Erin O’Toole

Thursday October 29, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 29, 2020

Hey politicians, if you’re not going to walk the walk, just shut up

Former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, Health Minister Patty Hajdu and assistant to Ontario’s education minister Sam Oosterhoff have at least one thing in common. And it is not their politics.

All three have been observed doing things in clear contravention of pandemic public safety guidelines. Scheer flew his family across the country so his kids could attend the preferred school when such travel was prohibited for regular citizens. Hajdu was photographed at Pearson International by an Alberta government supporter as she laughed and gestured — sans mask. And Niagara MPP Oosterhoff posed maskless and in close confines with dozens of relatives attending a celebration at a banquet facility.

May 15, 2019

Of thee three, Oosterhoff’s sin seems most brazen, because having posed with his family members for the photo, he or someone else at the gathering then posted it on social media. Doing so caused a firestorm and the post was deleted, but the damage was done by then. 

It turns out the family was asked by the facility’s management to adhere to masking and distancing rules, but they did not comply. Since there’s no way that many people could be from the same social bubble, it’s a particularly egregious and arrogant sin.

By contrast, the photo of Hajdu showed her sitting alone smiling and unmasked. She later said she was eating and therefore allowed to be maskless, but even if that is true, she should have known better. Ministers, in particular the federal minister of health, should hold themselves to a higher standard.

The optics in Oosterhoff’s case are equally bad. The legislative assistant to Education Minister Steven Lecce had to have known ignoring his own government’s public health rules was foolish and high risk. And while Hajdu was exposed by a conservative operative, Oosterhoff basically blew the whistle on himself.

It’s also worth noting that this isn’t his first folly. This is the same MPP who, speaking at a rally, said “We pledge to make abortion unthinkable.” And in the spring of last year, his office staff called the police to report seniors who were holding a “read in” to protest library cuts. How many strikes does Oosterhoff get?

Apparently, according to Premier Doug Ford, lots. For the third day in a row, Ford has defended the MPP, promising “Sam will do better.”

April 28, 2020

The perceived double standard is riling Ontarians of all political stripes. When regular folk convene backyard parties or gather in parks or on beaches, they are called “yahoos” by the premier. He has urged law enforcement authorities to come down hard on the “knuckleheads,” but when it comes to his own MPP blatantly disregarding public safety, Ford is all warm and cuddly. 

The hypocrisy rankles, especially at a time when Ontarians are feeling at the end of their rope about the pandemic and resulting restrictions on their personal freedoms. It’s hard enough to do the right thing for the right reasons, but when authority figures break the very same rules, even the most altruistic citizen can be forgiven for chafing at the bit. 

Politicians at all levels should cut this out, and post it to their office bulletin boards, or the socially distant electronic equivalent. We are in the second wave, and it is worse at this point than the first wave. We don’t know where we will be next month or even next year. We are being told to make those sacrifices in the name of keeping ourselves and others healthy. And the vast majority of us are doing that. 

But do not, under any circumstances, tell us to undergo these hardships and make these sacrifices and avoid them yourselves.

You can talk the talk, but if you’re not going to walk and walk, just shut up. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Thursday October 22, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 22, 2020

Canadians don’t need election melodrama

If not for Jagmeet Singh and the NDP and the three members of the Green caucus, Canada would be heading into a federal election today. We are not, and we should be thankful for that.

November 12, 2018

An election campaign, with the federal Parliament adjourned for campaigning, is the last thing the country wants, or needs. The second wave of this pandemic is sweeping across the nation. We need all hands on deck to manage the crisis, and no one needs to be distracted by an election campaign and everything that goes along with that.

But how did we get here? How did we end up on the brink of an election no one wants? 

There’s blame to be apportioned across the board, but the majority of it falls on the governing Liberals and Opposition Conservatives. They joined in a high stakes game of chicken that was not driven by anything other than partisan advantage. 

First, the Conservatives. They launched a motion on Opposition Day that called for establishing a new super-committee to investigate corruption, specifically the WE scandal. It would have had unprecedented power to call not only members of the government and civil service, but people such as friends and relatives. It could have compelled the release of private citizens’ financial records over a 12-year period. That is probably not even legal.

