cuts – mackaycartoons

Thursday June 20, 2024

June 20, 2024 by Graeme MacKay

Canada faces a pivotal challenge in reconciling its social priorities, such as robust healthcare and social safety nets, with its NATO defence spending commitments amidst scrutiny and the complexities of military procurement highlighted by Anita Anand.

June 20, 2024

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 20, 2024

* Turn up the volume and find an animated making-of version of this cartoon through this link!

Balancing Canada’s Social Priorities with NATO Commitments

March 1, 2024

The awkward visit of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to Ottawa underscores a pivotal moment for Canada in reconciling its domestic social priorities with its international commitments. As Stoltenberg arrives amidst heightened scrutiny over Canada’s defence spending, the nation faces a pressing dilemma that demands careful consideration and decisive action.

In recent discourse, Todd Hirsch’s commentary has resonated, highlighting Canada’s challenge in meeting NATO’s expectation of allocating 2% of its GDP towards defence. This requirement translates into a daunting $18 billion annually, sparking debates on how best to navigate fiscal responsibilities without compromising essential social programs.

Opinion: So, what expenditures should Canada cut to meet its NATO obligations?

April 10, 2024

Canada prides itself on robust healthcare, comprehensive social safety nets, and environmental stewardship—cornerstones of our national identity and values. These investments are integral to ensuring the well-being and prosperity of Canadians across the socio-economic spectrum. Any proposal to reallocate funds from these vital areas must be approached with utmost caution to mitigate potential adverse impacts on vulnerable communities.

Simultaneously, there exists a compelling argument for honouring our NATO commitments. Our credibility as a dependable ally and contributor to international security hinges on fulfilling these obligations. Failure to meet the 2% benchmark could strain diplomatic relations and diminish Canada’s influence on the global stage, jeopardizing strategic alliances and our national security interests.

The path forward necessitates a balanced approach—one that explores efficiencies within government operations, curtails unnecessary expenditures like excessive consultant fees, and considers targeted tax reforms to bolster revenue streams responsibly. Such measures could alleviate fiscal pressures while safeguarding essential social services.

News: Rising economic indicators pushing Canada further from NATO spending target, MPs hear

January 11, 2023

Moreover, strategic investments in military modernization, technological innovation, and cybersecurity can align defence spending with broader economic advancements, enhancing both national security and domestic resilience.

Anita Anand’s remarks on the complexities of military procurement underscore another layer of challenge. Procurement processes are laden with technicalities and regulatory hurdles that hinder timely and efficient spending. Addressing these bottlenecks through increased staffing and streamlined procedures is crucial to ensuring that allocated funds are effectively utilized to meet defence needs.

News: Anand defends hesitation to further invest in defence as NATO secretary general arrives in Canada

July 1, 2023

As Canada prepares for future elections and policy deliberations, we must engage in a candid and inclusive dialogue. This dialogue should not shy away from the tough questions of resource allocation and national priorities. It requires leadership that navigates the complexities of global security while upholding our commitment to equity, compassion, and fiscal prudence.

Ultimately, the choices we make today will shape the Canada of tomorrow—a Canada that balances its international responsibilities with its unwavering dedication to the well-being and prosperity of all its citizens. By embracing this challenge with foresight and integrity, we can forge a path that strengthens our nation’s position on the world stage while preserving the values that define us. (AI)

Friday October 16, 2020

October 24, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 16, 2020

Make Canada’s electric vehicle bet pay off

The federal and Ontario governments have just rolled the dice — using taxpayers’ money — in hopes of hitting it big in the electric vehicle industry.

November 22, 2019

After anteing up $295 million apiece, they recently convinced Ford Motor Co. of Canada to commit about $1.4 billion of its own money to start manufacturing these zero-emission machines and the batteries that power them at its Oakville plant by 2025.

It’s a smart, and admirably non-partisan, gamble on the part of these governments that could preserve thousands of Canadian auto-sector jobs and grow the economy while doing something just as important — fighting climate change.

But if they want this steep, $590-million bet to pay off, they have to do more than just put up money. It’s not as easy as saying if you build it they’ll buy it.

While there are plenty of hybrid and fully electric vehicles on the market, only about 0.5 per cent of the 23 million passenger vehicles on Canadian roads are electric. There are strong reasons more Canadians haven’t leapt behind the wheel of an EV, reasons Ottawa and Queen’s Park need to address.

October 3, 2020

For starters, electric vehicles are generally more expensive to buy than the ones driven by the internal combustion engines that are doing so much to heat up this planet. When it comes to range, most EVs can’t travel nearly as far on a full-charge as their gasoline-driven rivals on a full tank, though the gap is decreasing. And the number of electric recharging stations is pitifully small — just a fraction of the number of gas stations out there.

