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Tim Hudak

The 2018 Ontario Election

May 9, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

The Writ Drops

The coming provincial election promises to be an interesting one. At Queen’s Park, Premier Kathleen Wynne has controlled the levers of an unpopular government since 2013, that, combined with 10 years of Dalton McGuinty’s tenure, adds up to 15 years of rule by Ontario Liberals. The projected net debt is at an all time high of $325 billion (compared with $138 billion when Liberals assumed power in 2003). The debt to GDP ratio is approaching 40%. Hydro costs have ballooned under the Liberals, and despite efforts to tackle emergency ward wait times, hospitals continue to be overcrowded. Falling grades are indicating a decline in Ontario’s education, and transit projects aren’t keeping pace with congested 400 series highways. The combined corruption storms resulting from the McGuinty years regarding gas plant emails, and the Sudbury by-election bribery case haven’t helped matters for the current Liberal leader.

The unpopularity problem

The election results of 2014 clearly showed that voters were intent on forgiving the Liberals for their many misdeeds and confident its new leader Kathleen Wynne would build the trust and good government that had been lost in the dying years of McGuinty’s reign. Ontario voters even rewarded the new leader with a majority victory in 2014, after slapping the previous one down with a slim minority. This is often forgotten in the current #metoo climate when supporters of Kathleen Wynne deal the misogyny and homophobe cards to explain her dreary popularity numbers. 

Polls consistently show that voters are done with Kathleen Wynne (ranked as the least popular Premier in Canada), and indeed the Liberal government in Ontario. To answer this, the Liberal Party platform is chock-a-block full of big spending progressive (NDPesque) promises for child care, health care, senior support, and dental and pharmacare. Despite the efforts, the mood among comment boards, call-in shows, and letters to the editor, seem to be very much about “throwing the bums out”. If, at this point the Liberal’s defeat is quite certain, then the question of who wins and by how much remains to be answered.

The numbers problem

Andrea Horwath enters her 3rd provincial election leading the NDP with poll numbers matching the governing Liberals. After attempting to make her party more palatable to centrist and Liberal Party voters in 2014, while outraging the most leftie members in the process, she has steered the party back to its traditional NDP position with campaign promises embracing free dental care, free tuition, and undoing Kathleen Wynne’s privatization of Hydro.

The populism problem

As big spending platforms rule the day on the left with the Liberals and NDP, the Doug Ford PCs are the very opposite. Even with no platform to run on the Tories are banking on poll numbers that are 15% plus above the numbers of either competitor. They are assumed to be the winning player in the game to take power back, to trumpet fiscal prudence, reining in spending, cutting away public services, and doling out incentives to business’ and wealthy folk.

Hastily assuming the leadership of the PCs beset by scandal and malaise under Patrick Brown, Doug Ford seems to have used populist energy to recharge a party lacking confidence in direction. With new leadership comes learning, and based on the amount of sloganeering dished out by Doug Ford, and an increasingly obvious dearth in policy expertise, or even knowledge (i.e.: how a bill becomes law), it’s becoming evident by the day that the presumptive Premier requires a steep learning curve to adequately prepare himself for the top job. It’s merely a matter of time before we find out if Doug Ford just managed to be the right person at the right time, no matter how uninformed he proves himself to be.

At this point there’s no betting on who will be in charge at the pink palace after June 7, 2018. The PCs may now be riding high in the polls, but its leader is just one gaffe away from throwing the party’s support away in the same way John Tory did with faith based schools, or Tim Hudak did with his one million jobs gimmick. What is predictable about the coming 4 weeks are polls that will turn out to be way off reality. Nothing can really forecast how strategic voting will factor on election day, not to mention, the no shows: declining participation of the electorate, which has been dropping with each ballot, and was below 50% in 2014.  There’s no predicting the outcome of this election. It really is anyone’s game. 

