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Friday June 26, 2020

June 26, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay – Friday June 26, 2020

‘Defund the police’ movement hits semantics roadblock

Activists calling to “defund the police” are encountering early opposition to their slogan, with some supporters saying it’s confusing and others worrying the overall goal could be misinterpreted.

June 10, 2020

The phrase, which has become a rallying cry among some advocates during the George Floyd protests, broadly refers to cutting funds for law enforcement and redirecting them toward social programs, particularly those focused on crime prevention and alternative forms of public safety.

The slogan became an easy target for President Trump and other Republicans who have seized on the wording in an attempt to paint Democrats as supporting lawless communities. However, top Democrats, including presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), quickly distanced themselves from the phrase.

“The slogan may be misleading without interpretation,” Rev. Al Sharpton said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this past week, adding that he understood the phrase to be more about deep-rooted reform efforts.

“I don’t think anyone other than the far extremes are saying we don’t want any kind of policing at all,” he said.

But the need to explain the meaning behind the wording comes with its own set of critics.

June 18, 2015

“If you’re explaining, you’re losing, and there’s a lot of explaining going on,” Meghan McCain, a right-leaning commentator said on ABC’s “The View.”

“If you mean reform, say reform. If you mean defund, say defund. People are confused,” she added.

Evan Nierman, the CEO and founder of crisis communications PR firm Red Banyan, said the message has its pros and cons.

“The plus for them is that it’s a phrase that’s a call to action, it’s something tangible that they can demand. Rather than just saying ‘equal rights for all’ or ‘justice for all,’ we want this concrete thing,” he said.

But long-term, Nierman said he didn’t think it was a good slogan.

“It may be good at prompting a conversation, but the language is so extreme that it alienates. If they came up with something that more accurately portrays the policy, it might get more public support,” he said.

Some prominent activists and political leaders have pushed back on the idea that a grassroots slogan should be changed so that it has broader appeal.

“Lots of DC insiders are criticizing frontline activists over political feasibility and saying they need a new slogan. But poll-tested slogans and electoral feasibility is not the activists’ job. Their job is to organize support and transform public opinion, which they are doing,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted.

“And by the way, the fact that ppl are scrambling to repackage this whole conversation to make it palatable for largely affluent, white suburban ‘swing’ voters again points to how much more electoral & structural power these communities have relative to others,” she added. (The Hill) 

 

Posted in: Canada, International, USA Tagged: 2020-22, activism, Black Lives Matter, BLM, debate, Defund the Police, police, policing, protest, race, slogan, spiked

Friday October 18, 2019

October 25, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

October 18, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 18, 2019

Is the 2019 election Canada’s ‘nastiest’ ever? Not by a long shot

Canada’s electoral history has never been pretty.

Sir John A. Macdonald

In the years immediately before and after Confederation — when votes were carried out by voice at public meetings — the system was crooked by design. The parties frequently purchased loyalties with cash, or with gifts of food, booze or household staples. And they made certain they were getting what they paid for by keeping lists of the bribes and crossing off names.

The necessary funds came from party backers and self-interested corporate titans — people like railway baron Sir Hugh Allan, who was at the centre of the Pacific Scandal that led to the fall of Sir John A. Macdonald’s government in 1873.

“Elections cannot be carried without money,” fumed John H. Cameron, the Conservative MP for Peel, as the House of Commons debated secret ballots in the scandal’s aftermath. “Under an open system of voting, you can readily ascertain whether the voter has deceived you. Under vote by ballot, an elector may take your money and vote as he likes without detection.”

Sir Robert Borden

The abuses continued even after open voting ended. Clergy regularly threatened hellfire from the pulpits, and businesses promised instant unemployment, should parishioners or employees break ranks and vote for the wrong party. Electoral lists were drawn up by government appointees who struck off opposition supporters and retained the names of residents who had moved or died — so that ballot boxes could be stuffed if required.

How bad was it back then? According to Elections Canada, between 1874 and 1896 the courts overturned the results in 134 ridings on the grounds that one party or the other had committed vote fraud.

Changes to the laws on elections and political donations improved the situation. But that didn’t result in campaigns becoming more genteel or evidence-based.

Matthew Hayday, a professor of Canadian history at the University of Guelph, cites a few prime examples of gutter politics. In the 1917 election, Robert Borden’s Unionist government manipulated voting rules, painted anti-conscription Quebecers as traitors and openly accused Liberal Leader Wilfrid Laurier of being in the corner of the German Kaiser.

