Queen’s Park

Tuesday August 1, 2017

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) 

 

SaveSave

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)

\

Wednesday March 30, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday March 30, 2016 Ontario, the Wild West of Political fundraising Kathleen WynneÕs Liberals will rake in roughly $3 million in a single fundraiser Wednesday night. At their sumptuous Heritage Dinner, ÒVictory TablesÓ are priced at $18,000 for corporate high-flyers, and the biggest donors are feted at a private cocktail reception by a grateful premier. But thatÕs only half the story of how the governing party raises big money. In Ontario, the Wild West of fundraising, cabinet ministers are assigned secret targets as high as $500,000 a year, the Star has learned. The unsavoury spectacle of OntarioÕs politicians supplicating big business and big labour for events such as the Heritage Dinner is only a small piece of the fundraising puzzle glimpsed by the public. Beyond the showy hobnobbing, shadowy appeals by cabinet ministers for corporate money are the untold story at QueenÕs Park. Corporate and union contributions that Wynne persists in publicly defending create a demonstrable conflict of interest for cabinet ministers, which is why they were banned for federal parties in 2006, and are no longer legal in four other provinces. And yet, according to multiple sources, top cabinet ministers at QueenÕs Park are given financial targets that are typically in the range of $250,000 annually Ñ double that amount in some cases. These quasi-quotas are never written down, conveyed instead by the Ontario Liberal Fund through confidential meetings and phone calls. They are the price of admission to power, revealed here for the first time, and they are astonishingly high. The two most marketable ministers are Charles Sousa, the minister of finance, and Eric Hoskins, who helms the provinceÕs $52-billion health care budget. Both are expected to bring in as much as $500,000 a year, well-placed sources have confirmed. SousaÕs control of the provincial treasury, tax policy and auto insurance makes him a prime t

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday March 30, 2016

Ontario, the Wild West of Political fundraising

Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals will rake in roughly $3 million in a single fundraiser Wednesday night.

Fun with Queen’s Park

At their sumptuous Heritage Dinner, “Victory Tables” are priced at $18,000 for corporate high-flyers, and the biggest donors are feted at a private cocktail reception by a grateful premier. But that’s only half the story of how the governing party raises big money.

In Ontario, the Wild West of fundraising, cabinet ministers are assigned secret targets as high as $500,000 a year, the Star has learned.

The unsavoury spectacle of Ontario’s politicians supplicating big business and big labour for events such as the Heritage Dinner is only a small piece of the fundraising puzzle glimpsed by the public. Beyond the showy hobnobbing, shadowy appeals by cabinet ministers for corporate money are the untold story at Queen’s Park.

Corporate and union contributions that Wynne persists in publicly defending create a demonstrable conflict of interest for cabinet ministers, which is why they were banned for federal parties in 2006, and are no longer legal in four other provinces.

And yet, according to multiple sources, top cabinet ministers at Queen’s Park are given financial targets that are typically in the range of $250,000 annually — double that amount in some cases. These quasi-quotas are never written down, conveyed instead by the Ontario Liberal Fund through confidential meetings and phone calls.

They are the price of admission to power, revealed here for the first time, and they are astonishingly high.

The two most marketable ministers are Charles Sousa, the minister of finance, and Eric Hoskins, who helms the province’s $52-billion health care budget. Both are expected to bring in as much as $500,000 a year, well-placed sources have confirmed.

Sousa’s control of the provincial treasury, tax policy and auto insurance makes him a prime target for lobbyists in the banking and insurance industries. But Hoskins is also in high demand because of his regulatory authority over drug companies and nursing home conglomerates.

That’s why Hoskins was the big draw for the Ontario Long Term Care Association at an event organized with the Liberal Fund last year, which offered “an unprecedented opportunity only for OLTCA members” where they could “discuss the sector with the minister, up close and personal.” (Source: Toronto Star)

 

