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Saturday December 21, 2019

December 28, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

December 21, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday December 21, 2019

Auditor general is looking into cost estimates for Hamilton LRT

Ontario’s auditor general says she’ll look at how reasonable the province’s cost estimates were for Hamilton light-rail transit (LRT) as part of an upcoming audit of Metrolinx.

December 17, 2019

A key construction union is also investigating the government’s numbers, and says its preliminary investigation shows the province has been misled.

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk said in a letter to Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath Thursday that she already started a value-for-money audit of Metrolinx governance and operations earlier this month.

“As part of this audit, we will be looking at the reasonableness of the cost estimates for rapid transit projects, including the Hamilton LRT,” she said.

Lysyk was responding to a request from Horwath, who represents Hamilton Centre. The province cancelled an LRT project earlier this week that runs 14 kilometres through three NDP ridings, including Horwath’s. The province will still invest $1 billion in Hamilton, Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney said, but a task force will decide how it’s spent.

Horwath wrote Lysyk on Wednesday asking her to look into the Ministry of Transportation estimate that Hamilton LRT would cost $5.5 billion in capital, operating and maintenance over 30 years.

December 18, 2019

Mulroney said the estimate was the reason her government cancelled LRT. The ministry hired a third-party consultant, she said, after “proponents in the market” alerted her that the Hamilton project was over budget.

Horwath wants Lysyk to investigate why the cost-per-kilometre is higher for Hamilton’s LRT than the Hurontario and Finch West lines.

“The minister is refusing to disclose the third-party consultant’s report that the premier cites as validation for his figures,” Horwath told Lysyk, “so the public has no way of independently assessing them.”

The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) announced earlier this week its investment arm would do its own review of the numbers. The union said in a statement Friday that preliminary figures show the province’s numbers were inflated. (CBC)

Wednesday October 12, 2016

October 11, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

October 12, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 12, 2016

The GOP civil war is finally here. And Trump is winning

With the release of the 2005 “Access of Hollywood” tape and Donald Trump’s subsequent drop in the polls, many already reluctant Republicans are now running for cover from him and his campaign.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator John McCain are the most prominent among them, and Trump has responded by calling them out individually on his Twitter feed. The GOP civil war so close to erupting so many times during the course of the Trump campaign is finally here. All because of a new drop in the polls that may or may not last very long.

There may be no winners in the end of this intramural battle, but the only one who can win is Trump. And that’s why Trump should not just continue to play up this growing rift with the establishment, he should play it up as much as possible.

Think about it: If Trump loses the election, Republican leaders hoping to avoid the worst effects of being associated with his controversial persona won’t be spared much. The Trump supporters will never forgive them and the news media and the Left will never given them any credit for “doing the right thing” anyway. It’s a form of Stockholm syndrome to not only start to like your captors, but look for reasons to blame the captivity on your fellow hostages. This is a no-win scenario if there ever was one for the GOP establishment powers.

Democracy can be ugly. And what Republicans like McCain and Ryan have had so much trouble accepting is that the voters in the primaries flocked to Trump. It doesn’t matter if Trump deserved it or not. It doesn’t matter if he had the best chances to win the general election. If a political party works to undermine what its voters want, it is dead. Trump’s campaign is thus still alive while we watch the GOP commit a form of suicide as it fears national polls and the news media more than its own voters. This is what losers do — when the going gets tough and chips are down, they turn on each other. (Continued: CNBC)

Thursday May 29, 2014

May 29, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 29, 2014

Justin Trudeau responds to ‘bozo eruption’ comment

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has responded to remarks made by one of his MPs, John McKay, about how Trudeau had a “bozo eruption” when he announced Liberal parliamentarians cannot vote in favour of anti-abortion motions or bills.

“Mr. Trudeau respects Mr. McKay. Mr. McKay has strong, personal feelings about this issue and often in those situations people say things that they come to regret. Mr. Trudeau has been very clear that his job is to make decisions that safeguard the rights of all Canadians and that is why he is steadfast in his belief of a woman’s right to choose,” reads a statement issued by Trudeau’s office Monday night.

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McKay, an evangelical Christian who has never hidden his anti-abortion position, was secretly recorded during a conversation he had in Toronto over the weekend.

“I initially thought it was a bozo eruption; that he didn’t actually think about what he said,” McKay reportedly said of Trudeau’s initial position stating new members of his caucus could not hold anti-abortion views.

Trudeau later said Liberal members would be expected to vote against any bill that would restrict a woman’s right to have access to safe, legal abortions, in order to respect the charter.

According to a CTV News report, McKay was recorded saying to an unknown person, “If you don’t know this is a toxic issue for a population, then you have no political sense whatsoever.”

McKay’s comments echo those of recently retired Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis, who told Evan Solomon, host of CBC News Network’s Power & Politics, that Trudeau’s dictum on abortion “would hurt the party.” (Source: CBC News)