party

Tuesday September 12, 2023

September 12, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 12, 2023

Trudeau’s Grounded Plane, Liberal Party Turbulence

April 24, 1997

As the Liberal Party finds itself hemorrhaging support in national public opinion polls, there’s a striking parallel to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent experience in India, where his plane was grounded due to technical issues. The 158-member national Liberal caucus is gathering in London, Ont., for their summer retreat, and it’s a crucial moment for the party to strategize its comeback.

News: Canada PM Justin Trudeau stuck in India after plane breaks down  

July 26, 2023

The Sept. 12-14 retreat marks the first face-to-face meeting between all MPs and Prime Minister Trudeau since his controversial July cabinet shuffle, which sparked dissatisfaction among backbench MPs and generated negative media attention. Liberal MP Brenda Shanahan, chair of the national Liberal caucus, hasn’t commented on the situation, but the retreat’s schedule reveals a significant focus on caucus meetings and discussions.

In these retreats, MPs traditionally share feedback from their constituents and receive updates on government priorities from cabinet ministers and party headquarters. However, the drop in polling numbers is a pressing concern for Liberal MPs, who are eager to understand the government’s strategy to address this decline. They’re also curious about why the government hasn’t effectively countered Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s relentless attacks.

The cabinet shuffle, which cast a shadow over the government’s performance, remains a sore point within the party. Liberal MPs and former senior members alike view it as a morale killer, both inside and outside the caucus. Pollsters attribute the declining poll numbers to the party’s prolonged time in power and rising concerns about inflation and affordability among Canadians.

News: Liberals’ tanking poll numbers ‘top of mind’ as Trudeau, Grits head to national caucus retreat  

February 22, 2018

As the party grapples with these challenges, the situation in India serves as a metaphor for Trudeau’s leadership and the Liberal party’s predicament. Just as Trudeau faces unexpected obstacles with a grounded plane, the Liberal party must navigate its way out of a turbulent political climate, seeking to regain momentum and public trust. The journey ahead may be uncertain, but as experienced campaigners, Liberals know that a strong, strategic effort can make all the difference in the next election.The prime minister had been slated to leave India on Sunday. (AI)

 

Tuesday March 7, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday March 7, 2023

Ontario’s Liberals hit rock bottom. Could Bonnie Crombie be their saviour?

The bad news for Ontario’s Liberals is that they’ve hit bottom.

The good news? Hitting bottom means they’ve bottomed out — and have nowhere to go but up.

Just not so fast. For a once-powerful party that has seen better days, these are early days in the rebuilding exercise.

Wait — correction: It’s not early days.

It’s been more than 1,000 days since Liberal delegates chose Steven Del Duca to begin “rebuilding” their dysfunctional dynasty at a March leadership convention precisely three years ago. Today, with only eight MPPs, Liberals are still on life support.

But after a weekend reunion in Hamilton, the party may be breathing easier. More than 1,500 diehards braved a cosmic snowstorm to preside over the rebirth of a moribund movement.

There were no formal tributes to the departed Del Duca. He is gone and now forgotten.

Instead, all eyes were on the new crop of aspiring leaders, each of them playing coy about “exploring” their candidacy and testing the waters. It doesn’t matter who they are, because you’ve likely never heard of these undeclared unknowns:

May 8, 2018

Stephanie Bowman, Ted Hsu, Yasir Naqvi, Nate Erskine-Smith and Adil Shamji. I’d tell you which ridings these backbenchers represent, federal or provincial, but if you don’t already know, it likely won’t help.

That said, I will say each of them is whip-smart: Among them — in random order — is a trade lawyer and ex-attorney general; an emergency room physician; a chartered accountant and bank vice-president; an Oxford-educated litigator; and a Princeton-educated physicist.

That’s a big brain trust, but it bears repeating — given that a physicist is among them — that political science and rocket science are unrelated. Physics requires logic, while politics demands fuzzy logic.

Which is why Premier Doug Ford’s Tories rule the province today, while the leaderless Liberals languish in obscurity and purgatory. I never make predictions, but it’s a safe bet that any of the above candidates might fail to light the party and province on fire.

Not because they’re not smart, which Del Duca was in his day. The question is whether they can touch people, reach voters, connect with them, and win them over.

May 4, 2022

None of the aspirants (two of them political rookies) strikes me as a breakout contender — at least not yet. In the old days, an unknown leader might have taken the time — and had the luxury of time — to cultivate the mass media and reap a harvest of votes at election time.

