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Thursday September 13, 2018

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

City council candidates in ‘entirely uncharted waters’ amid chaos over nomination deadlines

After an unprecedented day comes unprecedented chaos.

September 11, 2018

Premier Doug Ford’s move to trump a judicial ruling in order to secure a Toronto city council with 25 wards has left candidates and lawyers scrambling and voters in limbo ahead of the upcoming municipal election.

That includes at least eight incumbent city councillors who had planned to run for re-election but who could be locked out of the 25-ward race depending on how the legislation is worded, with legal experts unsure of what to expect from Ford’s government.

When a Superior Court judge ruled Monday that Ford’s legislation cutting the size of council to 25 from 47 wards was unconstitutional, city advocates believed for a short time that they had won the day.

July 28, 2018

But Ford’s announcement hours later that he would invoke the rarely used “notwithstanding” clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to override Justice Edward Belobaba’s ruling led to a flurry of unanswered questions, including whether the election can even proceed as planned on Oct. 22.

The legislature will resume Wednesday after Ford recalled MPPs from recess. Ford indicated the new bill would be tabled then. What it will say, his officials refuse to tell.

The province doesn’t expect the new legislation to be passed before Sept. 24, with MPPs off for two days next week to attend the International Plowing Match near Chatham-Kent. That leaves a very small window between a fundamental shift in the election process and the start of advance polling days, which are currently scheduled to begin Oct. 10. City clerk Ulli Watkiss earlier raised concerns about having enough time to prepare an election, including printing ballots for the whole city.

City council will have an emergency meeting Thursday to again discuss their current legal options and what happens next. (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

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Tuesday October 24, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 24, 2017

Jagmeet Singh vows to help Horwath topple Wynne

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath can count on some major campaign help from her party’s brightest star.
 

August 3, 2017

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will do all he can to ensure Horwath replaces Liberal Kathleen Wynne as Ontario premier after the June 7 election.

 
“I’ve committed to supporting the provincial party. I have a personal reason: these are my colleagues, my friends. I also have a vested interest in the benefit of the province and of the country,” Singh said Monday at Queen’s Park where he bade farewell to his former NDP caucus colleagues.
 
“It’s absolutely clear that the province will be better off with Andrea Horwath as premier and the country will be better off with the New Democratic values of putting people first, of standing up for issues that matter to the lives of people,” he said.
 

June 15, 2017

Singh, who resigned as Bramalea-Gore-Malton MPP on Friday, three weeks after winning the federal NDP leadership, said it’s “very special” to be at Queen’s Park.

 
“This is where my political career began and I’m really honoured to be back here as leader of the federal party,” he said.
 
“Andrea’s been my mentor. She appointed me deputy leader.”
 
Horwath expressed delight that Singh will help her party next spring. (Source: Toronto Star) 
 
 

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Tuesday March 7, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday March 7, 2017

Trump turns to Congress on wiretap claim, Obama camp denies it, FBI disputes it

President Donald Trump turned to Congress on Sunday for help finding evidence to support his unsubstantiated claim that former president Barack Obama had Trump’s telephones tapped during the election. Obama’s intelligence chief said no such action was ever carried out, and a U.S. official said the FBI has asked the Justice Department to dispute the allegation.

Republican leaders of Congress appeared willing to honour the president’s request, but the move has potential risks for the president, particularly if the House and Senate intelligence committees unearth damaging information about Trump, his aides or his associates.

Trump claimed in a series of tweets without evidence Saturday that his predecessor had tried to undermine him by tapping the telephones at Trump Tower, the New York skyscraper where Trump based his campaign and transition operations, and maintains a home.

Obama’s director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said nothing matching Trump’s claims had taken place.

“Absolutely, I can deny it,” said Clapper, who left government when Trump took office in January. Other representatives for the former president also denied Trump’s allegation. (Source: CBC News) 

 

