high school

Wednesday March 27, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday March 27, 2019

Morneau says fate of Wilson-Raybould, Philpott ‘will come down to caucus’

March 8, 2019

The decision about whether former ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott will remain in the federal Liberal fold is up to caucus, says Finance Minister Bill Morneau.

Morneau made the comments Tuesday in Vancouver while on a tour to tout the new federal budget.

“It’s really not up to me to decide,” said Morneau, when asked if the pair should remain in caucus.

“They’ve said that they believe that they still want to follow what our Liberal Party has been doing. I think we’ve made enormous strides over the last few years, but it will come down to caucus to come to that conclusion.”

February 9, 2019

Wilson-Raybould, who quit cabinet on Feb. 12 over allegations the Prime Minister’s Office pressured her inappropriately to intervene in the corruption prosecution of engineering giant SNC-Lavalin, has told her constituents she plans to run in the October federal election as a Liberal.

Morneau said he hasn’t spoken to Wilson-Raybould or Philpott because he’s been “busy through the process” of rolling out the budget but added that despite the rift, his sense was that MPs across caucus remain united and positive.

“They’re feeling good about the program, they’re feeling good that we’ve been invested in middle-class Canadians and they can see that this budget is going to do that as well, and there will always be people that have a different point of view,” he said.

February 16, 2019

Morneau also said he believes his office did not overstep its role in dealing with the SNC-Lavalin case, which he said includes thinking through the economic implications of policy decisions.

“I’ve been pretty clear in saying I didn’t really have any interactions with Jody Wilson-Raybould on this issue,” he said.

“She approached me at one stage to say our offices were talking. In my view, that’s appropriate for them to be talking. Of course, we’ve had a broader discussion about this, and the prime minister has been pretty clear in terms of our discussions and in terms of the fact that we followed the rule of law all the way through.” (Source: Global News) 

 

Saturday June 23, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday June 23, 2018

Citizen support has Bernie Custis, Nikola Tesla back in the mix for new Hamilton high school name

The chair of Hamilton’s public school board says trustees were as surprised as the public when the two most popular names for a new high school across from Tim Hortons Field didn’t even make the short list.

After asking for citizen input and hearing from almost 1,300 people, the advisory board tasked with providing finalists passed on the two with the greatest support — Bernie Custis, which had the most, followed by Nikola Tesla — for two with no local connection. It’s a decision that has led to a significant public outcry.

“I think it’s the names we missed that had us scratching our heads,” Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board chair Todd White says.

Emails and calls have been pouring in to White and to The Spectator over the past couple of days, and social media has been humming. White says after hearing from many Custis supporters — and a few Tesla backers — it’s clear there’s “overwhelming support” for those two.

The only people who’ve contacted him about Shannen Koostachin are some media from northern Ontario. The Indigenous teenager fought for a school in Attawapiskat, but died in a car accident before she could see it come to fruition. Her name was favoured by the advisory panel.

“We didn’t hear much from the community on that name,” White says.

This all started back in February when the board asked the public to suggest possible names through its website. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator) 

Friday December 8, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 8, 2017

Trudeau hails ‘substantial progress’ in China but fails to spark formal trade talks

If little else came of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s trade mission to China this week, you can at least be sure of this: Canada’s cattlemen are excited to sell more cow stomachs.

December 5, 2017

For while Trudeau and his coterie of ministers and officials left the country Thursday without proclaiming the anticipated launch of trade talks, there were a few comparative baby steps towards a deeper economic relationship.

Among them was a deal to export more beef and pork, which got John Masswohl of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association pumped about cashing in on parts of the animal that don’t sell in Canada — including the digestive organs of his bovine commodity.

“We think over the next five years that will be another $125 million in exports for us,” Masswohl said this week, referring not just to the stomachs, but the fresh beef and T-bones he now expects to hit the massive Chinese market.

December 5, 2017

He hastened to add, however, that the government’s broader goal of landing a comprehensive trade deal with the world’s second-largest economy would be even better — for profits, for predictability, for safeguarding against the protectionist impulses of the American president.

Of course, he’s not alone in feeling that way.

Trudeau himself spent much of his time in China extolling the virtues of a trade agreement. In the days before he landed in Beijing, staff from his office framed the trip’s main purpose as a way to ramp up trade and investment with the ever-rising authoritarian powerhouse, and Canada’s industry minister told Global News that the government’s “objective” was to become the first Group of Seven country to launch free trade talks with China. (Continued: Toronto Star) 

 

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