These negatives shouldn’t make anyone a naysayer about the future of Canada’s electric car and battery industry. It is, in fact, visionary for our nation to embrace what will surely be the technology of the future. Unfortunately there are no givens in the global auto sector and too often good intentions on the parts of governments and even industrial gurus don’t pan out.

February 27, 2020

Canada badly lags behind other countries, such the United States, Germany, Japan and especially China in making EVs. When the current federal Liberal government asked every single EV manufacturer in the world to move to Canada, the answer was consistently no.

But there’s an upside to the fact that Ford Motor’s first zero-emission vehicles won’t roll of the line in Oakville for another five years. That gives the federal and Ontario governments a half decade to ensure their — your — investment ultimately pays off.

Canada needs recharge stations, lots of them. Establishing and paying for more of this essential infrastructure should be part of the federal Liberals’ plan for rebuilding post-pandemic Canada.

Perhaps they could partner with existing gas stations. If their owners give the matter some thought they’ll realize they, too, have a stake in transitioning away from petroleum-based fuels.

Programs could be established or beefed up across the country to help homeowners as well as condo and apartment complexes, to install their own recharging facilities. In addition, the federal government should review its current rebate program for people buying electric vehicles to determine if it’s working and even if it should be enhanced.

Finally, attention must also be paid to the Canadian mining companies that produce the minerals, such as cobalt, nickel and lithium, that will go into the electric vehicle batteries. Do they require help in meeting what could be a significant new demand?

When it comes to electric vehicles, Ottawa and Queen’s Park may feel that, as Ford Motor once proclaimed, they have “a better idea.” They need to back it up. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial)

Friday November 22, 2019

November 29, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

November 22, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday November 22, 2019

Doug Ford government spent $231M to scrap green energy projects

Provincial documents show the Ford government spent more than $230 million to cancel renewable energy projects that included a partially-built wind farm in a cabinet minister’s riding.

December 1, 2018

The spending was revealed Tuesday in question period by the opposition NDP, who accused the Ford government of throwing away money on scrapping energy projects as the Liberal government did earlier in the decade.

The province’s public accounts for 2018-19 show spending of $231 million by the Ministry of Energy on unexplained “other transactions.”

October 19, 2018

Inquiries by an NDP researcher uncovered that these “other transactions” were “to fulfil a government commitment to wind down renewable energy contracts” including the White Pines wind farm in Prince Edward County.

Premier Doug Ford promised that electricity ratepayers would not be on the hook for scrapping the wind farm, which was one of the first acts of his government after taking power in June 2018.

“Wasting $231 million to cancel hydro contracts is the sort of thing the previous Liberal government did during the gas plant scandal,” NDP energy critic Peter Tabuns said on Tuesday.

The associate minister of energy, Bill Walker, said the province didn’t need the power from the White Pines project but didn’t deny the cost of the cancellation.

“This municipality was an unwilling host from day one. They did not want the turbines. We did the right thing,” said Walker in question period.

October 12, 2012

Walker pointed to actions of the previous Liberal governments, whose moves to cancel gas plants in Mississauga and Oakville ended up costing upwards of $1 billion, according to the province’s auditor general.

“I’ll take fair criticism for decisions that were made when we were in government,” John Fraser, the Liberal interim leader, said Tuesday at Queen’s Park. “But I also believe that this government’s going down the wrong path with energy and electricity, and tearing up these contracts was the absolute wrong thing to do.”

The White Pines wind farm is in the riding of Todd Smith, the PC MPP for Bay of Quinte and the government’s minister of children, community and social services.

“This is a project that residents of Prince Edward County had been fighting against since it was proposed,” Smith told reporters Tuesday.

Four out of the nine turbines approved for the project were built in 2018. After the election, the new government put a stop-work order on construction. Crews are currently working to dismantle those four turbines.

“For this government to rip up contracts and literally rip wind turbines out of the ground is a huge waste of money and makes absolutely no sense,” said Green party Leader Mike Schreiner. (CBC)

Saturday November 9, 2019

November 16, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday November 9, 2019

Doug Ford government tries for a reboot with its latest fiscal plan

Premier Doug Ford’s government is listening and Finance Minister Rod Phillips really wants you to know that.

November 1, 2019

“We listened to Ontarians,” said Phillips in a news conference after delivering the government’s budget update on Wednesday afternoon.

“We listened to what they thought was working well in the plan that we had, and we listened to the concerns that they had,” Phillips added.

