parody

Wednesday November 30, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 30, 2022

Doug Ford has no mandate to sell off the Greenbelt

The Ford government is messing with the Greenbelt and Ontarians should be furious.

March 9, 2005

I say this as someone who was part of the McGuinty government that brought the Greenbelt to life in 2005 — one of the most important accomplishments of my time in office.

The idea was simple — take two million acres of environmentally sensitive forests, wetlands, and prime agricultural farmland off the table for development. The result was the largest Greenbelt in the world, enhancing our environmental ecosystem, curbing urban sprawl, maintaining precious farmland, and creating greenspaces for recreation and tourism.

The key to the exercise was its permanence — it would never be developed.

Over the years the idea of preserving this area has gained popularity. Polling by the Greenbelt Foundation has shown that 90 per cent of Ontarians support the Greenbelt and 86 per cent believe that it is an important contribution to future generations.

Enter the Ford government. Several weeks ago they announced a plan to allow 50,000 homes to be developed on 7,400 acres of the Greenbelt.

December 18, 2018

The result is a double whammy. Not only will a significant chunk of the Greenbelt be lost, but the idea that this was untouchable space has been undermined.

The government is defending this extraordinary step by arguing that making more land available is crucial to addressing the current housing crisis.

Unfortunately for the government, they have little to back up this assertion.

Their own Housing Affordability Task Force of experts and industry leaders concluded that a shortage of land has not caused the current housing crisis, specifically noting that “Greenbelts and other environmentally sensitive areas must be protected.”

December 10, 2020

There is something else a bit fishy about the decision. An investigation by the Toronto Star and the Narwhal magazine found that significant portions of the Greenbelt land under question had been purchased over the last several years by developers with close ties to the PCs — even though development was prohibited. As this land becomes eligible for housing, its value is about to go through the roof.

Despite the Greenbelt’s supposed permanent nature, we do live in a democracy. I acknowledge that if a party came to power with the expressed intention of opening up this precious tract of land, they have every right to proceed.

This isn’t the case. During the 2018 election campaign, a video surfaced of Ford privately promising developers that he would open up the Greenbelt. The revelation caused significant public outrage and Ford quickly backtracked, promising to never touch the Greenbelt if he became premier. They have no mandate to do this. (The Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Friday July 22, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 22, 2022

Ontario planning to bring in ‘strong mayor’ system for Toronto and Ottawa

Toronto Mayor John Tory welcomed the prospect of gaining more authority as the province considers introducing a strong-mayor system, while critics warned that the city has recent evidence of the risk of empowering its top politician.

July 28, 2018

Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday the policy shift was being planned for Toronto and Ottawa and it could eventually be expanded to other large cities.

Although specifics about the new powers were still being sorted out, Mr. Ford said the mayors would have veto authority on certain issues that come before council. This could then be overruled by a two-thirds majority of council members.

Under the current system, Toronto’s mayor has only one vote on council but has considerable power to manage issues and lean on councillors for support. Mr. Tory has been able to enact his agenda through two terms without losing any substantive council votes.

Friday January 21, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 21, 2022

Trudeau must keep this vaccine pledge

October 13, 2021

It’s time to jog Justin Trudeau’s memory about a major election promise he seems to have stuffed into a desk drawer and forgotten. Last Sept. 1, at the height of the federal election campaign and while the pandemic was high on every voter’s mind, the prime minister vowed to pass a law that would protect employers from being sued if they fired unvaccinated employees. That commitment, which figured prominently in the Liberal platform Trudeau unveiled the same day, signalled to voters that unlike the Conservatives, the Liberals meant business when it comes to getting as many people vaccinated against COVID-19 as possible.

Whether or not it helped the Liberals at the ballot box, they did win the election. But nearly five months after Trudeau made that promise, he has still not kept it. The government can identify no concrete action it has taken to make good on the pledge. In fact, Trudeau’s mandate letters to his new cabinet last fall made no mention of any such new legislation.

Wednesday September 8, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 8, 2021

Canada’s Trudeau struggles, two weeks before election

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who has slipped in the polls and faced angry protesters on the campaign trail, with one even throwing stones at him – is struggling with less than two weeks to go before snap elections. When he called the September 20 elections a few weeks ago, the 49-year-old Liberal Party leader was in a far better position.

September 1, 2021

At that point, Trudeau was ahead of Conservative leader Erin O’Toole in opinion surveys and hoped to ride his handling of the coronavirus pandemic to a third term. But since that August 15 announcement, his campaign has stagnated and his hopes of returning at the head of a majority government seem difficult to fulfil. On Monday, Trudeau suffered a fresh indignity – as he was leaving an event in London, a city southwest of Toronto in Ontario province, he faced a crowd of protesters angry over proposed mandatory coronavirus vaccines and other crisis measures.

Someone threw what appeared to be a handful of gravel at him, television footage showed. No one was injured. 

