popularity

Thursday May 24, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 24, 2018

Almost half of NDP voters just want to stop Liberals, Tories from winning: Ipsos poll

According to recent data from an Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News, 46 per cent of NDP voters intend to vote for the party to stop the Liberals or the Ontario Progressive Conservatives from winning.

“All eyes are on Andrea Horwath right now because her support is the most tenuous,” said Ipsos’ Sean Simpson. “There’ll be more scrutiny paid to Ms. Horwath during the campaign.”

Sixty-four per cent of Ontarians responded that they’re voting for a particular party because they prefer it over all the others, though Ipsos’ Darrell Bricker commented that the number of voters casting ballots to strategically oust another party is “extremely high” during this election.

Simpson agrees that these figures show a large portion of the population “voting against something rather than voting for something.”

A slim majority of NDP voters, 54 per cent, claimed to be voting for the party because they prefer the party. Among PC voters, 64 per cent of respondents said they’re voting for the party because they prefer it over the others, while 36 per cent want to stop another party from winning.

Liberal voters on the other hand, while still maintaining the lowest support, have the highest percentage of voters (at 74 per cent) supporting them because they genuinely like their policies, while 26 per cent want to stop another party from forming a government. (Source: Global News) 

 

Tuesday February 13, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 13, 2018

Conservatives accuse Trudeau of ‘political interference’ for comments on Stanley acquittal

The federal Conservatives are accusing Justin Trudeau of “political interference” after the prime minister responded to the acquittal of a white farmer in the death of a young Indigenous man by saying the criminal justice system has to “do better.”

Trudeau made the comments after a jury in Battleford, Sask., Friday found Gerald Stanley not guilty  of second-degree murder in the 2016 death of 22-year-old Colten Boushie, a resident of the Red Pheasant First Nation.

“I’m not going to comment on the process that led to this point today, but I am going to say we have come to this point as a country far too many times,” Trudeau said in California, where he was wrapping up a four-day trip to the U.S. “I know Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians alike know that we have to do better.”

Trudeau’s comments appeared to reflect concerns expressed by hundreds of Indigenous people who took to different sites across Canada on Saturday to protest what they described as injustice and a lack of fairness within the court system.

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott, meanwhile, took to Twitter to express their support for Boushie’s family and assert the need for improvements.

“My thoughts are with the family of Colten Boushie tonight,” Wilson-Raybould wrote Friday. “I truly feel your pain and I hear all of your voices. As a country we can and must do better — I am committed to working every day to ensure justice for all Canadians.”

Many concerns have been raised about discrimination toward Indigenous People in the criminal justice system; retired Supreme Court judge Frank Iacobucci, for example, raised flags about a lack of Indigenous representation on juries in Ontario in 2013.

Iacobucci’s probe was launched after an inquest into the 2007 drowning death of a high school student in Thunder Bay, Ont., was stopped because of a lack of Indigenous people on the jury. (Source: Toronto Star)

Friday September 15, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 15, 2017

Bill Morneau pushes back on ‘misinformation’ coming out about proposed tax changes

With Parliament due to resume sitting next week, Finance Minister Bill Morneau is digging in on his proposed tax changes and mounting a campaign against what he calls misinformation about it.

March 23, 2017

The tax changes have been the hot topic of discussion at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland, where cabinet ministers met for three days this week to prepare for the fall sitting.

It’s not just business groups and opposition Conservatives who’ve been blasting the government in the media; Liberal MPs are increasingly speaking up about their concerns with the proposed changes, including finance committee chair Wayne Easter, who told the Globe and Mail the communication strategy around the reforms was “god-awful.”

Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball told cabinet ministers on Tuesday that there’s a “disconnect” between what the government intends and what the public believes about the changes.

In an interview with the National Post, Morneau said he knows people need more information, and he’s working on getting it out ahead of the Oct. 2 deadline on the consultation process.

November 2, 2016

He said once the consultations are done, the government will consider tweaks to prevent “administrative problems” or other unintended impacts down the road.

Asked if he’s worried that the furor over the changes will put a chill on people thinking about starting a business, Morneau said his emphasis is on protecting investments in active business operations.

“Anything we hear that will discourage people from making investments in their active business will absolutely be taken into consideration,” he said. “Again, our goal is to make sure that people have the opportunity to invest and the incentive to invest in their business.”

He said his government is constantly looking at options for small business incentives. “I don’t have anything to announce right now, but that’s something we are always looking at,” he said. (Source: National Post) 

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Thursday August 3, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 3, 2017

Jagmeet Singh leads NDP leadership fundraising as race heats up

Jagmeet Singh was last to enter the federal NDP leadership race, but he’s first in fundraising.

March 1, 2017

Financial reports filed with Elections Canada for the second quarter of 2017 indicate that the Ontario MPP has pulled in $353,944 since joining the race to replace Tom Mulcair in mid-May.

Northern Ontario MP Charlie Angus raised $123,574 between April 1 and June 30.

During the same period, Manitoba MP Niki Ashton raised $70,124, while Quebec MP Guy Caron raised $46,970.

British Columbia MP Peter Julian, who dropped out of the race in early July, raised $28,673.

In an email blast to supporters, Singh’s campaign boasted that he raised more than $350,000 in just 47 days — 30 days less than it took Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to raise the same amount during the 2013 Liberal leadership race and 77 days less than it took Andrew Scheer during the recent Conservative contest.

“In just 47 days we built a truly nationwide operation that shows how a Jagmeet-led NDP will take on the Liberals and Conservatives,” the email said.

Voting in the NDP contest begins in September, with results to be announced in October.

In all, the leadership contestants raised $643,285.

That’s on top of the $826,664 raised by the NDP, which continues to trail well behind the two main federal parties in fundraising. (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

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Saturday June 24, 2017

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)