dragon

Friday April 5, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday April 5, 2019

The world still needs NATO after 70 years

The 70th birthday of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization this week deserved far more attention and celebration than it received.

November 23, 2002

There were no parades, no fireworks, no self-congratulatory gatherings of presidents and prime ministers clinking champagne flutes to recognize an alliance that has done so much for global peace and security.

Instead, and in marked contrast to the three-day extravaganza that saluted NATO’s accomplishments on its 50th anniversary in 1999, there was only a low-key ministerial meeting Thursday for the organization’s members in Washington, D.C.

This was likely because an ambitious, A-list gathering of NATO-nation leaders would have had to include the volatile, NATO-bashing American President Donald Trump. Having no party was preferable to having one he’d ruin.

Yet NATO was worthy of better. Whatever challenges it faces today — and some coming from disaffected members like Turkey are urgent — NATO must be judged a rousing success.

According to the Brookings Institution research group, NATO is one of the most enduring military alliances in the past 500 years. It rose from the wreckage of the Second World War, when European nations so recently freed from the scourge of Nazi Germany were confronted by an aggressively expansionist Soviet Union.

May 29, 2002

Some critics insisted NATO had passed its best-before date. Russian President Vladimir Putin showed how wrong they were. Today, and with support from Canada’s Armed Forces, the 29-member alliance has deployed troops in the Baltic States, Ukraine and Poland to halt Putin’s territorial ambitions. When the Russians annexed Crimea and destabilized eastern Ukraine, an impotent United Nations watched. NATO acted.

Despite Trump’s rants and threats, Congress and the American people are largely supportive of NATO. They know the alliance helped them in Afghanistan and how much the friendship of so many nations counts in a changing, uncertain world just awakening to the rise of a headstrong, authoritarian China.

Today’s world is very different from what it was in 1949. But for seven decades NATO has helped guide it through seas both calm and rough. Change it must and will. But NATO is still needed and we hope it lasts at least seven decades more. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Wednesday December 12, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday December 12, 2018

Trump’s trade war bluster over China is rattling the world

January 26, 2017

The sharp rise of the Dow Jones industrial average since Donald Trump’s election as president in November 2016 is something he and his supporters often cite to show how he has helped the economy — and how, despite his divisive style, Trump’s tax cuts and regulation reductions have been good for America. But the president’s bluster about trade wars — “I am a Tariff Man” — and the important U.S.-China relationship has so far fuelled only chaos. Consider this week. The Dow dropped 799 points Tuesday then had a wilder day on Thursday, closing down 79 points after falling as much as 784 points.

There’s been global fallout since Saturday, when Trump asserted that Chinese President Xi Jinping had caved in his trade war with the U.S. Trump said he’d cut an “incredible” deal in which China would drop a 40 per cent import duty on American cars in return for the U.S. dropping a planned increase in tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese exports.

November 30, 2018

Initially, markets around the planet were thrilled by the news — a trade war between Earth’s two biggest economies creates headaches for nearly everyone. But as it became clear that Xi had only agreed to a 90-day truce on trade issues — not remotely what Trump claimed — investors panicked. The Dow has fallen by 2,000 points from its 2018 high, wiping out nearly all of its gains for the year. Adding to investors’ worries: the news that Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the giant Chinese tech firm Huawei, had been arrested by Canadian authorities at the U.S. Justice Department’s behest, reportedly because of Huawei’s breaking sanctions by doing business with Iran.

December 5, 2017

Given that she is the daughter of Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, who is revered in China for creating a tech behemoth that is a legitimate rival to U.S. firms, Beijing’s sharp reaction to her arrest was no surprise. But the arrest only underscored the valid reasons that Washington has for being upset with China’s trade practices. China tramples on laws and agreements it doesn’t like, not just by trading with international sponsors of terrorism and subsidizing exports but by aggressively stealing intellectual property and business secrets from U.S. tech firms. Trump has a case when he says his predecessors let Beijing get away with awful behaviour.

But it’s his problem now. He has stated that “trade wars are great and easy to win.” It’s easy to declare nonexistent wins. It’s far more difficult to stabilize the strategically vital relationship between Washington and Beijing with the care and thoughtfulness it demands — and the world needs. (Source: San Diego Union-Tribune) 

 

Saturday May 19, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 19, 2018

Why Prince Harry is giving the British press the cold shoulder

In many ways, Prince Harry’s raucous relationship with the media has been leading up to this.

August 23, 2012

His upcoming wedding to Meghan Markle signals the culmination of a lifelong tug of war over access to him and his family. And by allowing nearly no journalists into St. George’s Chapel on May 19, Harry may be indicating he finally has the upper hand.

“The Prince Harry that I know doesn’t like the press,” said Duncan Larcombe, a former tabloid reporter who wrote the book Prince Harry: The Inside Story.

While 28 reporters and 17 still photographers were allowed into Prince William and Kate’s wedding in 2011, only one reporter and two photographers will be welcome this time — a reflection, perhaps, of Harry’s antagonism.

“William allowed the press in,” Larcombe said. “Harry is basically shutting the door.”

Larcombe concedes the chapel in Windsor can only hold a fraction of the 1,900 guests invited to Westminster Abbey for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s nuptials.

