Summer

Saturday August 30, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday August 30, 2019

Gaming the writ: the strategy that goes into timing an election call

September 4, 2007

If you’re still enjoying your Labour Day weekend, please don’t let the prospect of an election call spoil it.

Even though the federal campaign could begin officially at any time now, the last possible date for calling one is September 15. That’s the latest date that would satisfy the minimum campaign length of 36 days before voting day, fixed in law as “the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year following the previous general election” — October 21, 2019.

New election rules mandating that campaigns can only run a maximum of 50 days mean Liberal strategists have less room to manoeuvre in timing the election call, although there’s still a two-week window.

“There’s always some strategy involved,” said Anne McGrath, a longtime NDP strategist.

It’s probably safe to assume that calling an election before Labour Day is not what the Liberals want to do — particularly since Gov. Gen. Julie Payette is out of the country.

October 23, 2000

In the past, prime ministers have used the power to call elections to work the timing to their advantage.

In 2000, Jean Chrétien called a snap election a mere three years after winning his second majority, because polls indicated the Liberals had a phenomenal lead in Ontario. The gamble paid off.

Stephen Harper wasn’t so lucky when he rolled the dice four years ago, betting that a long campaign would benefit his Conservatives — armed with a healthy war chest — at the expense of his opponents. When pressed by reporters, he said the opposition parties were already campaigning and he wanted a level playing field.

August 20, 2015

Harper launched a 78-day campaign, the longest in modern times. The move backfired.

“What it did seem to do,” said Richard Ciano, a past president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, “is give Justin Trudeau, the then-leader of the third party, a chance to really run a good retail campaign.”

The conventional wisdom says shorter campaigns are better for incumbent governments. (CBC) 

 

Monday August 27, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday August 27, 2018

Jagmeet Singh, Missing in Action

Jagmeet Singh to announce run for Parliament (story from 3 weeks ago)

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will announce Wednesday he’s running for the Burnaby South seat in the House of Commons, CTV News has confirmed.

Singh won the federal NDP leadership last fall but isn’t a member of Parliament. Reports indicated he would run to replace New Democrat MP Kennedy Stewart, who has resigned his seat to run in Vancouver’s mayoral race.

Singh has an event in Burnaby, B.C. Tomorrow.

“I know he’s looking at it very closely,” Stewart said in an interview with CTVNews.ca

“I did approach Jagmeet suggesting that it might be good for him to run in Burnaby South. What’s been very positive is when I mention it to people in Burnaby, is how excited they got,” he said.

Stewart said Singh understands the city and knows the NDP supporters there.

Singh sat in the Ontario Legislature before his federal leadership run, representing the Toronto area riding of Bramalea-Gore-Malton. He held the seat from 2011 to 2017 and served as deputy leader of the Ontario NDP.

Stewart said he’s not concerned that Singh isn’t from the riding and noted former NDP leader Tommy Douglas, who had been premier of Saskatchewan, served in the riding after leaving Saskatchewan politics. (CTV News) 

 

Wednesday August 23, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday August 23, 2017

Patrick Brown’s disastrous tenure as PC leader

A leadership race based on who sells the most memberships can lead to a disappointing outcome. In May 2015, Patrick Brown won the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership race against a more qualified and experienced opponent, Christine Elliott. She was a three-term MPP, deputy leader of the party, and someone with vision.

June 15, 2017

Brown was a two-term, lacklustre, social conservative MP. In Ottawa, he voted against same-sex marriage and was an anti-abortion advocate. He offered no clear vision for the PC Party during the race, but used his organizing skills to sell hundreds of party memberships.

Two years of on-the-job training and Brown’s greatest talent may yet turn out to be selling memberships. He’s lost a commanding lead over the Liberals and faces serious internal rebellion.

A strong democracy requires a strong opposition — one that challenges the governing party and presents a credible alternative. Brown is struggling to deliver on both counts.

August 31, 2016

In his first year as opposition leader everything seemed possible. He was dealing with a seemingly spent 15-year-old, scandal-plagued government. He and the PCs vaulted ahead in the polls. Premier Wynne was falling out of fashion.

He swelled the party membership from 11,000 to 80,000 and won two by-elections, including his own seat in Simcoe North. He countered the Liberal attempts to brand him a social conservative by claiming to be a “pragmatic conservative.” That meant surprise support for the LGBT community and a “revenue neutral” carbon tax. Beyond that, Brown was bereft of any engaging policy ideas.

By the end of last year the hope was Brown’s young, slick image would give way to a more passionate politician with a plan for the future.

So far this year he’s failed to deliver on that hope. Instead of scoring easy points against the vulnerable Liberals, Brown attacks without having a plan. He rails against soaring hydro rates but hasn’t offered a solution. He complains about “reckless spending” but hesitates to say where he’d make major program cuts. (Continued: Toronto Star) 

 

 

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Thursday August 10, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 10, 2017

Trump’s Threat to North Korea Was Improvised

President Trump delivered his “fire and fury” threat to North Korea on Tuesday with arms folded, jaw set and eyes flitting on what appeared to be a single page of talking points set before him on the conference table at his New Jersey golf resort.

April 15, 2013

The piece of paper, as it turned out, was a fact sheet on the opioid crisis he had come to talk about, and his ominous warning to Pyongyang was entirely improvised, according to several people with direct knowledge of what unfolded. In discussions with advisers beforehand, he had not run the specific language by them, though he had talked over possible responses in a general way.

The inflammatory words quickly escalated the confrontation with North Korea to a new, alarming level and were followed shortly by a new threat from North Korea to obliterate an American air base on Guam. In the hours since, the president’s advisers have sought to calm the situation, with Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson assuring Americans that they “should sleep at night” without worrying about an imminent war.

June 21, 2006

But the president’s ad-libbed threat reflected an evolving and still unsettled approach to one of the most dangerous hot spots in the world as Mr. Trump and his team debate diplomatic, economic and military options.

The president’s aides are divided on North Korea, as on other issues, with national security veterans like Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the national security adviser, on one side and Stephen K. Bannon, the president’s chief strategist, and his allies on the other. 

The president had been told about a Washington Post story on North Korea’s progress in miniaturizing nuclear warheads so that they could fit on top of a ballistic missile, and was in a bellicose mood, according to a person who spoke with him before he made the statement. His team assumed that he would be asked about North Korea during a scheduled media appearance tied to his opioid meeting, but Mr. Trump had not mentioned his comment during a conference call beforehand that focused on North Korea.

“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” Mr. Trump told reporters in remarks aired on television and broadcast around the globe. “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”(Source: New York Times)