Minority

Wednesday April 30, 2025

Canada elects Mark Carney to lead a minority government, signaling a rejection of Trump's influence and a commitment to national sovereignty.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday April 30, 2025 (The Toronto Star)

Canada’s Stand: Mark Carney vs. Trump’s Shadow

As Canada's election campaign nears its end, Trump's rhetoric and policies become pivotal in shaping voter perceptions of leaders Pierre Poilievre and Mark Carney.

April 25, 2025

The recent Canadian federal election has unfolded against a backdrop of unprecedented political dynamics, driven largely by the influence of U.S. President Donald Trump. His aggressive rhetoric, including threats to annex Canada as the 51st state and the imposition of tariffs, became central issues that galvanized Canadian voters. In response, Canadians have made a decisive choice by electing Mark Carney’s Liberal Party to lead the nation, even if through a minority government.

This election result is not merely a rejection of Trump’s influence but also a testament to Canada’s resilience and commitment to its sovereignty. As the Guardian noted, “Trump’s chaotic threats won Mark Carney the Canadian election,” emphasizing how the external pressure from Trump galvanized voters around a leader who promised to stand firm.

Analysis: Trump’s chaotic threats won Mark Carney the Canadian election – but only just

Mark Carney leverages his dual role as Liberal leader and Prime Minister to address economic challenges and political dynamics, including a significant gender gap, in Canada's federal election.

April 12, 2025

Mark Carney, a former central banker, has stepped into the political arena with a wealth of experience in navigating global economic challenges. His leadership during this tumultuous period offers Canadians a sense of stability and competence. In his acceptance speech, Carney struck a combative tone, emphasizing that “President Trump is trying to break us so he can own us. That will never happen.” This clear stance resonates with Canadians’ desire to protect their national interests against external threats.

While the Liberals’ victory was not a sweeping mandate, it reflects a strategic choice by voters to support a leader who promises to defend Canada’s sovereignty. The New York Times highlighted that Carney’s campaign centred around resisting Trump’s menacing comments and tariffs, a message that clearly resonated with the electorate.

However, the minority government situation presents its own set of challenges. Carney will need to navigate a complex political landscape, relying on support from smaller parties to advance his legislative agenda. Yet, Carney’s track record as a central banker, accustomed to dealing with crises, positions him well to manage these challenges effectively.

NYT: Mark Carney’s Liberals Win Canada’s Election. Here Are 4 Takeaways

Paul Chiang's resignation amid controversy over foreign interference comments highlights leadership challenges for Mark Carney and the Liberal Party.

April 2, 2025

Voters’ rejection of Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party, which saw its fortunes wane as Trump’s influence grew, further underscores the Canadian electorate’s desire to distance itself from MAGA-style politics. The swift shift in political dynamics reflects a broader sentiment that Canada must define its path on its own terms, independent of external pressures.

As one reader commented, “We elected someone who is an adult and a true leader. And I am relieved and so grateful.” This sentiment captures the optimism many Canadians feel as they look to the future under Carney’s leadership. His plans to diversify Canada’s alliances and reduce reliance on U.S. trade further demonstrate a proactive approach to strengthening the nation’s position on the global stage.

In conclusion, while the path forward will require careful navigation of domestic and international challenges, Canada is well-positioned to face the threats posed by a Trump-led America. Under Mark Carney’s experienced and steady leadership, there is much for Canadians to feel optimistic about as they work towards a future defined by resilience, unity, and self-determination.

 

Thursday February 29, 2024

Raising concern about Trudeau's governance due to issues like ArriveCAN mismanagement, CERB problems, and potential pitfalls of rushed decisions for political support, such as quick deals on Pharmacare and Dental care.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 29, 2024

Trudeau’s Napkin Governance: A Costly Sketch of Social Policy

Trudeau and Ford agree on $3.1 billion for healthcare, tackling hospital issues. Meanwhile, Jagmeet Singh pushes for a national drug plan after Trudeau gives in on dental care. It's a political contrast before Valentine's Day.

February 14, 2024

In this take capturing the essence of Trudeau’s governance, we see the Prime Minister extending another hastily drawn plan on a serviette (Canadian translation for napkin,) this time outlining the delivery of expensive pharmaceuticals to bolster universal healthcare. The irony lies in the sketchiness of the proposal, mirroring the questionable efficiency of previous policies, such as the ArriveCan app debacle, as revealed by the recent Auditor General’s report.