Tuesday February 23, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Tuesday February 23, 2016 Dalton McGuinty portrait set to be unveiled at QueenÕs Park Three years after leaving in tense times, Dalton McGuinty is coming back to QueenÕs Park. Permanently. His official portrait will be unveiled Tuesday and hung outside Premier Kathleen WynneÕs office in a hallway thatÕs home to two other paintings by the same artist, Istvan Nyikos, who painted former Progressive Conservative premiers Bill Davis and Mike Harris. McGuinty is his first Liberal premier but Nyikos, who left Hungary as a refugee in 1967 and studied at what is now the Ontario College of Art and Design, says he wouldnÕt touch politics with a 10-foot paint brush. ÒItÕs none of my business. As a taxpayer, maybe, but not as an artist,Ó he quips from his Collingwood studio. In fact, Nyikos Ñ who has also painted four speakers of the legislature, six chief court justices and former governor general Ray Hnatyshyn, to name just a few Ñ prefers not to know his subjects too well. ÒI take the face value, literally, of what the people give me . . . a superficial knowledge is good enough.Ó Nyikos adds, tellingly: ÒI canÕt paint my wife or my family. IÕm too close to them. I love them. I know them too well.Ó He has several sittings with each subject, sketching or painting the face and taking photographs of hands and other details. He works from those over the course of six to eight weeks, often painting several portraits concurrently. Nyikos says his clients, who may well have ruffled feathers in their professional lives, are unfailingly polite as they make small talk. ÒI try to paint them at their best.Ó Coincidentally, the unveiling takes place the night before the second court date of McGuintyÕs two former top aides, chief of staff David Livingston and deputy chief Laura Miller. They face criminal charges of breach of trust, mischief in relation to data and misuse of a computer system following a lengthy Ontari

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 23, 2016

Dalton McGuinty portrait set to be unveiled at Queen’s Park

Three years after leaving in tense times, Dalton McGuinty is coming back to Queen’s Park. Permanently.

Mike Harris

His official portrait will be unveiled Tuesday and hung outside Premier Kathleen Wynne’s office in a hallway that’s home to two other paintings by the same artist, Istvan Nyikos, who painted former Progressive Conservative premiers Bill Davis and Mike Harris.

McGuinty is his first Liberal premier but Nyikos, who left Hungary as a refugee in 1967 and studied at what is now the Ontario College of Art and Design, says he wouldn’t touch politics with a 10-foot paint brush.

“It’s none of my business. As a taxpayer, maybe, but not as an artist,” he quips from his Collingwood studio.

Jean Chretien

In fact, Nyikos — who has also painted four speakers of the legislature, six chief court justices and former governor general Ray Hnatyshyn, to name just a few — prefers not to know his subjects too well.

“I take the face value, literally, of what the people give me . . . a superficial knowledge is good enough.”

Nyikos adds, tellingly: “I can’t paint my wife or my family. I’m too close to them. I love them. I know them too well.”

He has several sittings with each subject, sketching or painting the face and taking photographs of hands and other details. He works from those over the course of six to eight weeks, often painting several portraits concurrently.

Nyikos says his clients, who may well have ruffled feathers in their professional lives, are unfailingly polite as they make small talk.

“I try to paint them at their best.”

Coincidentally, the unveiling takes place the night before the second court date of McGuinty’s two former top aides, chief of staff David Livingston and deputy chief Laura Miller.

They face criminal charges of breach of trust, mischief in relation to data and misuse of a computer system following a lengthy Ontario Provincial Police investigation into deleted emails.

Livingston and Miller deny any wrongdoing. McGuinty co-operated with the police investigation and was not a suspect. (Source: Toronto Star)

 

Tuesday September 15, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Tuesday September 15, 2015 Patrick Brown is headed for his biggest face-off away from the rink. When MPPs return from their summer break Monday, the hockey-playing politico takes a seat in the legislature across from Premier Kathleen Wynne for the first time since being elected Progressive Conservative leader May 9. BrownÕs performance will be carefully scrutinized and the more experienced Wynne will get a flurry of questions on the $9 billion sell-off of Hydro One, her Ontario Retirement Pension Plan and the economy. With the issues spilling over to the Oct. 19 federal campaign trail, rival party leaders are as eager to score points as Wynne is to stand her ground, with polls suggesting the Hydro One sale is not as popular as she would like. ÒWe will very clearly point out how we should take a different approach,Ó Brown said, dubbing the hydro deal a Òfire saleÓ and the pension premiums that employees and employers would have to pay a Òjob killer.Ó He also pledged to set a different tone by not being Òblindly partisan.Ó New Democrats said Hydro One, in which Wynne plans to sell a 60 per cent stake to raise money for transit and debt reduction, is their Òbig pushÓ because they fear it will lead to higher electricity prices. ÒHydro bills are through the roof,Ó said NDP House Leader Gilles Bisson. In an interview Friday in Quebec City, where she was attending a joint cabinet meeting with Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, Wynne said she is will not Òback downÓ on Hydro One. She defended eventual proceeds from the sale as crucial to improving public transit and reducing gridlock that is costing the economy billions in lost productivity. ÒThe building of infrastructure is a high priority for us...and so I am going to be talking to the people of Ontario through the legislature about the work that we're doing on that front,Ó said Wynne. While the government plans to sell off 60 per cent of Hydro

