Toronto

Thursday August 8, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 8, 2019

Has Doug Ford finally put the cronyism scandal behind him?

It is the calm after the summer storm in Premier Doug Ford’s government.

June 27, 2018

Seven weeks ago, Ford shook up his cabinet in a bid to reboot an administration that polls suggest is struggling — only to be immediately rocked by a cronyism scandal.

Dean French, the premier’s chief of staff, quit on June 21, a Friday night resignation that swamped news coverage of the massive switch of a dozen ministers just one day earlier.

While seven French-linked appointees have also stepped down or been forced out in the wake of the controversy, the departure appears to have triggered the reset the cabinet shuffle was meant to signal.

Yes, staffers have left or are leaving shortly — some because they’re seen as too close to the hard-charging ex-chief; others because they had long been fed up working for him.

However, Ford’s dismal poll numbers are fuelling anxiety within his Conservative caucus, suggesting the party has not put its problems behind it.

April 9, 2019

Overall, though, a sense of quiet professionalism has descended upon the premier’s office thanks largely to interim chief Jamie Wallace, a former Queen’s Park press gallery president and Postmedia executive who ran the Sun tabloid chain.

“It’s palpable,” confided one senior Progressive Conservative, like others speaking on background in order to discuss the scene in the premier’s office.

“Jamie’s been around Queen’s Park forever. He understands the place, he treats (the political staff) well, and he’s respectful to (the public servants),” said the Tory insider.

“He knows what he doesn’t know and isn’t afraid to ask someone who does,” said a retired cabinet minister, who has advised Wallace.

March 22, 2019

“You’d be surprised how rare that is in any government,” said the former PC minister, who has worked with Tories and Liberals at Queen’s Park.

Another PC official said Wallace, who worked briefly in government when Ernie Eves was premier, is implementing processes and discipline that were sorely lacking in a freewheeling 14-month-old administration.

“He understands the need for a plan,” said the official, noting things were so chaotic and ad hoc in the government that it at times seemed as if “message planning” was being driven by what happened to be on CP24, the premier’s favourite cable news channel, at the time.

Now that the “French connections” scandal appears to be fading from the headlines, the premier insists “we’re moving forward as a government.” (Hamilton Spectator) 

Tuesday June 11, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 11, 2019

The politics of basketball

The country is roaring for the Raptors as they take on the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals, and politicians are capitalizing on the buzz.

October 16, 2015

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh both attended previous playoff games, and former U.S. president Barack Obama also made a surprise appearance at a game in Toronto.

Former high-level staff members to two prime ministers say there’s all kinds of political and personal reasons for politicians to try to tap into the Raptors’ crowd.

“It’s young, it’s urban, it’s hip, it’s diverse. And so if you’re Justin Trudeau, you dig being around that because you think that’s on brand for you. If you’re Andrew Scheer, being around that demonstrates ‘see I’m not not those things,'” Scott Reid, director of communications to former prime minister Paul Martin, told The House.

But he also cautioned it’s not just about the politics.

“Let’s not lose sight of the possibility that people are fans and occasionally politicians are also people.”

Aside from potential fan-motivations, Dennis Matthews, who served as head of advertising for former prime minister Stephen Harper, said it’s never a bad thing to be connected to a success.

“Politicians like to be associated with things that are winning,” he said.

When asked whether they thought Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would be making an appearance at a finals game, they both thought it’s a possibility — though it would have to be calculated.

Both men said you don’t want a politician at a deciding game (lest a loss result in the notion they somehow cursed the game), and you don’t want them courtside (or seeming out of touch with Canadians).

The diversity of the team and Toronto has factored in to the political appearances at the games, Reid and Matthews agreed.

The team is situated in an election battleground, and the demographics represent votes to be snapped up.

“I’d be looking at that audience base and I’d be saying ‘hey I want these people to to vote for me,'” Matthews said,

Reid agreed, adding how he’d look at those votes for political strategy.

“How do I get those? Because if I do, I am bringing in new votes into the column and I’m bringing them for me.” (CBC) 

 

Friday September 14, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 14, 2018

Why would Trudeau leave it to Mulroney to defend the Charter of Rights?

When one Canadian province decides to opt out of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, you expect prime ministers to speak out strongly.

February 3, 2018

But it probably tells us something that the most spirited words against the use of the “notwithstanding” clause this week have come from a former prime minister, not the current one.

It was Brian Mulroney who came out swinging on Tuesday against the idea of provinces sidestepping the Charter — “how the hell did this thing get in our Constitution?” — while the current prime minister seemed to be trying to say as little as possible.

While Justin Trudeau can be hard line about people adhering to the Charter of Rights when it comes to summer-job applications or candidacy for the Liberal party, it took the prime minister more than a day after Premier Doug Ford’s staggering announcement on Monday to say anything publicly. And when Trudeau did speak on Tuesday, he chose a relatively mild adjective: “disappointing.”

Mulroney, on the other hand, seems to feel fewer constraints, despite a potentially awkward family conflict.

September 7, 2009

In a free-wheeling conversation at the National Library and Archives on Tuesday, Mulroney made abundantly clear that he has never been a fan of this opt-out provision in the Charter — and he’s no more fond of it now that it’s being used in a province where his own daughter, Caroline Mulroney, is the attorney-general.

“Everybody knows I’m not a big fan of it and I never have been,” Mulroney said, while sidestepping any direct criticism of his daughter’s government. “Look, to me, the backbone and the enormous strength of Canada is the independence and the magnificence of our judiciary. … That is a major thrust of our citizenship.”
 
Mulroney said he hasn’t discussed this with his daughter, but she probably already knows how he feels, since it’s also in his memoirs, as “the most abject surrender of federal authority in our history.” 
 
That’s a shot at former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, who put the clause into the Charter to win a deal with the provinces nearly 40 years ago. He’s also the father of the current PM, of course — all this proving that constitutional dramas in Canada are also historical family sagas, minus the lush scenery or film deals. (Source: Toronto Star)