Jason Kenney

Friday October 25, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 25, 2019

Wexit and Brexit

Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party was re-elected Monday night and that has some Alberta residents calling for separation.

October 23, 2019

The Liberals were elected as a minority government but did not win a single seat in Alberta or Saskatchewan and lost the popular vote 34 to 33 per cent to the Conservative Party.

Alberta proved once again to be a Conservative stronghold with all but one of the province’s ridings going blue — NDP candidate Heather McPherson won in Edmonton-Strathcona — and the party capturing 70 per cent of the vote.

As it became evident on Monday evening the Liberals would be re-elected, #Wexit and “separation” began trending on Twitter.

Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said he expects Alberta’s separation movement to heat up.

May 3, 2019

“You have this large cohort of Conservative MPs. How does the government function? How does the Trudeau government function? What is (Alberta Premier Jason) Kenney’s response?” Bratt said. “I think this is a real danger to national unity.”

On Oct. 20, the Facebook group VoteWexit.com had just over 2,000 members. By Tuesday evening, the group’s membership had skyrocketed to more than 165,000 members. According to Storyful, the group’s membership grew over 8,000 per cent in a 36-hour period.

The group is calling for the separation of western Canada from the rest of the country.

“We’re going to be free from the blood-sucking, parasitic relationship we have with eastern Canada right now,” Wexit Alberta founder Peter Downing said. (Global News) 

Meanwhile, Under normal circumstances, Boris Johnson would be celebrating. But nothing is normal in Brexit Britain.

July 24, 2019

Despite not having a parliamentary majority, his brand new legislative agenda has just been approved by the House of Commons. Instead of popping open the champagne and getting ready to crack on with governing, Johnson is gearing up for an early general election.

On Thursday afternoon, the Prime Minister said that he would give lawmakers more time to scrutinize his Brexit deal, but only if they agreed to an election on December 12. “If they genuinely want more time to study this excellent deal they can have it — but they have to agree to a general election on December 12,” he said in an interview with the BBC.

A formal motion requesting the vote will be placed before Parliament on Monday. It will be Johnson’s third request for an election, and it stands considerably more chance of being granted than the previous two. 

Much has happened in Brexitland of late. Having failed to get his deal approved by Parliament on Saturday, Johnson was forced to ask the EU for an extension to the Brexit process beyond October 31, to avoid the UK leaving without a formal deal. (CNN) 

 

Friday October 4, 2019

October 4, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 4, 2019

Here’s how often Trudeau has called out Harper, Ford instead of Scheer

It’s no secret to those following the federal election campaign that Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau seems to be going after former prime minister Stephen Harper as much, if not more, than Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer.

September 26, 2019

But just how much more?

Roughly 33 per cent.

Global News has been tracking how many times at official events and media availabilities each of the two front runners reference the other — or others entirely.

That does not include photo ops, whistlestops or unscheduled remarks.

Those records show Trudeau has referenced Harper (in English) at speeches and campaign stops a total of 62 times so far over the last 21 days.

Scheer, on the other hand, has mentioned Trudeau 326 times so far in the campaign.

May 30, 2017

That’s equal to roughly seven times the amount that Trudeau mentioned him.

Global News reached out to both parties asking about their attacks but didn’t receive clear answers to the question of why they were focusing on the attacks seen so far: a Conservative spokesperson accused Trudeau of being afraid to run on his record and whipping up fear, while a Liberal said the choice for voters is whether to return to the same kinds of policies seen under the Harper and Ford governments.

A source working with Ford’s government also echoed the federal party remarks when asked about the number of times Trudeau has brought up Ford, accusing Trudeau of “banking on the fact that he can make Ontarians afraid.”

October 28, 2016

“The reason that Scheer is pounding on Trudeau is because the entire Liberal brand is Trudeau. So if you’re going to rough up the Liberals, it starts with their leader and he also knows Trudeau is a controversial figure in Canada now,” said Darrell Bricker, president of Ipsos.

“For the people who don’t like him, he is a hot button so every time he [Scheer] gets a chance to push it, he does.”

Bricker said the same isn’t true for Scheer, who polls suggest remains an undefined brand in the minds of voters.

April 17, 2019

“He’s not the Conservative brand the same way Trudeau is the Liberal brand,” Bricker said. “So what the Liberals are trying to do on the other side, because he is a bit of a blank slate, they’ve got their chalk out and they’re trying to colour him in.”

The way they’re trying to do that, Bricker said, is by making direct links in voters’ minds to two other highly controversial figures: Ford and Harper.

According to a poll by Angus Reid last week, half of Ontario voters say their opinions of Ford and his government will sway their vote on Oct. 21, with 85 per cent of those saying Ford’s government will make them less likely to support Scheer and the federal Conservatives. (Global)

Putting a lid on problems from r/canadapoliticshumour


 

Tuesday May 14, 2019 

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 14, 2019 

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians oppose provincial governments spending taxpayers’ dollars to battle federal carbon tax, poll says

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians oppose provincial governments spending taxpayers’ dollars to battle the federal carbon tax, says a new poll released Monday as the Ontario government launched a new television ad slamming the levy.

April 30, 2019

About 64 per cent of respondents said it is unacceptable for provinces to opt out of the federal effort to combat climate change, including the carbon tax, according to a survey done by Nanos Research for The Globe and Mail. As well, 64 per cent of respondents said they oppose provincial governments spending public money to fight the tax.

Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick are pursuing legal challenges to the levy, which the Liberal government imposed in those provinces that do not have a carbon pricing system of their own, as part of Ottawa’s overall effort to meet its international commitment to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

April 17, 2019

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is expected to unveil legislation on May 22 to rescind the provincial carbon tax adopted by the former New Democratic Party government. Mr. Kenney said he, too, will launch a legal challenge if, as promised, the federal government imposed its carbon tax in place of the provincial one that is to be cancelled.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his ministers have launched a multipronged opposition campaign that includes the court challenge in which a decision is expected soon; frequent ministerial photo ops highlighting the cost of the levy; a move to require gas stations to post stickers detailing the cost, and paid advertising. In a spot to air Monday, an Ontario government ad says the carbon tax will cost the average family $648 a year in 2022. Like the rest of the provincial material, the Ontario ad does not include any mention of the fact that the federal legislation requires all revenue raised to be returned to the province, with 80 per cent of families expected to receive more through a rebate delivered on their income tax return than they paid out in tax.

April 15, 2015

“It’s pretty clear that Canadians don’t like the idea of provinces opting out with the exception of Canadians in the Prairie provinces,” pollster Nik Nanos said. “While the carbon tax and the rebate is not a big political winner [for the federal Liberals], people definitely don’t like using provincial tax dollars to fight the federal carbon tax.”

The survey – which has a margin of error of three percentage points – polled 1,000 Canadians by phone and online between April 25 and 28. (Globe & Mail) 

 

Friday May 3, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday May 3, 2019

Move over, Doug Ford. Jason Kenney is Canada’s new disruptor

Jason Kenney is back. First stop, Ontario. 

Days after being sworn in as Alberta’s new premier Tuesday, sweeping to power with a 55-per-cent majority unrivalled by any politician in Canada today, Kenney wants to win over Ontarians.

Direct and in person.

Best known as a savvy Harper-era federal minister, officially responsible for immigration and multiculturalism, but unofficially assigned to wooing and winning the 905 vote, Kenney has reinvented himself as a fiery prairie populist.

All these years later, the Oakville-born Alberta premier still has an eye, and an ear, for the GTA.

Now he wants to be heard.

Not just by the Bay Street crowd who rewarded him with standing ovations during a lunchtime speech on Alberta’s energy woes, or from the smiling Ontario premier who pledged his support Friday (after bearing a private grudge against him for years — more on that later).

The new premier is getting his message out any way he can, not least in the pages of the Toronto Star. Which is why he sat down for a wide-ranging interview about Alberta’s plight, his political fight, and his plan to disrupt Canada even if it means talking up disunity in a country that still frets about national unity.

Ontarians, he says, should hear him out.

“Obviously, Ontario is sort of the elder brother of the federation, and I think it can play a role,” he tells me. The response at Friday’s business lunch showed “they get what Alberta is going through.”

Many politicians lay claim to a 100-day plan of action. Kenney, however, has unveiled a 100-hour agenda of disruption that he has spent years mapping out.

And he is just getting started — threatening B.C. with a fuel blockade and confronting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with a constitutional challenge over control of energy resources. (Continued: Toronto Star) 

 

Wednesday April 24, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday April 24, 2019

D’Oh Canada! Canadian journalist voicing Trudeau on The Simpsons

Canadian journalist Lucas Meyer is putting the hours he’s spent listening to politicians to good use, lending his imitation of Justin Trudeau to The Simpsons.

March 24, 2017

Sunday’s upcoming episode, “D’Oh Canada,” will feature a subplot involving Lisa being granted asylum in Canada during a family trip to Niagara Falls.

Meyer, a lifelong fan of the show, said he was thrilled and a bit stunned to receive an email from a Simpsons producer last September. He auditioned a few hours later and found out he got the part the next day.

“I just couldn’t believe it, I sent it to my wife and she was losing her mind,” he said.

“A, it was unexpected. B, it’s not just a show it’s The Simpsons, one that I grew up with. And C, it’s not just a guest voice. It’s guest-voicing the prime minister.”

Meyer, who grew up in Montreal and Antigonish, N.S., has been honing his impersonation skills for years. He said Trudeau is one of his favourites to mimic, along with Don Cherry, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and his mother-in-law, Esther.

August 15, 1997

While working as a reporter in Calgary in 2017, Meyer relented to urgings from friends and posted a compilation of his impressions on YouTube. The video has garnered about 32,000 views and caught the attention of The Simpsons producers.

Meyer kept the news secret for more than six months and finally shared it Monday on social media.  

“I never would have anticipated this,” he told CBC News with a laugh.

Tim Long, a Canadian-born consulting producer on The Simpsons, hinted the episode featuring Trudeau would touch on a “current scandal,” perhaps the SNC-Lavalin controversy.

“That may be one of those things that nobody in America is going to get,” Long, who was born in Brandon, Man., and grew up in Exeter, Ont., said in a recent phone interview with The Canadian Press.

“It’s funny, though, because of course America got used to the idea that, ‘Well, Trudeau is great’ — at least the liberal part of America has sort of got it in their head that, ‘Oh, he’s amazing and Canadians must love him’ — and I think they’re shocked to learn that he’s in a little bit of trouble right now.”

Meyer currently works as a reporter with Newstalk 1010 in Toronto and has had his own professional dealings with Trudeau on the scandal. (Source: CBC) 

Meme-able illustrations