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Friday July 17, 2018

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

Mexico and Canada insist on NAFTA as a 3-way deal

June 29, 2016

Canadian and Mexican officials insisted on Wednesday that the North American Free Trade Agreement remain a trilateral pact  and reiterated their opposition to U.S. calls for a so-called “sunset clause” that could end the deal after five years.

After a meeting in Mexico City, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said they remained optimistic about negotiations to revamp the 24-year-old trade pact.

Talks began last August but stalled in the run-up to the Mexican presidential election. That was due, at least in part, to U.S. demands for sweeping changes in the auto sector and for a sunset clause, which would put the deal forming one of the world’s largest trading blocs up for renewal every five years.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the pact if he cannot renegotiate it to better serve his country’s interests.

Freeland and Guajardo struck an upbeat tone, with Guajardo saying about two-thirds of the agreement has been ironed out.

January 24, 2018

In Washington on Wednesday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue raised the prospect that NAFTA could be negotiated separately with Canada and Mexico, in order to reach an agreement first with Mexico by September.

Although Mexican officials are heading to Washington this  week to meet with their U.S. counterparts, Guajardo stressed  that a deal between all three countries remained the goal.

“The fact that we are going to Washington to participate in bilateral talks is to reinforce the concept of the trilateralism of this agreement,” he said. “The essence of this agreement is trilateral, and it will continue being trilateral. (Source: CBC) 

 

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Saturday January 27, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday January 27, 2018

Brown’s loss may be a blessing in disguise for PCs

Suddenly, an Ontario election that looked wildly unpredictable appears utterly confounding.

June 24, 2017

The only certainty is that Patrick Brown’s dramatic decapitation as the Progressive Conservative candidate for premier is destined for the history books. No one, however, can foretell the province’s political future.

Never mind the partisans and pollsters who confidently predicted a PC rout of a forlorn Liberal government. No one truly knew how Premier Kathleen Wynne would fare against the untested Brown or the NDP’s Andrea Horwath on the campaign trail, nor how voters would respond.

We know even less today. Tempting as it is to write off the Tories as leaderless, they are hardly rudderless — and may even enjoy a renaissance.

June 23, 2016

At their moment of maximum disarray, a dislikable leader has been dispatched. If they can improve on their last disastrous choice — pollsters were already noting Brown’s creeping negative ratings, and the more than 44 per cent of Ontarians who had no opinion of him — the Tories may yet surprise people.

Put another way, the best thing Wynne and Horwath had going for them was Brown. Unlikeable, unknowable, unimpressive as a politician and most especially as an aspiring premier.

But not to be underestimated. Brown surprised his rivals in the 2015 party leadership race by massively outhustling and organizing them, signing up tens of thousands of instant Tories by reaching out to ethnic communities. As leader, he picked up the pace by setting remarkable new fundraising records.

Yet organizational talent does not translate into political vision. Brown was not only bereft of charisma, he was utterly lacking in presence when he walked into a room.

The Tories can do better — and better late than never. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator) 

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Saturday May 14, 2016

2016-05-14Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 14, 2016

Trudeau tours Fort McMurray, promises to help

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with firefighters and other emergency crews in Fort McMurray on Friday, before touring the burned-out rubble left behind by last week’s wildfire.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Saturday April 23, 2016 Justin Trudeau signs Paris climate treaty at UN Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed the Paris agreement on climate change during a ceremony at the United Nations in New York City this morning, giving his word that Canada will harness the power of renewable energy as a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. "Today, with my signature, I give you our word that Canada's efforts will not cease,"ÊTrudeauÊsaid Friday. "Climate change will test our intelligence, our compassion and our will. But we are equal to that challenge.Ó TheÊCanadianÊgovernment has committed to reducingÊgreenhouse gas emissions byÊ30 per centÊfrom 2005 levelsÊby 2030ÊÑ a goal set by the previous Conservative government. Ê The Trudeau government has saidÊthis objectiveÊis a "floor" rather than a "ceiling" for what can be accomplished.Ê During his opening remarksÊat the UN ceremony on Friday, Trudeau saidÊthe Paris agreement will be tabled in Parliament next month and will be formally ratified later this year. The Liberal leader saidÊthe business case for investing in cleanÊenergy was clear, with nearly a third of a trillion dollars invested in renewable powerÊglobally last year. "That's a trend that will continue to grow, and it's one that represents a tremendous opportunity for Canada.ÊOne that we cannot ÑÊand will not ÑÊignore,"ÊTrudeauÊsaid to rousing applause from the UN assembly. Trudeau drew further applause from the crowd when he defendedÊdeveloping countries who are facing extraordinary challenges. "They shouldn't be punished for a problem they didn't create, nor should they be deprived of opportunities for clean growth that developed nations are now pursuing." TrudeauÊtold the UN that the Liberal government hasÊcommitted to investingÊ$2.65 billion over the next five yearsÊto help developing countries fight climate change. "We're not making theseÊinvestments simply to be nice,Êalthough I know Can

