John Turner

Thursday May 26, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Thursday May 26, 2016 Stephen Harper to bow out of federal politics before next fall Stephen Harper will bow out of federal politics before Parliament resumes in the fall to pursue new business interests. Harper, who served as prime minister for nearly a decade, is deciding his future as the Conservative Party prepares to meet for its national convention in Vancouver starting Thursday. Harper has offers from multiple U.S. companies, including private equity giant KKR, sources tell CBC News. A spokesperson for KKR declined a request for comment. The news of Harper's pending departure was first reported by the Globe and Mail. Conservatives will honour Harper with a tribute Thursday night before they look to chart a new course for the party he helped create. Harper is expected to deliver a short speech following the tribute. But don't expect Harper to discuss life after politics. Canada "He will be speaking on Thursday, but he won't be speaking about his future plans," said Rachel Curran, one of Harper's confidants and a former PMO policy director. "He will be talking about the last 10 years, and what work the party still has to do, that will be the focus.Ó Until an official announcement is made, Harper's colleagues are shying away from weighing in on the former prime minister's next career move. A spokesperson for interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose declined comment. (Source: CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stephen-harper-to-bow-out-from-federal-politics-1.3598913 Canada, Stephen Harper, Joe Clark, Kim Campbell, John Turner, Paul Martin, Prime Minister, legacy, purgatory

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 26, 2016

Stephen Harper to bow out of federal politics before next fall

Stephen Harper will bow out of federal politics before Parliament resumes in the fall to pursue new business interests.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013Harper, who served as prime minister for nearly a decade, is deciding his future as the Conservative Party prepares to meet for its national convention in Vancouver starting Thursday.

Harper has offers from multiple U.S. companies, including private equity giant KKR, sources tell CBC News. A spokesperson for KKR declined a request for comment.

The news of Harper’s pending departure was first reported by the Globe and Mail.

Conservatives will honour Harper with a tribute Thursday night before they look to chart a new course for the party he helped create. Harper is expected to deliver a short speech following the tribute.

But don’t expect Harper to discuss life after politics. Canada

“He will be speaking on Thursday, but he won’t be speaking about his future plans,” said Rachel Curran, one of Harper’s confidants and a former PMO policy director. “He will be talking about the last 10 years, and what work the party still has to do, that will be the focus.”

Until an official announcement is made, Harper’s colleagues are shying away from weighing in on the former prime minister’s next career move. A spokesperson for interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose declined comment. (Source: CBC News)

2016-05-26tearsheet

Tuesday August 25, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Tuesday August 25, 2015 The Growing Power of the PMO In 2006, Stephen Harper rode into Ottawa with a mandate to clean up the ethical wreckage of the Liberal sponsorship scandal. The Conservative Party leader moved quickly as the prime minister of a minority government. He banned corporate and union donations, and lowered the individual donation limit to $1,000. He toughened federal lobbying rules, created the Parliamentary Budget Office and gave additional powers to the Ethics Commissioner. His goal, he said over and over, was to return accountability to Ottawa. And he did that, to a degree. His reforms have helped bring the federal government up to date on important issues of political financing and budget oversight. Not surprisingly, though, Mr. Harper failed to target the real source of OttawaÕs accountability crisis. As the trial of Mike Duffy has reminded us, the greatest threat to responsible government in Canada is none other than the Prime MinisterÕs Office. Over the past 40 years, the PMO has morphed into a parasite on the body of Parliament that prospers by sucking the democracy out of its host. The court-documented efforts by Nigel Wright, the former chief of staff to Mr. Harper, to control the Senate from inside the PMO are outrageous only because they have been exposed by Mr. DuffyÕs lawyer. The real scandal lies below the surface, where the PMO uses its toxic tentacles to neutralize every part of government that might compete with it for power, so that today we are ruled by an imperial prime minister, unaccountable to anyone or anything. Do not blame Mr. Harper alone for this. The expansion of the PMO began under Pierre Trudeau, and every prime minister since then has been responsible for increasing its malignant grip on Parliament. Brian Mulroney was the first to name a Òchief of staffÓ and elevate that person above the principal secretary who was, up till then, the highest unelect

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday August 25, 2015

The Growing Power of the PMO

In 2006, Stephen Harper rode into Ottawa with a mandate to clean up the ethical wreckage of the Liberal sponsorship scandal. The Conservative Party leader moved quickly as the prime minister of a minority government. He banned corporate and union donations, and lowered the individual donation limit to $1,000. He toughened federal lobbying rules, created the Parliamentary Budget Office and gave additional powers to the Ethics Commissioner.

His goal, he said over and over, was to return accountability to Ottawa. And he did that, to a degree. His reforms have helped bring the federal government up to date on important issues of political financing and budget oversight.

Not surprisingly, though, Mr. Harper failed to target the real source of Ottawa’s accountability crisis. As the trial of Mike Duffy has reminded us, the greatest threat to responsible government in Canada is none other than the Prime Minister’s Office.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013Over the past 40 years, the PMO has morphed into a parasite on the body of Parliament that prospers by sucking the democracy out of its host. The court-documented efforts by Nigel Wright, the former chief of staff to Mr. Harper, to control the Senate from inside the PMO are outrageous only because they have been exposed by Mr. Duffy’s lawyer. The real scandal lies below the surface, where the PMO uses its toxic tentacles to neutralize every part of government that might compete with it for power, so that today we are ruled by an imperial prime minister, unaccountable to anyone or anything.

Do not blame Mr. Harper alone for this. The expansion of the PMO began under Pierre Trudeau, and every prime minister since then has been responsible for increasing its malignant grip on Parliament. Brian Mulroney was the first to name a “chief of staff” and elevate that person above the principal secretary who was, up till then, the highest unelected authority in the PMO. Jean Chrétien relied on the protective coating of the PMO to shield himself from direct responsibility for the sponsorship scandal, just as Mr. Harper is now doing in the Duffy affair. (Continued: Globe & Mail)