1995 – 2014 Election retrospective

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January 15, 2014
January 15, 2014
2014
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2011
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2007
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2014 Ontario Election (Click Here)
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Posted in: Ontario Tagged: 2018, Andrea Horwath, commentary, Dalton McGuinty, Doug Ford, election, gallery, John Tory, Kathleen Wynne, Ontario, retrospective, Tim Hudak

Saturday May 9, 2015

May 8, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Saturday May 9, 2015 Conservative MP Patrick Brown ahead in Tory leadership vote in Hamilton, says party official  As the Progressive Conservative party holds its second vote for its members May 7 on who will be their next leader, in Hamilton, Conservative MP Patrick Brown appears to be in the lead, say party sources. After the May 3 vote, Brown collected 67 per cent of the votes in all four of HamiltonÕs ridings: Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, Ancaster-Flamborough-Dundas-Westdale, Hamilton Mountain, and Hamilton Centre. Party sources say Brown, who represents Barrie in the House of Commons, is also leading Òacross the provinceÓ after the first ballot over Whitby-Oshawa MPP Christine Elliott. BrownÕs campaign officials stated in a May 3 release theyÕre Òexpectations were exceededÓ with the ÒthousandsÓ of people who turned out to vote for Brown. When asked to comment on BrownÕs lead, ElliottÕs spokesperson, Marie Prentice referred to ElliottÕs statement May 3 referring to the Òtens of thousands of Elliott supporters (that) came out to the polls in every riding and put Elliott on the path to victory.Ó Elliott cited a recent poll of party members who are eligible to vote revealing 58 per cent of them would vote for her as leader. BrownÕs campaign reported in March that they had sold over 40,000 party memberships, doubling the number of ElliottÕs memberships that were sold. Elliott has said she has Òwide supportÓ across the province. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5606787-conservative-mp-patrick-brown-ahead-in-tory-leadership-vote-in-hamilton-says-party-official/ Ontario, PC, Progressive Conservative, Party, leadership, convention, Tim Hudak, Patrick Brown, Christine Elliott, John Tory, leader

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 9, 2015

Conservative MP Patrick Brown ahead in Tory leadership vote in Hamilton, says party official

As the Progressive Conservative party holds its second vote for its members May 7 on who will be their next leader, in Hamilton, Conservative MP Patrick Brown appears to be in the lead, say party sources.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014After the May 3 vote, Brown collected 67 per cent of the votes in all four of Hamilton’s ridings: Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, Ancaster-Flamborough-Dundas-Westdale, Hamilton Mountain, and Hamilton Centre.

Party sources say Brown, who represents Barrie in the House of Commons, is also leading “across the province” after the first ballot over Whitby-Oshawa MPP Christine Elliott.

Brown’s campaign officials stated in a May 3 release they’re “expectations were exceeded” with the “thousands” of people who turned out to vote for Brown.

When asked to comment on Brown’s lead, Elliott’s spokesperson, Marie Prentice referred to Elliott’s statement May 3 referring to the “tens of thousands of Elliott supporters (that) came out to the polls in every riding and put Elliott on the path to victory.”

Elliott cited a recent poll of party members who are eligible to vote revealing 58 per cent of them would vote for her as leader.

Brown’s campaign reported in March that they had sold over 40,000 party memberships, doubling the number of Elliott’s memberships that were sold. Elliott has said she has “wide support” across the province. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: Christine Elliott, convention, John Tory, leader, leadership, Ontario, party, Patrick Brown, PC, Progressive Conservative, Tim Hudak

Graeme’s Gallery 2014: Ontario

December 29, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

The third of four Graeme Galleries (getting tired yet?)…Graeme Gallery 2014 - Ontario

January 15, 2014
January 15, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
March 5, 2014
March 5, 2014
March 27, 2014
March 27, 2014
April 21, 2014
April 21, 2014
2014
2014
Friday, June 26, 2014
July 29, 2014
July 29, 2014
2014
2014
Tuesday April 8, 2014
Thursday May 1, 2014
Friday July 11, 2014
December 11, 2014
December 11, 2014
2014
2014
December 13, 2013
December 13, 2013
2014
2014
Thursday July 3, 2014

Coming tomorrow: Graeme Galleries, Canada

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: 2014, Andrea Horwath, Budget, Distracted Driving, Graeme Gallery, Kathleen Wynne, Ontario, Queen's Park, texting, Tim Hudak, Year in review, year-end review

Thursday June 12, 2014 – Election day in Ontario

June 12, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

 

Election Draft CartoonThursday June 12, 2014

Election day in Ontario – LIBERAL MAJORITY

For SaleDespite being hounded on both sides by rivals who harped on Liberal government scandals during the longer-than-normal campaign, Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne has steered her party to a majority and a commanding electoral victory, based largely on major gains in the Toronto area, while PC Leader Tim Hudak declared he is resigning.