April 23, 2016 

Trudeau arrived via helicopter Friday morning and gave a short speech in which he thanked Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and “courageous” first responders for “an extraordinary response.”

“I was not able to get here until now, so I was following all the updates and watching the images on TV, and just seeing the scale and the scope of this,” the prime minister said.

“I don’t think Canadians yet understand what happened here,” he went on. “They don’t yet understand that it wasn’t a fluke of rain or wind or luck that happened,” he added, referring to the fact that about 90 per cent of structures in the town were saved.

Trudeau vowed that “all of Canada” is going to be involved in the next phases of cleanup and rebuilding.

“For many years, Fort McMurray contributed huge amounts to Canada’s well-being, to the growth of our economy,” he said. “Now this community needs help and I can guarantee you Canada will be here.”

Trudeau’s tour guide was Darby Allen, who oversaw last week’s firefighting response. The two met earlier Friday in Edmonton.

“I heard there were situations and peculiarities in this fire that give us pause for reflection on how we move forward,” Trudeau said to Allen.

Trudeau also said that he is “very interested” in what can be done to “minimize” the impacts of another disaster – “because it will come.” (Source: CBC News)

 

Tuesday May 26, 2015

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Tuesday May 26, 2015 Wynne Government imposes back-to-work legislation on striking teachers The Ontario government will be tabling back-to-work legislation today for striking secondary school teachers, but since New Democrats won't be supporting it, students will be kept from class a few more days. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says her party won't support the Liberals' motion for unanimous consent to get it passed today, but the government could use its majority to pass it by Thursday. That would mean more than 70,000 students in the Sudbury-area Rainbow District, Peel Region and Durham Region, who have been kept from class for up to five weeks, would return to school on Friday at the earliest. The back-to-work legislation is being introduced after the Education Relations Commission ruled that strikes by high school teachers in three boards are putting students' school years in jeopardy. Education Minister Liz Sandals says she respects the collective bargaining process, but it's important to get kids back to class to complete their school years. While the striking secondary teachers in three boards are set to be legislated back to work, their central union said this weekend that talks with the provincial government have reached an impasse. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation plans to apply to the provincial labour ministry for conciliation Ñ the teachers must first use the government third-party assistance to try to reach a contract before they can take provincewide strike action. The Ontario Labour Relations Board had also been set to rule on whether the three local strikes were illegal. This is the first round of negotiations under a new bargaining system the Liberal government introduced last year, separating the process into local and central talks. The school boards argued that the three local strikes were really on central issues such as class sizes. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 26, 2015

Wynne Government imposes back-to-work legislation on striking teachers

The Ontario government will be tabling back-to-work legislation today for striking secondary school teachers, but since New Democrats won’t be supporting it, students will be kept from class a few more days.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says her party won’t support the Liberals’ motion for unanimous consent to get it passed today, but the government could use its majority to pass it by Thursday.

That would mean more than 70,000 students in the Sudbury-area Rainbow District, Peel Region and Durham Region, who have been kept from class for up to five weeks, would return to school on Friday at the earliest.

The back-to-work legislation is being introduced after the Education Relations Commission ruled that strikes by high school teachers in three boards are putting students’ school years in jeopardy.

Education Minister Liz Sandals says she respects the collective bargaining process, but it’s important to get kids back to class to complete their school years.

While the striking secondary teachers in three boards are set to be legislated back to work, their central union said this weekend that talks with the provincial government have reached an impasse.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation plans to apply to the provincial labour ministry for conciliation — the teachers must first use the government third-party assistance to try to reach a contract before they can take provincewide strike action.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board had also been set to rule on whether the three local strikes were illegal.

This is the first round of negotiations under a new bargaining system the Liberal government introduced last year, separating the process into local and central talks. The school boards argued that the three local strikes were really on central issues such as class sizes. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)