Legislature

Wednesday February 19, 2020

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday February 19, 2020

Ontario’s newly-designed license plates just hit a speedbump. Call it Plate-gate.

A little background: The Canadian province’s new design was unveiled by the provincial government — led by center-right Ontario Premier Doug Ford — last year.

April 9, 2019

Almost immediately, people started comparing the plate design unfavorably to a box of Q-tips.

The plates also had a new slogan – “A Place to Grow” – which drew the ire of some critics, who preferred the previous “Yours to Discover” which the plates had sported since 1982.

Then there was the palette: Observers noticed that the new plates had the same blue color scheme as Ford’s Progressive Conservative Party.

Journalists at Toronto’s CTV network wanted to see if they could recreate the problem, so they shined a light on the new and old plates while slowly moving away. In their video, the old plate remains plainly legible, while the letters on the new one quickly disappear into a blaze of white.

In an emailed statement, Ontario’s government says it “consulted with key stakeholders to test the readability, reflectivity and functionality of the new high definition plate design. Ontario’s new high definition licence plates were tested using advanced plate reader technology under multiple visibility conditions, and plates were successfully read under those conditions.”

But it acknowledged that “some Ontarians are reporting concerns with readability to the naked-eye under certain light conditions,” and says it is looking into the issue.

One silver lining? The plates are so new that very few vehicles have them. (NPR) 

Meanwhile, Students, parents, the government and school boards prepare for a province-wide strike by teachers set for this Friday. (CTV) 

 

Tuesday August 1, 2017

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday August 1, 2017

Murray quitting as environment minister signalling a climate change at Queen’s Park

Premier Kathleen Wynne is suffering the loss of a key member of her cabinet with the surprise departure of Environment and Climate Change Minister Glen Murray, the Star has learned.

March 2, 2017

Murray, 59, who has been out of the country and was unavailable for comment, will announce Monday at Queen’s Park that he is set to resign from provincial politics.

The Toronto Centre MPP, also a former mayor of Winnipeg and one-time Star columnist, has been Wynne’s point person on climate change.

He will step down immediately from cabinet, forcing the premier to do a minor shuffle of her executive council on Monday morning, but will remain as an MPP for a few more weeks to wind down some local constituency business.

Internationally respected on environmental issues, he was first elected in a February 2010 byelection after then-deputy premier George Smitherman left to run for mayor of Toronto and lost to Rob Ford.

Former premier Dalton McGuinty elevated Murray to cabinet just six months later where he served as minister of research and innovation. After the 2011 election, he was promoted to minister of training, colleges, and universities.

After McGuinty stepped down in October 2012, he launched a Liberal leadership bid, but dropped out to support Wynne shortly before the party’s convention in January 2013.

The new premier rewarded him for his timely endorsement, which gave her campaign momentum, by making him transportation and infrastructure minister in February 2013.

Following her majority victory in June 2014, Wynne moved him to the Ministry of the Environment and added “Climate Change” to his title to underscore its importance as Ontario was joining Quebec and California in a cap-and-trade system.

In a move some Liberals felt demonstrated petulance, Murray responded to being shuffled by taking to Twitter that June 25 and saying: “Today it sunk in the last election was my last.”

“Promised that if I couldn’t make a difference in 8 or 10 years I couldn’t make a difference,” the minister tweeted more than three years ago.

“First openly gay person elected in Canada. I have to thank Winnipeggers for electing me councillor and mayor and TO for electing me MPP and minister,” he continued.

“Minister of Environment in Ontario is the best political position I have ever had the privilege to hold. I was not demoted. Kathleen Wynne put me in a position where I can fight to ensure we can survive climate change.”

While his prophecy turned out to be true, Murray had indicated to allies more recently that he planned to run again next year, so his exit is blindsiding the governing Liberals.

A strong performer in the legislature, where he usually deflects opposition questions skilfully, he has emerged as one of Wynne’s better known ministers. (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

SaveSave

Friday, June 27, 2014

Friday, June 26, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, June 27, 2014

Ontarians voted ‘out of fear,’ Andrea Horwath says

“Fear” and loathing cost the New Democrats the recent election, says Andrea Horwath.

