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Tuesday December 11, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 11, 2018

Environmentalists fear provincial changes mean Greenbelt is open for development

Environmentalists and critics are accusing Premier Doug Ford of breaking a promise to protect the two-million-acre Greenbelt from development with changes they say endanger wildlife and drinking water, setting Ontario’s environmental protections back 40 years.

May 3, 2018

The Progressive Conservative government’s proposed changes to the planning act will undermine the province’s anti-sprawl smart growth plan, the Greenbelt Act, the Great Lakes and Lake Simcoe Protection acts and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, said Environmental Defence executive director Tim Gray.

The changes were announced Thursday as part of Bill 66, the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act.

It would allow municipalities to obtain provincial approval to use a new open-for-business zoning bylaw that would bypass some of the existing development requirements. The bylaw would only be available if the municipality could prove a development would create 50 jobs for places with populations under 250,000 or 100 jobs in larger municipalities. Of eight Ontario municipalities with more than 250,000 people, five are in the Toronto region.

“The aim is to have all provincial approvals in place within one year so qualifying businesses can begin construction,” said an emailed statement from a spokesperson of Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark.

March 9, 2005

Conditions would remain on the building, material and other design elements of the employment projects but municipalities would not be required to provide advance notice of the bylaw’s adoption.

The new tool is the kind of opening environmentalists have feared since Doug Ford was caught on video during the election campaign telling developers he would open up the Greenbelt if he became premier. He walked back the remarks after the video was released.

“There is no longer any rational approach to land designation so all areas that we’ve carefully considered being worthy of protection no longer have that protection. Anyone with a property just has to convince Queen’s Park to give them an exemption and (that’s) all it (needs) to go forward for development,” Gray said.

While the bill is driven by job creation, retail and residential components can be part of the projects which qualify for the bylaw’s use, he said. (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

Saturday October 20, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 20, 2018

At least one robocall poll suggests a divisive LRT project has turned Hamilton’s mayoral election race into a statistical dead heat.

An automated telephone survey by Forum Research of 1,556 residents showed 39 per cent support pro-LRT incumbent Fred Eisenberger while 38 percent back anti-LRT challenger Vito Sgro. Other respondents either said they will choose another of the 15 mayoral candidates (12%) or were undecided (12%).

October 13, 2018

Respondents – a majority reached by landline – were similarly divided when asked how they felt about the contentious $1-billion light rail line, said Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff. Half said they opposed the project, while 46% were supportive.

And when those residents were specifically informed about the positions of both candidates on LRT and asked to choose between them again, the support split at 43 percent each.

“It is so close, the numbers are almost identical,” said Bozinoff of the survey, which claims a margin of error of 2.48%, with total sample results considered accurate 19 times out of 20. “What it means – because municipal voter turnout is not great – is that it is important for both sides to get out their vote on Monday.”

August 14, 2018

Forum Research was not paid for the survey and plans to release the results publicly Friday, said Bozinoff. The firm periodically conducts polls and offers the results for free to drum up clients.

Bozinoff noted light rail transit was also an issue – but not the top priority – for voters polled in a paid Forum survey conducted for The Spectator during the 2014 election.

This time, fully a third of respondents called LRT the top issue that would influence their vote.

By contrast, 17 percent chose taxes, 15 percent chose infrastructure/roads and nine-percent chose public safety. “Often, the top issue is taxes,” Bozinoff said. “Clearly, people feel very strongly about this (LRT) issue.”

Interestingly, the majority of respondents who offered an opinion about LRT feel passionately about the project, one way or another. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Thursday January 18, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 18, 2018

Bank of Canada raises key interest rate to 1.25% despite NAFTA worries

The Bank of Canada raised its key lending rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.25 per cent Wednesday, the third time it has moved its benchmark rate from once-record lows last summer.

The bank’s rate has an impact on rates that Canadians get from retail banks for things like mortgages, savings accounts and GICs. The move means borrowers can expect to pay more, but savers can expect to earn more, too.

After the central bank moved in the morning, the Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank each hiked their prime lending rates by the same amount, 25 points, in the afternoon. The new rates of 3.45 per cent will be in effect as of Thursday, Jan. 18. Canada’s other big banks are expected to follow suit.

