party

Friday July 23, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 23, 2021

If Justin Trudeau doesn’t win a majority in the next election, Jagmeet Singh may be the reason

Some polls have Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole doing poorly, others have him doing worse. But all agree on one thing: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is in a political sweet spot.

June 24, 2021

If Justin Trudeau fails to win a majority government in an election that could be called as early as next month, it might not be Mr. O’Toole who brings the Liberal leader up short – it might be Mr. Singh.

Leger and Angus Reid have the Conservatives narrowly trailing the Liberals, while Ipsos and Abacus have the Liberals far ahead.

Canadians believe their governments have, on the whole, managed the COVID-19 pandemic reasonably well, and over the course of that pandemic have rewarded incumbent governments of all stripes with re-election.

The similarities between the COVID-19 pandemic and the Second World War appear strong. Both were traumatic and transformative. As society emerged from crisis, people looked to governments to build a strong recovery. People today are also worried about what appears to be the accelerating impact of climate change. Systemic racism and Indigenous reconciliation are important issues.

The Conservatives have offered no clear plan for how they would have handled the pandemic – and will handle the recovery – differently. They are not a party associated with fighting climate change, combating racism or improving Indigenous relations. We do not live in Conservative times.

March 2, 2021

But Mr. Trudeau is not a terribly popular prime minister. A recent Abacus poll has about an equal number of people saying they have a positive or negative impression of him, and Mr. O’Toole is quite unpopular. The only national party leader with a positive approval rating is Mr. Singh.

All recent polls have the NDP sitting at around 20 per cent, well above the 16 per cent they garnered in the 2019 election. If that number holds, the NDP should pick up seats: in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, in Toronto, elsewhere in Ontario, maybe here and there in the Prairies.

Here’s something else: The accessible voter pool – those who might consider voting for a political party – is now higher for the NDP (48 per cent) than for the Conservatives (41 per cent).

That doesn’t mean there is going to be some Orange Crush, in which the NDP smashes through in B.C. and Ontario, scattering Liberal MPs and sending the Conservatives into third place, which the NDP under Jack Layton did to the Bloc and Liberals in 2011 in Quebec. But the NDP popular vote, combined with its accessible voter pool and Mr. Singh’s popularity, suggests the likelihood of gains.

September 10, 2019

This shouldn’t be all that surprising. In the 2019 election, Mr. Singh was unknown, he was out of his depth and the party was practically bankrupt. Today the NDP has paid off its debt and will be able to finance a respectable national campaign. Mr. Singh is a better-known, more confident and more experienced leader. (Globe & Mail) 

Meanwhile, the Green Party and its associated fund are taking their battle with party leader Annamie Paul to court — ending a tentative truce between Paul and party executives just as a federal election call is expected within weeks.

June 18, 2021

The conflict between Paul and her party hit a crisis point in May when, during an escalation of violence in the Middle East, Paul issued a statement calling for a de-escalation and a return to dialogue.

Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin, who left the Green Party for the Liberals in June, called the statement “totally inadequate.” Her departure left the Greens with just two MPs. (CBC) 

 

Friday June 18, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday June 18, 2021

Green Party’s Annamie Paul survives emergency meeting over leadership

The leadership of the Green Party’s Annamie Paul is safe — for now — after party brass decided late Tuesday not to kick-start a process that could have ultimately ousted her as leader of the party.

October 7, 2020

The party’s federal council — which is the governing body of the party — held an emergency meeting Tuesday night that lasted more than three-and-a-half hours. Officials were expected to hold a vote on whether to trigger a complex process under the party’s constitution that could have declared no-confidence in Paul’s leadership.

That vote did not end up taking place, multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting told CBC News.

Instead, sources say, the federal council adopted a separate motion asking Paul to publicly repudiate one of Paul’s former senior advisers, Noah Zatzman, who accused many politicians — including unspecified Green MPs — of discrimination and antisemitism in a social media post last month.

The motion also calls for Paul to “explicitly support” the Green Party caucus. If not, the motion says, Paul would face a vote of non-confidence on July 20.

Tuesday night’s decision follows a difficult few weeks for the party, which has been ripped apart by internal disputes over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

As violence in the region escalated, Paul issued a statement calling for a ceasefire and condemning both Palestinian rocket attacks and excessive Israeli military force, an apparent attempt to put forward a moderate position close to that of the Trudeau government.

Green MP Jenica Atwin — who has since left the Green caucus to join the Liberals — ripped into Paul’s statement on Twitter. “It is a totally inadequate statement,” Atwin wrote. “Forced evictions must end. I stand with Palestine and condemn the unthinkable airstrikes in Gaza. End Apartheid.”

Green MP Paul Manly also took issue with Paul’s statement, saying the planned removal of Palestinian families from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah “is ethnic cleansing.”

Zatzman responded with a Facebook post stating that Greens “will work to defeat you and bring in progressive climate champions who are antifa and pro LGBT and pro indigenous sovereignty and Zionists!!!!!”

Zatzman is no longer an adviser to the leader. His six-month contract, slated to expire on July 4 and obtained by The Canadian Press, stipulates that the party will pay Zatzman a fee for time worked beyond 100 hours per month.

CBC News reached out to the Green Party, Paul and Zatzman for comment after Tuesday’s meeting. (CBC) 

 

Tuesday April 6, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday April 6, 2021

Mark Carney would be a welcome addition to a Canadian political class

September 28, 2012

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Mark Carney entering politics, if that’s what he wants to do. But before taking the leap, Mr. Carney might want to ask himself: Am I Dwight Eisenhower or am I Michael Ignatieff?

The former governor of the Bank of Canada and then of England has a new book out and will deliver the keynote address at this week’s Liberal policy conference. Twitter is clucking.

