retirement – mackaycartoons

Tuesday June 29, 2021

July 6, 2021 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 29, 2021

Catherine McKenna quitting federal politics, says years of online attacks were ‘just noise’

After enduring a barrage of online hate and physical attacks on her constituency office during her six years as an MP, Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna announced Monday she will not run again in the next election.

November 24, 2015

McKenna — who led the contentious fight to levy a national price on carbon emissions as environment minister — has long been the target of sexist attacks over her vocal defence of climate action in the face of entrenched opposition.

But she said the hardship she has endured in politics was not the motivation for her departure. Rather, she said, she wants to spend more time with her kids after many nights away during her time in office. She said the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to “step back and reflect on what matters most.”

McKenna also said she wants to focus her energies on fighting climate change from outside of government. She’s offered to help Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian delegation at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland later this year.

November 28, 2015

She’s no stranger to this forum. Only days after being named to cabinet in 2015, McKenna led the Canadian delegation at the COP21 conference in Paris where almost every country on earth agreed to emissions reductions to stave off the worst effects of climate change.

McKenna said her experiences shouldn’t dissuade young women from entering politics. While there may be some abuse, she said, elected office is still the best place to be to bring about change.

Her office was vandalized and her Twitter feed the source of many misogynistic messages — but McKenna said entering federal politics was the only way she could enact Canada’s price on carbon and implement the country’s first “meaningful climate plan” to dramatically drive down emissions by 2030.

December 15, 2015

After the Supreme Court upheld the carbon levy as constitutional, she said, all parties came to accept that pricing pollution is the best way to curb emissions — a sign that politicians can make a difference.

As infrastructure minister, she also signed cheques worth tens of billions of dollars to build public transit and other green-friendly projects.

“For the many people who are understandably cynical about politics, I hope you take that as hard evidence as to what’s possible. Things change, sometimes the biggest things,” she told a press conference along the Rideau Canal in her Ottawa riding.

“I have had my share of attacks, but that’s just noise. People want you to stop what you’re doing, and they want you to back down. We doubled down.”

October 9, 1997

She vowed to do more to tackle the hate some women face when in Parliament. “I’ll do everything to fight that when I’m gone,” she said. “We need good people in politics. Politics matters.”

McKenna’s decision not to run again in Ottawa Centre creates an opening for another Liberal in a riding the party carried easily in the 2015 and 2019 federal elections after years of NDP representation by former New Democrat leader Ed Broadbent and later Paul Dewar.

There’s been some speculation that the former Bank of Canada governor, Mark Carney, may jump into politics after endorsing Trudeau and the Liberals at the party’s convention in April. Carney, who lives in the area, could make a bid to carry the Liberal banner in this urban seat. (CBC)

Wednesday November 6, 2019

November 13, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 6, 2019

Elizabeth May calls it quits. Could the Greens do better with someone else?

Over the last decade, Elizabeth May became one of the strongest and most widely known personalities in Canadian politics. Under her leadership, the Green Party of Canada achieved the best results in its 35-year history.

October 14, 2015

Also under May, the Greens peaked at less than seven per cent of the popular vote and three seats in a 338-member House of Commons.

This is where the challenge lies in assessing May’s leadership and legacy.

By any measure, she’s the most successful leader in her party’s history. But that success was limited. And it’s fair to ask whether she and her party should have accomplished much more, particularly in the recent general election.

To May’s credit, her share of the political oxygen around Parliament Hill consistently exceeded her party’s share of popular support.

April 18, 2007

She convinced Stéphane Dion to not run a Liberal candidate against her in 2008 — when she chose to pursue a long-shot campaign against Peter MacKay in the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova — and then talked her way into the televised leaders debates despite the fact that her party had never won a seat.

After she was elected in 2011 — defeating a Conservative incumbent in Saanich-Gulf Islands in British Columbia — she became a prominent voice calling not only for action on climate change but also for better decorum in the House of Commons and more respect for the sovereign power of Parliament. She was a constant presence in the House and a regular guest at parliamentary committees, where she would turn up bearing amendments she wished to propose.

She took advantage of every opportunity afforded her as a member of Parliament, all while making her case that the institution, its members and political parties needed to change. The Greens, she vowed, would be different — if they could ever elect enough MPs to form a proper caucus.

September 29, 2008

In 2008, her first election as leader, the Greens received 6.8 per cent of the vote, a two-point jump over the previous election result; the party still failed to elect an MP. Three years later, the Greens focused their efforts on getting May into the House. They succeeded, but the party’s national support slipped to 3.9 per cent. In 2015, its share of the popular vote fell again, to 3.5 per cent.

The Greens elected their second MP in May when Paul Manly won a by-election in British Columbia. He and May were then joined in October by Jenica Atwin, who pulled off a surprise victory in Fredericton.

Three MPs is three more than the Greens had before Elizabeth May became leader. But three MPs is also a smaller number of victories than the Greens seemed capable of winning at the outset of this fall’s campaign.

