federalism

Wednesday October 24, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 24, 2018

Doug Ford slams federal government’s carbon tax plan

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has come out swinging against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plans for carbon tax rebates.

Trudeau announced details of the plan Tuesday, saying provinces that have not implemented their own carbon taxation system will have one imposed on them by the federal government.

He promised, however, that the feds would return 90 per cent of the tax it collects in affected provinces directly to Canadians to keep the plan from being unaffordable.

Ford calls the rebates phoney, describes the carbon tax as an ineffective environmental protection measure, and vows he’s willing to take the province’s ongoing legal fight against it all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.

Trudeau has said an Ontario family of four would receive $307 back through the rebates this spring, with that figure doubling by 2022.

Ford, whose Progressive Conservatives introduced legislation to scrap Ontario’s cap-and-trade system established by the former Liberal government, says Trudeau should be ready for a fight on the carbon tax issue and raised questions about the timing of the rebate announcement.

“The people of Canada are too smart to believe that Trudeau’s phoney rebates are anything more than a temporary vote buying scheme that will be discarded once the election is over,” the premier said in a statement. “In contrast, the carbon tax rip-off is forever.

Ottawa required all provinces to put a minimum price on pollution of $20 a tonne of emissions by Jan. 1.

Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick have not complied and will have a federal carbon levy on fuels as well as a cap-and-trade style system for large industrial emitters imposed on them.

Residents in those provinces will start getting federal rebates on their next tax return to offset the extra costs they will pay for everything from gasoline and groceries to home heating and electricity.

Ford has joined other provincial leaders in challenging the carbon tax in court. (Source: CTV) 

 

Tuesday July 17, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday July 17, 2018

‘Not Canadian’: Hussen, MacLeod exchange sharp words over asylum seeker ‘crisis’

A meeting between Canada’s federal and provincial immigration ministers ended bitterly Friday, with federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen openly criticizing the Ontario government for what he called a dangerous and un-Canadian approach to the issue of asylum seekers.

December 7, 2016

“They’ve chosen to use false language with respect to so-called queue-jumping, when we have told them over and over again there is no such thing,” Hussen told reporters in Winnipeg at the closing press conference.

“Asylum seekers are processed in a separate queue at the IRB and all the other regular immigration programs are processed by IRCC, and conflating the two knowingly is irresponsible, it’s divisive, it’s fearmongering and it’s not Canadian, and it’s very dangerous.”

Hussen criticized Ontario’s Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Lisa MacLeod — who is also responsible for the immigration file — for walking away from discussions between the other immigration ministers and for refusing to sign the official communique issued after the meetings.

MacLeod did not take the attack lightly, telling reporters after Hussen left the podium that it was the federal minister who did not want to collaborate on the issue of irregular migration.

“I am not going to get into a debate on semantics with the minister,” she said, “but I did request that he take into consideration these exorbitant costs which … is about $174 million on top of the $3 million that Ontario provided to the Red Cross.

“I was expecting that we would be able to collaborate on that. Instead, what I saw here today was … him calling me un-Canadian, which I take great offence to. And I so hope he will apologize and reconsider his language.

“There is a problem at the border, the border must be enforced and … Ontario should be made whole for all of the costs that we’ve incurred.” (Continued: CBC News) 

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Thursday April 19, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 19, 2018

Flailing about on the TransMountain Pipeline Project

April 11, 2018

Desperate times require desperate measures. In the standoff between British Columbia and Alberta over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, the federal government is caught in the middle, trying to salvage its approved project that is about to collapse and avoid a major regional conflict. The federal Liberals are so desperate to save this pipeline from being scuttled by B.C. politics that they’re offering to financially backstop the project. Unfortunately, that might not be the solution they think it is. 

May 31, 2017

Their desperation escalated after Kinder Morgan leveled an ultimatum earlier this month: It would need, by May 31, political certainty that its project can go ahead or it will pull out. Some have called that blackmail, but that’s not fair: endless regulatory red tape has already driven Trans Mountain’s costs up to $7.4 billion from $6.8 billion. Further delays and costs would only further compromise the economic viability of the project, while making it harder to sign up shippers. Kinder Morgan has already spent over $1 billion to prepare its application, negotiate agreements with multiple First Nations and clear land. The next step is buying and installing the pipe, which will cost billions of dollars. The company can’t make that commitment while Canada plays its Mickey Mouse politics.