“Yes, I felt some of that gravel,” Trudeau confirmed yesterday. 

July 9, 2021

Some protesters “were practically foaming at the mouth, they were so mad at me,” he said, adding: “It is absolutely unacceptable that people (would) be throwing things and endangering others at a political rally.” The incident – which comes during a crucial campaign week with two scheduled debates that could tip the election scales – drew condemnation from Trudeau’s rivals, O’Toole and New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh.

“Political violence is never justified,” O’Toole tweeted late Monday, while Singh said: “It is not acceptable to throw objects at anyone. Ever. No matter how angry you are. And, it’s never ok to try to intimidate people who don’t agree with you – or the media.” Trudeau is now in a statistical dead heat with O’Toole, with 34% support for the Liberals and 32% for the Tories, according to a Nanos survey released Tuesday – a difference that is within the poll’s margin of error. 

The prime minister has faced off on several recent occasions with what he described as “anti-vaxxer mobs” and “a small fringe element in this country that is angry, that doesn’t believe in science.” 

Protesters have shouted racial and misogynist slurs at his entourage. Demonstrations also targeted hospitals across Canada that are struggling with a sudden spike in Covid cases, and candidate lawn signs have been defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti.

In late August, Trudeau was forced to cancel an event over security concerns. 

So far, Trudeau has pledged not to allow so-called “fringe” groups “to dictate how this country gets through this pandemic.”

August 17, 2021

And Felix Mathieu, a politics professor at the University of Winnipeg, said the angry protests and Trudeau’s pushback might actually benefit the Liberals, who stumbled in the early days of the campaign. Although O’Toole has promoted the use of vaccines, “his party remains widely associated with those who vehemently oppose vaccines and Covid containment measures,” Mathieu told AFP.

That allows Trudeau to present himself as a defender of public safety, especially as he steps up criticisms of the Tories’ rejection of mandatory vaccines, Mathieu explained. 

More than 83 percent of those Canadians eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine (12 years or older) have received one dose and 76% are fully vaccinated, according to government data.

October 16, 2019

The Liberal plank proposes mandatory jabs for public servants and travellers on trains, planes and buses. It also earmarks C$1bn (US$800mn) to stitch together a patchwork of provincial vaccine passports.

Pollster and former political strategist Tim Powers said the violent protests are “concerning.” “The pandemic has intensified people’s manner of anger and the way they express anger,” Powers told AFP. “There are a lot of people who are very frayed and beaten down by the pandemic, and campaign events provide an opportunity for some people to showcase their discontent,” he said, adding a warning: “Who knows what can happen in these sorts of circumstances.”

But Powers said he agrees that the protests are “providing the Liberals with a useful political prop,” allowing Trudeau to be seen fighting against anti-vaccine groups who might threaten a quick post-pandemic return to normalcy – just as Canadians are heading back to classes and offices. (Gulf Times)

Other editions from the “Boy Who Cried…” Series…
     

Saturday May 29, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 29, 2021

Government Advisory Panel Calls For An End To Canadian Quarantine Hotels

As the US continues its reopening after COVID-19 pandemic measures, Canada’s restrictions are gradually lifting in some provinces as vaccination numbers increase. Nonetheless, the controversial quarantine hotels are still in place as a precaution against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus — a requirement that some experts are now calling upon the government to lift.

November 28, 2020

A new report has been released from the COVID-19 Testing and Screening Expert Advisory Panel, a group providing guidance to the federal government, detailing these recommendations. “The current requirement for all air travellers to quarantine in government-authorized accommodations should be discontinued,” writes the panel of doctors and advisors. “However, travellers subject to quarantine must provide a suitable quarantine plan for approval and then adhere to this plan. If the traveller does not have a suitable quarantine plan, they should be required to adhere to an alternative one (for example, in designated quarantine facilities).”

Other factors that play into the recommendation include the administrative costs that these hotels use (and the resources drawn from other pandemic response), as well as the cost to travelers themselves. “Travellers face an added cost (up to $2000 CAD per person), time commitment and a burden to book government-authorized accommodation,” notes the report, which points out that some travelers are bypassing the hotels by crossing into Canada by land from the US. There have been cases where prospective visitors have even falsified test result paperwork to avoid the quarantine (charges were later laid).

February 13, 2021

Introduced earlier this year, the quarantine hotels, meant to reduce casual, non-essential travel to or from Canada, have been largely successful in their intended goal. The mandatory three night stay at a pre-booked quarantine hotel while awaiting results of a PCR (polymerase chain reactions) test discouraged many from flying: February data from the Canadian Border Security Agency showed a decrease of almost 55 per cent in terms of passengers flying into Canada after the quarantine hotel restrictions were implemented. During that month, the Canadian government also began routing all international flights, including those from the US that had been previously exempted, through four airports: Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. (Forbes)