billion trees. The actual number of trees planted was adjacent to zero. Make the announcement and disappear, sums up the Liberal strategy on sustainable development.

August 5, 2022

Brace yourselves because the new year, 2023, will likely be an election year. Should he choose to stick around, Trudeau will be in his fourth contest since first winning in 2015, a prospect as tiring for his troops as it is for Canadians.

The eternal Liberal rallying cry of “don’t split the vote” will also have more resonance than ever. Sure the Liberals successfully portrayed Andrew Scheer as a scary anti-choice relic and Erin O’Toole as (implausibly) an anti-vaxer! They won’t have anything of the kind to throw at the ultra-woke Singh. They will just have to point to Poilievre and, like a scary tale around the campfire, tell folks that Pierre the evil troll is coming for them unless they re-elect Justin the good. (CTV News) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

Tuesday January 24, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 24, 2023

Liberal Cabinet Retreat

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made his first stop in Hamilton Monday a chance to grab lunch to go with MP Filomena Tassi at The Burnt Tongue on Locke Street.

October 28, 2022

The prime minister and his cabinet are staying in town this week from Jan. 23 to 25 for their post-holiday retreat.

After ordering a cheeseburger and broccoli cheddar soup, Trudeau took a moment to shake hands with the lunch crowd and pose for some photos.

Leaving the restaurant, he posed for a photo with Ashley Acacio and her three-week-old son Mac in his stroller, even correcting the position of a staffer taking a photo for the pair.

On the way to his vehicle, Trudeau hopped on an HSR bus that stopped to greet riders.

Meanwhile, about 200 demonstrators gathered downtown Monday to protest the retreat, calling for migrant rights. They were joined by anti-war demonstrators and about 25 anti-Trudeau and anti-vaccine mandate protesters.

The protesters marched along Main Street, across Summers Lane and blocked King Street in front of the Sheraton Hamilton Hotel for around 20 minutes.

Trudeau’s itinerary said he is expected to attend the retreat, which will focus on affordability and the economy, at 5:30 p.m. Monday. (Toronto Star) 

December 9, 2022

Meanwhile, it’s at the grocery store. It’s at the gas pumps. It’s at your favourite restaurant.

Nearly everywhere Canadians have gone in the past year, every bill might as well have had an extra charge tacked on to the bottom reading simply: inflation.

A shorthand for what’s essentially the rising cost of living, inflation swept across the globe in 2022 and Canada was not immune from its sting.

Canadians eager to travel in June after years of COVID-19 restrictions were met by a 49.7 per cent year-over-year hike in the cost of accommodations. The rest of that summer saw the average price for regular gasoline soar past $2 per litre in many parts of the country. And in October, Canadians were paying 44.8 per cent more for pasta from the grocery store than the same month a year earlier.

April 25, 2014

Poll after poll showed how stretched Canadian dollars had become amid 40-year highs in inflation, with many forced to make impossible decisions about how to feed their families, pay for medications and keep a roof over their heads.

More than a third (36 per cent) of Canadians say their financial situations are very bad or somewhat bad heading into 2023, according to Ipsos Public Affairs polling conducted exclusively for Global News between Dec. 14 and 16. (Global News) 

In the swearing-in of cabinet following the 2021 federal election, the dropping of the awkwardly named Minister of Middle-Class Prosperity, held by Mona Fortier, signalled the short termed portfolio (2019-2021) was an ill conceived addition to the executive team under Prime Minister Trudeau.

Thursday November 3, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 3, 2022

Freeland to release mini-budget today as economists warn a recession is coming

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will table her fall economic statement today — a roadmap of what’s to come from the federal government as the economy stands on the brink of a recession.

July 9, 2020

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced some heat when he told reporters during the 2021 election campaign that he doesn’t pay much attention to monetary policy and the Bank of Canada’s mandate to keep inflation at manageable levels.

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t think about monetary policy. You’ll understand, I think about families,” Trudeau said at a Vancouver campaign stop.

But now, with inflation at levels not seen in decades, monetary policy is something virtually everyone in government is seized with as the central bank hikes rates to push down sky-high prices.

Under Canada’s system, monetary policy (interest rates) is set by the Bank of Canada, while fiscal policy (spending) is up to the elected government.

Ontario Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski said that with interest rates so high, “times are changing.”

“I think there’s more of an opportunity to be frugal,” he said. “Any debt we incur is going to grow.”

MP Rachel Bendayan, the associate minister of finance, said the government has been “extremely fiscally responsible” and is “planning on continuing on that track.”