Kim Campbell

In the 1993 campaign, Kim Campbell’s Conservatives aired their infamous “Think Twice” commercials featuring close-ups of Jean Chrétien’s face — ads that many perceived as mocking the Liberal leader’s partial facial paralysis.

“To me, those campaigns were far worse than anything we’ve seen in this election,” said Hayday.

Richard Johnston is the Canada Research Chair in Public Opinion, Elections and Representation at the University of British Columbia. He said he thinks that this campaign has been “more vituperative” that many recent elections — but negative politics has been the norm in Canada for a long time.

He pointed to the June 1945 federal and Ontario provincial elections, which saw Conservative backers portraying the left wing Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) — the forerunner of the NDP — as a party of “foreign” ideas, and published pamphlets featuring anti-Semitic caricatures of David Lewis, the CCF’s national secretary.

Paul Martin Jr.

“That would probably be the true low point in Canadian history,” said Johnston.

In fact, upbeat and optimistic campaigns like Jack Layton’s 2011 run, or Justin Trudeau’s 2015 offer of “sunny ways”, are the exceptions in Canadian politics — not the rule.

Paul Martin’s Liberals clung to power in 2004 by going ultra-negative against Stephen Harper’s Tories. The 2011 Conservative win was sullied by the ‘Robocall’ scandal — which saw voters directed to the wrong polling places — and by the attempted ‘swiftboating’ of Jack Layton with a leaked story about an old massage parlour raid.

And it’s worth noting that self-fulfilling prophecies seem to be at play this time around. A year ago, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and Trudeau both warned that the 2019 election would be dirty and perhaps “the nastiest one yet.”

To be sure, this campaign has been filled with pointed personal criticism, and things like Trudeau’s blackface scandal and the controversy over Scheer’s dual citizenship have often overshadowed the platforms.

And it’s fair to say that, as the vote approaches, all the parties seem to be doing their best to stoke public fears about their opponents with talk of “secret” plans about hard drugs or abortion, or through third party attack ads and selectively-edited campaign literature.

October 16, 2019

“We are living in a more polarized political climate in Canada,” said Johnston, “and nobody’s hands are clean.”

It’s worth remembering at this point that, just six months ago, the Liberals, Conservatives and NDP all signed on to a global “election integrity” pledge through which they vowed to crack down on the use of social media bots and avoid the dissemination of “falsified, fabricated” disinformation.

The Verdict: False. The 2019 campaign has featured plenty of ugliness, but it is hardly ranks among the “nastiest, dirtiest” elections in Canadian history. Still, as the clock ticks down, there might be new depths to be plumbed. (CBC News) 

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: #elxn2019, 2019-37, Andrew Scheer, Canada, Elizabeth May, finish, Jagmeet Singh, Justin Trudeau, Maxime Bernier, race, Yves-François Blanchet

Tuesday September 10, 2019

September 17, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 10, 2019

Do the Greens have what it takes to pass the NDP?

“The NDP,” Stockwell Day told CBC’s Power Panel last week, “is toast.”

September 5, 2019

The statement was somewhat surprising coming from the former Conservative cabinet minister, who had been defending NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s political potential for months. Not that surprising, though, given the number of people writing off the New Democrats these days.

Even Charlie Angus admitted a few days ago he’s been reading his party’s obituary for a long time. Angus insisted that obit isn’t ready to be printed, but his counter-argument was all about the kind of power New Democrats could enjoy in a minority government — one led by another party.

Singh himself all but acknowledged recently how low the party is setting its sights in 2019 when he ripped into Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer over his 2005 comments on same-sex marriage. He said the NDP would not support a Conservative minority. But why would he even talk about a minority government at this point? Singh is supposed to be running to form a government of his own — not to prop one up (or knock one down).

July 22, 2015

I don’t like to write any party off. I remember how many people (in the media and outside of it) used to say it would be a cold day in hell before Justin Trudeau ever became prime minister. (Prior to the last election, you’ll remember, the Liberals were polling a distant third.)

The campaign changed things. That’s what campaigns do. I think just about anything could happen in the coming campaign as well.

But it’s pretty bleak out there for the Dippers right now: not a lot of cash in the coffers, polling below the Greens in Quebec (the single most important province for the party) and nowhere near a full slate of candidates in the days before the real campaign begins.

July 13, 2016

The natural heir to whatever ground the New Democrats have lost would appear to be the Green Party. But that isn’t a given.

First came an announcement that 14 New Democrats in New Brunswick, all provincial save for one member of the federal executive, were defecting to the Green Party because they didn’t like their chances as NDP candidates.

