provinces

Tuesday December 12, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 12, 2017

Liberals reach deal with the provinces on sharing pot tax revenue

Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau has reached a deal with his provincial and territorial counterparts on a formula for sharing pot tax revenue.

December 16, 2016

The agreement gives the provinces at least 70 cents on the dollar, a sizable increase from the 50-50 framework proposal Morneau had announced last month.

Heading into today’s meeting with Morneau in Ottawa, provincial ministers had insisted on a greater share, arguing the provinces and municipalities would shoulder the majority of costs for police enforcement, health care and education programs once marijuana becomes legal in July.

A formal statement confirming the agreement is expected soon.

June 20, 2017

Asked about the deal this afternoon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeated that the objective is to restrict access to young people and to remove profits from criminals.

“That means getting the balance right in terms of both pricing and the ability to properly monitor it in our communities,” he said.

Before the deal was reached, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa said some provinces felt uneasy about the uncertainty of how the pot legalization program will roll out.

September 9, 2017

“Some provinces get annoyed that we didn’t ask for this, didn’t provide for this, you’re imposing upon the provinces and we have no flexibility,” he said.  “So the federal government has to come up with some of that flexibility to provide some support to the provinces and municipalities that are being affected.” (Source: CBC News) 

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Wednesday December 7, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday December 7, 2016 'We can't abandon them': Senators urge more language, mental health supports for Syrian refugees One year after the first wave of Syrian refugees arrived in Canada, the Senate's committee on human rights is urging the federal government to boost language training, mental health services and financial supports to ease the next phase of the resettlement process. Releasing a report called "Finding Refuge in Canada: A Syrian Resettlement Story," committee chair Jim Munson said while the program has been a Canadian success story, the government and citizens must not be complacent. "We can't abandon them. We can't let indifference set in. We need to do more to help them in their next resettlement steps," he said during a news conference in Ottawa Tuesday. In the last year, Canada has brought in moreÊthan 35,000 government-assisted and privately sponsored refugeesÊfleeing conflict and violence in the region. After the one-year mark, the federal government's monthly living allowance ends for many families, which means they must support themselves or rely on provincial social assistance. Senator Thanh Hai Ngo said it's not fair to simply transfer the financial burden on the provinces. "That's not right. If you help them, you help them to the end. You don't leave them in the middle of the street and say, 'OK, that's it I've done my job,'" he said. According to information provided by Dawn Edlund, IRCC's associate assistant deputy minister of operations, about 12 per cent of government-sponsored Syrian refugees have a job, while more than half of privately sponsored refugees have work. Edlund acknowledged there have been challenges in addressing language training needs, but said approximately 87 per cent of eligible Syrian adults outside of Quebec had been assessed as of the end of August and 64 per cent had enrolled in language training at that time. After additional funding was

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday December 7, 2016

‘We can’t abandon them’: Senators urge more language, mental health supports for Syrian refugees

One year after the first wave of Syrian refugees arrived in Canada, the Senate’s committee on human rights is urging the federal government to boost language training, mental health services and financial supports to ease the next phase of the resettlement process

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Friday December 11, 2015 Syrian refugees now in Toronto look forward to 'beautiful future' Georgina Zires and Kevork Jamkossian looked both happy and haggard while toting their 16-month old daughter as they arrived in Toronto after spending almost a day in transit with more than 160 other refugees who have fled civil war in Syria to start a new life in Canada. Waiting to greet them at Pearson airport Thursday night was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who helped the family pick coats from piles of donated clothing. "Now, we feel as if we got out of hell and we came to paradise," Jamkossian told Trudeau through an interpreter. "That's how we feel." The couple was joined by more than 160 other Syrian refugees who arrived in Toronto in the first government aircraft carrying refugees, as the Canadian government works to fulfil a pledge to bring in 25,000 refugees by the end of February. In Syria, Zires worked as a clerk in a women's clothing shop and Jamkossian worked as a blacksmith. A better life for their daughter Madeleine was the main motivation for coming to Canada. "She is the reason for us to come here because here she can do many things," Zires said, also through an interpreter. "In other countries, she can do nothing." After landing in Toronto, the new arrivals were given warm coats, social insurance numbers and health cards after a security and health screening at a special airport terminal renovated for their arrival. After processing, they were bused to an airport hotel to rest. "They step off the plane as refugees, but they walk out of this terminal as permanent residents of Canada with social insurance numbers, with health cards and with an opportunity to become full Canadians," Trudeau he said. Shadi Mardelli, who spoke to reporters at the airport shortly after he was processed, said he's looking forward to a "beautiful future" in Canada. (Sou

December 11, 2015

Releasing a report called “Finding Refuge in Canada: A Syrian Resettlement Story,” committee chair Jim Munson said while the program has been a Canadian success story, the government and citizens must not be complacent.

“We can’t abandon them. We can’t let indifference set in. We need to do more to help them in their next resettlement steps,” he said during a news conference in Ottawa Tuesday.