by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 15, 2015

Patrick Brown is headed for his biggest face-off away from the rink.

When MPPs return from their summer break Monday, the hockey-playing politico takes a seat in the legislature across from Premier Kathleen Wynne for the first time since being elected Progressive Conservative leader May 9.

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday May 13, 2015 Meet Patrick Who, OntarioÕs new Progressive Conservative leader The only thing that is absolutely certain about Patrick Brown, the new Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, is that he loves the political process. He has attended an enormous number of community events, everywhere from his federal riding in Barrie, Ont., to the state of Gujarat in India Ð where he made a particularly rewarding connection with the future prime minister of India, Narendra Modi. Long-time MPP and relatively moderate Christine Elliott was expected to easily win the leadership when the campaign began, but Mr. BrownÕs relentless contact-making, politicking and membership-selling put him far ahead in the end. Mr. Brown was rather a silent MP in Ottawa, so itÕs hard to make out what he stands for. There is evidence of his being a social conservative, but on becoming leader, he was quick to say he would not revisit divisive social issues. He now calls himself a pragmatic conservative, and he points out that he has attended Gay Pride events in Barrie. His surprising campaign has drawn attention to the fact that there are no limits to campaign contributions from any single person or corporation in Ontario party leadership races Ð a situation that needs to change. His larger donors range from the proprietor of Canada Cannabis Corp. to the owner of the Barrie Colts hockey team, to an onion-farming corporation and the owner of a chain of hotels across Canada. The Ontario Liberals have been in power ever since 2003. In the past two provincial elections, the Conservatives, led by Tim Hudak, offered a platform and a tone modelled on what got them Mike Harris elected in the mid-1990s. It might as well have been called Common Sense Revolution II. They are still in opposition. Mr. Brown needs to win a seat in the Legislature before long, but more importantly, he needs to articulate a substantial

Brown’s performance will be carefully scrutinized and the more experienced Wynne will get a flurry of questions on the $9 billion sell-off of Hydro One, her Ontario Retirement Pension Plan and the economy.

With the issues spilling over to the Oct. 19 federal campaign trail, rival party leaders are as eager to score points as Wynne is to stand her ground, with polls suggesting the Hydro One sale is not as popular as she would like.

“We will very clearly point out how we should take a different approach,” Brown said, dubbing the hydro deal a “fire sale” and the pension premiums that employees and employers would have to pay a “job killer.”

He also pledged to set a different tone by not being “blindly partisan.”

New Democrats said Hydro One, in which Wynne plans to sell a 60 per cent stake to raise money for transit and debt reduction, is their “big push” because they fear it will lead to higher electricity prices.

Tuesday March 10, 2015“Hydro bills are through the roof,” said NDP House Leader Gilles Bisson.

In an interview Friday in Quebec City, where she was attending a joint cabinet meeting with Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, Wynne said she is will not “back down” on Hydro One.

She defended eventual proceeds from the sale as crucial to improving public transit and reducing gridlock that is costing the economy billions in lost productivity.

“The building of infrastructure is a high priority for us…and so I am going to be talking to the people of Ontario through the legislature about the work that we’re doing on that front,” said Wynne.

While the government plans to sell off 60 per cent of Hydro One – recently the subject of scathing attacks from ombudsman André Marin over billing snafus — Wynne said the province will retain control because no single shareholder will be able to own more than 10 per cent.

Thursday, February 26, 2015She expressed surprised that Brown will serve as his own education critic, ‎suggesting the new sex-education curriculum will remain a hot topic in the house.

“I was interested in that,” the premier said, adding she will continue to highlight Brown’s social conservative voting record as an MP under Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, where he opposed same-sex marriage and abortion — stances he has since changed. (Source: Toronto Star)