Quebec

Wednesday February 27, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 27, 2019

Has Jagmeet Singh As NDP Leader Been A Total Flop?

January 7, 2019

When Jagmeet Singh won the federal party’s leadership back in 2017, there was a wave of optimism when people thought of the possibility that Canada could elect its first non-white, Sikh-Canadian prime minister.

The then-Brampton MPP defeated more established, experienced NDP veterans to win the leadership decisively with 54 per cent of the vote. For awhile it seemed the hope and optimism espoused by the late Jack Layton was alive again. To be honest, when I went to cover Singh’s leadership launch, I felt that kind of feeling as well.

But it seems the reality of politics settles in and Singh, like others before him, is not looking as impressive as he once was.

Part of this has to do with his lack of real presence in Ottawa. Singh was an Ontario MPP and once he left that position, he had no seat in the House of Commons which made it harder for him to get noticed at all…by anyone.

All of Brampton’s ridings are currently held by Liberals, and even the embattled MP from Brampton East, Raj Grewal, decided to stay put after his scandalous situation, thus not allowing Singh a pathway to get elected in more familiar political terrain.

Animated!

This prompted Singh to move all the way to British Columbia to contest a by-election in the riding of Burnaby South, left vacant after the previous NDP MPwas elected Vancouver’s new mayor. Singh may yet win in a riding that only went NDP by about 500 votes in the 2015 election, as the Liberals had to suddenly switch candidates after the first one made what many called racially insensitive comments about the NDP leader.

Coupled with the Liberals own handling of pipelines (a hot button issue in BC) and the current scandal surrounding former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and SNC Lavalin, there may be enough disenchantment with the Liberal brand to allow Singh to win and get himself into the House of Commons so Canadians can actually see him face off against Justin Trudeau.

March 31, 2018

Singh’s leadership pretty much hinges on this by-election win. The leader’s absence from Ottawa on a regular basis has led to some questionable decisions on his part. One example was removing a veteran NDP MP from a committee for voting with the Conservatives on a motion protesting Liberal changes to the Canada Summer Jobs program regarding abortion protests.

Although the MP, David Christopherson from Hamilton, was pro-choice, he voted for the motion over concerns churches and other religious groups would have to disavow their beliefs to qualify for funding. Since the NDP is a pro-choice party and this MP effectively voted for a motion that reflected a pro-life position, Singh simply went and ‘disciplined’ the man amidst protest from his own MPs.

Christopherson was subsequently reinstated to the committee, although later he announced he would not be running for reelection in 2019. (Continued: In Brampton Editorial)  

 

Saturday February 23, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 23, 2019

Jody Wilson-Raybould has Trudeau in checkmate

“Is Jody Wilson-Raybould going to burn my government to the ground?”

February 15, 2019

It’s the question Justin Trudeau must surely be asking as his former attorney general and justice minister prepares to “speak her truth” this week at the justice committee on the question of SNC-Lavalin.

If the dribs and drabs of information appearing on the front pages of The Globe and Mail over recent weeks turns out to be accurate foreshadowing, Trudeau might not be able to surviveWilson-Raybould’s truth, let alone handle it.

As “did not direct” Wilson-Raybould has morphed into a “vigorous debate” on the question, and then to an admission of “pressure” from the Clerk of the Privy Council, but of the “lawful advocacy” kind, not the ‘do as you’re told’ vintage, Team Trudeau has, to date, succeeded only in lighting itself on fire when it comes to SNC-Lavalin. Now it’s time to see if Wilson-Raybould rocks up to committee with the final keg of kerosene.

If you’re Trudeau, it’s hard to envision an appearance in which Wilson-Raybould doesn’t burn everything—Trudeau included—to the ground.  There has been some serious red-on-red action on the nation’s front pages in the past few days, and only one side can survive.

Animated!

Wilson-Raybould and the forces aligned with her have been putting out a narrative of undue pressure on the non-partisan attorney general over the criminal prosecution of SNC, a Liberal-loving Quebec behemoth. And they’re making a compelling case.

Despite the independent director of public prosecutions saying ‘no’ to SNC on Sept. 4 of last year, Trudeau, his office, and the clerk—we now know, after initial denials—continued to revisit the issue with Wilson-Raybould and her office until Dec. 19, i.e. a few short weeks before she was shifted out of the attorney general role. It turns out ‘no means no’ meant nothing in Trudeaupia, at least when it came to SNC. (Source: Macleans) 

 

Saturday February 9, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 9, 2019

Trudeau is lending credibility to SNC-Lavalin pressure allegations

It’s been a burning question for weeks in politics — what did Jody Wilson-Raybould do to get bounced out of her job as justice minister in Justin Trudeau’s cabinet?

October 13, 2016

Well, now we know one theory about her firing offence: an alleged refusal to do a legal favour for SNC-Lavalin, the Quebec firm with long and lucrative ties to the federal Liberals.

And so, the once-burning question in the capital’s chattering corridors of power is now a flaming bag of trouble sitting on the very doorstep of the Prime Minister’s Office. In the process, the biggest victim of Trudeau’s relatively minor cabinet shuffle last month is now perceived as its loudest whistleblower, whether she embraces that new role or not.

