club

Tuesday August 28, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday August 28, 2018

Trump tries to put squeeze on Canada as U.S. and Mexico make NAFTA breakthrough

The U.S. and Mexico have come to a preliminary agreement on new North American rules for automotive manufacturing and for other industries — and President Donald Trump is using it to threaten Canada, using a novel tactic to try to pressure Prime Minister Justin Trudeau into a final deal.

August 18, 2018

The U.S.-Mexico deal, announced Monday, had widely been described as a preliminary, informal sub-agreement that would be folded into the broader North American Free Trade Agreement talks.

But the Trump administration, seeking to push Canada into concessions, is describing it as a separate trade agreement, a “United States-Mexico Trade Agreement,” that Canada can either choose to join or not.

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he would “get rid of the name NAFTA,” which he said has a “bad connotation.”

Trump again threatened Canada with auto tariffs.

March 23, 2005

“Canada will start negotiations shortly. I’ll be calling the prime minister very soon. And we’ll start negotiation, and if they’d like to negotiate fairly, we’ll do that.

“You know, they have tariffs of almost 300 per cent on some of our dairy products, and we can’t have that. We’re not going to stand for that.

“I think with Canada, frankly, the easiest thing we can do is to tariff their cars coming in,” Trump said.

“It’s a tremendous amount of money and it’s a very simple negotiation. It could end in one day and we take in a lot of money the following day. But I think we’ll give them a chance to probably have a separate deal. We can have a separate deal or we can put it into this deal.”

On its website, Trump’s administration described the deal with Mexico as a “preliminary agreement in principle.” (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

Thursday May 12, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Thursday May 12, 2016 Want to visit Webster's Falls? Be ready to pay $15 The Hamilton Conservation Authority has hiked its fees at Spencer Gorge/Webster Falls Conservation Area in an effort to curb the influx of weekend visitors. "The local environment is taking a pounding," said chief administrative officer Chris Firth-Eagland who estimates the park has seen more than 3,000 people atÊa time during a peak weekend Ñ the park's estimated capacity. He said conservative estimates suggest the park had 140,000 visitors in 2015, up from about 80,000 two years earlier. The increased human activity not onlyÊendangers a fragile ecosystem, including century old trees, "sensitive plant regimes," and bird species like the recently departed Louisiana Waterthrush, it hasÊalso created traffic and parking issues for locals. "The place is gridlocked when the leaves change colours," said Firth-Eagland.Ê As one step in the solution, said Firth-Eagland, the HCA has aligned its pricing to be similar to prominent HCA attractions like Christie Lake, Dundas Valley,ÊValens Lake and Fifty Point. As of May 21, visitors will pay a $10 parking fee and $5 per person to gain access to the Spencer Gorge/Webster Falls park. TheÊrevised fee schedule also applies to the Tew Falls parking area and site. Between May 21 and Oct. 31, HCA membership passes will not gain free admittance on weekends. In all other HCA conservation areas the membershipÊpasses will remain valid on weekends and admittance fees appear to remain unchanged. The City of Waterfalls Initiatives founder Chris Ecklund says the move by the HCA wasn't surprising. "For the waterfall initiative as a whole, the Number 1 complaint is the cost of admission to the HCA properties in general," said Ecklund. "We have peopleÊsaying they can't afford it because they're on a fixed income. "This cost is insanity.Ó (Source: Hamilton Spectator) http://www.thespec.com/news-story/65479

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 12, 2016

Want to visit Webster’s Falls? Be ready to pay $15

The Hamilton Conservation Authority has hiked its fees at Spencer Gorge/Webster Falls Conservation Area in an effort to curb the influx of weekend visitors.

“The local environment is taking a pounding,” said chief administrative officer Chris Firth-Eagland who estimates the park has seen more than 3,000 people at a time during a peak weekend — the park’s estimated capacity.

He said conservative estimates suggest the park had 140,000 visitors in 2015, up from about 80,000 two years earlier. The increased human activity not only endangers a fragile ecosystem, including century old trees, “sensitive plant regimes,” and bird species like the recently departed Louisiana Waterthrush, it has also created traffic and parking issues for locals.

“The place is gridlocked when the leaves change colours,” said Firth-Eagland.

As one step in the solution, said Firth-Eagland, the HCA has aligned its pricing to be similar to prominent HCA attractions like Christie Lake, Dundas Valley, Valens Lake and Fifty Point. As of May 21, visitors will pay a $10 parking fee and $5 per person to gain access to the Spencer Gorge/Webster Falls park. The revised fee schedule also applies to the Tew Falls parking area and site.

Between May 21 and Oct. 31, HCA membership passes will not gain free admittance on weekends. In all other HCA conservation areas the membership passes will remain valid on weekends and admittance fees appear to remain unchanged.

The City of Waterfalls Initiatives founder Chris Ecklund says the move by the HCA wasn’t surprising.

“For the waterfall initiative as a whole, the Number 1 complaint is the cost of admission to the HCA properties in general,” said Ecklund. “We have people saying they can’t afford it because they’re on a fixed income.

“This cost is insanity.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

 

Wednesday May 23, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday May 23, 2012

Harper pledges Afghan funds after troops exit in 2014

Canada is pledging $110 million annually to help fund the embattled Afghan National Army after the withdrawal of Canadian soldiers in March 2014, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says.

The funding commitment is for three years, starting in 2015 and expiring in 2017, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Harper made the announcement on Monday afternoon at a summit of NATO leaders in Chicago, where U.S. President Barack Obama has been trying to drum up international support for the alliance’s post-combat involvement in Afghanistan.

NATO leaders used the summit to affirm their commitment to ending the deeply unpopular war in 2014 and voiced confidence in the ability of Afghan forces to take the lead for securing their country even sooner.

The alliance leaders formally agreed to a strategy that calls for a gradual exit of foreign combat troops as they held a second and final day of NATO meetings in Chicago, Obama’s hometown.

They declared in a communiqué that while NATO will maintain a significant presence in Afghanistan after 2014, “this will not be a combat mission.”

Harper described Canada’s contribution as generous, saying it was designed to set an example for other nations to follow.

It is estimated that it will cost $4.1 billion a year for Afghanistan to run its security forces once the NATO-led coalition pulls out in 2014. (Source: CBC News)