But we live in an era of celebrity politics, where a Ford can come from out of nowhere to rule Ontario and win re-election by cementing his connection to voters. Never mind the premier’s preposterous proposals to cut the gas tax, kill the carbon tax and pave a highway to nowhere — love him or hate him, people vote for him.

Against that backdrop, what’s a Liberal to do? One possibility is to fight fire with fire, meet celebrity with celebrity.

February 1, 2023

February 1, 2023

Perhaps that’s why a gaggle of former movers and retired shakers from the old Liberal brain trust took stock of the candidates and then tried to recruit the leader of another party — the Greens’ Mike Schreiner, MPP from Guelph. They published a love letter to the Delphi from Guelph that went unrequited.

For all of their flattery and folly — Schreiner is hardly brimming with crossover celebrity power — their desperate public appeal amounted to a vote of non-confidence in the current crop. Right or wrong, the mere fact that the old guard was so quick to write off the new contenders was telling.

Schreiner was a no-show on the weekend, of course. Like Del Duca, his apparition had not only come and gone but was also forgotten.

Yet that did not leave the field open to the other contenders or pretenders to the throne. Unexpectedly, they had a close encounter with celebrity power and buzz beyond the environmental movement:

October 23, 2001

Bonnie Crombie had arrived. Until recently, she had evinced no interest in the Liberal leadership, insisting her loyalty was to the mayoralty of Mississauga.

But Crombie, too, made her way through the snow drifts to the Hamilton convention centre to press the flesh — or more precisely, pose for selfies with admiring delegates in a crowded hospitality suite. Her Honour was never onstage but she stole the show.

Why now? What changed?

“She wanted to see the reaction,” an adviser said, musing that she generated “rock star status.”

Beyond celebrity power, is there a path to power? Crombie’s experience as a former MP and city councillor, now helming Canada’s sixth-biggest city, sets her apart from her rivals.

More importantly, she boasts a talent that her rivals cannot yet claim: A proven ability to poke and provoke Ford when they go face to face on the issues.

Will she run or will she walk away? Crombie is dragging her feet for now, insisting she won’t be rushed.

The only certainty is that the race is starting to get interesting. Unlike the New Democrats, who missed out on a leadership race when Marit Stiles ran unopposed, the Liberals may be in for a contest. (Martin Regg Cohn – The Toronto Star) 

 

Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor, The Hamilton Spectator, March 10, 2023 

Spec unfair to Liberals

I have always bragged to my friends in other communities how The Spectator was a smart local paper but something happened this weekend which made me rethink that. For those who didn’t know, the Ontario Liberal Party gathered in Hamilton for the first time in three years. Fifteen hundred people from all over the province braved a snowstorm to come here with the intent of reviving the party through constitutional change and electing a new executive council. There were great ideas shared and a feeling of empowerment. Coincidentally or not, federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre chose Saturday to have a rally in Stoney Creek. Those at the conference were aware he was in town for a couple of hours. I figured neither of the events would get a lot of coverage since we are well aware of cutbacks to newspapers, so you can imagine my surprise when I opened Monday’s paper to find a Spec reporter and photographer attended the Conservative event and not once in three days showed their face at the Liberal convention.

This is not sour grapes. This is about fair coverage especially when we have a high profile by-election. If Tuesday’s editorial cartoon is any indication, the Spec has chosen its political stance.

Sue Prestedge, Hamilton

 

Wednesday February 1, 2023

February 1, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 1, 2023

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner isn’t ruling out a bid for the leadership of the Ontario Liberals.

A group of high-profile Liberals — including former cabinet ministers Deb Matthews and Liz Sandals, and current Liberal caucus member Lucille Collard — released a letter Sunday urging Schreiner to join the party and run to be its leader.

October 18, 2012

“Our party needs to rediscover a politics of purpose and principle. We need to reach out to a new generation of voters. We need to open up to new people and new ideas and to embrace the kind of energy and enthusiasm that is driving grassroots activism and engagement across the province,” the Liberal group wrote.

“And that’s why we’re turning to you … We believe that your strong principle-based approach and your ability to connect and motivate activists — especially young people — is exactly what our party and province need now.”

Speaking to CBC Radio’s Metro Morning on Tuesday, Schreiner said he is mulling over the unusual proposal.

“My response is: give me time to think about this. Most importantly, give me time to consult with people — especially my constituents in Guelph and my friends and colleagues in the Green movement and people across the province — about the best way I can move forward to advance the issues I care about,” he said.