October 23, 2019

It was a massive overreach, especially considering Parliament already has multiple committees that can do that work. And given that this is a minority government, those committees are often dominated by opposition MPs, so the government doesn’t always get its way. 

Further, there is a central hypocrisy in what the Conservatives are saying. They want a committee specifically focused on government corruption, and they publicly declare they do not have confidence in the government. But they also say they don’t want an election. You cannot square that circle.

But the Liberals delivered a surprise — they chose a nuclear response to the Conservatives overreach, saying the motion amounted to a loss of confidence in the government, and therefore would trigger an election. They drew a line in the sand, and they dared opposition parties to cross.

October 28, 2016

There’s no doubt, from a political strategy perspective, that the government outplayed its opponents. But beyond that strategic victory, this brinksmanship isn’t a good look for anyone involved. The government is acting like it has a majority when it doesn’t. The Conservatives wanted to weaponize the committee process for partisan gain. Both were willing to force Canadians to endure an election campaign in a very dangerous time. For that, they should be ashamed.

Thankfully, Singh’s NDP sought middle ground. They proposed a committee that would oversee and investigate all spending and management during the pandemic, including in the WE affair. That is a reasonable mandate for a new committee. We don’t know what the Liberals agreed to in exchange for the NDP’s support against the Conservatives, but don’t be surprised if the end result of this drama fest is something like what the NDP proposed. 

So for now, this melodrama is over. Don’t be surprised when the next game of chicken breaks out, as happened frequently when Stephen Harper’s minority government was challenged repeatedly and dared opposition parties to trigger an election. 

That said, there was ample cynical political gamesmanship on display here. It’s wasn’t pretty. The Liberals and Conservatives should take a long look in the mirror and try to remember what Canadians are dealing with. That’s what matters, not an unnecessary election campaign. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Tuesday September 1, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 1, 2020

With a New Leader, Conservatives Look to Unseat Justin Trudeau

In keeping with the general upheaval that has marked this year, the Conservative Party of Canada announced its new leader at an unusual time: in the middle of the United States’ presidential nominating conventions.

August 25, 2020

Mr. O’Toole, who is from Ontario, offered shout-outs to Indigenous Canadians, people who are “Black, white, brown or from any race or creed,” union members, L.G.B.T.Q. Canadians and people who “joined the Canadian family five weeks ago or five generations ago.”

During his leadership campaign, he pitched himself as a “true blue,” or hard-right-leaning, Conservative, without being too specific about policies. But his record in politics shows that he’s from the moderate side of his party.

During his debut news conference as leader, Mr. Toole moved to distance himself from the party’s social conservatives on issues like abortion.

January 23, 2020

That tack, Professor Marland said, may prove critical to expanding the party’s support in Eastern Canada and among women.

“I’m absolutely convinced that the Conservative leader is going to have to tackle social issues in a much stronger way than has been the case in the past,” he said. “Historically, this has been a problem for parties of the right.”

The contest to elect a new Conservative leader brought with it speculation that Mr. Trudeau’s government might fall shortly after it starts a new session of Parliament on Sept. 23 with a throne speech.

Regardless, a longer lead time to a vote may benefit Mr. O’Toole and his effort to expand the Conservatives beyond their base. (NYT) 

 

Tuesday August 25, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday August 25, 2020

Conservative leader Erin O’Toole’s job jar filled to the brim

Canadians may not know much about Erin O’Toole, but they should know this much: Don’t underestimate the Ontario MP who has emerged as the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

June 23, 2020

O’Toole was seen by political insiders and media pundits as a dark horse in the leadership race, which many considered to be a coronation for the more high-profile candidate, Peter MacKay.

However, O’Toole’s team ran a solid, nearly error-free campaign. That and the surprising strength of social conservative candidate Leslyn Lewis, who ultimately threw her support behind O’Toole, sealed the victory. Without that support, he probably would not have easily defeated MacKay.

Now, O’Toole faces a raft of challenges. To start with, who is he, and what sort of party is he leading?

August 17, 2018

When he ran for the leadership last time against Andrew Scheer, O’Toole portrayed himself as a centrist, moderate candidate. That didn’t go particularly well given he finished behind Scheer and the libertarian Max Bernier.

