speech

Friday September 8, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 8, 2018

Worries, praise follow Ontario government’s new free speech directive

Universities and colleges in Ottawa say they’ll work with the Ontario government to meet next year’s deadline for crafting free speech policies, as campus groups both laud and worry about the new directive.

August 24, 2018

The province announced last week that schools have until Jan. 1, 2019 to develop, implement and comply with policies that meet a minimum standard the government sets — or risk losing funding.

That standard is based on the University of Chicago Statement of Principles of Free Expression, which doesn’t allow for hate speech but precludes shielding students from ideas they might disagree with or find offensive.

There are fears, however, that the Progressive Conservative government’s new directive could blur the line between free speech and hate speech.

“There’s a limit as to where healthy debate becomes a little bit of an issue. Because as we’ve seen in the past, some of these things have led to students feeling unsafe, students feeling like they were targeted or hated,” said David Oladejo, president of Carleton University Students’ Association.

Oladejo said he welcomes clarification on university free speech policies, as long as they’re not vaguely worded and students don’t feel unsafe on campus.

He said he doesn’t believe there have been any incidents in recent years in which Carleton students have felt threatened by either groups or guest lecturers. (Source: CBC)

 

Saturday April 28, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 28, 2018

Federal program funds summer job to help ‘stop Kinder Morgan pipeline’

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to vow that the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion “will be built,” his government’s summer jobs program is funding a position with an activist group working to stop the project.

April 19, 2018

A call for applications for an “organizing assistant,” posted online by the non-profit group Dogwood B.C., says the job involves working to help the group’s network “stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline and tanker project.” It notes the position is funded by the federal Canada Summer Jobs Program.

The temporary full-time job is open to students. It pays $15 per hour for 9 to 12 weeks of work and is based in Vancouver.

But according to the organization receiving the funding, this kind of political push-and-pull is nothing new.

Dogwood B.C. said it has received funding for such positions since 2010, under both the Trudeau and Stephen Harper governments. The organization even got the funding when it was fighting the Enbridge Northern Gateway project, which Harper supported.

Kai Nagata, Dogwood’s communications director, said the group isn’t certain yet how many students it will hire with the help of federal funding this year. He said that in past years, students have worked on other projects as well, including one to prevent U.S. thermal coal exports from moving through Vancouver.

“The federal government has never thought to impose its political agenda on kids canvassing in B.C. on environmental issues,” said Nagata, who previously worked as a reporter for both CBC and CTV. (Source: CBC) 

 

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Wednesday September 21, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday September 21, 2016 Trudeau decries politicians who exploit anxietyÊfor personal gain in first UN address Justin TrudeauÕs first speech to the United Nations General Assembly included some less-than-subtle references to the politicsÊpracticed by people such as Donald Trump. The prime minister mentioned no names, but warned three times in his speech about politicians who exploit anxiety for personalÊgain. ÒFaced with citizensÕ anxiety, we have a choice to make. Do we exploit that anxiety or do we allay it? Exploiting it is easy, but, inÊorder to allay it, we need to be prepared to answer some very direct questions,Ó Trudeau said. ÒWhat will create the good well-paying jobs that people want need and deserve? What will strengthen and grow the middle class and help those working hard toÊjoin it?Ó Trudeau cast his Liberal governmentÕs spending-heavy program as a form of alleviating anxiety Ñ with its infrastructure plan,Êwhich, he says, will create middle-class jobs. The alternative, he suggests, means exploiting anxiety and fostering fear. ÒWe need to focus on what brings us together, not on what divides us,Ó he said. ÒWe believe we should confront anxiety with aÊclear plan to deal with its root causes. ÒWhat is the alternative? To turn it into fear and blame. To reject others, because they look or speak or pray differently than weÊdo?Ó His message is similar to that of U.S. President Barack Obama, who defended globalization, denounced walls between nationsÊand argued for policies that allow working people to experience the benefits of the global economy. (Source: Toronto Star)Êhttps://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/09/20/prime-minister-justin-trudeau-to-deliver-first-un-address.html Canada, Justin Trudeau, university, speaking, UN, intergalactic, interplanetary, speech, Parliament, rhetoric

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 21, 2016

Trudeau decries politicians who exploit anxiety for personal gain in first UN address

Justin Trudeau’s first speech to the United Nations General Assembly included some less-than-subtle references to the politics practiced by people such as Donald Trump.