Trudeau, depicted in the cartoon, hands over this napkin to NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, fulfilling a demand crucial for the Liberal government’s survival. However, Singh holds another napkin symbolizing the Dental Care program – another hastily crafted, expensive social initiative that has birthed more problems than solutions.

News: The Liberals and NDP say they have a pharmacare deal — so what’s left on their to-do list?  

The mismanagement of the ArriveCan app, ballooning from low cost estimates to $59.5 million, under the Trudeau government is attributed to incompetence, with concerns raised about the public service's reliance on private IT vendors.

February 21, 2024

The recent Auditor General’s report sheds light on the financial chaos surrounding the ArriveCan app, a $59.5 million mismanagement that unveils a pattern of questionable decision-making within Trudeau’s government. This financial maze serves as a cautionary tale of hastily executed projects during the early days of the pandemic.

The ArriveCan fiasco is not an isolated incident but a reflection of a broader issue – a government seemingly hellbent on governing on the fly. From the sloppy accounting of CERB subsidy payments during the pandemic to the implications of wide-open borders managing a significant influx of migrants over the past five years, the Trudeau-led Liberals appear more focused on creating half-baked social policies than ensuring effective governance.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 22, 2023 The shifting Canadian attitudes towards pharmacare, as reflected in recent surveys, involve considerations of health care priorities, political negotiations, and changing sentiments amidst economic uncertainties and the ongoing pandemic, with key players including Justin Trudeau, Jagmeet Singh, and the evolving landscape of Canadian politics.

December 22, 2023

Trudeau’s recent Pharmacare deal with the NDP, showcased in the cartoon, is another example. Tasha Kheiriddin, a conservative columnist, questions the plan’s necessity, citing concerns about lack of consultation with provinces and the potential for jeopardizing coverage for millions. The choice of initial drugs, contraception and diabetes medication, is criticized as a political move to appeal to key demographics rather than a strategic healthcare decision.

Tom Mulcair, a former NDP leader, adds his voice to the discussion, commending Singh for securing the Pharmacare deal but jabbing at the hastiness of the agreement. Mulcair emphasizes the need for clear and tangible benefits while cautioning against the pitfalls of relying on technocrats for such critical policies. This underscores the importance of thorough consideration in crafting comprehensive and effective social programs.

April 22, 2021

The urgency created by the pandemic is not an excuse for overlooking fundamental management practices, as seen in the ArriveCan debacle. The mismanagement of the app, along with other questionable policy decisions, suggests a government more interested in short-term political gains than effective, transparent governance.

As Canadians, we must scrutinize these napkin-drawn policies, demanding accountability and transparency. The ArriveCan scandal and the questionable Pharmacare plan should serve as wake-up calls for citizens who expect more than hastily crafted sketches on napkins from their elected leaders. The need for reform is evident, and it’s time to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, not hastily.

Wednesday October 5, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 5, 2022

Legault’s tense relationship with Ottawa likely to now continue

Francois Legault’s re-election in Quebec Monday night means an already frosty relationship between his government and Ottawa will likely continue, experts say.

August 5, 2022

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Legault after the Quebec premier’s Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) was projected to form a second majority government, vowing to work together moving forward. But court challenges and a looming fight over immigration are bound to test that promise.

“I don’t think that these tensions will ease as long as the Liberals remain in power in Ottawa and Legault and the CAQ remain in power in Quebec City,” said Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University.

“There are simply fundamental differences between them in the way they see the federation.”

Legault’s first term saw his nationalist agenda clash with Trudeau’s Liberal government a number of times — most notably when the prime minister and members of his cabinet openly criticized Quebec’s secularism law, known as Bill 21, and Bill 96, which bolsters protections for the French language.

July 12, 2019

Both bills are currently before the courts in Quebec, and Ottawa has promised to join a legal challenge to Bill 21 if it reaches the Supreme Court of Canada.

Legault has also been one of the most vocal premiers calling on Trudeau to increase federal funding for health care, which has been met with resistance by the Liberals. Legault has gone further by insisting that any health transfer top-up must also respect Quebec’s ability to govern its own health-care system without federal interference.

Now that Legault is set to be premier through the rest of Trudeau’s current mandate, more fights are expected in the years ahead.

