Queen’s Park – Page 8 – mackaycartoons

Tuesday May 18, 2004

May 18, 2004 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 18, 2004

Budget Day

Taxpayers are likely to be paying more after Finance Minister Greg Sorbara unveils the Ontario Liberals’ first budget this afternoon. And they can thank a deficit the Liberals say has grown to as much as $8 billion.

Sorbara will read his budget speech in the Legislature to an attentive audience of groups advocating for more public funding and critics demanding that he hold the line on taxes. Watching from the sidelines is a general public that voted for both those policies in last October’s provincial election.

The Liberals under Premier Dalton McGuinty are expected to move to deliver on a promise to improve public services. And they are expected to reveal the final amount of the deficit they inherited from the former Conservative government as well as what the books will look like for their first fiscal year in office.

Former provincial auditor Erik Peters pegged the shortfall from last year (fiscal 2003-04) at $5.6 billion, although the Liberals have said that when hospital and children’s aid societies’ debt is included, the real deficit for last year is closer to $8 billion. The total provincial budget will exceed $71 billion. (Source: CBC)

Thursday March 17, 2004

March 17, 2004 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 17, 2004

Hamilton’s Provincial Duds

Perhaps Hamilton’s five representatives to Queen’s Park — Judy Marsales, Dominic Agostino, Marie Bountrogianni, Jennifer Mossop and Ted McMeekin — should be known as MIAs rather than MPPs.Harsh? Perhaps. But on the issue of the crushing costs to municipalities of downloaded social service, we have yet to hear any of our government members offer any significant support, let alone aid. While Hamilton pleads to an indifferent premier, our MPPs have been mostly silent.

Yes, the downloading was by a different Queen’s Park regime, and perhaps some or all of the “Hamilton Five” are working behind the scenes as Dalton McGuinty tries to balance promises with fiscal realities. But in the absence of any of them publicly championing Hamilton’s cause, Mayor Larry Di Ianni is left sticking his neck out as he proposes an economic ultimatum to the province. Without $19.5 million for social services, Hamilton will not balance its budget, he says.

Confrontation with the premier and his ministers has its risks, since municipalities essentially exist at the will and whim of the provincial government. But playing nice hasn’t worked for two past mayors, and the stars-are-aligned promise of having a unified caucus of Hamilton MPPs has so far not delivered in any consequential way. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Tuesday October 28, 2003

October 28, 2003 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 28, 2003

Bring on the Broken Promises

Now that power has been officially handed over to the new government, the Liberal backtrack strategy is moving into higher gear.

Mind you, McGuinty himself doesn’t talk about such things any more. At his swearing-in on Thursday, the new premier reinforced his image as an endearing square by talking about Cub Scouts and making lunch for the kids.

But in the background, the usual array of unnamed highly-placed Liberal sources have been busy explaining why McGuinty chose Greg Sorbara as finance minister over Gerry Phillips, the party’s veteran treasury critic and obvious choice for the job.

Phillips, the usual sources say, is too nice. Sorbara, on the other hand, is said to be mean enough to make the kind of tough spending cuts McGuinty wants.

This is an interesting rationale. Those who know Sorbara don’t find him that mean; in fact, he’s quite charming and rather likeable. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Saturday October 4, 2003

October 4, 2003 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 4, 2003

Our New Premier

Graeme’s Gallery 2003

In the summer of 2002, Peter Byrne, a partner at the advertising firm Bensimon Byrne D’Arcy, was contacted by a friend involved with the Dalton McGuinty campaign. Byrne had never done political advertising before, but he agreed to meet with McGuinty — although the Liberal leader’s reputation preceded him.

“Really, I didn’t know the guy from Adam,” Byrne said. “But I had heard that he was dull, and wooden and stiff.”

Indeed, McGuinty’s campaign image was freighted with some difficult cargo — a holdover, perhaps from a disastrous 1999 campaign in which he appeared flustered and awkward, feebly parrying Mike Harris’s aggressive political blows.

This time, he told Byrne, it would be different. “Dalton said, `I’ll be happy to lose, I hope I win, but I want to be me this time,'” Byrne recalled.

So began an image makeover so obvious that it seemed to hide in plain sight: Against all conventional wisdom, McGuinty, soft-spoken, wholesome and sincere, would simply be himself. (CP)

Thursday July 12, 2001

July 12, 2001 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday July 12, 2001

Goofy gag proposal doesn’t serve public

If Hamilton city council has an ounce of common sense, a staff proposal that could see councillors and staff jailed, fired or fined for leaking information to the media will be in the trash by the time you read this.

This proposed bylaw, which was to be debated by committee of the whole yesterday, is so heavy-handed it’s laughable. It’s a caricature of good public policy.

In a time when even those not much interested in the affairs of government agree Canadians should have much more access to information than they do at present, bureaucrats at city hall want you to have less.

Proponents of the bylaw argue it’s needed to serve the interests of taxpayers. The argument goes something like this: When confidential business becomes public prematurely, the city’s negotiating position is weakened, and taxpayers could be stuck with a higher bill as a result. Thus, they argue, the public interest is not well served.

No amount of draconian legislation will stop leaks, especially not at Hamilton city hall. Leaks are a symptom, not the problem. The problem is the lack of a constructive relationship between city staff and elected officials. Fix that problem, and leaks will cease to be the headache they are.

Do we have a vested interest in better access to information concerning how this city is operated and governed? Yes. And so do you. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)