The Bank of Canada was widely expected to raise its key rate after economic data in recent months showed gross domestic product growing, the job market healthy and the cost of living ticking higher.

The bank’s benchmark rate is now at its highest level since 2009.

In the MPR, the bank nudged up its expectations for how the economy will perform this year and next. The bank now expects Canada’s economy to expand by 2.2 per cent this year and 1.6 per cent in 2019. Previously the bank was anticipating 2.1 and 1.5 per cent growth. 

But while broadly positive about the economy’s prospects, the bank cited “uncertainty about the future of NAFTA” as a reason for concern moving forward. (Source: CBC) 

 

Wednesday June 14, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday June 14, 2017

Ontario offers public servants ‘unprecedented’ contract extensions, 7.5-per-cent raises over 4 years

July 20, 2010

Ontario is offering public servants a four-year contract extension with 7.5-per-cent raises, which, if ratified, would avoid possibly contentious bargaining before the next provincial election.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union workers would get 1.5 per cent on July 1, then one per cent on Jan. 1, 2019 and another one per cent every six months for the life of the deal. The approximately 35,500 workers and correctional staff represented by OPSEU are employed across the public sector, from administration and enforcement to social work, IT and laboratory staff.

The possible deal follows the Liberal government’s successful offering to teachers and education workers of two-year extensions that came with four-per-cent raises and more than $275 million in additional funding.

OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas called the scope of the latest contract extension offer “unprecedented” and said he suspects it is related to the June 2018 election.

“I’m kind of shocked the government actually made us any kind of an offer,” Thomas said. “It’s no secret that my union and myself, my executive board, we’re always in a battle with the government…We’re at odds with them on a lot of fronts.”

But, Thomas said, the offer contains a number of positive changes with no demands of concessions for members, and no matter the motivation he’s looking for the best deal for the workers.

Premier Kathleen Wynne disputed that the offer was about the upcoming election.

“My position has always been, since I’ve been in elected politics, has been that good working relationships with our labour partners is good for the people of the province,” she said.

For many years now, the government has only been able to offer public-sector workers small increases, as it worked to eliminate a multi-billion-dollar deficit, but the budget is now balanced.

“One of the reasons that we have been able to come to this position now where we are able to balance the budget, where we are able to make investments, is that we’ve worked very well with our labour partners,” Wynne said. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

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Tuesday April 4, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday April 4, 2017

Bombardier CEO admits ‘bad job’ communicating pay increases

Bombardier did “a bad job” explaining its decision to raise executive compensation, but the company has listened to the public and is now ready to turn the page, CEO Alain Bellemare says.

October 13, 2016

In an interview, Bellemare acknowledged that Bombardier (TSX:BBD.B) underestimated the anger that would erupt over the pay hikes, which were to come as it was issuing pink slips to thousands of employees while receiving federal and provincial assistance.

“It’s all on us at Bombardier,” he said. “The message here is we did listen, we paid attention, we care.”

Bellemare announced late Sunday that he has asked Bombardier’s board of directors to delay the payment of more than half of this year’s total planned compensation for six executive officers, including himself, by one year — until 2020. The compensation would be paid as long as certain objectives that haven’t changed are met by that time.

The remuneration is required to attract top talent to turn around the company’s fortunes, which in turn benefits employees and shareholders alike, he said.

Last week, the company issued a proxy circular showing that Bellemare and five others were in line for a nearly 50 per cent increase in compensation, most of which was to be granted in 2019. The disclosure stoked fierce outcry that lasted for days, including a weekend protest at Bombardier’s headquarters in Montreal.

Federal Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains said Monday that like many Canadians, he was disappointed by the Bombardier executive pay raises, but it seems like the company is trying to address those concerns.

“Clearly there’s a recognition that they need to make changes, that they need to approach this differently,” Bains said, striking a different message from the one offered by the prime minister last week.

Asked how he can justify the $372.5-million federal loan for Bombardier’s CSeries and Global 7000 aircraft programs, Justin Trudeau said his government respects “the free market and the choices that companies will make.” (Source: CTV news)