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Saturday October 22, 2022

Editorial Cartoon By Graeme MacKay – The Hamilton Spectator, Saturday October 22, 2022

Ford government to introduce housing legislation immediately after the municipal election: ministry

The Ford government will introduce housing legislation the day after Ontario’s municipal election, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing said Friday.

May 12, 2022

The confirmation comes after The Toronto Star reported Thursday the Ford government plans to “override” municipal zoning laws to allow more “middle missing” housing to be built across Ontario. The changes, the Star reports citing officials, will not permit housing development on the Greenbelt.

Ford previously announced his government would aim to build 1.5 million more homes in the next 10 years, which was a goal recommended by a government-commissioned housing task force report earlier this year to address soaring house prices.

Before his current term, Ford said most municipalities are “slow to approve projects,” and cited the pace of municipal construction approvals as a barrier to making housing more affordable.

The NDP, the Ford government’s official opposition, said it couldn’t comment fully before the legislation is released.

“The devil is in the details,” said housing critic Jessica Bell Friday, at a news conference.

December 10, 2020

However, the party is calling for a housing plan that includes an end to exclusionary zoning, more housing construction, clamping down on investor speculation and rent control.

“We need a comprehensive approach to make housing affordable for current Ontarians, as well as new Ontarians that are planning on calling our province home,” said Bell.

Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner called for similar measures as the NDP and also highlighted the need for investments in social, co-op, non-profit and permanent supportive housing.

“If the government fails to listen to what the experts are saying and what the Ontario Greens have been calling for, I have the whole suite of private members’ bills ready to be introduced to address this crisis in the failure of government action,” said Schreiner. (CBC)

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

 

Thursday February 10, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 10, 2022

A better response to illegal protest

May 8, 2021

Leave aside, for now, the ethical and moral questions around anti-vaccine mandate demonstrations and occupations taking place right now in places across the country.

That debate is far from over, but today we want to focus on the law and preparations for future occupations and demonstrations.

Whether you support or abhor the occupations and protests, you cannot logically deny that the organizers behind them have latched on to a winner. They figured out how to shut down the nation’s capital, to block at least two major border crossings and they’re not done yet. They are violating the rights, human, economic and social, of millions of Canadians, and they’re getting away with it.

A perfect example is that Wednesday afternoon several Ontario auto plants announced they were reducing production and sending workers home because the Ambassador Bridge blockade in Windsor is causing a parts shortage.

Thursday January 17, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 17, 2019

Ontario reviewing regional governments, raising prospect of future amalgamations

Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives have announced a plan Tuesday to comprehensively review the province’s regional governments.

Hamilton Amalgamation Octopus, 1999

The review includes all eight regional municipalities — Halton, York, Durham, Waterloo, Niagara, Peel, Muskoka District, Oxford County, and the County of Simcoe — and their lower-tier municipalities, according to a government news release.

A total of 82 municipalities will be examined, and the province hasn’t ruled out the possibility that some could be amalgamated in the future.

The PCs say the review will focus on three areas: governance, decision-making and service delivery.

“Our government is committed to improving the way regional government works and we will be looking at ways to make better use of taxpayers’ dollars and make it easier for residents and businesses to access important municipal services,” said Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark in a news release.

Common Sense Revolution, 1995

Under former PC premier Mike Harris, Ontario amalgamated a series of local governments ranging from Kawartha Lakes to Toronto in a similar bid to improve efficiency, though the effectiveness of that strategy has been questioned in the years since.

“There’s always opportunity for two municipalities to come together to talk about that aspect, but we’re not talking about that in this regional government review,” he said during an interview at Queen’s Park.

In Ontario, upper-tier municipalities or regions typically oversee services such as policing and garbage pickup, while lower-tier muncipalities handle local bylaws. The current system was introduced in the 1970s.

Mayors from around the GTHA were meeting with Toronto Mayor John Tory on Tuesday afternoon as details about the review first emerged.

Toronto Megacity, 1996

During a news conference following the meeting, several mayors said they would support the review as long as their communities are made part of the process.

“Consult with us before unilaterally making changes, consult with our community before making changes and allow us to educate you a little bit on what we think needs to be done,” said Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie acknowledged that the decades-old system has room for improvement. She noted that the three municipalities that form Peel Region — Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon —are each at different growth stages, with different priorities.

“I think this is a great opportunity to re-evaluate our relationship; this is a relationship that is 44 years old now. It perhaps doesn’t make sense as the way it used to,” she told reporters.

Megacity, 1997

Results of the review are expected in early summer, the PCs said. However, political observers are already questioning if such a sweeping and quick review will be effective, especially given the short timeline.

“There’s a lot of things to cover. Trying to get them all within a single review strikes me as a fairly large task,” said Robert Williams, a professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo who studies municipal governance.

Williams drew comparisons to the amalgamations carried out by the Harris government, and the current government’s decision to slash the size of Toronto city council nearly in half last year. (Source: CBC News) 

 

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) 

 

Friday July 28, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 28, 2017

White House reveals Trump only decided on transgender ban yesterday

President Donald Trump sent out a series of tweets Wednesday morning saying that transgender people wouldn’t be allowed to serve in the U.S. military ‘in any capacity’ with no plan in place for active duty transgender personnel.  

February 3, 2017

‘This was a decision based on what was the best for the military and military cohesion and on the counsel of his national security team,’ said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was bombarded with questions about the ban at a televised press briefing.

With no details available, she offered no immediate assurance that a transgender service member wouldn’t have to get sent home from a deployment in a place like Afghanistan.

‘That’s something that the Department of Defense and the White House will have to work together as implementation takes place and is done so lawfully,’ Huckabee Sanders said. 

‘The implementation of the policy is going to be something that the White House and the Department of Defense have to work together to lawfully determine.’

Her comment came after a flat-footed Pentagon spokesman told reporters asking for details about the new policy announced on Twitter to ‘call the White House.’

Huckabee Sanders said Trump reached the decision ‘based on consultation that he’s had with his national security team’ to reach the conclusion.

She repeatedly cited ‘unit cohesion’ as the reason, and batted back inquiries about Trump’s campaign statements to be there to protect gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans.  

‘When the president made the decision yesterday, the secretary of defense was immediately informed, of as were the rest of the national security team that had been part of this ongoing conversation,’ said Huckabee Sanders.

‘Sometimes you have to make decisions and once he made a decision, he didn’t feel it was necessary to hold that decision and they’re going to work together with the Department of Defense to lawfully implement it,’ she said.(Source: Daily Mail)  

 

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