Wednesday, March 12, 2014

March 12, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, March 12, 2014

South Korea trade deal could hurt auto industry, Ontario warns

Prime Minister Stephen Harper failed to ensure “sufficient safeguards” to protect the domestic auto industry in his much-ballyhooed trade deal with Korea, warns Ontario’s trade minister.

While the province welcomes liberalized trading, concerns linger that Harper did not do enough to protect the key automotive sector, said Eric Hoskins, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment Eric Hoskins.

To bolster the historic accord, the Ontario government wants a “task force to monitor the implementation of this agreement” over the next year or so.

“The trade deal announced . . . by the federal government between Canada and South Korea contains positive measures that will open new markets to a variety of industries, particularly the agriculture and food processing sectors, and we welcome these positive measures,” Hoskins said in a statement released Tuesday.

“Our government remains very concerned regarding the potential for serious negative impacts this agreement could have on Ontario’s auto sector and we have expressed this concern throughout the negotiation process,” he said.

“The province and the auto sector have repeatedly expressed that without sufficient safeguards, this agreement creates an unequal playing field between South Korean and Canadian car manufacturers.”

Hoskins complained Harper did not ensure “the longest-possible phase-out period for Canada’s tariff on imports of South Korea passenger vehicles.”

“We have concerns that the period accepted by the federal government will not provide our sector with sufficient time needed to adjust to the agreement,” the minister said.

Equally problematic is that Ottawa wasn’t as successful as Washington was in its 2012 trade accord with Seoul.

“I am . . . disappointed that the federal government, despite our repeated requests, was unable to secure the same ‘snapback provision’ that the U.S. negotiated through its deal with South Korea,” said Hoskins.

“Such a provision would have allowed Canada to reintroduce auto tariffs in the event South Korea imposes unfair non-tariff barriers that make it harder for Canadian autos to compete in the South Korean market.”

With some 93,000 direct auto jobs and five times as many ancillary posts at stake, Queen’s Park wants a panel of provincial, federal, and auto industry officials to monitor how the Korea pact is being implemented. (Continued: Toronto Star)

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

February 18, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Stephen Harper heads to Mexico for Three Amigos meeting

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to discuss plans for new visa arrangements when he meets with his U.S. and Mexican counterparts in Mexico tomorrow and Wednesday for the so-called Three Amigos summit.

Harper, U.S. President Barack Obama, and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto are scheduled for three-way talks covering areas of mutual interest. Harper arrived in Mexico Monday night.

Three Amigos 2005

At the top of the agenda for Mexico are Canada’s visa requirements for Mexican visitors. While the prime minister isn’t expected to drop those barriers immediately, there may be some easing of the application process.

There are hopes that Canada and Mexico may agree sometime soon on “Nexus-style” travel permits that would allow legitimate travellers to visit participating countries with fewer restrictions.

Trade Minister Ed Fast, who is also travelling on Harper’s plane, has been authorized by the federal cabinet to sign an expanded airline access agreement with Mexico, The Canadian Press reported today.

That agreement would allow Mexican airlines greater access to more cities, and Canadians more direct flights to Mexico.

The expanded air access would likely be a precursor to the Conservative government eventually lifting the controversial visa it slapped on Mexican travellers in 2009 to combat an increase of bogus asylum seekers. Harper isn’t expected to announce a lifting of the visa this week, but the two countries are hopeful the issue can be ironed out in the coming months.

Mexico is said to be very frustrated with Canada’s refusal to drop visa restrictions for Mexicans visiting Canada.

“It’s an insult to the ‘new Mexico,'” Carlo Dade, director of the Canada West Foundation’s Director of the Centre for Trade & Investment Policy, told CBC News.

“It’s also against competitiveness. This isn’t about Canada and Mexico. This is about North American competitiveness.”

Harper could be in for disappointment, too, as Obama is unlikely to give him his long-awaited decision on the Keystone XL pipeline. (Source: CBC News)

Saturday, October 19, 2013

October 18, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, October 19, 2013

Canada-Europe free trade deal concluded, ratification two years off

Canada and the European Union have agreed to free the movement of goods, services, investment and labour with a pact-in-principle that challenges Canadian business to expand overseas.