June 8, 2017

After neglecting the issues for too long, the federal government now promises to assert its constitutional power over the project. As legal scholar Dwight Newman notes, the federal government could pass legislation that clearly asserts the paramountcy of its constitutional power, rendering any provincial laws inoperable when a conflict arises. Using this strategy will prove even more important now that B.C. is threatening to also limit the transport of Alberta’s bitumen by rail, which also challenges federal powers. (Continued: Financial Post) 

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Tuesday December 12, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 12, 2017

Liberals reach deal with the provinces on sharing pot tax revenue

Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau has reached a deal with his provincial and territorial counterparts on a formula for sharing pot tax revenue.

December 16, 2016

The agreement gives the provinces at least 70 cents on the dollar, a sizable increase from the 50-50 framework proposal Morneau had announced last month.

Heading into today’s meeting with Morneau in Ottawa, provincial ministers had insisted on a greater share, arguing the provinces and municipalities would shoulder the majority of costs for police enforcement, health care and education programs once marijuana becomes legal in July.

A formal statement confirming the agreement is expected soon.

June 20, 2017

Asked about the deal this afternoon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeated that the objective is to restrict access to young people and to remove profits from criminals.

“That means getting the balance right in terms of both pricing and the ability to properly monitor it in our communities,” he said.

Before the deal was reached, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa said some provinces felt uneasy about the uncertainty of how the pot legalization program will roll out.

September 9, 2017

“Some provinces get annoyed that we didn’t ask for this, didn’t provide for this, you’re imposing upon the provinces and we have no flexibility,” he said.  “So the federal government has to come up with some of that flexibility to provide some support to the provinces and municipalities that are being affected.” (Source: CBC News) 

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Wednesday December 21, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday December 21, 2016 Ottawa, provinces fail to reach a deal on health spending Ottawa and the provinces have failed to reach a deal on health-care funding, despite a $11.5-billion pledge by the federal government to boost targeted spending on home care and mental health. The federal government has now taken that offer off the table, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Monday, and the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) spending increase will revert to 3 per cent a year as of April 1, 2017. Morneau had told the provinces he was willing to grow that key federal transfer by 3.5 per cent each year over the next five years Ñ at a value of roughly $20 billion Ñ but the provinces balked. "We came to the provinces with a significant offer of funds ... We're disappointed we weren't successful," Morneau told reporters. Jane Philpott, Canada's health minister, said the federal government's money could have made a real difference in the lives of many Canadians. "I woke up this morning feeling very hopeful, thinking about half a million kids that are waiting for care for mental health services and hoping to be able to give them good news today," she said. "We're disappointed that the provinces and territories did not feel like they could accept this offer and that they couldn't find ways to use these resources immediately, to be able to get care out to Canadians.Ó Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa said while the provinces rejected the federal funding plan, it was Morneau who was responsible for ending the meeting early. "There was an urgency to close the meeting off. We're here, we desire an agreement, we need to come to a conclusion. Why have anybody attend if there's nothing to negotiate or discuss?" Sousa said, adding Ottawa wasn't willing to listen to evidence that its proposed funding plan would imperil the country's health-care system. (Source: CBC News)Êhttp://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/health-accord

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday December 21, 2016

Ottawa, provinces fail to reach a deal on health spending

Ottawa and the provinces have failed to reach a deal on health-care funding, despite a $11.5-billion pledge by the federal government to boost targeted spending on home care and mental health.

The federal government has now taken that offer off the table, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Monday, and the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) spending increase will revert to 3 per cent a year as of April 1, 2017.

Morneau had told the provinces he was willing to grow that key federal transfer by 3.5 per cent each year over the next five years — at a value of roughly $20 billion — but the provinces balked.

“We came to the provinces with a significant offer of funds … We’re disappointed we weren’t successful,” Morneau told reporters.

Jane Philpott, Canada’s health minister, said the federal government’s money could have made a real difference in the lives of many Canadians.

“I woke up this morning feeling very hopeful, thinking about half a million kids that are waiting for care for mental health services and hoping to be able to give them good news today,” she said.

“We’re disappointed that the provinces and territories did not feel like they could accept this offer and that they couldn’t find ways to use these resources immediately, to be able to get care out to Canadians.”

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa said while the provinces rejected the federal funding plan, it was Morneau who was responsible for ending the meeting early.

“There was an urgency to close the meeting off. We’re here, we desire an agreement, we need to come to a conclusion. Why have anybody attend if there’s nothing to negotiate or discuss?” Sousa said, adding Ottawa wasn’t willing to listen to evidence that its proposed funding plan would imperil the country’s health-care system. (Source: CBC News)