Justin Trudeau

Wednesday September 12, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 12, 2018

Local elections getting lost in the sound and fury

Between Doug Ford’s unprecedented antics at Queen’s Park, Donald Trump’s daily bombastic proclamations and NAFTA negotiations, it’s little wonder local elections — in Hamilton and across Ontario — are being drowned out. But it’s time for that to change.

Our municipal governments have more impact on our day-to-day lives than their more senior brethren. Yes, they’re at the bottom of the food chain — as Ford has so brazenly demonstrated — but they deliver front-line services. Our sidewalks and roads, our safe water supply, public transit, recreational centres and parks, waste disposal, libraries, animal control, tax collection — these and a host of other services and costs flow directly from city hall. 

And every four years, we have a chance to pass judgment on the current city council. We can endorse them, collectively or individually. We can change out people we’re not happy with. We can clean house if that’s appropriate (even though we get to vote only for our respective ward councillor, mayor and school trustees).

So while Ford and Trump may be more dramatic (and melodramatic), it behooves us to pay attention to what’s coming up on Monday, Oct. 22. The Spectator has already begun to do that, and we plan to ramp up our coverage beginning this week. 

Bottom line: If you live here, pay taxes, raise kids, retire, and you’re an engaged citizen, these elections matter. Don’t miss the opportunity to get involved in local democracy.(Continued: Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Saturday September 1, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday September 1, 2018

Pipeline ruling comes at bad time for Trudeau Liberals

April 11, 2018

For Justin Trudeau’s governing Liberals, the timing couldn’t have been worse. On Thursday, as Canadian negotiators in Washington were struggling to salvage whatever they could from the floundering NAFTA talks, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled against the government’s signature Trans Mountain Pipeline project.

Both the North American Free Trade Agreement fiasco and the pipeline decision strike at the heart of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s economic strategy. That strategy relies on free trade deals and oil exports to keep the economy humming while the government concentrates on its ambitious social policy agenda, such as bettering the lot of Indigenous Canadians.

Of the trade deals, the NAFTA pact tying together Canada, the U.S. and Mexico was the most crucial. Similarly, of the pipeline projects, none was more important to the federal government than the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain expansion. It would bring heavy oil from the Alberta tarsands to British Columbia’s Pacific coast, where it could be loaded into oceangoing tankers.

Indeed, the Trudeau government deemed the Trans Mountain Pipeline so important that it agreed to buy it for $4.5 billion from its U.S. owner and pay all the costs of expanding it. This no longer seems like such a good deal.

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the government’s National Energy Board failed to take into account the effect of increased tanker traffic on B.C. coastal communities. It also ruled that the government failed to adequately consult Indigenous communities affected by the pipeline. It said construction cannot continue until these two defects are remedied. (Continued: Toronto Star) 

 

Thursday August 30, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 30, 2018

U.S. is intent on ending supply management for Canadian dairy: Trudeau

April 20, 2017

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it is obvious the Trump administration is intent on dismantling Canada’s supply management system.

But he says Canada won’t buckle on the issue at the NAFTA talks.

The vexing question of greater U.S. access to the Canada’s protected dairy sector is now pivotal as the NAFTA negotiations in Washington draw closer to President Donald Trump’s Friday deadline for a three-country deal.

A concession on dairy — which is explosive politically in Canada — is one of the few cards the Trudeau government has left to play at the bargaining table after the U.S. and Mexico reached their own side deal on Monday.

Experts say Trump has not specifically set his sights on dismantling supply management, and is more angry with a new classification of milk products that Canada introduced two years ago that he says has undercut U.S. exports and hurt his country’s farmers.

Trump says he’s optimistic a deal can be worked out with Canada by the end of week. (Source: Financial Post)

Tuesday August 28, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday August 28, 2018

Trump tries to put squeeze on Canada as U.S. and Mexico make NAFTA breakthrough

The U.S. and Mexico have come to a preliminary agreement on new North American rules for automotive manufacturing and for other industries — and President Donald Trump is using it to threaten Canada, using a novel tactic to try to pressure Prime Minister Justin Trudeau into a final deal.

August 18, 2018

The U.S.-Mexico deal, announced Monday, had widely been described as a preliminary, informal sub-agreement that would be folded into the broader North American Free Trade Agreement talks.

But the Trump administration, seeking to push Canada into concessions, is describing it as a separate trade agreement, a “United States-Mexico Trade Agreement,” that Canada can either choose to join or not.

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he would “get rid of the name NAFTA,” which he said has a “bad connotation.”

Trump again threatened Canada with auto tariffs.

March 23, 2005

“Canada will start negotiations shortly. I’ll be calling the prime minister very soon. And we’ll start negotiation, and if they’d like to negotiate fairly, we’ll do that.

“You know, they have tariffs of almost 300 per cent on some of our dairy products, and we can’t have that. We’re not going to stand for that.

“I think with Canada, frankly, the easiest thing we can do is to tariff their cars coming in,” Trump said.

“It’s a tremendous amount of money and it’s a very simple negotiation. It could end in one day and we take in a lot of money the following day. But I think we’ll give them a chance to probably have a separate deal. We can have a separate deal or we can put it into this deal.”

On its website, Trump’s administration described the deal with Mexico as a “preliminary agreement in principle.” (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

Friday August 24, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday August 24, 2018

‘He kind of ripped off the Band-Aid:’ some Tories relieved after Bernier quits

August 17, 2018

After a bombshell day for the Conservative party, many members attending the annual Tory convention in Halifax expressed quiet relief on Thursday that the long-expected divorce of maverick MP Maxime Bernier from the party was finally out of the way.

Delegates from across the country began arriving for the three-day policy convention in Nova Scotia just as Bernier staged a spectacular resignation from the party in Ottawa, calling the Tories “intellectually and morally corrupt” and announcing plans to start his own party for the 2019 election.

As news of Bernier’s announcement reverberated around the convention halls, many members said they felt it was something they felt was inevitable after the Quebec MP’s recent flurry of controversial tweets.

It was “only a matter of time” until Bernier would leave, either by choice or by ousting, one member said.

May 28, 2008

“He kind of ripped off the Band-Aid,” another stated, a phrase that was repeated by several others.

A few people commented that some larger donors to Bernier’s campaign are now feeling angered by his rash decision to mount a battle against the Conservative party, and that they now feel a sense of “buyer’s remorse.”

Kathleen Mahar-Wagner of Quebec proudly displayed her reaction, fashioning a hand-drawn sign saying “bye bye Bernier,” which she wore around her neck.

“I’m very glad that he made the decision and that he’s left. I think it will be better for the party that he take his ideas and he does what he wants with them.” (Source: CTV)