leadership

Friday February 14, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 14, 2020

The Conservative Party’s moderate-centres have disappeared

Alone among the senior party elephants who in the past few days have fled the high veldt of the federal Conservative leadership campaign, former Quebec premier Jean Charest left behind disquieting words as he took the exit road. The party, he observed, has changed a lot since he was last active in it in 1998.

March 24, 2018

You wonder why Conservative strategists and the media have not made more of what he said.

They’ve stated that the party is confused; it has lost its identity, needs to find itself—when, for the most part, the party knows exactly where it is and how it got there. It’s the strategists and media who are living in something that looks a lot like a state of denial.

They’re engaging in a surreal debate about what the party needs to do to fix itself and grow its political message—make symbolic or mild policy nods toward the political centre, have its leaders walk in a pride parade, declare it won’t be re-opening the abortion debate, do something to hobble the party’s “extremist wing.”

Yet the Conservative moderate-centre has all but disappeared. Largely, the so-called Red Tories have left the party and gone elsewhere. There is no “extremist wing”—that’s imaginary. Fundamental changes have shaped the base of the party that reflect differences in outlook, preferences and values from the great majority of Canadians and have little to do with what someone thinks about gay pride parades. As in the U.K. and the U.S., authoritarian or ordered populism has polarized Canada into two incommensurable camps.

Animated!

The Conservative Party that most Canadians have known—the political centre that previously had the ability to find centre terrain on the most divisive issues of the day—has disappeared. What contemporary Conservative strategists and the media seem to have significant difficulty recognizing is that Canadian politics has become much more like American politics—it’s become tribal. And just as two Americas have taken root and blossomed, two Canadas are appearing on this side of the border.

EKOS Research found that four years ago, there was a 10-percentage-point gap between Liberals and Conservatives who selected climate change as the top issue of political concern. That gap is now 46 percentage points.

More than 90 per cent of Canadians who identify with the political centre-left, which is 65 per cent of adult citizens, think that Canada now has a climate emergency (they don’t believe that it’s coming, but that it’s here now.) For people who identify as Conservative or People’s Party supporters, the figure is less than 30 per cent. Four years ago, there was a 20-percentage-point gap between Liberals and Conservatives on trust in science. That exploded to a 40 per cent gap following the last election.

Since 2012, the incidence of Conservative voters who think Canada is admitting “too many” visible minorities as immigrants has swollen from 47 per cent to 70 per cent . Meanwhile, the corresponding incidence of Liberals agreeing there are too many has dropped from 35 to 15 per cent. A modest 12 per cent gap has also expanded to a massive 55 per cent gap. (MacLean’s) 

 

Friday January 24, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 24, 2020

Where the Tory leadership race stands now that Ambrose and Charest are out

Rona Ambrose is out and she wasn’t even in. The former Conservative minister ended weeks of speculation about whether she would run for the party’s leadership by saying that she is going to pass and “focus on making a difference through the private sector”.

May 31, 2016

She said she struggled with the decision of whether or not to return to political life but her conclusion came as no surprise. Her friends were always dubious that she would commit. She married her partner, businessman JP Veitch, last summer and people who know her well said she is enjoying the pace of life in the private sector, as well as being back in Alberta.

The announcement will be lamented by Conservatives who saw her as the most likely bet to modernize a party that has been disparaged as out-of-date and narrow-minded. In her written statement, Ambrose tacitly made the case for change. “I know we will choose a strong, compassionate person to lead us, who supports ALL families,” she said.

She joins former Quebec premier Jean Charest on the sidelines.

May 13, 2015

There is general agreement among the dozen or so senior Conservatives I spoke with on Wednesday, that this is shaping into a contest between Peter MacKay and Pierre Poilievre, with Erin O’Toole a wild card in third place but still capable of pulling off a shock.

Charest’s decision certainly upsets any plans Poilievre had of running as the rock-ribbed movement candidate, who would stop the Progressive Conservatives and other socialist apparatchiks from taking over their party.

On the other hand, Charest would have brought in new members who would have been more likely to transfer their support to MacKay, if and when Charest fell off the ballot.

There are growing concerns that this could prove to be a particularly divisive contest, if the two candidates are viewed as proxies – Poilievre for Stephen Harper; MacKay for Brian Mulroney.