Then, one of the defectors told The Canadian Press and CBC Radio’s As It Happens he’s talked to people in the province who are uncomfortable with Singh’s religion.

A day went by and the NDP started calling around newsrooms, saying not all the people on the defectors’ list are actually leaving for the Greens. A handful came out publicly to say they’re sticking with the NDP. Singh said Green Party Leader Elizabeth May “has a lot to answer for.”

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May released a statement. “I won’t attack (Singh),” she says — after attacking him at length, accusing him of blowing off New Brunswick and reminding him that “being a federal party leader is hard work.” All of which should tell you that Trudeau and Scheer are quite right when they predict the coming campaign will be “nasty.”

The defectors story is complicated and weird. Does it point to organizational problems for the Greens and the NDP? Probably.

If the Greens orchestrated this regional coup, they need to work on their coup-making skills. Some of the people on the initial list of defectors reportedly thought they were simply talking about a merger with the Greens. Others said they didn’t even know they’d been added to the list. (One Green candidate in the Maritimes gulped when I called to ask about this week’s events, calling them “embarrassing.”) (CBC) 


On your marks… from r/canadapoliticshumour


 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: #elxn2019, 2019-31, Andrew Scheer, Canada, election, Elizabeth May, Jagmeet Singh, Justin Trudeau, Maxime Bernier, race, runner, track

Thursday August 3, 2017

August 2, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 3, 2017

Jagmeet Singh leads NDP leadership fundraising as race heats up

Jagmeet Singh was last to enter the federal NDP leadership race, but he’s first in fundraising.

March 1, 2017

Financial reports filed with Elections Canada for the second quarter of 2017 indicate that the Ontario MPP has pulled in $353,944 since joining the race to replace Tom Mulcair in mid-May.

Northern Ontario MP Charlie Angus raised $123,574 between April 1 and June 30.

During the same period, Manitoba MP Niki Ashton raised $70,124, while Quebec MP Guy Caron raised $46,970.

British Columbia MP Peter Julian, who dropped out of the race in early July, raised $28,673.

In an email blast to supporters, Singh’s campaign boasted that he raised more than $350,000 in just 47 days — 30 days less than it took Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to raise the same amount during the 2013 Liberal leadership race and 77 days less than it took Andrew Scheer during the recent Conservative contest.

“In just 47 days we built a truly nationwide operation that shows how a Jagmeet-led NDP will take on the Liberals and Conservatives,” the email said.

Voting in the NDP contest begins in September, with results to be announced in October.

In all, the leadership contestants raised $643,285.

That’s on top of the $826,664 raised by the NDP, which continues to trail well behind the two main federal parties in fundraising. (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

SaveSave

Posted in: Hamilton Tagged: Canada, Charlie Angus, Guy Caron, Jagmeet Singh, leadership, NDP, Niki Ashton, popularity, race, turban

Friday May 19, 2017

May 18, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday May 19, 2017

What Maxime Bernier’s Canada would look like

The libertarian former cabinet minister is leading the Conservative leadership race, heading into the final stretch.

April 27, 2017

Maxime Bernier has a dramatically different idea about how Canada should work.

Bernier would get the federal government out of health care, transferring the full responsibility to provinces and paving the way for more private delivery.

Bernier would tie Canada’s foreign aid to “morality,” and believes billions of it should be spent instead on tax cut and healing the poor at home.

Bernier would end federal “welfare” for Canadian businesses, and axe popular tax credits for things like kid’s hockey gear and teachers’ classroom supplies in favour of across-the-board tax cuts.

And Bernier wants to do it all in a four-year term, should he become Conservative leader at the end of the month, and should he defeat Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in 2019.

May 28, 2008

In many ways, Bernier’s approach would be a significant break from the Stephen Harper era. Harper took a slow and steady course, favouring incremental change and reassuring moderate Canadians there was no Conservative “hidden agenda.”

Bernier is proposing dramatic change quickly — and his agenda certainly can’t be accused of being hidden.

“They’re conservative ideas, they’re conservative values,” Bernier said this week, discussing his libertarian-leaning platform.

While popular with a good chunk of the Conservative base, there is some concern within the party about how the greater population will receive Bernier’s libertarian policies — and how well he can bring together the Conservative family after a divisive leadership campaign. (Continued: Toronto Star)

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: Bernie Sanders, campaign, Canada, Conservative, Feel the Bern, hipsters, leadership, Libertarian, Maxime Bernier, party, popularity, Quebec, race
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