September 14, 2013

Most crucially, Legault has caught attention with his push for further immigration powers over family reunification — a responsibility currently shared between the provincial and federal governments — in order to limit non-French-speaking migration into Quebec.

Last spring, when Legault promised to make the dispute a campaign issue, Trudeau said he had no intention of relinquishing any of those powers.

“It’s clear that a country must have a say in its immigration,” he told reporters then, assuring the protection of French and francophone immigration was “very important” to his government.

According to Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University, Legault could also cause headaches for the federal Liberals by continuing to align with other right-leaning premiers across the country like Ontario Premier Doug Ford on not just immigration, but also health-care funding and economic issues.

March 23, 2022

Ford was quick to congratulate “my friend” Legault on his election win Monday night on Twitter. Fellow right-leaning premiers Scott Moe of Saskatchewan and Heather Stefanson of Manitoba also celebrated Legault’s victory.

Although Trudeau and his government have pushed back on some of Legault’s more nationalistic moves, Beland adds the Liberals have to be careful about not starting an intergovernmental war with the strongly-supported premier of a vote-rich province.

“So long as Legault remains popular, there will be a strong incentive for Trudeau and the Liberals to … meet in the middle and remain diplomatic on some issues,” he said. (Global News) 

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 …

 

Wednesday September 22, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 22, 2021

Trudeau stays in power but Liberals fall short of majority

August 14, 2021

This is Mr Trudeau’s third federal election win, but his critics say the poll was a waste of time.

The Liberals are projected to win 158 seats, short of the 170 seats needed for the majority Mr Trudeau was seeking with his early election call.

The Conservatives have held onto their main opposition status and are expected to win about 122 seats.

“There are still votes to be counted but what we’ve seen tonight is millions of Canadians have chosen a progressive plan,” Mr Trudeau told supporters in Montreal in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

“You elected a government that will fight for you and deliver for you,” he said.

The election, which took place during a fourth pandemic wave in Canada, was the most expensive in the country’s history, costing some C$600m ($470m; £344m).

The projected results suggest a parliament strikingly similar to the one elected just two years ago in 2019.

Federal Election 2021

The snap election call, sending Canadians to the polls for the second time in two years, was widely seen as a bid by Mr Trudeau to secure a majority government and he struggled to explain why a campaign was necessary. Conservative leader Erin O’Toole suggested it was a waste of time and money.

“Canadians sent him back with another minority at a cost of $600m and deeper divisions in our great country”, he told reporters.

Mr Trudeau maintained that the election gave the incoming government a clear mandate in moving forward.

But over the course of the campaign, he struggled to convince voters of the need for an election, which also coincided with rising Covid-19 case loads due to the Delta variant.

Separately he was also heckled by anti-vaccine protesters on the campaign trail, with some shouting they would refuse the Covid jab. (Continued: BBC) 

 

Tuesday September 1, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 1, 2020

With a New Leader, Conservatives Look to Unseat Justin Trudeau

In keeping with the general upheaval that has marked this year, the Conservative Party of Canada announced its new leader at an unusual time: in the middle of the United States’ presidential nominating conventions.

August 25, 2020

Mr. O’Toole, who is from Ontario, offered shout-outs to Indigenous Canadians, people who are “Black, white, brown or from any race or creed,” union members, L.G.B.T.Q. Canadians and people who “joined the Canadian family five weeks ago or five generations ago.”

During his leadership campaign, he pitched himself as a “true blue,” or hard-right-leaning, Conservative, without being too specific about policies. But his record in politics shows that he’s from the moderate side of his party.

During his debut news conference as leader, Mr. Toole moved to distance himself from the party’s social conservatives on issues like abortion.

January 23, 2020

That tack, Professor Marland said, may prove critical to expanding the party’s support in Eastern Canada and among women.

“I’m absolutely convinced that the Conservative leader is going to have to tackle social issues in a much stronger way than has been the case in the past,” he said. “Historically, this has been a problem for parties of the right.”

The contest to elect a new Conservative leader brought with it speculation that Mr. Trudeau’s government might fall shortly after it starts a new session of Parliament on Sept. 23 with a throne speech.

Regardless, a longer lead time to a vote may benefit Mr. O’Toole and his effort to expand the Conservatives beyond their base. (NYT)