With all ridings reporting, Liberals were elected or leading in 58 constituencies to 27 for the Progressive Conservatives and 22 for the NDP.

The strong Liberal showing had its roots in the Greater Toronto Area, where eight seats are changing hands — seven of those going to the Liberals. Overall, the results mean the Liberals will be even more concentrated in the GTA.

The Liberals also picked up seats from the Tories in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, Barrie andNorthumberland, while they only lost two: Sudbury and Windsor West.  

The outcome was also slightly rosier for the NDP under Leader AndreaHorwath, who was the first of the major party leaders to be declared elected in their home riding tonight. The NDP vote share was at 24.1 per cent, up 1.4 points from the 2011 campaign. (Source: CBC News)

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Added at 9pm on election night…

Because the polls close at 9pm it’s always a major race for newspapers to report the results and get great coverage in an extremely short span of time. Consider that the presses start running at midnight giving reporters, columnists, copy editors, photographers, and of course, editorial cartoonists a very small window of time to the news out. A great deal of planning goes into this evening, and it often entails late nights, frenzied phone calls, and many curve balls. Polls have played an important part to media as they use them as a guide to determine how this night will turn out.

But not this night.

The polls are showing us that the gaps between all the 3 main parties are incredibly close. So close, that it is very difficult to figure out how the popular vote will translate into a seat count. Well we’ll know soon enough.

Never before have I found myself drawing 5 different cartoons for one election.

The most generic one is one that illustrates the status quo return to Liberal government.

Election Draft Cartoon

The next likely one is a PC minority.

Election Draft Cartoon

The chances of the NDP winning a minority is slim in my mind.

Election Draft Cartoon

Even unlikelier is the chance I think we’ll see a majority government of any party. But here’s the one I drew in case the PC’s win:

Election Draft Cartoon

Here’s my favourite cartoon. The Liberal Majority cartoon which I’m guessing will be the least likely scenario. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking.

Election Draft Cartoon

What I didn’t draw is a cartoon in the event Andrea Horwath is crowned Ontario’s new Premier tonight. That just can’t happen on election night. Unfortunately, crazy things do happen on election night. Let’s see what happens.

[slideshow_deploy id=’824’]

TWO DECADES of DRAWING ONTARIO ELECTIONS


LETTERS to the EDITOR

Wynne is no Maleficent

 Your editorial cartoon depicting Kathleen Wynne as Maleficent was irresponsible and unfair, especially given the tone of the editorial which appeared beneath it. Wynne’s success was due in part to her accessibility, openness and likeability. If there was a hint of the potentially nasty in this campaign it came from Tim Hudak and co., who would have pit some among us against others. They lost and rightfully so.

 Paul T. Murphy, Grimsby, Jun 17, 2014 (Source)


‘Malwynnecent’ cartoon right on point

With respect to the letter on June 16regarding the “Malwynnecent” cartoon in the June 13 Spec, I found the cartoon hilarious, provocative, clever, and right on point. Isn’t that what an editorial cartoon is supposed to be? Further, the letter writer clearly didn’t see the movie or he would have understood that Maleficent was ultimately a good fairy who had been betrayed, and ultimately protected and nurtured Princess Aurora. Hardly an attack on the premier.

 Howard Eisenberg, Hamilton, Jun 18, 2014 (Source)


SOCIAL MEDIA

This cartoon was posted to National Newswatch.

We’re so enjoying Graeme MacKay’s editorial cartoon of Wynne http://t.co/7zgGgVkQJm pic.twitter.com/Sb0uPmIGnI

— Hamilton Spectator (@TheSpec) June 13, 2014


 

Post by Dalton McGuinty: Ontario, up yours!

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: Andrea Horwath, Kathleen Wynne, Malificent, Ontario, Ontario Election 2014, print sale, Tim Hudak

Friday, June 6, 2014

June 6, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Saturday, June 7, 2014What Are Your Top Reasons For Voting?

