polls – mackaycartoons

Wednesday May 29, 2019

June 5, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 29, 2019

Doug Ford’s ‘government that listens’ is hearing the polls

Premier Doug Ford wants you to believe that his decision to postpone municipal budget cuts had absolutely nothing to do with successive polls showing a sharp drop in voter support for his party.

October 23, 2008

Ford insists he made his about-face because he heard loudly and clearly from mayors across the province

“They need more time,” he told a news conference Monday. “We’re a government that listens.”

There’s no doubt the mayors’ argument resonated at Queen’s Park, simply because it was rather reasonable: that it was completely unfair for the province to cut municipal funding for 2019 when cities were already part-way through their budgets for the year.

The sustained public-relations offensive from Toronto Mayor John Tory can’t help but have contributed to Ford’s polling numbers. The man who beat Ford in the 2014 mayoral race was also beating Ford in the realm of public opinion over budget 2019.

Tory’s tactics to keep the story alive included distributing leaflets to voters in PC-held ridings, gathering signatures on a petition and holding a news conference at a city-run daycare.

Tory’s conservative credentials as a former PC leader meant that Ford could not dismiss his critique as mere ideology. (CBC)

Tuesday August 1, 2017

July 31, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday August 1, 2017

Murray quitting as environment minister signalling a climate change at Queen’s Park

Premier Kathleen Wynne is suffering the loss of a key member of her cabinet with the surprise departure of Environment and Climate Change Minister Glen Murray, the Star has learned.

March 2, 2017

Murray, 59, who has been out of the country and was unavailable for comment, will announce Monday at Queen’s Park that he is set to resign from provincial politics.

The Toronto Centre MPP, also a former mayor of Winnipeg and one-time Star columnist, has been Wynne’s point person on climate change.

He will step down immediately from cabinet, forcing the premier to do a minor shuffle of her executive council on Monday morning, but will remain as an MPP for a few more weeks to wind down some local constituency business.

Internationally respected on environmental issues, he was first elected in a February 2010 byelection after then-deputy premier George Smitherman left to run for mayor of Toronto and lost to Rob Ford.

Former premier Dalton McGuinty elevated Murray to cabinet just six months later where he served as minister of research and innovation. After the 2011 election, he was promoted to minister of training, colleges, and universities.

After McGuinty stepped down in October 2012, he launched a Liberal leadership bid, but dropped out to support Wynne shortly before the party’s convention in January 2013.

The new premier rewarded him for his timely endorsement, which gave her campaign momentum, by making him transportation and infrastructure minister in February 2013.

Following her majority victory in June 2014, Wynne moved him to the Ministry of the Environment and added “Climate Change” to his title to underscore its importance as Ontario was joining Quebec and California in a cap-and-trade system.

In a move some Liberals felt demonstrated petulance, Murray responded to being shuffled by taking to Twitter that June 25 and saying: “Today it sunk in the last election was my last.”

“Promised that if I couldn’t make a difference in 8 or 10 years I couldn’t make a difference,” the minister tweeted more than three years ago.

“First openly gay person elected in Canada. I have to thank Winnipeggers for electing me councillor and mayor and TO for electing me MPP and minister,” he continued.

“Minister of Environment in Ontario is the best political position I have ever had the privilege to hold. I was not demoted. Kathleen Wynne put me in a position where I can fight to ensure we can survive climate change.”

While his prophecy turned out to be true, Murray had indicated to allies more recently that he planned to run again next year, so his exit is blindsiding the governing Liberals.

A strong performer in the legislature, where he usually deflects opposition questions skilfully, he has emerged as one of Wynne’s better known ministers. (Source: Toronto Star)

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Saturday June 24, 2017

June 23, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday June 24, 2017

Queen Park Priorities

What is going wrong with math in Grades 4 to 6 in Hamilton, Burlington and across the province?

September 3, 2013

Perhaps the hardest equation to solve right now in Ontario’s education system is why half of Grade 6 students are failing to meet the provincial standard with fewer succeeding each year.

“I wish I had the golden answer,” said Ian VanderBurgh, the director of the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing at the University of Waterloo.