But it is an over-simplification to suggest Poilievre will be the hard-right Reform candidate and MacKay the voice of the mushy Red Tory middle. (Continued: National Post) 

 

Thursday January 23, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 23, 2020

What we know about the Liberal plan for Parliament after the cabinet retreat

For two and a half days, the Liberal cabinet huddled at the Fairmont Hotel in Winnipeg, focusing on their objectives amid the context of their new reality: a minority government that will need opposition support to get anything done.

October 23, 2019

But from the prime minister’s closing news conference Tuesday and the ministers who spoke publicly when the retreat wrapped up, we still don’t have a full sense of the legislation the Liberals will table this winter — and they certainly made enough promises during the election campaign to keep Parliament busy.

We know the first order of business when the House resumes next week: to ratify the new NAFTA trade deal, CUSMA.

“Passing the new NAFTA in Parliament is our priority,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Whether it will pass, however, is another question. The Bloc Quebecois won’t support the new deal without more supports for aluminum workers, and neither the NDP nor the Conservatives are clear on their support, with both parties having said they want to review it closely.

Trudeau also spoke generally of other commitments, such as pharmacare, protecting the environment and stricter gun control measures, but offered no specifics on what may come forward as legislation or when.

“We’re stepping up to the plate. Just take our pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and to preserve more of Canada’s land and oceans,” said Trudeau.

“We’re taking real action to protect our environment.”

October 11, 2019

The prime minister, however, didn’t say what that action is, nor did he give any clues as to how his government would reach net zero emissions by 2050, amid criticism that Canada is not on track to meet its current targets for 2030.

On implementing a national pharmacare plan, another campaign promise short on details, the health minister couldn’t commit to any legislation this winter.

Here, the Liberals could face opposition not just from other federal parties, but from provinces and territories, as well, with health care a provincial responsibility.

The headlines of the Liberal plan for the winter sessions may be clear — NAFTA, pharmacare, gun control, climate action — but how and when they plan to move on most of them remains a mystery. (Global News) 

 

 
 

Andrew Scheer Resigns

Andrew Scheer resigned as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada today. Here is a gallery of cartoons:

May 30, 2017
December 13, 2017
August 17, 2018
August 24, 2018
November 20, 2018
Howdy Doodie Andy Scheer
March 5, 2019
April 13, 2019
May 2, 2019
May 7, 2019
June 8, 2019
June 11, 2019
June 20, 2019
July 13, 2019
July 17, 2019
August 27, 2019
September 26, 2019
October 2, 2019
October 24, 2019
October 31, 2019
November 7, 2019

Thursday November 7, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 7, 2019

NDP lost a lot, but Jagmeet Singh risks losing more

January 7, 2019

Justin Trudeau will now have to find dance partners from the NDP and/or the Greens to govern. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh ran a strong campaign. His line during the English language debate that voters did not have to choose between “Mr. Delay” (Trudeau) or “Mr. Deny” (Scheer) was the campaign’s most memorable zinger.

But Liberal alarmism over the prospects of NDP votes leading to a Scheer government appears to have spooked enough would-be New Democrat voters to contain any orange waves.

Singh lost all but one of his 14 Quebec MPs, the result of ground ceded in the lacklustre first 18 months of his leadership.

The compensation, if it is one, is the influence he may wield over the Liberals.

September 5, 2019

But a glance at the history books should be enough to convince Singh to tread lightly when it comes to dealing with the Grits. One of his predecessors, David Lewis, propped up Pierre Trudeau’s government after the latter won a plurality of just two seats in 1972. By the time Lewis decided to bring down Trudeau’s government  in 1974, he was in disrepute with voters, having received all of the blame and none of the credit for the preceding two years in power. In the ensuing election, the NDP lost half its parliamentary caucus.

The mercy is that no-one wants, or can afford, another election. MPs first elected in 2015 will look covetously towards pensions that will become vested after six years. Members from all sides of the House may be less enthusiastic to risk rich retirement plans.

The configuration of the new House of Commons suggests we may be about to encounter that most rare of beasts — a strong, stable, minority government. – John Ivison (National Post)