September 18, 2019

In early September, the Greens were polling at 11 per cent and seemed to have a shot at overtaking the New Democrats for third place. The NDP was weaker than it had been in 15 years, and the issue of climate change — the Green Party’s raison d’être — was more salient than it had ever been. It was possible to imagine the Greens winning a dozen or more seats.

In announcing her departure on Monday, May boasted that the Greens received more than a million votes in this year’s election. But the party’s share of the popular vote — 6.5 per cent — was still below the 2008 mark.

She also celebrated the fact that the party had “doubled” its vote in Quebec — which sounds more impressive if you don’t know that means the party went from 2.3 per cent in Quebec in 2015 to 4.5 per cent this fall. (CBC News)

Saturday September 23, 2017

September 22, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday September 23, 2017

Council looks to nix program forcing Hess Village bars to pay for police

The city is poised to kill contentious bylaw rules that force Hess Village bars to pay for extra policing during patio season.

August 14, 2013

Ward Coun. Jason Farr introduced the motion Tuesday that would remove paid duty policing from the special “entertainment district” bylaw governing the pedestrianized party strip.

The planning committee voted 7-2 in favour of the motion, which still needs a council sign-off next week.

The city has long insisted on extra policing along the strip, which earned a reputation over time for alcohol-fueled rowdiness and violence. Council passed a bylaw in 2010 specifically requiring Hess Village bars to pay for up to 10 paid duty officers to patrol on weekend nights in the summer.

But on Tuesday, Farr argued “the village is not was it was when we enacted that bylaw.”

He said bar owners report a “busy” night now attracts around 1,500 people compared to a high of 5,500 back in 2010.

The number of bars sharing the bill under the paid duty program has also shrunk from 15 a few years ago to seven this year.

More bars are also “getting wise” to the bylaw loopholes, he said.

Bylaw head Ken Leendertse explained some owners are adding more seating and cutting late-night hours to be treated as a restaurant, rather than a bar. Only the latter must pitch in for paid duty police.

Hamilton police Supt. Will Mason told councillors he agreed crowd sizes have “decreased somewhat” over time, “but not substantially.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Thursday June 29, 2017

June 28, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 29, 2017

Peter Mansbridge plans quiet exit from ‘The National’

Peter Mansbridge doesn’t want to make a fuss about leaving the anchor’s chair at CBC’s The National.

At Issue

Nearly a year after telling viewers he planned to retire from the public broadcaster’s flagship program, the 68-year-old newsman who defined an era at CBC News plans to sign-off for the final time with little fanfare.

“Don’t expect much,” he said in a recent interview. “I’ve never wanted it to be about me, this program.”

As Canada’s 150th celebration nears on Saturday, so does Mansbridge’s chosen date to say goodbye. The procession begins Wednesday night when he delivers his final broadcast of The National from the CBC’s Toronto studio.

Brian Williams

Carole MacNeil helms Thursday’s show, which will pay tribute to Mansbridge’s 50-year career, including almost 30 years as The National anchor. He’ll then return to the newscast one last time on Friday from Ottawa, before leading the CBC’s Canada Day broadcast at Parliament Hill.

“I’ve always taken most of the summer off anyway, so it seemed like a good exit point,” he said.

Mansbridge’s storied journalism career was launched at 19 thanks to a stroke of luck. He was plucked from an airport cargo job in Churchill, Man., after a CBC Radio manager heard his broadcast-ready voice over an intercom system. (Source: Global News)

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Tuesday June 21, 2016

June 20, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 21, 2016

CPP reform to dominate finance ministers meeting in Vancouver

The federal finance minister says revamping the Canada Pension Plan is critical to ensuring that future generations of Canadians can retire in dignity, no matter the state of their finances.

Bill Morneau joined his provincial and territorial counterparts in Vancouver today to discuss reforming the national pension program over concerns that some Canadians will struggle financially come retirement.

The pressure is on to reach a deal as Ontario’s plans to develop its own pension program are well on their way, though the province’s finance minister says his preference would be for a national plan.

Ontario wants a deal now, but Saskatchewan and B.C. have suggested the economic conditions aren’t right for a change that’s likely to lead to an increase in the premiums that come off workers’ paycheques.

That premium hike is why some critics of the expansion call it a payroll tax, a common refrain from the Opposition Conservatives who oppose an across-the-board expansion of the program.

June 15, 2010

The ministers could agree to that or to more selectively target those Canadian workers who are the least likely to save.

Federal research has suggested that group tends to be under the age of 30, earns between $55,000 and $75,000 (although some estimates are higher), and either doesn’t save enough or lacks access to a workplace pension plan.

The federal and provincial governments are looking at a possible increase in the $55,000 cap on annual maximum pensionable earnings, which would result in both higher premiums and increased pension benefits.

Resolving the issue could be harder than changing the Constitution. A change to the CPP requires provinces representing two-thirds of the population; a constitutional amendment needs seven provinces representing at least half. (Source: CBC News)

Published in the Ottawa Citizen