So O’Toole borrowed a page from Bernier’s book, and this time portrayed himself much further to the right, which allowed him to hammer away at MacKay as being too soft, too moderate, too “Liberal lite.” He campaigned much more aggressively and wasn’t above gutter fighting — referring to MacKay as a “liar” during the French language debate.

May 30, 2017

But which O’Toole is leading the party — the more moderate version or the hard-right conservative version? And how will he explain himself to the party and to Canadians, since he cannot be both things?

Then there is his party. From a membership and fundraising perspective, it is in good shape. From a shared vision perspective, things are not so clear. There was general recognition during and after the last election that the party needed to broaden its base of support, particularly in Ontario and Quebec. The CPC may be No. 1 with a bullet in Alberta and Saskatchewan, but that doesn’t mean it will be able to defeat the Liberals and form a government.

October 8, 2016

Growing its support in Ontario and Quebec means the party’s personality and platform must better reflect the views of citizens. But we know there is broad support for strong environmental policies among those citizens, and O’Toole, as well as other candidates, has said he will kill any carbon tax. 

We also know that Ontarians and Quebecers tend to hold more socially progressive views — they don’t want to spend time debating matters of gender and reproductive rights. But O’Toole owes his victory to not one but two social conservative candidates — the aforementioned Lewis and Derek Sloan — who would place restrictions on a woman’s right to choose abortion if she wants one. How will that translate in the minds of central Canadian citizens?

April 28, 2020

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is another leader who owes his party leadership to social conservatives. His way of dealing with this paradox was decidedly Ford-like: He wooed social conservatives when he needed them and then avoided them like the plague once elected leader. The same approach could work for O’Toole, but the national stage is not the same as the Ontario stage. If the new leader doesn’t offer some payback, it will not play well in Western Canada where social conservatism is stronger.

Literally the same day as his victory, so-cons were knocking on O’Toole’s door. The pro-life lobby group We Need a Law issued a statement congratulating him and reminding him to “include the pro-life agenda” in his platform. 

Party personality. His own leadership style. Building a platform that appeals in Ontario and Quebec. O’Toole’s to-do list is daunting. And with a Throne speech coming next month, time is of the essence. (Hamilton Spectator editorial) 

 

Wednesday July 15, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday July 15, 2020

Oh, for a viable alternative to the Liberals

Merely by the celebrity of the Trudeau family, potential conflicts of interest are going to arise, as one did last week when the federal ethics commissioner opened yet another investigation over Justin Trudeau’s role in awarding a $19.5 million sole-source contract to the WE charity to administer the $912 million Canada Student Service Grant program.

July 11, 2020

The WE organization hires all kinds of speakers, performers and leaders for events intended to inspire youth to take local action for global change. Two of those speakers over the past four years were Trudeau’s mother Margaret and brother Alexandre (Sacha) who were paid $250,000 and $32,500 respectively.

His wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau is an ambassador for the organization.

On top of that, finance minister Bill Morneau is also drawing criticism because one of his daughters works with WE.

I’m not convinced anything overtly nefarious happened here. There is a big difference between corruption and conflict of interest. The public service has said it was their recommendation to award the contract.

June 23, 2020

But good gracious, the cabinet still had to rubber-stamp it and at the very least two seasoned public figures should know, at the very least, to recuse themselves, especially after being sanctioned twice by the ethics commissioner.

What happened to transparency and doing politics differently?

I find it extremely discouraging that we can’t get beyond these kinds of simple ethics issues. We’ve had 153 years of political scandals from both of the seesawing governing parties. Can we ever expect something different? Is human nature really that intractable?

October 23, 2015

I have lots of friends who despise Trudeau. They believe he is only prime minister because of his celebrity. There’s some truth to that. There were better candidates in the Liberal leadership race, but it’s doubtful any of them could have won the election in 2015, or at least a majority government.

My Trudeau-despising friends think he is entitled, narcissistic, incompetent and insincere.

It’s getting pretty hard to argue with that, not that I have ever whole-heartedly defended him, my only real defence being that the Liberals as a whole are the lesser of evils.

Of course, all the opposition calls for criminal investigations and for Trudeau to resign are political posturing. Ultimately, he will get his knuckles rapped for a third time and his fate will be in the hands of public opinion when the next federal election rolls around.

Unfortunately, at this point, I still don’t see a viable alternative emerging. (The Interior News)