“The beginning of a journey that will end in deep regret and the erosion [of] a critical independent pillar of a modern economy – the central bank,” declared Ken Boessenkool, who was an aide to former B.C. premier Christy Clark and prime minister Stephen Harper.

Liberals “don’t see – or care, really – how this could erode our institutions; they only see partisan gain,” Laval University Professor Stephen Gordon said.

But there are precedents, of sorts. Oliver Mowat quit his job as a judge to become Ontario Liberal premier. Lester Pearson moved without fuss from undersecretary of state (deputy minister) for External Affairs to secretary of state (minister).

February 11, 2009

Mr. Carney has been away from the Bank of Canada for eight years. He is superbly qualified for public office. He has views on the role of markets and governments in combatting climate change. If he wants to enter the arena, good on him. The political class in Canada needs all the talent it can find.

That said, Mr. Carney should bear a few things in mind (and is certainly already bearing them). First, he could seek to become a Liberal member of Parliament, only for the Liberal Party to lose the next election. Would he enjoy four years on the backbench?

Perhaps his ambition is to lead the party, if and when Justin Trudeau decides to depart. But that might not be soon. Mr. Trudeau rescued the federal Liberals from the brink of extinction, so while an effort by some disaffected cabal to push him out of the leadership would be in the finest tradition of the party, it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon.

If he does run for the Liberal leadership someday, Mr. Carney would make a formidable candidate. But not an invincible one.

Some figures have successfully taken over a party’s leadership from another field without difficulty. Mr. Eisenhower, who commanded the Allied forces in Europe during the Second World War, was so sought after that Harry Truman offered to step down as president if Mr. Eisenhower would seek the Democratic nomination in 1948. Instead, Ike chose the Republican Party in 1952, serving two terms as president.

May 2, 2009

Others have not fared so well. Mr. Ignatieff, a distinguished public intellectual, was supposed to rescue the Liberal Party from its unaccustomed sojourn in opposition. Instead, he led the party to a third-place finish in 2011.

Could Mr. Carney’s ego withstand the daily pummelling of Question Period? Could he dish out the political dirt when required? Leading a party is about more than crafting an environmentally sustainable fiscal policy. Speaking to a few dozen of the party faithful in Prince Albert on a cold February night is also part of the job.

And Mr. Carney would have a formidable political rival: his friend Chrystia Freeland, the Finance Minister, who is also rumoured to be contemplating a bid for the leadership if and when it comes open.

November 28, 2012

Both potential leaders appeal to the political, bureaucratic and cultural elite of Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Since they would be chasing the same voters (and dollars), it’s hard to imagine both of them seeking the Liberal leadership. If one runs, the other probably won’t.

Canada has benefited greatly from non-politician politicians. David Emerson was so interested in reviving Canada’s moribund trade policy, and so uninterested in politics, that he switched from the Liberal to Conservative front bench when Mr. Harper defeated Paul Martin in 2006.

Maurice Strong had a career in the oil business before taking on a variety of assignments for governments and the United Nations. C.D. Howe was a wealthy engineer before becoming “minister of everything” under Mackenzie King and Louis St. Laurent.

If Mr. Carney truly wishes to lead the Liberal Party and the country, Canadians of all political stripes should welcome the decision. If only all politicians had his chops. (Globe & Mail) 

 

Saturday March 27, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday March 27, 2021

Week in Review: Stuck things

Crews are working to clear a traffic jam at Egypt’s Suez Canal, the world’s busiest trade route, after the massive container ship “Ever Given” ran aground. Global News explains what this could mean for oil prices. 

March 23, 2021

Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is sticking with his long-standing view that a federal carbon price is not the way to tackle the growing threat of climate change across the country, following a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada authorizing its constitutionality.

In an interview on CTV News Channel’s Power Play on Thursday, O’Toole said his approach would focus instead on partnering with provinces and bolstering the economy to get emissions down, though he didn’t provide exact details about how doing so would achieve his stated goal.

“The court said what we all know — that climate change is real and it’s important for us to have a serious approach,” he said.

May 14, 2019

“I want to have a plan that Canada can meet its targets. I’ve also said I’d like to see a net-zero approach plan, a made-in-Canada net-zero approach plan over the longer term, which is the 2050 timeline, but to do it without taxing people. As I said the carbon tax impacts our competitiveness and it hurts people in the margins the most. I think it’s backwards to be honest.”

In a 6-3 decision, the top court decided on Thursday that a price on pollution is entirely constitutional and that Ottawa has a right to set minimum pricing standards for greenhouse gas emissions in the provinces.

May 27, 2017

“The undisputed existence of a threat to the future of humanity cannot be ignored,” wrote Chief Justice Richard Wagner.

The case brings a legal end to a years-long battle between Ottawa and many provinces over the carbon price, and prompted Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to start looking at a homegrown carbon-pricing mechanism and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney to nudge open the door to doing so too.

Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta challenged the Liberal government’s 2018 Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act in court, arguing it was a federal overreach into provincial jurisdiction over everything from taxes and the environment to natural-resource development.

O’Toole said his party would target large emitters of greenhouse gas emissions and respect the individual carbon reducing frameworks already in place in some provinces.

During the party’s policy convention over the weekend, delegates notably voted against a resolution that would have included the line “climate change is real” in the party’s official policy document.

Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said the Supreme Court’s decision on carbon pricing is a “good day for Canada.”

“Read the academic literature, go talk to an economist. They will tell you it’s the most efficient and effective way to reduce emissions and to incentivize innovation,” he told Power Play. (CTV)

“That cargo ship wedged in the Suez Canal may be a disaster for international trade, but it’s been a boon for political cartoonists. And it being an international incident, lots of people get to chip in, like Canadian Graeme Mackay, who likens it to the Conservative Party’s environmental stance”