November 22, 2022

Schreiner had previously dismissed the idea when it was broached late last year, but he said the letter “really challenged” him to consider how he might “work differently” on issues like the climate crisis, housing affordability and protecting the Greenbelt.

The Liberal group argued that as Liberal leader, Schreiner would have a broader platform to rally Ontarians opposed to Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government.

“I think I owe it to people to think about it,” Schreiner told Metro Morning.

The party has been without a permanent leader since Steven Del Duca stepped down last year following a devastating election loss — the party’s second such result in a row.

Several Liberals have publicly said they’re exploring a run at the top job, including MP and former Ontario cabinet minister Yasir Naqvi, MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith and current Ontario Liberal caucus member Ted Hsu.

he letter and companion DraftMike.ca website are not going over well with some Liberals.

September 28, 2012

Erskine-Smith wrote on Twitter that purpose and principle are indeed needed, along with “serious renewal” in the party.

“But we don’t need gimmicks, open letters, or Hail Marys,” he wrote. “There is no substitute for hard work and grassroots engagement. We need serious leadership. For a change.”

In response to those comments, Schreiner said Tuesday that he considers the letter “genuine outreach” but that he needs time to consider his options.

Schreiner has been the leader of the Ontario Greens since 2009 and in 2018 won the party’s first seat in the legislature.

His performance in the 2022 election debate was widely praised and he is well liked at the legislature, but despite the party’s high hopes of winning a second seat in that election, the Greens remain a caucus of one. (CBC) 

 

Friday December 16, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 16, 2022

‘Stand on the side of the common people,’ Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre tells caucus

In a speech to his caucus ahead of the holidays, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said it is his party’s job to “stand on the side of the common people.”

Ahead of a closed-door meeting, Poilievre spoke to Conservative parliamentarians in front of the media, telling his MPs and senators that it is their job as the Official Opposition “always to stand on the side of the common people.”

“Their paycheques, their savings, their homes, their country,” Poilievre said, asking his caucus to spend some time during the break reflecting on how Conservatives can do that in the new year.

“I hope you have a wonderful break with your families, a time to renew and rebuild your energy to come back in fighting form on behalf of Canadians,” Poilievre said. “But it’s also a time over Christmas to think of the less fortunate, those who have less, those who are struggling more. Unfortunately, those people are more numerous than ever before.”

September 3, 2021

During his remarks, delivered first in French and then in English, the Conservative leader capped off his first fall sitting at the helm of the party by delivering a laundry list of ways he thinks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals are failing.

From the cost-of-living crunch prompting some Canadians to turn to food banks, to young Canadians “stuck in their parents’ basements” because of housing unaffordability, Poilievre called for “legal limits” on federal spending to try to bring down inflation.

“The cost of government is driving up the cost of living,” he said, repeating one of his most-used talking points since becoming party leader.

Poilievre also spoke about public safety concerns, from the growing number of drug overdoses in Canada, to the ongoing contention over the Liberals’ gun control legislation Bill C-21 and their push to considerably expand the number of firearms that would be prohibited.

September 5, 2019

“So instead of putting time, money, and resources into attacking Indigenous people, hunters and farmers, Conservatives will protect those people’s rights and go after the real criminals to keep Canadians safe,” said Poilievre.

The Conservative leader also spoke about his concerns over the state of the Canadian health-care system, which he said was coming apart “at the seams.”

“It boils my blood to sit in a waiting room with my daughter, who’s got from time to time a migraine headache, while she waits and waits along with the other little children because of doctor shortages,” he said. Poilievre vowed that if his party was in power he’d work with the provinces to allow more qualified immigrants to practice medicine, more quickly.

“It is true that Canadians are hurting, but it is our job as the Official Opposition to turn that hurt into hope. To inspire people that a real improvement in their lives is possible, that the dream that brought them here as immigrants or the dream with which they were raised when they were born here, can be rekindled,” Poilievre said. “That is our purpose my friends.” (CTV) 

 

Tuesday December 6, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 6, 2022

Pierre Poilievre’s self-imposed media vacuum is about to face its first test

October 20, 2022

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre believes the voters whose support he needs to lead his party to government in the next federal election will not be reached via the mainstream media.

His strategy is about to be tested.

On Dec. 12, the voters of the GTA riding of Mississauga-Lakeshore will be going to the polls to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Liberal MP Sven Spengemann last spring.