Friday September 7, 2013

September 6, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 6, 2013

Obama Arrives In Russia For G20 Summit

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — President Barack Obama is heading into the lion’s den of Russia, confronting Syria’s key patron as well as foreign leaders skeptical of his call for an international military strike against Bashar Assad’s government.

Obama on Thursday began a two-day visit to St. Petersburg for the Group of 20 economic summit, putting him in the same country as Edward Snowden for the first time since the American fugitive fled to Moscow earlier this year. Both Syria and Snowden have been sore points in an already strained U.S.-Russian relationship, fueling the notion that Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin just can’t get along.

The White House went out of its way to say Obama, who arrived Thursday after a quick flight from Stockholm, would not meet one-on-one with the Russian leader while in St. Petersburg. But officials predicted the two would still have a chance to interact when they cross paths at various meetings.

Still struggling to persuade dubious lawmakers at home on Syria, Obama in Russia will seek to win over world leaders reluctant to get drawn in to yet another U.S.-led sortie in a Mideast nation. Although Syria wasn’t formally on the agenda for the economy-focused summit, U.S. officials were resigned to the fact that the bloody civil war there surely would overwhelm any talks about global economics. (Source: Huffington Post)
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Thursday, July 25, 2013

July 25, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday, July 25, 2013

Women run the show and the biggest provinces with 87 per cent of Canadians

The old boys’ club that once was the Council of the Federation is no more — women now run the show because they rule the biggest provinces.

When Canada’s provincial and territorial leaders gather for their annual conference this week in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., they will make some political history.

An all-male cast in 2007

More than 87 per cent of Canadians are governed by female premiers — in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nunavut.

“It makes it historic and I’m aware of that,” Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne told the Star on Tuesday. “I’d like to think we can do a great job because of who’s sitting around the table,” she said, with a laugh.

“But I don’t have a point of comparison, because when there were 13 men around the table, I wasn’t there. So I can’t really judge the quality of the discussion or the approaches.”

Wynne, as chair of the council, is hosting the meeting that gets under way Wednesday when the premiers gather with First Nations leaders to discuss education and other issues.

“I would hope that we’d find that there is an even increased ability to have a collaborative and frank discussion although I understand that these discussions have always been collegial and they are pretty open,” she said. (Source: The Toronto Star)

Thursday November 22, 2012

November 22, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday November 22, 2012

McGuinty laments Harper’s refusal to attend premiers’ meeting

Lame duck Dalton McGuinty quacks about Harper’s summit absence

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and other premiers are criticizing Prime Minister Stephen Harper for passing up a chance to co-operate on a national economic strategy with provincial leaders this week.

“I think we’re all disappointed that we couldn’t get an opportunity to meet with the prime minister and to build a strong plan for economic growth together,” McGuinty said in Toronto on Tuesday.

“We will do our very best,” he said of the premiers’ meeting. “We’ll see what it is we might be able to do by way of a concerted effort.”

Provincial premiers and territorial leaders gather in Halifax on Thursday and Friday at a time when the struggling economy is threatened by deteriorating business conditions in Europe and a potential U.S. economic meltdown.

But Harper’s office confirmed Tuesday he won’t accept the premiers’ invitation to attend.

McGuinty suggested Harper is missing an opportunity to follow up on a deal reached during the last recession in which federal and provincial governments agreed to invest in economic stimulus.

“We’ve now entered into a period of prolonged slow growth and I think we could do better by developing some broader policies, acting in concert with the federal government, whether that’s by way of stimulus or, I think, particularly investing in innovation and higher levels of skills and education would be very helpful to all of us.”Source (Source: Toronto Star)

Tuesday July 24, 2012

July 24, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday July 24, 2012

Toronto police funding ‘huge victory,’ says Mayor Ford

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford declared victory after getting an assurance Monday from the province that funding would continue for a special police unit charged with addressing the root causes of violence.

Funding for the Toronto anti-violence intervention strategy (TAVIS) unit comes from the province, and Ford said Monday that Premier Dalton McGuinty committed to extending that funding on a permanent basis.

“I think that’s a huge victory for the taxpayers of Toronto,” Ford said in brief remarks after a meeting Monday afternoon with the premier and Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair that was called in the wake of a recent spate of violent gun crime in the city.

“I take Mr. McGuinty at his word. He told me straight out and no, there was no BS. I wasn’t going to sit there and listen to it,” Ford said.

“I asked for funding for TAVIS and he said, ‘Yes, we’re going to continue funding TAVIS.’ That’s what the people want. People want to live in this great city, which it is, and people want to come here and create jobs and have a safe environment to create jobs.”

Chief Blair said the funding commitment from the province will allow police to build on what TAVIS has already accomplished and to plan future deployments.

The mayor has previously disparaged youth outreach initiatives as “hug-a-thug” programs, while the premier has said a balanced approach is needed, with a need to invest in both social programs and police initiatives.

In another development, Ford will meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Toronto on Tuesday to discuss gun crime. (Source: CBC News)

Tuesday May 24, 2011

May 24, 2011 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 24, 2011

Clement won’t rule out program cuts: reports

Treasury Board head Tony Clement said he would consider shutting entire programs and shrinking the public service to help produce a balanced budget by 2014-2015, according to reports.

Clement was named Treasury Board president on Wednesday, taking over from Stockwell Day, and is tasked with finding savings in other government departments to reduce the deficit, which is projected this year to be $29.6 billion.

On Wednesday, Clement acknowledged that a preferred option for saving money would be through attrition, or cutting public service jobs when people leave or retire.

But on Thursday, he elaborated, telling the Globe and Mail and Ottawa Citizen newspapers that cuts could mean entire programs are shuttered. Programs that might have been important 30 years ago may no longer be the best way to spend public money today, he said.

Patty Ducharme, the national executive vice-president for the Public Sector Alliance of Canada, the largest public sector union, said she was not surprised by the news. Ever since the government first talked about reducing staff through attrition, public service unions have said such a plan was not possible or practical.

“I’m dismayed though, given the fact that what this government has been saying leading up to the election was that there would be job reductions, but those reductions would come through attrition and nothing more than attrition,” Ducharme said.

“One day into the job and now he’s telling the truth. Thanks Tony.”

Ducharme said she was at a loss as to which government programs might be targeted. (Source: CBC News)