“We need to figure out why.”

In the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) a mere 42 per cent of students had the mathematics skills the Ontario curriculum expects by the end of Grade 6, according to provincial tests from 2014 to 2016.

To compare, 74 per cent of those same students meet the benchmark in reading and 73 per cent in writing.

Year-by-year results show the problem in Grade 6 math is only getting worse.

“It’s time to do a reset,” said Peter Sovran, executive superintendent of student achievement and school operations at the HWDSB.

“We are not pleased and I don’t think anyone should be pleased in the province.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

June 23, 2016

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has a public opinion problem at home, and elsewhere.

She scored the highest disapproval ratings among any Canadian premier in Ontario, and across Canada, in a Mainstreet Research/Postmedia poll that was released on Thursday.

In Ontario, Wynne scored a 70 per cent disapproval rating and a 19 per cent approval rating.

Her disapproval rating was close to last year’s, when she scored 71 per cent in Ontario. Her approval rating in her home province was unchanged from 2016.

Wynne scored the strongest disapproval rating nationally, hitting 48 per cent, which put her just above Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard. (Source: Global News)

Monday March 27, 2017

March 24, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday March 27, 2017

Hydro rates shock Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s approval rating

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has seen a historic slump in her job-approval ratings as Ontarians continue to fret over increased hydro bills and the sale of the Hydro One utility, says new polling by the Angus Reid Institute released Friday.

With a 2018 election looming, the provincial Liberal Premier has the endorsement of only 12 per cent of voters, down from a 41-per-cent approval rating just 18 months ago, the Angus Reid Institute survey revealed.

The institute’s executive director, Shachi Kurl, said Ms. Wynne has sunk to depths almost never seen among provincial premiers in recent history, with only former British Columbia premier Gordon Campbell dropping below 10 per cent before he resigned in November, 2010.

“There is no way to sugar-coat this, it’s not a good situation for the Premier,” Ms. Kurl said. “But clearly, based on what we’re seeing and hearing, there may be some continuing belief that the Premier herself, or the party can turn things around” before an election that is scheduled for June, 2018.

In surveying premiers’ approval ratings, the Angus Reid Institute polled 5,404 Canadians, including 804 Ontario residents. The survey was conducted between March 6 and March 13, just after Ms. Wynne’s government announced it would reduce hydro rates by an average of 25 per cent for households, and more for people in rural areas and small towns that were hardest hit by rate hikes over the past decade.

“I would suggest people really hadn’t had the opportunity to absorb whether or not they feel this is something that will credibly give them some relief, and whether or not it is enough at this stage,” Ms. Kurl said.

“You can reach a point with the electorate where a level of cynicism or a level of hardening sets in and no matter what is done, there’s no turning things around.” (Source: Globe & Mail)

Wednesday September 28, 2016

September 27, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 28, 2016

Clinton, Trump throw punches but fail to get a knockout

Debate Night, September 26, 2016

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, speaking to each other with undisguised disdain, sharply disagreed on how to boost the American economy and uplift minority communities in a debate Monday night while hammering each other on matters of ethics, character, and veracity.

Clinton launched into lacerating attacks — targeting Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns, his business record of not paying contractors, and his demeaning comments toward women — as Trump dismissed the criticism as sound bites delivered by a typical politician.

Even as he appeared to flail at times in contrast to her smoother performance, Trump tried to drive home the message that he is an outsider unafraid to take on elites. He repeatedly blamed Clinton for failing to solve problems over three decades in government roles.

“I have a feeling by the end of this debate I’ll be blamed for everything,” Clinton said.

“Why not?” Trump responded.

Trump was feisty but at times bordered on rude, frequently interrupting Clinton and speaking over the moderator, or leaning over into the microphone and shouting, “Wrong!”

The former secretary of state was more patient, letting him speak for long stretches without jumping in, then coming back to correct his statements with a smile. It seemed part of a strategy to let Trump hang himself on his own words.

“Just listen to what you heard,” she said at one point.

She seemed more prepared with zingers designed to make an impact, while Trump often riffed without a planned response. (Continued: Boston Globe)