In the last year, Canada has brought in more than 35,000 government-assisted and privately sponsored refugees fleeing conflict and violence in the region.

After the one-year mark, the federal government’s monthly living allowance ends for many families, which means they must support themselves or rely on provincial social assistance.

Senator Thanh Hai Ngo said it’s not fair to simply transfer the financial burden on the provinces.

“That’s not right. If you help them, you help them to the end. You don’t leave them in the middle of the street and say, ‘OK, that’s it I’ve done my job,'” he said.

According to information provided by Dawn Edlund, IRCC’s associate assistant deputy minister of operations, about 12 per cent of government-sponsored Syrian refugees have a job, while more than half of privately sponsored refugees have work.

Edlund acknowledged there have been challenges in addressing language training needs, but said approximately 87 per cent of eligible Syrian adults outside of Quebec had been assessed as of the end of August and 64 per cent had enrolled in language training at that time.

After additional funding was provided in June, preliminary figures show 95 per cent of government-assisted refugees are enrolled in some kind of language training, compared to 79 per cent of privately sponsored refugees. (Source: CBC)

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Friday March 4, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Friday March 4, 2016 Ottawa willing to impose carbon price if impasse drags on The federal government is prepared to impose a national price on carbon if Canada's premiers fail to come to an agreement on their own, CBC News has learned. Putting a price tag on pollution would pit Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government against some provincial premiers who see the move as another blow to an enfeebled economy. Trudeau is meeting with premiers and territorial leaders today in Vancouver. A senior official close to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Liberal government campaigned on environmental change and won a majority. "We feel that we've got a mandate to do it. And we want to do it in co-operation with the provinces," the official said. "But at the end of the day we are going to do it." Federal action isn't imminent, but Ottawa won't allow carbon price talks to drag on indefinitely. "This should be a conversation about how we are going to price carbon, not whether," said the source. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has been the loudest critic of a carbon tax, saying it will only hammer an already sluggish energy sector. Wall told reporters on Wednesday that he wasn't alone in his position, and that's been backed up in public and private statements by officials from other provinces here in Vancouver. "You're going to hear a lot more about carbon management than carbon pricing," said one premier in explaining the view in their private meetings. Five provinces already have a price on carbon. Penalizing polluters financially is aimed at curbing the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. (Source: CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carbon-price-cap-and-trade-first-ministers-meeting-vancouver-1.3473524 Canada, provinces, Christy Clark, Phillippe Couilliard, Kathleen Wynne, Rachel Notley, Justin Trudeau, Brad Wall, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, carbon, tax, environment, climate change

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday March 4, 2016

Ottawa willing to impose carbon price if impasse drags on

The federal government is prepared to impose a national price on carbon if Canada’s premiers fail to come to an agreement on their own, CBC News has learned.

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Tuesday December 15, 2015 After Paris climate talks comes the hard part: a global carbon diet The world is about to go on a carbon diet. It won't be easy Ñ or cheap. Nearly 200 countries across the world on Saturday approved a first-of-its-kind universal agreement to wean Earth off fossil fuels and slow global warming, patting themselves on the back for showing such resolve. On Sunday morning, like for many first-day dieters, the reality sets in. The numbers Ñ like calorie limits and hours needed in the gym Ñ are daunting. How daunting? Try more than 7.04 billion tonnes. That's how much carbon dioxide needs to stay in the ground instead of being spewed into the atmosphere for those reductions to happen, even if you take the easier of two goals mentioned in Saturday's deal. To get to the harder goal, it's even larger numbers. In the pact, countries pledged to limit global warming to about another one degree Celsius from now (or 2 C measuring against the pre-industrial average global surface temperature) Ñ and if they can, only half that. Another, more vague, goal is that by sometime in the second half of the century, human-made greenhouse gas emissions won't exceed the amount that nature absorbs. Earth's carbon cycle, which is complex and ever-changing, would have to get back to balance. (Source: CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/paris-cop21-climate-deal-fallout-1.3363024 Canada, Carbon, Climate Change, Justin Trudeau, Kathleen Wynne, Rachel Notley, Catherine McKenna, Business, oil, industry, manufacturing, sustainable, development

December 15, 2015

Putting a price tag on pollution would pit Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government against some provincial premiers who see the move as another blow to an enfeebled economy.

Trudeau is meeting with premiers and territorial leaders today in Vancouver.

A senior official close to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Liberal government campaigned on environmental change and won a majority.

“We feel that we’ve got a mandate to do it. And we want to do it in co-operation with the provinces,” the official said. “But at the end of the day we are going to do it.”

Federal action isn’t imminent, but Ottawa won’t allow carbon price talks to drag on indefinitely.