But, he said, “hiding behind the excuse that this is a private wedding is pretty nonsensical.”

Longtime royal photographer Arthur Edwards describes Harry as genuine and warm in private. But he acknowledges the prince’s relationship with the press has “been a little bit difficult recently.” (Source: CBC News) 

 

Thursday April 27, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 27, 2017

Kevin O’Leary drops out of Conservative leadership race, will endorse Maxime Bernier

Former Dragons’ Den TV star believes he cannot defeat Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in next election

January 19, 2017

Kevin O’Leary is dropping out of the Conservative leadership race and will endorse Maxime Bernier.

The businessman and reality TV star is ending his campaign only hours before the last leadership debate in Toronto, and two days before party members can start casting their ballots.

O’Leary is confident he could win the Conservative race, but now believes he cannot defeat Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the next election, multiple sources tell CBC News.

He has cited his failure to gain traction in Quebec and his poor French-language skills as reasons for dropping out of the leadership race.

“I have extremely high likelihood of winning the leadership race, but no way to win the election because of Quebec,” he said in an interview with the Globe and Mail on Wednesday. “You have to win 30 seats. So, who can do that? It’s Bernier.”

January 15, 2016

“He’s a front-runner,” O’Leary said. “I like Max. I can work with him.”

n a statement sent to reporters, O’Leary said he has “worked like hell on this campaign.”

“This was not an easy decision for me to make but after much thought and deliberation, it is the right one for the Conservative Party and the country,” he said. “I want the DNA of my policies and objectives to survive into the general election. The candidate that best mirrors my policies is Maxime Bernier.”

Bernier will hold a press conference at 4:30 p.m. ET in Toronto to discuss the developments. CBCNews.ca will carry it live.

April 14, 2017

O’Leary has spent the better part of his relatively short campaign — he entered the race in January — taking jabs at Trudeau, branding the prime minister “surfer dude” and calling his leadership a “disaster” for the country. He has also said Trudeau negotiating with U.S. President Donald Trump is like “Bambi versus Godzilla.”

O’Leary has not left his Conservative opponents unscathed, and, despite his endorsement of Bernier, the two candidates have sparred over allegations of membership fraud and vote buying. The Quebec MP called O’Leary a “loser” after he went public with concerns about vote rigging. (CBC News) 

 

Wednesday November 2, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday November 2, 2016 Fiscal update boosts Liberal infrastructure plans but offers no path back to balance Justin Trudeau's Liberal government is responding to the sluggish global economy with a fall economic update that puts a even greater focus on infrastructure spending than in its spring budget, while making it easier for private sector investors to add their money to the government's already considerable funding pot. While the projected deficit for 2016-17 has moved down to $25.1 billion from the $29.4 billion forecast in the spring budget, the new figure no longer has any kind of a safety cushion built in. Absent that cushion, the deficit has actually grown thanks to some $1.7 billion in new spending since last spring. The deficit situation improves toward the end of the government's five-year horizon, to $16.8 billion in 2020-21. The projected debt-to-GDP ratio Ñ the key measure of the affordability of a government's debt Ñ by then returns to the 31 per cent mark, where it was in 2015-16 as the Liberal government took office. Morneau told reporters his government made the right decision in preparing itself for what is happening to the economy. But Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose said the Liberals' massive spending has created no new jobs and has led to a stalled economy. "They think this failed plan is somehow working, and they're doubling down on it," she said. Repeating the party's line that the Conservatives are the voice of taxpayers, Ambrose accused the government of "making lives more expensive for Canadians.Ó "Canadians are worse off today than they were a year ago," Ambrose said. "But instead of action, we hear excuses.Ó (Source: CBC)Êhttp://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fall-economic-update-bill-morneau-1.3831080 Canada, Bill Morneau, budget, economy, deficit, statement, update, economic, dragon, spending

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 2, 2016

Fiscal update boosts Liberal infrastructure plans but offers no path back to balance

Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is responding to the sluggish global economy with a fall economic update that puts a even greater focus on infrastructure spending than in its spring budget, while making it easier for private sector investors to add their money to the government’s already considerable funding pot.

While the projected deficit for 2016-17 has moved down to $25.1 billion from the $29.4 billion forecast in the spring budget, the new figure no longer has any kind of a safety cushion built in. Absent that cushion, the deficit has actually grown thanks to some $1.7 billion in new spending since last spring.

The deficit situation improves toward the end of the government’s five-year horizon, to $16.8 billion in 2020-21. The projected debt-to-GDP ratio — the key measure of the affordability of a government’s debt — by then returns to the 31 per cent mark, where it was in 2015-16 as the Liberal government took office.

Morneau told reporters his government made the right decision in preparing itself for what is happening to the economy.

But Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose said the Liberals’ massive spending has created no new jobs and has led to a stalled economy.

“They think this failed plan is somehow working, and they’re doubling down on it,” she said.

Repeating the party’s line that the Conservatives are the voice of taxpayers, Ambrose accused the government of “making lives more expensive for Canadians.”

“Canadians are worse off today than they were a year ago,” Ambrose said. “But instead of action, we hear excuses.” (Source: CBC)