The NDP leader insisted Wednesday her party lost on June 12 because the Liberals frightened Ontarians into voting against the Progressive Conservatives.

“Look, the people in this province, they made a decision to basically choose fear — or to vote out of fear — as opposed to choose positive change,” she said.

Thirteen days after the vote she triggered cost her party the balance of power in the Ontario legislature, Horwath finally met with the media to discuss the election.

“I’m proud of the work that we were able to do in this campaign,” she told reporters at Queen’s Park, adding it was “absolutely not” a bad idea to force the election by rejecting the May 1 budget.

Her comments came the day after Premier Kathleen Wynne’s majority Liberal government was sworn in. That same spending plan will be reintroduced by Finance Minister Charles Sousa on July 14.

Sousa said the Liberals won on a “hopeful, positive” platform.

“The fear that most Ontarians felt was the idea of having an NDP or Conservative government taking extreme measures that would put them in harm’s way,” the treasurer said outside cabinet.

Horwath said Wynne exploited voters’ alarm at Conservative Leader Tim Hudak’s widely loathed proposal to cut 100,000 public service positions over four years.

“Out of fear, the people of Ontario voted. They strategically voted to keep Mr. Hudak’s plan off of the books . . . . That’s their decision to make,” she said of the PC leader who will step down July 2.

“That means we have a lot of work to do around the strategic voting issue.”

While she faces a mandatory leadership review at an NDP convention in November, Horwath said she never considered stepping down after the disappointing election.

Despite controlling the timing of the vote, the NDP appeared surprisingly flat-footed for the first weeks of the writ period. (Source: Toronto Star)

 

ONTARIO LEGISLATURE GALLERY

 

Wednesday October 17, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday October 17, 2012

McGuinty surprises with resignation, prorogation

Ontarians got a double-barrelled surprise on Monday evening when longtime Premier Dalton McGuinty announced he was stepping down as Liberal leader and also proroguing the provincial legislature.

Citing a desire to bring new blood to the party leadership, McGuinty said it was time for him to step down.

“After 16 years as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party and after nine years as premier, it’s time for renewal, it’s time for the next Liberal premier,” McGuinty said.

“It’s time for the next set of Liberal ideas to guide our province forward.”

The 57-year-old McGuinty was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 1990 and became Liberal leader six years later.

In 2003, he became premier of Ontario, a job that would see him lead back-to-back majority governments, until the most recent election in which the Liberals came up a seat short of a third-straight majority.

The Liberals hoped to regain majority control in a pair of recent byelections, but managed to win only one of the two seats needed to make that happen.

Although McGuinty had faced a more challenging climate at Queen’s Park at the helm of a minority government, the premier said Monday that he always appreciated the chance to serve.

“It has been an incredible honour and privilege to serve Ontarians as their premier,” McGuinty said during a late news conference that followed his surprise announcement earlier in the evening. (Source: CBC News) 

 

Thursday December 21, 2006

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 21, 2006

McGuinty accuses NDP of theatrics over pay hike

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty accused the NDP on Tuesday of using unprecedented stalling tactics and theatrics to delay a 25-per-cent salary hike for provincial legislators.

New Democrats have been colourful in expressing their anger over the pay boost for members of the provincial parliament, announced in a surprise move by McGuinty’s government last week. The NDP has been trying to force the related bill to a committee for public hearings.

The provincial legislature had been scheduled to rise on Dec. 14, but the government announced it would sit another week in an effort to pass the pay hike.

Before a Liberal caucus meeting Tuesday, McGuinty invited Ontarians to “grab some popcorn” to watch the NDP’s performance.

“…It is really without precedent in the annals of parliamentary traditions,” he said of the New Democrats tactics.

The legislation would see the MPPs earning 75 per cent of what their federal counterparts make and would increase a member’s base salary to $110,775 from $88,771. (CBC)