The prime minister mentioned no names, but warned three times in his speech about politicians who exploit anxiety for personal gain.

September 23, 2014

September 23, 2014

“Faced with citizens’ anxiety, we have a choice to make. Do we exploit that anxiety or do we allay it? Exploiting it is easy, but, in order to allay it, we need to be prepared to answer some very direct questions,” Trudeau said. “What will create the good well-paying jobs that people want need and deserve? What will strengthen and grow the middle class and help those working hard to join it?”

Trudeau cast his Liberal government’s spending-heavy program as a form of alleviating anxiety — with its infrastructure plan, which, he says, will create middle-class jobs.

The alternative, he suggests, means exploiting anxiety and fostering fear.

March 29, 2016

March 29, 2016

“We need to focus on what brings us together, not on what divides us,” he said. “We believe we should confront anxiety with a clear plan to deal with its root causes.

“What is the alternative? To turn it into fear and blame. To reject others, because they look or speak or pray differently than we do?”

His message is similar to that of U.S. President Barack Obama, who defended globalization, denounced walls between nations and argued for policies that allow working people to experience the benefits of the global economy. (Source: Toronto Star)

 

Wednesday April 20, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday April 20, 2016 Trump commends first responders to '7-Eleven' attacks Donald Trump made an awkward slip of the tongue at a rally in Buffalo, N.Y.,Êon Monday evening, referringÊto the Sept. 11, 2001, attacksÊas "7-Eleven."Ê "I was down there, and I watched our police and our firemen down on 7-Eleven, down at the World Trade Center [in New York City], right after it came down, and I saw the greatest people I have ever seen in action," said the businessman, a candidate for the Republican nomination for president. The 2001 attacks on Manhattan and the Pentagon are commonly referred to asÊ9/11.ÊThe convenience store chain 7-Eleven isÊknown for its Slurpee frozen drinks.Ê Trump was apparently oblivious to the fact he'dÊconflated the two. Ê He was speaking to thousands of supporters at a rally held ahead of the New York primaries on Tuesday. The video was shared widely onÊsocial media, including as a Vine with nearly fourÊmillion loops. (Source: CBC News)Êhttp://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/trump-seven-eleven-video-1.3542293 9-11, September 11, gaffe, Donald Trump, speech, 7-11, 7-Eleven, terrorism

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday April 20, 2016

Trump commends first responders to ‘7-Eleven’ attacks

Donald Trump made an awkward slip of the tongue at a rally in Buffalo, N.Y., on Monday evening, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as “7-Eleven.”

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday February 10, 2016 Poll: Trump, Sanders lead ahead of New Hampshire's vote Donald Trump continues to lead the Republican race in New Hampshire on the eve of the vote, the final CNN/WMUR tracking poll finds. On the Democratic side of the race, it remains Bernie Sanders' primary to lose, with the Vermont senator holding a 26-point lead over Hillary Clinton. The field of candidates vying for a second place finish behind him is finally beginning to separate, according to the survey. Trump holds 31%, down two points from the February 3-6 release, but within the poll's margin of sampling error. READ: The full CNN/WMUR tracking poll results Behind him, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio earned 17% support -- within the margin of sampling error of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 14%, but significantly ahead of the fourth and fifth place candidates in the poll, Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 10% and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 7%. Behind Bush, Carly Fiorina stands at 5%, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 4% and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 3%. Aside from Trump, none of the Republican candidates moved more than 1 point in either direction compared with the previous CNN/WMUR tracking poll. About three-quarters of the interviews conducted for this poll were completed before the Republican candidates debated Saturday night, their final such match-up before Tuesday's election. Although the post-debate sample size is too small to produce a separate estimate of the vote, interviews conducted Sunday and Monday found no drop in support for Rubio, and actually showed a slimmer margin between Trump and Rubio. There has been little movement in the last two days in the other metrics tested in the survey, with about two-thirds still saying they expect to see Trump win on Tuesday (64%), and about a third saying they would never vote for Trump (32%). (Source: CNN) http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/08/politics/donald-trump-bernie-sa

Wednesday February 10, 2016

“I was down there, and I watched our police and our firemen down on 7-Eleven, down at the World Trade Center [in New York City], right after it came down, and I saw the greatest people I have ever seen in action,” said the businessman, a candidate for the Republican nomination for president.

