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editoral cartoon

Tuesday September 9, 2014

September 8, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Tuesday September 9, 2014Tuesday September 9, 2014

Scotland – Vote No and get something better?

On the morning after the poll before, “Vote No and get something better” summed up George Osborne’s message. It’s a tried and trusted message which worked in the independence referendum in Quebec when a last minute poll lead for Yes was transformed into a narrow No. It is, though, a message with a difficult history in Scotland.

Angus MacScotland stickerThirty five years ago it was precisely what Scots were told when they were voting in a referendum on a much more modest proposal – to create a Scottish Parliament with some devolved powers.
A former prime minister, a Scot and, as it happens, a Tory, Sir Alec Douglas Home urged his countrymen to vote No and get “something better”. The referendum rejected devolution and what they got soon afterwards was 18 years of Margaret Thatcher’s government and no devolution at all (until, that is, Labour were re-elected in 1997).

That is just one reason why Osborne’s promise of a plan to transfer new powers to Holyrood – covering tax raising, spending and benefits – caused such confusion yesterday. It is why Alex Salmond felt able to attack it as a sign of “panic” on the No side.

The other reason is that the three rival Westminster parties – the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats – have not agreed a plan for which precise powers to devolve. Each party has published its own set of proposals which overlap in the areas Osborne listed.

The plan he was talking about – but which is still being argued about behind the scenes – is to give Scottish voters certainty that this time – unlike last time – they are guaranteed to get “something better” whoever forms the next government in Westminster.

The Lib Dem Scottish secretary Alastair Carmichael has long talked about the idea of setting up a Scottish Constitutional Convention bringing together representatives of all parties – including the SNP – and none (trade unionists, business groups, the churches etc). This would hammer out a new settlement which all the Westminster parties would then promise to implement whoever is elected in the 2015 general election.

Who should announce this, where and how poses its own problems since Scottish voters – like voters right across the world – are deeply mistrustful of what politicians say. If all three party leaders stood together it would simply allow Alex Salmond to say “I told you they were all the same and that Labour were in bed with the Tories.”

A striking finding of this weekend’s YouGov poll is that the leader of the Labour Party – for so long the natural party of government in Scotland – is trusted by under a quarter of Scottish voters, the same number as it happens as trust David Cameron. (Continued: BBC News)

Posted in: International Tagged: editoral cartoon, Great Britain, Independence, Loch Ness, monster, Scot, Scotland, Scottish, separatism, Union, United Kingdom

Friday, September 5, 2014

September 4, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Friday, September 5, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, September 5, 2014

ISIS terrorists could be in America in just months if ‘neglected,’ warns Saudi king

The king of Saudi Arabia warned that Middle Eastern terrorists could soon reach Middle America unless something dramatic is done.

The bloodthirsty jihadists will quickly spread throughout Europe and the United States if allowed to run free, Saudi King Abdullah predicted without mentioning any single group.

“If neglected, I am certain that after a month they will reach Europe and, after another month, America,” the king declared in remarks reported Saturday by official Saudi media.

“Terror knows no borders and its danger could affect several countries outside the Middle East.”

Abdullah’s remarks appeared aimed at stirring a military response from the White House and NATO against the radical and wildly aggressive Islamic State (ISIS).

On the same day Abdullah delivered his warning, U.S. fighter jets and unmanned drones launched five strikes against ISIS militants near Iraq’s Mosul Dam.

The bombs destroyed an armored vehicle, weapons and buildings used by the jihadists.

Meanwhile, a multicountry fleet of planes dropped food and water to the thousands of Shiite Turkmen stranded in the town of Amirli.

The aid — supplied by the U.S., Australia, France and Britain — came at the request of the Iraqi government, officials said.

The Shiite Turkmen have been under siege since mid-July, with some residents complaining that the aid drops have not been sufficient amid the searing heat, power outages and relentless shelling.

ISIS has seized control of a wide swath of territory in Syria and Iraq — and Saudi Arabia shares a 500-mile border with Iraq. Speaking at a reception for foreign ambassadors, the king urged his guests to spread the dire warning across their homelands.

“I do ask you to transmit this message to your leaders: Fight terrorism with force, reason and speed,” Abdullah said. “These terrorists do not know the name of humanity, and you have witnessed them severing heads and giving them to children to walk with in the street.” (Source: NY Daily News)

Posted in: International, USA Tagged: Arab, editoral cartoon, Isis, Islam, Islamic State, Saudi Arabia, terrorism, USA

Wednesday August 27, 2014

August 26, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Wednesday August 27, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday August 27, 2014

Canada’s premiers running out of excuses for inaction: Hébert

Every summer the country’s premiers converge on some picturesque spot in Canada for their annual gathering.

Last year it was Niagara-on-the-Lake. This year it’s Prince Edward Island. The backdrop changes as do some of the characters but the script, for the most part, remains the same.

Year in and year out the premiers usually find one or more apples of discord with the federal government of the day to chew on.

Some years they are unanimously aggrieved over some action of their federal partner. Last summer it was Ottawa’s labour training scheme.

On other occasions it is perceived federal inaction — as in the case this year of infrastructure spending — that is in their sights.

Over the past decade Stephen Harper’s lack of interest for convening first ministers’ conferences has been a recurring theme.

This is not to say that some of the concerns raised by the premiers are not real.

Their grievances over the initial federal labour training reform were serious enough. The proposition stood to cause more systemic problems than it would have solved. And a united provincial front did go some way to bring the federal government to the table.

But it also seems that when the premiers spend time in the same room they conveniently forget that they are not, as a group, devoid of the power to do more than tear up their shirts in front of the cameras.

(Brian Simpson/Government of Prince Edward Island)

(Brian Simpson/Government of Prince Edward Island)

When repeatedly faced with what they collectively see as a federal leadership vacuum it apparently does not cross their minds to fill it with more than empty words. By all indications, thinking outside the federal-provincial box does not come easily to this generation of premiers.

It is not that they are not equal partners with the federal government in the federation but that they don’t often act like they are.

(Source: Toronto Star)

Fathers of Confederation

Posted in: Canada Tagged: Council of the Federation, editoral cartoon, federalism, Ghiz, Harper Government, Kathleen Wynne, Philippe Couillard, Premiers

Monday, June 30, 2014

June 30, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Monday, June 30, 2014

Posted in: Canada Tagged: Canada, Canada Day, editoral cartoon, email, internet, pyre, Spam
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