May 13, 2022

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has made it clear what he wants: no new spending unless there are cuts elsewhere.

Anything else would be “pouring inflationary fuel on the fire,” Poiliere said in question period Wednesday.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he wants Freeland to address what he calls corporate greed and reform the employment insurance (EI) program.

Freeland has signalled already the government is expecting tough times ahead.

The era of cheap cash is over — rising rates will make it more difficult for businesses to borrow money, which could lead to downsizing and job losses.

The sizeable jump in the Bank of Canada’s policy interest rate — it’s gone from just 0.25 per cent in January to 3.75 per cent today — has also forced the government to rethink how much it will spend.

The cost to service the federal debt is relatively low right now, but it’s poised to increase in the short and medium term.

April 8, 2022

There are early signals suggesting that Ottawa’s fiscal health in the short term could be much better than predicted, thanks to higher oil prices and the growth in personal and corporate taxes in this era of high inflation.

According to figures released last week through the Public Accounts of Canada, the government’s fiscal ledger, the budget deficit for the 2021-22 fiscal year came in at $90.2 billion — substantially less than the $113.8-billion deficit Freeland projected in her April budget.

In an economic and fiscal outlook published last month, the PBO forecast a budget deficit of $25.8 billion — about 0.9 per cent of GDP — for the 2022-23 fiscal year if the government pursues “status quo policy” — meaning no major new spending on programs. That is significantly smaller than the April budget’s forecast of $52.8 billion. (CBC) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

Saturday September 10, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday September 10, 2022

Chrystia Freeland has a ‘legitimate shot’ at top NATO job, expert says

October 26, 2021

It’s the favourite parlour game of the parliamentary precinct — predicting which powerful figure is going where and why. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland finds herself at the centre of speculation now, as talk about her possible appointment to NATO’s top job ramps up.

The buzz was loud enough for a journalist to ask Freeland about it directly on Wednesday, as Liberal cabinet ministers gathered on the West Coast to plot strategy for the fall session of Parliament.

Predictably, the deputy prime minister didn’t bite and spoke about how she already has “two busy jobs” — a reference to her principal portfolio as finance minister.

At least four different sources — in Ottawa, Washington and Brussels, where NATO is headquartered — say Freeland’s name has been tossed around for several months in international defence and security circles as a potential successor to the current secretary general, former Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, who has been in the job since 2014.

The parlour game gets played in other capitals, too.

November 21, 2019

And while most of the speculation — first reported publicly by journalist Paul Wells in his online column — revolves around the domestic political effects of a possible Freeland candidacy, the chatter in international circles spins on a different axis.

“There are several very qualified women out there who would be very good candidates,” said a top NATO official who spoke to CBC News last month. (The source spoke to CBC News confidentially because they are not authorized to speak on the matter publicly.)

“It seems there is some momentum for a woman to be the next [secretary general].”

Stoltenberg’s term was supposed to end this month but NATO leaders — reeling in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine — extended that term to 2023.

October 20, 2016

Sources in Brussels said Freeland’s name surfaced last fall.

The question that didn’t quite get answered on Wednesday was whether Freeland might be interested in the job. 

As someone steeped in Eastern European politics and history, someone who can speak English, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, French, Spanish and Italian, Freeland likely would be considered a major asset at a time when the alliance is trying to hold itself together in the face of a major regional war. Her knowledge of Russia and the inner workings of the Kremlin would be another major plus.

But in order to secure her candidacy, both her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would have to work the international diplomatic circuit — likely behind the scenes — and expend political capital. (CBC) 

 

Tuesday August 30, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday August 30, 2022

Neanderthals and Strong Women

May 26, 2021

From a makeshift studio and with a news anchor’s measured tones, one of Canada’s most familiar faces shocked viewers, created a PR disaster at a national broadcaster and set off intense conversations about how employers treat women as they age.

She did it with a polite, unexpected farewell.

“I guess this is my sign-off from CTV,” the news anchor, Lisa LaFlamme said in a video that announced the abrupt end of her 35-year career at the network.

The dismissal of Ms. LaFlamme, who was most likely one of the newsroom’s highest-paid employees, followed a torrent of layoffs and budget cuts at CTV’s network and local news operations over the past seven years, which were made despite government assistance to news organizations. As in the United States, the internet and years of collapsing advertising revenue have left many Canadian news organizations in dire financial straits. The executive put on leave, Michael Melling, had overseen recent layoffs and cuts at CTV.