The 2001 attacks on Manhattan and the Pentagon are commonly referred to as 9/11. The convenience store chain 7-Eleven is known for its Slurpee frozen drinks.

Trump was apparently oblivious to the fact he’d conflated the two.

He was speaking to thousands of supporters at a rally held ahead of the New York primaries on Tuesday.

The video was shared widely on social media, including as a Vine with nearly four million loops. (Source: CBC News)

 

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Tuesday December 8, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Hamilton, city, council, gong, show, Fred Eisenberger, Terry Whitehead, Jason Farr, speech, politics Mayor Fred wants council to cork it (By Andrew Dreschel) "If you can't say it in five minutes, then you really can't say it." That's Fred Eisenberger's guiding philosophy for speaking during city meetings and, for the sake of productivity, he'd like the rest of council to follow suit. The mayor thinks too much time is being wasted with long-winded repetitive comments that don't advance the discussion or the agenda. "Let's do what we're advocating our staff to do Ñ be efficient and get the job done in a cost effective, crisp way. "Be precise, be clear, get to the point, and let's move on." Eisenberger first raised his paean to pithiness during the tail end of a wordy two-hour discussion over a road issue that council won't even vote on until late 2016 or early 2017. Judging by the reaction of some of his colleagues, it may be his most popular idea to date. "I agree with Fred. There a point where you just don't keep talking," said Robert Pasuta. Pasuta tends to be the strong and silent type, but when he does speak it's short and to the point. "I think it's more important to make your point than just go on and on because the context of what you want to say gets lost in all the BS." Doug Conley, another who tends to save his breath, also agrees there should be more lip-zipping. "It would cut down our meetings by half an hour to an hour." Conley doesn't want a speaker to be shut down right at five minutes, but he or she should be urged by the chair to wrap it up at that mark. The problem, Conley says, is four or five councillors often end up saying the same thing rather than acknowledging their points have been covered by others. According to the procedural bylaw, councillors can ask unlimited questions about a presentation or motion. But they can't comment on a subject for longer than five

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 8, 2015

Mayor Fred wants council to cork it

(By Andrew Dreschel) “If you can’t say it in five minutes, then you really can’t say it.”

That’s Fred Eisenberger’s guiding philosophy for speaking during city meetings and, for the sake of productivity, he’d like the rest of council to follow suit.

The mayor thinks too much time is being wasted with long-winded repetitive comments that don’t advance the discussion or the agenda.

“Let’s do what we’re advocating our staff to do — be efficient and get the job done in a cost effective, crisp way.

“Be precise, be clear, get to the point, and let’s move on.”

Eisenberger first raised his paean to pithiness during the tail end of a wordy two-hour discussion over a road issue that council won’t even vote on until late 2016 or early 2017.

Judging by the reaction of some of his colleagues, it may be his most popular idea to date.

“I agree with Fred. There a point where you just don’t keep talking,” said Robert Pasuta.

Pasuta tends to be the strong and silent type, but when he does speak it’s short and to the point.

“I think it’s more important to make your point than just go on and on because the context of what you want to say gets lost in all the BS.”

Doug Conley, another who tends to save his breath, also agrees there should be more lip-zipping.

“It would cut down our meetings by half an hour to an hour.”

Conley doesn’t want a speaker to be shut down right at five minutes, but he or she should be urged by the chair to wrap it up at that mark.

The problem, Conley says, is four or five councillors often end up saying the same thing rather than acknowledging their points have been covered by others.

According to the procedural bylaw, councillors can ask unlimited questions about a presentation or motion.

But they can’t comment on a subject for longer than five minutes without the permission of council, usually conferred by the person chairing the meeting.

That’s a rule more often broken than observed. Council microphones are designed to cut off after five minutes, but councillors just have to press a button to reactivate them.

Eisenberger points out that since council tends to hold public delegations to the five-minute rule, they should be sticklers themselves. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator)