duel

Wednesday May 31, 2023

May 31, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 31, 2023

Danielle Smith vs. Trudeau – Oil, Populism, and Federal Friction!

December 2, 2022

Alberta’s recent election witnessed the remarkable comeback of Premier Danielle Smith and her United Conservative Party (UCP). However, as Smith solidifies her position as premier, concerns arise about the potential tensions that may emerge between Alberta and the federal government, particularly under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Smith’s return to politics reintroduces a populist playbook that resonated with Albertans frustrated with COVID-19 restrictions and those seeking fundamental changes to Alberta’s role within Canada. This article explores the implications of Smith’s victory and the heightened conflict that may unfold in Canadian politics.

Smith’s campaign hinged on her promise to pass the Alberta Sovereignty Act, granting the provincial government the ability to opt out of enforcing federal legislation it deemed contrary to Alberta’s interests. While she tempered her stance on COVID-19 restrictions, the desire for increased provincial autonomy remained prevalent. The act was modified to become the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, aiming to ease concerns about secession while asserting Alberta’s constitutional toughness. By aligning with Saskatchewan’s similar efforts, Smith seeks to protect Alberta’s oil and gas industry and safeguard the province’s prosperity.

Opinion: The lessons for Pierre Poilievre from the Alberta election  

October 28, 2021

This election outcome sets the stage for potential clashes with the federal government. Smith’s victory, driven by support from oil and gas advocates, gives her a mandate to prioritize and defend the industry. As Alberta and Saskatchewan unite, they aim to push the federal government back within its designated boundaries, asserting provincial jurisdiction and potentially limiting federal actions. Such conflicts have the potential to strain federal-provincial relations, posing a significant challenge for Prime Minister Trudeau’s government.

Smith’s political challenges lie in reconciling competing pressures. To secure her victory, she had to appeal to centrist voters by advocating for well-funded public services and lower taxes. However, her populist base may exert pressure for more confrontational positions. Conflict with the federal government in support of oil and gas becomes a unifying stance, satisfying those who desire Alberta’s affluence and low tax rates while resonating with populists who share Smith’s resentment toward Ottawa.

Smith’s triumph holds lessons for Canadian conservatives. It demonstrates that centrist voters may overlook a leader’s controversial associations if presented with a strong economic proposition. However, it is important to recognize that Alberta’s unique circumstances as an oil-rich province contribute to the viability of such an offer. Other Canadian jurisdictions may not possess the same capacity.

News: United Conservatives’ narrow Alberta win sets up conflict with Trudeau  

October 14, 2022

Danielle Smith’s extraordinary political comeback as Alberta’s premier promises to have a profound impact on Canadian politics. As she assumes her role, tensions are likely to rise between Alberta and the federal government due to conflicting interests in resource development and environmental policies. Failure to resolve these conflicts in favor of Alberta may result in proposals for greater provincial autonomy, including the establishment of a provincial police force, pension plan, or revenue collection agency. Smith’s emergence as a prominent national figure raises questions about the future of Canadian politics and the delicate balance between federal and provincial powers. (AI)

 

Saturday November 8, 2014

Saturday November 8, 2014Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday November 8, 2014

Uncharted waters on Parliament Hill

Of all the utterances in the wake of yesterday’s revelation that two Liberal MPs have been removed from caucus pending the outcome of an investigation into sexual harassment allegations, perhaps the most prescient was this: This is uncharted territory.

Thursday, November 6, 2014It’s not, unfortunately, that sexual harassment is a new thing on Parliament Hill. Far from it. Those who have worked there confirm by the dozens that it’s a unique hothouse work atmosphere where strange and often inappropriate things happen. Which raises an interesting question. If Parliament is indeed a hotbed of questionable moral and ethical behaviour, why hasn’t the Ottawa press corps written about it before now? Could it be that they’re too close to it, that the press gallery has actually become part of the machine?

What is unprecedented here is what happened after the alleged harassing incidents in which the two Liberal MPs are said to have displayed inappropriate conduct toward two female NDP MPs. They took their concerns to their party leader, Tom Mulcair, who determined the situation would be dealt with internally while safeguarding the identities of the MPs.

Then one of the two took her concerns directly to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, and Parliament Hill hasn’t been the same since. After having senior advisers investigate, Trudeau announced the two Liberals were suspended. The resulting firestorm of controversy led to Mulcair accusing Trudeau of “revictimizing” the already traumatized MPs, who weren’t given any notice of the plan to go public.

Mulcair may be sincere, and he may be playing partisan, but regardless he’s off base. What would he suggest Trudeau have done? Had he kept things quiet, he would have been accused of sweeping the matter under the carpet. That’s not a perception he can afford, nor one anyone should find appropriate given the current climate around sexual harassment.

Trudeau is on solid ground here. If anything, he erred on the side of transparency. He didn’t do anything to identify the complainants. In fact, the circle of people who know their identities is small enough that it’s hard to buy Mulcair’s claim of revictimization.

Wednesday November 5, 2014That doesn’t make this outcome satisfactory. This matter will now be investigated by the House board of internal economy, the body that governs administrative and financial policies of the House.

Will the details of the allegations ever come out? Probably not, as that would tend to identify the complainants. So the two Liberal MPs could be branded without really facing their accusers, which isn’t ideal.

While little is clear in this unfolding story, this much is: Parliament needs a better and less politically weighted process to facilitate this sort of complaint. This one seems ad hoc, imprecise, and probably ultimately unfair to one or perhaps all parties involved. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

 

Thursday June 21, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday June 21, 2012

Hudak got off too easy during budget crisis

As Ontario teetered on the brink of its second election in less than a year, attention was squarely focused on the public spat between Dalton McGuinty and Andrea Horwath.

But to understand why the province’s minority legislature is still very much on borrowed time, even after a summer campaign appears to have been narrowly avoided, there’s no getting past the role of the party leader who actively avoided the spotlight during the past week.

For all that Mr. McGuinty’s Liberals and Ms. Horwath’s New Democrats have at various points been guilty of bluster and false bravado and overplaying their respective hands, it’s Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives who are most responsible for this legislature’s dysfunction.

Faced with a $15-billion deficit, Mr. McGuinty has decided that he needs to adopt a relatively fiscally conservative agenda. That should leave him looking to find common ground with the right-of-centre Tories. But because they’ve shown very little interest in engaging, he instead has to keep tilting left to appease the NDP. And the more that becomes obvious to the New Democrats, the more they keep pushing him away from what he wants to do, and toward impasses.

This situation began to play itself out around the tabling of Finance Minister Dwight Duncan’s budget this spring. Although the Tories now insist otherwise, it was obvious to most anyone around Queen’s Park that they had no intention of voting for it, no matter what was in it. That meant the Liberals had to table a document the NDP could conceivably be willing to support, then add various concessions – most notably a tax increase on the highest income earners – in order to get the budget motion passed in April. (Source: Globe & Mail)