Thursday December 8, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 8, 2022

Red states and blue states; the coming 2024 U.S. Presidential Election

November 17, 2022

Donald J. Trump’s unusually early announcement of a third presidential campaign was aimed in part at clearing the Republican field for 2024, but his first three weeks as a candidate have undercut that goal, highlighting his vulnerabilities and giving considerable ammunition to those in the G.O.P. arguing to turn the page on him.

Since emerging from the November election with a string of humiliating losses to show for his pretensions to be a midterm kingmaker, Mr. Trump has entertained a leading white supremacist and a celebrity antisemite at his South Florida mansion.

He has suggested terminating the Constitution — the one that a president swears to preserve, protect and defend — in furtherance of his long-running lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

May 14, 2021

His business was just convicted on all 17 counts in a tax-fraud case in New York City.

And his handpicked candidate for the Senate in Georgia — Herschel Walker, the football star Mr. Trump employed in a brief stint as a pro football team owner in the 1980s — went down to defeat Tuesday night after a campaign that will be remembered as a string of scandals and self-inflicted wounds.

Extending his streak of self-sabotage, Mr. Trump himself spent Tuesday night entertaining yet another fringe character, posing for thumbs-up photos at his club with an adherent of the QAnon and “Pizzagate” conspiracy theories, ABC News reported.

For Mr. Trump, the losses and embarrassments are rapidly piling up, aggravating longstanding concerns among his fellow Republicans that his 2016 victory may have been an aberration — and that his persistence with a comeback attempt could sink the party’s hopes of reclaiming the White House in 2024. (NYT) 

February 11, 2021

Meanwhile, surveys of voters leaving the polls during mid-term elections, last month, found that two-thirds, including nearly a third of Democrats, said they did not want Mr. Biden to run for president again — though Mr. Biden’s allies have noted those numbers are not predictive of how voters would respond when presented with a choice between the president and a Republican candidate. At a postelection news conference, Mr. Biden insisted that those poll ratings would not affect his decision. He has said that he intends to run but planned to discuss the race with his family over the holidays and could announce a decision early next year.

David Axelrod, who served as chief strategist for President Barack Obama, said the midterm elections had given Mr. Biden “a little giddyup in his step.” As for a run for a second term, Mr. Axelrod said, “If he were 60 and not 80, there would be absolutely no doubt.” (NYT) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro … These sped up clips are posted to encourage others to be creative, to take advantage of the technology many of us already have and to use it to produce satire. Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comforted.

Wednesday December 7, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday December 7, 2022

Get’em while you can: Hamilton Christmas tree hunters scrambling amid shortage

Don’t dally, Christmas tree hunters: some local farms are already out of seasonal evergreens amid a chronic shortage exacerbated by inflation and extreme weather.

December 4, 2021

In the Hamilton area, several tree farms are warning their fields could be bare by next weekend — while a few are already sold out or not opening at all.

Jim Watson is selling only pre-cut evergreens this year — and only on weekends — because a series of “terrible, dry summers” wiped out fields of trees that might otherwise be open for the U-cut crowd.

But that didn’t stop eager tree hunters from flooding his Mount Hope farm the day it opened Nov. 26. “People are really trying to get a tree early,” Watson said, adding he would be surprised if he has enough pre-cut fir, spruce and pine to stay open beyond the Dec. 10 weekend.

Rinas Christmas Trees north of Rockton, meanwhile, alerted customers online they expected Dec. 3 to be the last day the farm would be open due to dwindling stock.

Hepburn Christmas Trees near Waterdown opted against opening for tree sales at all this year because their spiky seasonal crop needs “extra time to grow up.” (They’re still selling winter “greens” like wreathes.)

December 10, 2021

But Julie Hepburn marvelled at the sheer number of calls she fielded in the lead-up to the season. “I was getting calls in October asking when we were opening up for cut-your-own visits,” she said. “That kind of floored me.”

The angst over the apparent tree shortage has prompted Marek Durcak to pioneer a bold marketing slogan for his Hamilton-Burlington Christmas tree business: “We will never run out of trees.”

“People are worried because a lot of places ran out (of trees) so early last year,” said the owner of The Perfect Christmas Tree, which sells from a farm location in Flamborough as well as a parking lot near the Dairy Queen on Plains Road in Aldershot.

Durcak said he has limited cut-your-own trees at his 5th Concession Road farm, but he is otherwise relying on trucked-in trees from Nova Scotia to backstop his ambitious “never run out” pledge.

In general, Christmas trees are more scarce — and 10 to 15 per cent more expensive — across Ontario this year, said Shirley Brennan, executive director of the Canadian Christmas Tree Growers Association. (In Hamilton this year, U-cut and pre-cut local trees advertised online range from $58 to more than $115, depending on size and species.)

Brennan blames the shortage on a mix of factors like extreme weather woes, inflation and a shrinking number of both tree farms and farmers. (The Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Tuesday December 6, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 6, 2022

Pierre Poilievre’s self-imposed media vacuum is about to face its first test

October 20, 2022

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre believes the voters whose support he needs to lead his party to government in the next federal election will not be reached via the mainstream media.