“This is a big deal; this is the biggest deal Canada has ever made. Indeed, it is a historical achievement,” said Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The prime minister announced the agreement-in-principle Friday with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels.

But the text of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement or CETA remains a confidential document that still requires “drafting and fine tuning,” a Canadian official said in Brussels on condition he not be identified.

It could be another 18 to 24 months before final European approval is given, and Canada will likely proceed along a similar time frame, officials say.

Ottawa instead released a 44-page overview and other summary documents. The material is largely silent on what Canada had to cede to Europe, especially in sectors such as dairy and patent protection for pharmaceuticals.

The dairy sector’s farmers immediately accused the government of a “giveaway,” and the generic drug industry warned that health-care costs will rise.

Harper addressed their concerns head on, acknowledging there might be some pain. But he defended the deal as “excellent” for Canada in the long-term, and one that would be good for families looking for cheaper products and business seeking new opportunities in a huge market. (Source: CTV News)

Thursday May 23, 2013

May 23, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 23, 2013

Harper in Peru

Prime Minister Stephen Harper insisted Thursday that he did not know about – nor was asked to sign off on – the arrangement that saw his chief of staff cut a personal cheque for $90,000 to Sen. Mike Duffy.

Harper, currently on a trade mission in South America, took questions on the Senate expenses scandal for the first time since news emerged about the controversial cheque written by his former right-hand man.

I did not know … (and) I was not consulted, “Harper said, the Peruvian president standing at his side.

“I was not asked to sign off on any such thing, and had I been consulted or known, I would not have agreed with it, and it is obviously for those reasons that I accepted Mr. Wright’s resignation.”

Harper said he learned about the arrangement the same way Canadians did: through media reports. At that point, “I immediately asked that that information be released publicly,” he said.

He also described himself as “sorry,” “frustrated” and “extremely angry” about the whole mess, which has engulfed his government and threatens its carefully cultivated image as a pillar of accountability and sound financial management.

The payment allowed Duffy to stop co-operating with an external audit of his expenses – an audit that has since been referred back to the same Senate committee that has already reviewed its so-far-incomplete findings.

The affair is also under investigation by the federal ethics commissioner. (Source: iPolitics)

[slideshow_deploy id=’1787′]

January 16, 2007

January 16, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

Again I find myself the only cartoonist who felt it necessary to draw on something that has been completely ignored by everyone else: the Premier’s trade mission to India. The 17 day trip began last week and includes a 100-member Ontario government delegation with hopes of cashing in on the country’s lucrative film industry and becoming a self-styled “Bollywood North,” as Dalton McGuinty himself described it. To me it smells an awful lot like the old Chretien days, when the old Prime Minister would gladhand his way through countries like China and India with high hopes of bringing foreign investment to Canada. It’s debateable how effective these junkets are. For now let Dalton be the star of his own cheesy show.

Here’s some photos from the trip thus far. I’d love to see some cartoonist out there draw something on this rather comical journey by Ontario’s Premier.

By the Numbers

I was curious to find out how frequently Dalton McGuinty appears in cartoons so I did a little tabulation of cartoons I’ve drawn of him over the past 12 months. Through a simple defined search of my syndicate I discovered I drew 16 cartoons of him in 2006. Sue Dewar of the Ottawa Sun actually beat me by drawing 20. This led me to wonder which politician was drawn the most last year among all the artists represented through Artizans. Here’s the ranking:

Stephen Harper — 422
Ralph Klein — 89
Paul Martin — 87
Dalton McGuinty — 48
Jack Layton — 45
Michael Ignatieff — 42
Rodney MacDonald — 35
Peter MacKay — 34
Stephane Dion — 34
David Emerson — 32
Belinda Stronach –28
Rona Ambrose — 27
Bob Rae — 23
Gordon Campbell — 23
Gilles Duceppe — 20
Jim Flaherty — 17
Jean Chretien — 15
Scott Brison — 14
Bill Graham — 9
Frank McKenna — 9
Joe Volpe — 9
Ken Dryden — 7
Ed Stelmach
Hedy Fry — 6
Gerard Kennedy — 4
Jean Charest — 4
Vic Toews — 4
John Baird — 2
Gary Doer — 1
Lorne Calvert, Martha Hall Findlay, Danny Williams — 0