Tuesday October 18, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Tuesday October 18, 2016 A lifetime of misogyny catches up with Trump Back in the spring, Jill Harth didnÕt want to talk. Neither did a number of the other women who had crossed paths with Donald Trump. But few of them had documented their encounters so thoroughly as Harth, whose 1997 lawsuit alleging Òattempted rapeÓ against Trump is a matter of public record. Donald Trump attempts to pitch himself as champion for women It wasnÕt surprising that having kept quiet on the matter for almost 20 years, she wasnÕt jumping at the chance to respond to a reporterÕs phone call. But a few months later, her lawyer got in touch. The impetus, as Harth put it in an emotional hour-long interview at the GuardianÕs New York office, was TrumpÕs repeated insistence that any woman alleging misbehaviour on his part was lying. His eldest daughter IvankaÕs widely aired insistence that Òmy dad is not a groperÓ pushed her over the edge. ÒWhat did she know?Ó Harth asked. ÒShe was 10 years old.Ó A former Trump business associate from his early beauty pageant industry days, Harth said that the tycoon behaved inappropriately with her from the day she met him. The first presentation she gave with her boyfriend and business partner George Houraney back in December 1992 marked not just the beginning of their partnership with Trump, which Harth described as the professional ÒhighlightÓ of their career, but also, the beginning of a steady stream of unwanted sexual advances, culminating in the alleged assault in one of the childrenÕs bedrooms at Mar-a-Lago, his ostentatious Florida mansion. Woman who sued Trump over alleged sexual assault speaks outÊpushed me up against the wall, and had his hands all over me and tried to get up my dress again,Ó Harth recalled, Òand I had to physically say: ÔWhat are you doing? Stop it.Õ It was a shocking thing to have him do this because he knew I was with George.Ó If she had known Trump a bit better

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 18, 2016

A lifetime of misogyny catches up with Trump

Back in the spring, Jill Harth didn’t want to talk. Neither did a number of the other women who had crossed paths with Donald Trump. But few of them had documented their encounters so thoroughly as Harth, whose 1997 lawsuit alleging “attempted rape” against Trump is a matter of public record.

It wasn’t surprising that having kept quiet on the matter for almost 20 years, she wasn’t jumping at the chance to respond to a reporter’s phone call.

 

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But a few months later, her lawyer got in touch. The impetus, as Harth put it in an emotional hour-long interview at the Guardian’s New York office, was Trump’s repeated insistence that any woman alleging misbehaviour on his part was lying. His eldest daughter Ivanka’s widely aired insistence that “my dad is not a groper” pushed her over the edge. “What did she know?” Harth asked. “She was 10 years old.”

A former Trump business associate from his early beauty pageant industry days, Harth said that the tycoon behaved inappropriately with her from the day she met him. The first presentation she gave with her boyfriend and business partner George Houraney back in December 1992 marked not just the beginning of their partnership with Trump, which Harth described as the professional “highlight” of their career, but also, the beginning of a steady stream of unwanted sexual advances, culminating in the alleged assault in one of the children’s bedrooms at Mar-a-Lago, his ostentatious Florida mansion.

Woman who sued Trump over alleged sexual assault speaks out pushed me up against the wall, and had his hands all over me and tried to get up my dress again,” Harth recalled, “and I had to physically say: ‘What are you doing? Stop it.’ It was a shocking thing to have him do this because he knew I was with George.” If she had known Trump a bit better at the time, she might not have been so shocked.

Today, the examples of Trump’s misogyny, casual and calculated alike, are as well-rehearsed as they are reprehensible. But something has changed again. Last week, the tape of his conversation with Billy Bush brought them front and centre in the American conversation; this week, further testimony from two women who spoke to the New York Times, alleging that his claims back then were more than mere words, have ensured that the spotlight will not shift. His unguarded phrase, “grab them by the pussy”, has stuck because it chimed with the testimony of Jill Harth, and so many other women who have spoken out about their experience with Trump. As a former Miss Utah, Temple Taggart, put it to the New York Times when remembering how he had introduced himself by kissing her on the lips: “It was like, ‘Thank you.’ Now no one can say I made this up,” she said. In this context, the stories of the women who spoke up about Trump have taken on fresh weight: now undeniable as a map to his values and treatment of women for more than 40 years. (Continued: The Guardian)