His strategy is about to be tested.

On Dec. 12, the voters of the GTA riding of Mississauga-Lakeshore will be going to the polls to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Liberal MP Sven Spengemann last spring.

Mississauga-Lakeshore is the kind of riding the Conservatives tend to win when they are doing well nationally. Indeed, if Poilievre is going to finish first in the next federal election, it will be because suburban ridings such as the one in play this month will have switched from the Liberals to his party’s column.

The Conservatives last held this GTA seat in 2011. That was the year Stephen Harper finally secured a majority government. But the party has remained competitive in the riding throughout the Trudeau era. In the last three general elections, the Conservatives won more than 36 per cent of the vote.

September 13, 2022

Of course, the Liberals are not about to give up a GTA seat without a fight. For the first byelection of Justin Trudeau’s third term, his team has drafted former Ontario finance minister Charles Sousa as its candidate.

Still, all things considered, Poilievre’s first electoral test is taking place in a winnable riding for the Conservatives, especially at a time when the Liberals are vulnerable on the economic front.

In Mississauga-Lakeshore, as in other regions of the country, there are still quite a few voters who have yet to get to know Poilievre. The jury is still out in many quarters as to whether he is a more palatable alternative to Trudeau than his two predecessors.

But unless those voters fit into one of the niche constituencies the Conservative leader is targeting for support, they should not count on him to help them fill in the blanks about his political persona.

It is not that Poilievre and his team have not been campaigning hard in the byelection. On the contrary, the social media feed of Conservative candidate Ron Chhinzer — a police officer — is replete with photographs featuring some of the party’s leading MPs pounding the pavement on his behalf.

August 26, 2022

Poilievre himself spent last weekend doing a variety of events in the GTA. He has touched base with many of the riding’s diverse communities, attending events with his candidate.

He also boasted about holding a rare news conference in Toronto. But if that’s the first you’ve heard of it, that’s because the city’s major media outlets, be they print, radio or TV, were not invited. True to his belief about the mainstream media, Poilievre is campaigning off its radar.

The outcome of the Dec. 12 vote will not alter the dynamics in the House of Commons, but it will impact the morale of the Liberal and Conservative caucuses.

The byelection vote comes on the heels of a fall that has found both main parties at a loss to decisively move the needle of voting intentions their way.

The fall fiscal update came and went without generating much of a ripple in public opinion.

The prime minister’s recent appearance at the inquiry into his use of the Emergencies Act to end the so-called “Freedom Convoy” occupation of Ottawa last winter elicited mostly positive reviews.

But based on polling done by Abacus over the past week, the event did not really register with most voters.

June 26, 2019

By the same token, Liberal hopes that the testimony heard over the course of the commission’s hearings would make a dent in the support of the convoy-friendly Conservative leader do not seem to have panned out.

But the Conservatives, similarly, failed to build on whatever momentum their new leader had coming out of his first-ballot leadership victory in September.

Since then, Poilievre has increasingly fallen off the media radar.

For that, he has his own communications strategy to blame.

Where his predecessors mostly found the parliamentary press to be an asset to amplify their critique of the government of the day and keep them in the public eye, this Conservative leader wears his disdain for its daily coverage on his sleeve.

In this self-imposed vacuum, some of Poilievre’s top provincial allies have been grabbing headlines this fall, with moves like Ontario’s aborted flirt with the notwithstanding clause and the shambolic Alberta sovereignty bill that would make any serious candidate for the job of prime minister run for cover.

By taking himself out of the mainstream media mix, Poilievre has left centre stage to his fellow Conservative travellers at Queen’s Park, in Edmonton and in other provincial capitals. The Dec. 12 vote will provide some indication as to whether that is the recipe for electoral success he believes it is. (The Toronto Star)

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro … These sped up clips are posted to encourage others to be creative, to take advantage of the technology many of us already have and to use it to produce satire. Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comforted.

 

Saturday December 3, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday December 3, 2022

How Canada can build on World Cup run ahead of 2026 cycle

June 6, 2015

There were still plenty of valuable lessons for Canada despite the losses, though, and Les Rouges can apply those “learnings” – as coach John Herdman refers to them – when the country co-hosts the 2026 World Cup.

The Canadian men’s national team made history, just not enough of it.

As breathtaking as the team’s performances were in various stages, Canada still suffered defeat in all three games. It’s difficult to draw sweeping conclusions based on small sample sizes in tournament settings, let alone in a nation’s first men’s World Cup in 36 years.

The underlying numbers highlight Canada’s misfortune – it had the best expected goal (xG) difference in Group F, per FBRef.com. Therein lies the fun of a three-game group stage in a high-variance sport.

There were still plenty of valuable lessons for Canada despite the losses, though, and Les Rouges can apply those “learnings” – as coach John Herdman refers to them – when the country co-hosts the 2026 World Cup.

November 24, 2022

Canada will be expected to show significant progression in three-and-a-half years. In order for that to occur, there are a few factors to consider.

Here is how Canada can build on this World Cup run to bounce back in 2026:

Have more ‘Tier 1’ one players: Back in 2019, Herdman received backlash for referring to his defence as ‘Tier 3’ in a live television interview.

