prorogation

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Wednesday, August 21, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Stephen Harper to seek prorogation of Parliament

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has confirmed he will ask the Governor General to prorogue Parliament until October, when his Conservative government will introduce the next speech from the throne.

“There will be a new throne speech in the fall, obviously the House will be prorogued in anticipation of that. We will come back — in October is our tentative timing,” Harper told reporters in Whitehorse Monday. Harper is in the Yukon on the second day of his annual summer tour of the North.

The Prime Minister’s Office later clarified that Harper will ask for Parliament to be prorogued before the scheduled return of the House on Sept. 16, meaning Parliament will not sit again until after the throne speech in October.

The prime minister did not give a date for the throne speech. His spokesman, Andrew MacDougall, said he wouldn’t speculate but did note the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit is in the first week of October and is followed by Thanksgiving. That would suggest Parliament could return as early as Oct. 15. The Conservatives hold their postponed party convention in Calgary at the end of that month.

The move was not unexpected. The government managed to pass much of its outstanding legislation before rising for the summer break, and Harper undertook a major shuffle of his cabinet in July as he passed the halfway mark of his mandate. (Source: CBC News)

 

Thursday October 18, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 18, 2012

Draft McGuinty Movement Underway

Dalton McGuinty pushes draft campaign to distract from prorogation

Less than a day after Dalton McGuinty made the shock announcement he was quitting as Ontario Premier, a campaign is building to send the Ottawa South MPP to Parliament Hill.

With Monday’s resignation McGuinty is suddenly free to run for the federal Liberal leadership, and if he does, he’ll have a ready-made campaign team all set to go.

For the past month, a draft campaign has been in the works to persuade McGuinty to jump into the federal fray.

Some of his closest campaign advisers have been involved, including brother Brendan McGuinty — who was on hand for McGuinty’s news conference Monday — and Don Guy, campaign director for each of McGuinty’s three winning provincial campaigns.

Deputy chief of staff Dave Gene, former chief of staff Chris Morley and former operations director Charlie Angelakos are also part of the group.

Sources say a leadership campaign road map has already been sketched out.

“The core nucleus of the team that he’s been able to build around him, that took him through three election campaigns, is a proven team … It would be a ready-made team that would be able to focus on this (leadership) as well,” said one insider close to McGuinty.

McGuinty has not yet decided whether to take the plunge, those close to him insist, but he is feeling the pressure.

“I don’t think he’s changed his mind yet,” said one close associate. “But I can tell you that some of this is getting to him.” (Source: National Post) 

 

Wednesday October 17, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday October 17, 2012

McGuinty surprises with resignation, prorogation

Ontarians got a double-barrelled surprise on Monday evening when longtime Premier Dalton McGuinty announced he was stepping down as Liberal leader and also proroguing the provincial legislature.

Citing a desire to bring new blood to the party leadership, McGuinty said it was time for him to step down.

“After 16 years as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party and after nine years as premier, it’s time for renewal, it’s time for the next Liberal premier,” McGuinty said.

“It’s time for the next set of Liberal ideas to guide our province forward.”

The 57-year-old McGuinty was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 1990 and became Liberal leader six years later.

In 2003, he became premier of Ontario, a job that would see him lead back-to-back majority governments, until the most recent election in which the Liberals came up a seat short of a third-straight majority.

The Liberals hoped to regain majority control in a pair of recent byelections, but managed to win only one of the two seats needed to make that happen.

Although McGuinty had faced a more challenging climate at Queen’s Park at the helm of a minority government, the premier said Monday that he always appreciated the chance to serve.

“It has been an incredible honour and privilege to serve Ontarians as their premier,” McGuinty said during a late news conference that followed his surprise announcement earlier in the evening. (Source: CBC News) 

 

Monday January 26, 2009

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday January 26, 2009

Government will run $34B deficit

The federal government will run a $34-billion deficit in the coming fiscal year, and a $30-billion deficit in the following year, a senior government official said.

The spokesman said Thursday that the federal government will return to running a surplus within five years.

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is due to present a new budget on Jan. 27.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told reporters the government decided to announce the size of the deficits now because of intense speculation about the budget.

The release of the budget details is, nevertheless, an extraordinary step. The secrecy around federal budget planning is legendary.

By releasing the size and nature of the deficits ahead of the federal budget, the government might be hoping to soften the impact of the deficit blow.

The size of the deficit is largely attributable to the Conservative government’s decision to include billions in stimulus spending beginning in this year’s budget. That includes immediate spending on infrastructure and help for Canadians hit hardest by the economic downturn. (Source: CBC News)