Saturday April 2, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Saturday April 2, 2016 Mulcair campaigning ahead of convention Tom Mulcair is no stranger to political campaigns and there is one thing that is clear ahead of the NDP convention next week: he is actively working to keep his job in wake of the party's devastating election results. The level of blame placed on Mulcair's shoulders and whether he will be turfed by his own party, will be tested as rank-and-file members congregate in Edmonton and decide if he should stay or go. NDP President Rebecca Blaikie has suggested 70 per cent is likely the threshold of support needed for Mulcair to stay on, though the party constitution only stipulates a leadership race must be held within one year if asked for by a convention vote of at least 50 per cent plus one. It is a critical moment for New Democrats, who are still very much reeling from the pain of crushing results that reduced the caucus to 44 seats and third place in the Commons. Progressives gathered Friday in Ottawa for the Progress Summit Ñ an annual event sponsored by the institute that is the brainchild of former NDP leader Ed Broadbent. Mulcair, who has spent months meeting party supporters to hear post-election feedback, said some key lessons have emerged in his discussions. "For me, as a party leader, that's been fantastic," Mulcair said Friday. "It is rare for a party leader to be able to sit down with a candidate from a single riding and a small core team. You learn so much about the strength and depth of our team on the organizational, communications, policy side." The NDP now needs to bring more people into the fold, he said. "I want to make sure we throw the doors and the windows of the party wide open ... let in a lot of fresh air and a lot of sunlight, let in a lot more people," he said. "We have to take a much more open-door approach from now on." On the sidelines of the summit, some party members are not convinced Mulcair is the appro

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 2, 2016

Mulcair campaigning ahead of convention

Tom Mulcair is no stranger to political campaigns and there is one thing that is clear ahead of the NDP convention next week: he is actively working to keep his job in wake of the party’s devastating election results.

The level of blame placed on Mulcair’s shoulders and whether he will be turfed by his own party, will be tested as rank-and-file members congregate in Edmonton and decide if he should stay or go.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Saturday March 19, 2016 Mulcair at risk of ouster by crush of new critics Tom Mulcair doesnÕt come across as the kind of person whoÕd spend much time looking over his shoulder, even if he had to. But these days you have to wonder whether the NDP leader, who celebrates his fourth anniversary as head of the party next week, is taking the time to look both ways before he crosses any political streets between now and his partyÕs convention next month. It would be wrong to say rumblings over MulcairÕs future with the party began only last week. Those rumblings have been a staple of the NDPÕs background noise since its dismal showing in the Oct. 19 election. But with the exception of a well publicized sortie by Ontario NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo in January, and complaints last month from a newly minted Montreal-area riding association president, any I-told-you-sos had been uttered off the record, if only in apparent deference to the panel the party convened to autopsy why things went horribly wrong during the last campaign. Given that the panelÕs findings compelled Mulcair to write a letter of apology to the partyÕs rank and file and take full responsibility for the NDPÕs return to third party status, it wasnÕt entirely surprising to hear the volume turned up last week on the complaints over MulcairÕs leadership. It started when Sid Ryan, former head of the Ontario Federation of Labour, told the Globe and Mail last week that MulcairÕs Òoverbearing personalityÓ made it necessary for the NDP to seek out new leadership. That was followed by letters published in Le Devoir and the Toronto Star this week that didnÕt mention Mulcair by name but may as well have spray painted it in day-glo orange across its text as three defeated MPs and nearly three dozen party activists complained the NDP had come adrift from its ideals and purpose. That missive was quickly followed by a far more specific slam against Mulcair by NDP s

March 19, 2016

NDP President Rebecca Blaikie has suggested 70 per cent is likely the threshold of support needed for Mulcair to stay on, though the party constitution only stipulates a leadership race must be held within one year if asked for by a convention vote of at least 50 per cent plus one.

It is a critical moment for New Democrats, who are still very much reeling from the pain of crushing results that reduced the caucus to 44 seats and third place in the Commons.

Progressives gathered Friday in Ottawa for the Progress Summit — an annual event sponsored by the institute that is the brainchild of former NDP leader Ed Broadbent.

Mulcair, who has spent months meeting party supporters to hear post-election feedback, said some key lessons have emerged in his discussions.

“For me, as a party leader, that’s been fantastic,” Mulcair said Friday.

“It is rare for a party leader to be able to sit down with a candidate from a single riding and a small core team. You learn so much about the strength and depth of our team on the organizational, communications, policy side.”

The NDP now needs to bring more people into the fold, he said.

“I want to make sure we throw the doors and the windows of the party wide open … let in a lot of fresh air and a lot of sunlight, let in a lot more people,” he said. “We have to take a much more open-door approach from now on.”

On the sidelines of the summit, some party members are not convinced Mulcair is the appropriate frontman for their movement, pointing to his inability to sell the NDP’s values during the course of the campaign. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

2001-04-02_saskpapers

Published in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix and the Regina Leader Post on the morning after the Saskatchewan provincial election which returned Brad Wall and his government to a third term.  Very telling from the province of Tommy Douglas to print this federal NDP cartoon a few days before its convention and leadership review of Thomas Mulcair.