“If you put (the squad) on paper, it’s a Tier 3 back four, and a Tier 1 front four in Concacaf,” Herdman said at the time. “I’ve got a back four that doesn’t get regular minutes, that are young and haven’t really made their mark on the international, or even national, domestic stage.”

In hindsight, those weren’t outlandish comments. Canada’s defence was among the best in World Cup qualifying. But it also overachieved its xG conceded by five goals, mainly due to stellar goalkeeping from Milan Borjan.

Once Canada faced top opposition (more on that later), it was punished for every little mistake, from

February 18, 2022

Borjan’s blunders or the defence’s aerial weaknesses against Morocco to not tracking runners in the 4-1 defeat to Croatia.

Croatia has 19 “Tier 1” players who are either playing in Europe’s top-five leagues or for big Portuguese, Dutch or Belgian clubs that are regular participants in the UEFA Champions League. Belgium has 21. Morocco, the Group F winners, has 14.

Canada has six. Only seven nations have fewer at this World Cup and only one – Australia – advanced to the round of 16.

Face marquee opponents: Canada was achieving firsts before the World Cup. The Uruguay friendly in September was the first South American opponent for the men’s team in eight years.

The Canadians hadn’t even squared off with a non-Concacaf opponent in four years – Iceland’s B team in January 2020 aside – until meeting Qatar a few days before the Uruguay match.

March 3, 2010

Belgium was the first time Canada faced a top-10 team in the FIFA rankings in more than a decade. Nations League makes it tougher to arrange friendlies with those countries, but this is where reaching the World Cup unlocks new possibilities.

Improve youth programs: This year’s crop of under-20 players was full of potential. Unfortunately, they failed to qualify for the U-20 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics by bowing out of the Concacaf U-20 Championship in the round of 16 to Guatemala.

Optimism was high after a pair of April friendlies against Costa Rica’s U-20s. Then, out of nowhere, the players looked shackled.

Whether it’s coaching or overall funding – and there’s more than $10.5 million on the way, minus the players’ cut – the youth programs need more focus. (City News) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro … These sped up clips are posted to encourage others to be creative, to take advantage of the technology many of us already have and to use it to produce satire. Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comforted.

 

Friday December 2, 2022

December 2, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 2, 2022

‘We’ve never seen anything like this’: Is Alberta’s new Sovereignty Act actually legal?

At long last, Danielle Smith’s Alberta government has revealed its long-awaited bill to push back against Ottawa — and grant the provincial cabinet sweeping new powers in the process — but so far, there are arguably more questions than answers.

October 14, 2022

Top of the list: Is this legal?

So far, what has been known as the Sovereignty Act seems to have sparked general confusion.

Smith had made a law — intended to hit back against the federal government on behalf of what she argues is an unfairly treated Alberta — a flagship promise of her leadership campaign, which saw her replace Jason Kenney as the leader of the United Conservative Party and become Alberta premier in October.

“We are finally telling the federal government ‘no more,’” Smith said Tuesday, as the bill was unveiled at the beginning of a new legislative session.

In some ways, the bill had been softened since originally floated. Perhaps to dispel the whiff of separatist sentiment, its title had been elongated to the “Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act,” and an earlier proposal to ignore court rulings the province disagreed with had been jettisoned.

The bill does seem to do two things, however: It would let the Alberta legislature pass motions declaring a federal law or policy unconstitutional or otherwise harmful to the province. Then, in a twist that seems to have surprised politics-watchers, that motion would give cabinet the “extraordinary” power to change provincial legislation if needed to otherwise fight back.

Taken together, critics say, this process raises eyebrows, because it would seem to put Alberta in charge of deciding what is constitutional — a role typically played by the courts — and it would concentrate democratic power in the hands of a small group of politicians who don’t have to necessarily listen to the wider elected legislature.

February 21, 2015

“We’ve never seen anything like this from any Canadian province,” said Lisa Young, a professor of political science at the University of Calgary.

Further raising questions about the readiness of the legislation, the government issued a statement Wednesday, less than a day after the bill was introduced, seeking to dispel some of the criticism already gaining traction.

“In no way does (the act) permit cabinet to unilaterally amend legislation without those amendments being first authorized by the legislative assembly,” the statement said. In other words, the legislature must first give cabinet the green light and some guidance before it heads off to start tweaking laws.

The bill itself stresses that “nothing in this Act is to be construed as authorizing any order that would be contrary to the Constitution.”

But those assurances aside, critics say it remains unclear whether the legislature will have to approve every word and line of a potential amendment, or whether it would just be giving cabinet a blank cheque to make any adjustments to a particular provincial law in response to federal government action.

Henry VIII

At the heart of the issue is the risk of letting an executive go around the legislature, said University of Alberta law professor Eric Adams. These laws are known as Henry VIII clauses, named for the monarch famously unbothered by the rules that would have otherwise prevented him from marrying his six wives. (“It’s not a compliment,” Adams notes.) (The Toronto Star) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro … These sped up clips are posted to encourage others to be creative, to take advantage of the technology many of us already have and to use it to produce satire. Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comforted.