Pez Prime Minister

Not that Wilson-Raybould, now veterans affairs minister, was particularly loud on Thursday. In fact, she didn’t have a thing to say in the wake of the Globe and Mail’s explosive story of how the former justice minister reportedly stood in the way of a deal to let SNC-Lavalin detour around prosecutions that could have blocked it from receiving government contracts for years to come.

Wilson-Raybould’s silence, however, was far louder than the prime minister’s carefully chosen words of denial, about how his office had not “directed” the former minister to give the go-ahead to what’s known as a “deferred prosecution” of SNC-Lavalin.

December 14, 2016

Her nondenial denial, first reported in The Globe and not withdrawn on Thursday, fairly yelled in support of spirited opposition cries in support of her alleged refusal to play ball with the PMO and its cosy corporate friend in Quebec. Wilson-Raybould is now being cast as a hero who “spoke truth to power” — even if, technically speaking, it was more like a whisper to a newspaper.

Pro tip: “No comment” only works as a clever misdirection in fictionalized political journalism. In real life, it is often regarded as confirmation. That’s certainly how Wilson-Raybould’s failure to comment was being interpreted in government and opposition circles on Thursday.

Speaking of no comment, Trudeau hasn’t really explained why he plucked Wilson-Raybould out of her post as Canada’s first Indigenous justice minister and put her in charge of a department where many political careers go to die. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Thursday December 13, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 13, 2018

‘Dirty’ oil finances Quebec’s schools, hospitals, Alberta reminds Legault

December 15, 2015

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley on Tuesday invited Quebec Premier François Legault to “get off his high horse” when it comes to what the latter dismisses as “dirty” energy, reminding Legault that her province’s oil revenues help pay for Quebec’s social programs and infrastructure.

“He needs to look at what’s in the ground, and he needs to understand that not only is our product not dirty, but that it actually funds the schools, the hospitals, the roads and potentially even some of the hydroelectricity infrastructure in Quebec,” Notley told reporters.

October 13, 2016

The Alberta premier was reacting to comments made last week by Legault during a speech to the first ministers meeting in Montreal. Legault said there was no “social acceptability” to the idea of running a pipeline that would carry “dirty energy” through his province, particularly when Quebec could offer “clean” hydroelectric energy at a competitive price.

Legault’s comments took on a bitterly ironic aspect on Monday during a meeting with provincial finance ministers, when it became clear that despite posting a budgetary surplus, Quebec would receive the lion’s share of federal transfer payments for 2019-2020 — more than $13 billion.

Ottawa will pay a total of $20 billion in equalization payments to five provinces to ensure a uniform level of public services across the country. Apart from Quebec, cheques will also be sent to Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

Alberta, considered a rich province when it comes to equalization eligibility, complains it is going through an economic crisis because of the weak price for oil. The Notley government is forecasting a $7.5-billion deficit for the current financial year. (Source: Montreal Gazette)

Some Social Media jousting over this cartoon…

Wednesday October 3, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 3, 2018

A historic vote in Quebec for every party, a tougher provincial puzzle for Trudeau

Everyone made history Monday in Quebec.

May 8, 2018

For the first time in Quebec’s history, the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), led by François Legault, won power taking a commanding 74 seats in the 125-seat national assembly.

The 12-year-old left-leaning separatist Quebec Solidaire hit historic highs in seats won — 10 — and in popular vote — 16 per cent. The party is also no longer confined to downtown Montreal but planted its first flags in Quebec City.

The other two parties made the kind of history one tries to avoid.

The Liberal Party of Quebec, with just under 25 per cent of the popular vote, has never fared worse in a general election since its creation at Confederation. Same thing with the Parti Quebecois: worst showing since its creation in 1970.

March 4, 2016

Quebec’s history-making election, though, followed a trend: yet another Liberal majority government in a provincial capital finds itself on the outs.

This trend is significant beyond Quebec’s borders and could impair the ability of the Liberal government in Ottawa to get as much done as it might wish on its domestic agenda in the final year of its mandate.

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened his first First Ministers’ meeting, he would have looked around the room and seen many allies. Canada’s biggest provinces were all led by Liberals all of whom were leading majority governments: B.C.’s Christy Clark (Liberal in name, at least), Ontario’s Kathleen Wynne, Quebec’s Phillippe Couillard. Atlantic Canada’s four premiers were all Liberals and they, too, commanded majorities. If stuff was going to get done and done quickly, then all was in place.

August 8, 2014

But at his next meeting with the premiers, perhaps his final such meeting before he himself must face the electorate next fall, Trudeau will see quite a different crowd. Clark, of course, was replaced by a New Democrat in British Columbia who is hostile at worst and cool at best to Trudeau’s agenda while Wynne, Couillard and New Brunswick’s Brian Gallant (one assumes) have or will soon be replaced by right-of-centre premiers hostile to some of Trudeau’s core policies.

Two of those new premiers, Ontario’s Doug Ford and, now, Quebec’s Francois Legault’s have solid secure majorities. (Continued: Global News)