“So you can expect this is a government that has listened and is going to continue to listen, and make sure that we make adjustments as we go along.”

The fiscal tally of all that listening is found in the pages of Phillips’s fall economic statement. The document accounts for the government’s recent backtracks, updating the budget from the $163.4 billion spending plan tabled in April by Vic Fedeli, whom Ford dumped as finance minister two months later.

August 21, 2019

The fall economic statement is part of the Ford government’s attempts to portray itself as new and improved, striking a new tone, turning over a new leaf. The budget update tries to do this by highlighting the spending cuts on which the government reversed course and recasting them as spending increases.

Technically, it’s true the PCs are increasing program spending by $1.3 billion from the April budget. In reality, this is simply putting some spending cuts that didn’t happen back on the government’s books.

Does a reversal of a spending cut equal a spending increase? NDP leader Andrea Horwath doesn’t think so.

May 23, 2019

The fiscal update reflects merely “a softening of their previous cuts, a backtracking on some of their cuts, a delaying of some of their cuts, but really the cuts are still coming,” Horwath said Wednesday on CBC’s Power and Politics.

The new finance minister hasn’t fundamentally changed the budget that the old finance minister put in place, and acknowledged as much in his news conference.

“This isn’t about grand gestures,” said Phillips. “It’s about incremental important changes that make life easier for people.”

The update shows — just as the April budget did — that nearly every ministry is undergoing spending cuts this year from 2018-19 levels. Nominal increases in spending on health and education are not increases in real-dollar terms when population growth and inflation are considered. (CBC)

Friday November 1, 2019

November 8, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday November 1, 2019

Can Doug Ford learn from his mistakes?

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has ended the longest legislative break in a quarter century and his own political exile. He admits his government has made mistakes and vows to find a new “tone” going forward.

May 29, 2019

“Governing is always hard,” says Ford. “We all mature in the role that we’re in and you just try not to make the same mistakes.”

Far be it for this page to disagree with Ford on any of that. Or his stated desire to “learn by your mistakes.”

His government has been a disaster, and the way Ontario voters cast their ballots in last week’s federal election strongly suggests they also know it.

But putting the wrecking ball that has been the hallmark of the Ford government’s first 16 months down to exuberance is far too simplistic.

The early autism cuts and cronyism scandal, for example, were mistakes. But much of the chaos in everything from education to social services is not the result of haste or blundering. It flows from purposeful policy decisions to cut costs.

October 29, 2019

So as Ford seeks to reset his government the real question is what exactly he thinks are his “mistakes.” That his policies proved to be more unpopular with the people of Ontario than expected, or that they were the wrong direction in the first place?

If it’s the former, Ontarians can expect to see a slower pace of change with more effort put into finding support for the government’s cuts. If it’s the latter, and we hope it is, it might mean more than that.

Monday’s Question Period, though, didn’t bode well for the idea that the new and improved Ford government is about substance and not just style.

Ford welcomed back NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and thanked her for her questions. Then he launched into the same half-truths he’s always peddled.

On education, Ford said, the government is investing “more money than any government in the history of Ontario.” But per student funding — the primary means of funding schools — is down; some high school students are struggling to get the classes they need for university; and teachers’ unions, furious about job reductions, are set to take strike votes.

May 14, 2019

On Ford’s appalling taxpayer-funded court battle over the federal carbon pricing plan, he continued to claim people “just can’t afford it.” He ignored, as usual, the fact that most people will get back more than they pay because of the rebates that come with it.

It’s obvious that Ford needs to reset his government’s agenda.

At this point, no one, not even his own Progressive Conservative colleagues, can possibly know even what it is, given all the U-turns and waffles over the last few months.

Ford happily blew up Toronto city council mid-election, supposedly to create better and more efficient municipal government and vowed to extend such thinking to other regions. Then, on Friday, after months of consultation and study the government abandoned that idea; instead, it offered municipalities more money to find efficiencies and improve services.

May 4, 2019

The province has finally moved to enact legislation passed by the former Liberal government to ban the promotion of vaping products in convenience stores but hasn’t done the same thing on labour reforms needed to protect temporary workers. It has reduced its deep cuts to child care, but not for legal aid. On carbon pricing Ford changed his mind two months ago, only to change it back again last week.

How is anyone to know what this government stands for now?

At the top of the Ford government’s list of legislative priorities is “restoring trust and accountability in government.”

After promising efficiencies but delivering devastating cuts that will be a long road.

And if Ford really wants to avoid repeating his mistakes, this legislative session needs to be about more than softer words. (Toronto Star)