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Tuesday November 24, 2015 Justin Trudeau, premiers seek to unify Canada's message on climate change With a first ministers meeting set to take place in Ottawa today just one week before the start of the Paris climate talks, a number of premiers are reminding Justin Trudeau he's not swooping in at the 11th hour to save the day. In fact, some are voicing concern the new prime minister may "fiddle around" with plans already in place. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna reiterated a key Liberal campaign pledge on Friday: "We promise to provide national leadership to take action on climate change, put a price on carbon and reduce carbon pollution," she told attendees of the Canada 2020 conference on Friday. Earlier in the day, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard reminded journalists at the same conference that the provinces have been showing leadership on this file for years. "I am very happy to be working with the federal government and colleagues around the table, but let's resist the temptation to start from scratch." Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has been among those most resistant to putting a price on carbon for his province, expressing concern that the harm to the economy would outweigh environmental benefits. That said, he is expected to unveil a plan later on Monday to have his province get at least half of its electricity supplied by renewable resources. New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant says he also intends to make sure economic considerations remain front and centre at the meeting. "We are all very much focused on creating jobs and growing the economy so we have to have these subjects come up in the same conversation to make sure we are growing the economy in a sustainable way," he said Saturday.(Source: CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-premiers-climate-change-meeting-1.3330284 Canada, Justin Trudeau, Kathleen Wynne, Rachel Notley, Philippe Couillard. Stephen McNe

November 24, 2015

“This should be a conversation about how we are going to price carbon, not whether,” said the source.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has been the loudest critic of a carbon tax, saying it will only hammer an already sluggish energy sector.

Wall told reporters on Wednesday that he wasn’t alone in his position, and that’s been backed up in public and private statements by officials from other provinces here in Vancouver.

“You’re going to hear a lot more about carbon management than carbon pricing,” said one premier in explaining the view in their private meetings.

Five provinces already have a price on carbon. Penalizing polluters financially is aimed at curbing the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. (Source: CBC News)

Published in the Regina Leader-Post on Saturday March 5, 2016

Published in the Regina Leader-Post on Saturday March 5, 2016

 

Published in the Winnipeg Free Press on Saturday March 5, 2016

Published in the Winnipeg Free Press on Saturday March 5, 2016

Thursday August 5, 2010

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 5, 2010

No consensus’ on census

Premiers of Canada’s three westernmost provinces, who often speak with one voice on economic and trade issues, all said the census is not a priority for them. Virtually every premier east of Manitoba urged the Harper government to rethink its plans.“I don’t know what motivates them not to do the census,” Quebec Premier Jean Charest told reporters on Friday. “Getting the information is essential for us to make good decisions.”

Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter said the proposal leads people to question the Harper government’s motivation. “It kind of defines who they are as a government,” he said in an interview. “I’m not sure it’s particularly flattering.”

New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham lashed out at the Harper government for attacking the provinces over the census.

“I have to admit, I was a bit shocked this morning to see the federal government out criticizing the premiers on this, saying it’s a free ride for the provinces,” Mr. Graham told reporters. “It’s safe to say they’re a bit on the defensive on this issue and that’s unfortunate.”

He was responding to Industry Minister Tony Clement, who said critics are upset because they enjoyed a free ride all the years that Ottawa forced Canadians to provide detailed demographic data. (Source: Globe & Mail) 

 

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Wednesday September 1, 2004

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday September 1, 2004 Post Olympic Blues Canada's athletes trailed back from Athens on Monday into the teeth of a national inquest over their performance at the Olympics which garnered just 12 medals. The modest haul, two fewer than the Canadian team managed in Sydney in 2000, and good for only 21st on the medal table, set off a media inquest that blared from radio and television. "Unless we make major changes in how we support and train our athletes, we will likely be suffering through the same national angst after the 2008 Games," the Toronto Star warned in an editorial. The Canadian Olympic Committee made an immediate request for more money to support athletes, calling for a US$5300 increase in government money for senior athletes to a minimum of US$20,000 a year. It also said it would review the country's approach to the Games, in an analysis which coincided with press reports that Dave Johnson, national swimming coach, would be sacked after his teams dire performance in Athens. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) Canada, provinces, funding, amateur, athletics, sports, wrestling, medals, Olympics

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 1, 2004

Post Olympic Blues

Canada’s athletes trailed back from Athens on Monday into the teeth of a national inquest over their performance at the Olympics which garnered just 12 medals.

The modest haul, two fewer than the Canadian team managed in Sydney in 2000, and good for only 21st on the medal table, set off a media inquest that blared from radio and television.

“Unless we make major changes in how we support and train our athletes, we will likely be suffering through the same national angst after the 2008 Games,” the Toronto Star warned in an editorial.

The Canadian Olympic Committee made an immediate request for more money to support athletes, calling for a US$5300 increase in government money for senior athletes to a minimum of US$20,000 a year.

It also said it would review the country’s approach to the Games, in an analysis which coincided with press reports that Dave Johnson, national swimming coach, would be sacked after his teams dire performance in Athens. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)