ADD YOUR LIST IN THE COMMENT BOX BELOW

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, June 7, 2014

Saturday June 7, 2014Can’t stand any of them? Are you in a non-swing riding where you know marking an x won’t really mean anything? You can DECLINE YOUR VOTE.

The 41st Ontario general election will be held on June 12, 2014. It was ordered to take place by Lieutenant Governor David Onley on May 2, 2014. The decision came upon the recommendation of Premier Kathleen Wynne after Ontario New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath announced that the NDP, whose support was critical to the survival of the Ontario Liberal Party’s minority government in the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario, would vote against the Liberals’ proposed budget. (Source)

10 best reasons to vote this election

 1. Pick your billion-dollar transportation plan

 The Liberals will pay for rapid transit in Hamilton, but won’t utter the letters L-R-T. The New Democrats will fund light rail, but won’t say how. And the Tories, well, they’ll scrap it all in favour of a contentious mid-peninsula highway past the airport.

 2. Class size conundrum

 The Progressive Conservatives plan to increase class sizes for children of all ages, while at the same time cutting teachers and school staff. The consequence is more concentrated classrooms, which could be challenging for your kids. But the party will bring back the old math curriculum so your kids aren’t so dependant on calculators.

 3. Affordable housing

 More than 5,000 people are waiting for affordable housing in Hamilton, and the Liberals are the only ones with a platform to fix it. But the party’s commitments still fall desperately short of the need for more funding, housing stock and capital repairs.

 4. Crumbling roads and bridges

 The city has a $2-billion backlog on needed repairs to bridges, roads and other infrastructure and all it takes is a quick drive down Burlington Street to prove it. The Grits and the New Democrats have both pledged $29 billion to transportation over the next decade, but it’s not clear how much of that could end up on our city streets.

 5. Pension promises

 The centrepiece of the Liberal election platform is the creation of a provincial pension plan that would double the retirement income of recipients — a potential boon for the more than 3 million Ontario workers who haven’t saved enough. Is it the perfect solution or, as Ontario Tory Leader Tim Hudak put it, a “job-killing payroll tax”?

 6. Scandals

 From cancelled gas plants to a massive research bailout, Kathleen Wynne and her Liberals have been plagued by scandals on the campaign trail — and her political foes warn it’s not the end of it. This is your chance to hold the Grits accountable.

 7. 100,000 pink slips

Hudak says he’ll cut 100,000 public sector jobs and then create a million more jobs. His math has been widely criticized. Do you believe in a job-creation tax credit or a jobs and prosperity fund? On Thursday, you can choose your preferred plan — but you might want to brush up on your arithmetic before you cast your vote.

8. Think of those in need

 The Liberals and New Democrats promise to tackle poverty through initiatives such as student nutrition programs, child health and dental benefits, and higher wages for the lowest earners. The PCs also support boosting the minimum wage. These steps would benefit Hamiltonians — one in five of whom live below the poverty line — but they still fall short of a “living wage.”

9. School closures

 The Grits have offered incentives to close half-empty schools, while the New Democrats promise cash to keep them open. The Green party? It’ll create a single school system in Ontario, saving more than $1 billion a year — and, potentially, your neighbourhood school.

10. Democracy

 It’s been 70 years since D-Day when more than 350 Canadian soldiers died fighting for our freedom and democratic rights. Honour their ultimate sacrifice by getting to the polls. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

CBC Ontario Votes

CTV Election 2014

Spec Votes 2014

SOCIAL MEDIA

This cartoon appeared on National Newswatch, and Yahoo Canada News.

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: Andrea Horwath, auto insurance, Corporate tax rates, Dalton McGuinty, debt, Downloading, education, eHealth, electricity, Gas Plant Scandal, Gax Tax, health, hydro, Illustration, Kathleen Wynne, leadership, Mike Harris, Minimum wage, OLG, Ontario, Ontario Election 2014, Ornge, pension, Public Service, research, Social services, Tim Hudak, Transit, Tuition, University, wages
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This website contains satirical commentaries of current events going back several decades. Some readers may not share this sense of humour nor the opinions expressed by the artist. To understand editorial cartoons it is important to understand their effectiveness as a counterweight to power. It is presumed readers approach satire with a broad minded foundation and healthy knowledge of objective facts of the subjects depicted.

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