Author: Graeme MacKay

Saturday October 1, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 1, 2022

Hamilton mayoral candidates Horwath, Loomis trade barbs on debate stage

With less than a month before Hamilton chooses its next mayor, two main contenders have slugged it out on the debate stage while coronavirus sidelined a third.

September 17, 2022

Candidates Andrea Horwath and Keanin Loomis traded blows during a 90-minute televised debate, presented by Cable 14 and The Spectator, at the Westdale theatre Tuesday night ahead of the Oct. 24 election.

With rival Bob Bratina at home with COVID-19, the two hopefuls trumpeted their leadership qualities and challenged each other’s ability to lead the city.

Horwath aimed to burnish her image as a lifelong hometown fighter and a seasoned political veteran with knowledge of the inner workings of government.

“I really do have a handle on what this city’s all about and I really do believe that we have our best days ahead of us as a city,” the former Ontario NDP leader said in her opening pitch.

Loomis, meanwhile, drew on his business acumen, noting after 13 years in Hamilton, he’d stepped down from his post as local chamber of commerce leader in January to spark change.

Hamilton has progressed in recent years, but most of those strides have been “in spite of our leadership at city hall” and electing more “career politicians” isn’t the answer, he said.

June 22, 2022

“More of the same will only lead to more of the same and we cannot afford that. Their partisan baggage will only hold us back.”

Bratina, Horwath and Loomis are all running with platforms that promise change with Fred Eisenberger, a three-time mayor, exiting local politics at the end of this term.

Horwath, 59, and Loomis, 47, are relatively like-minded on a number of big-ticket items, including their enthusiasm for Hamilton’s future LRT line.

Both also agree with council’s decision to hold Hamilton’s urban boundary firm — in spite of pushback from Queen’s Park — to avoid sprawl into outlying farmland.

March 30, 2022

They thread the needle on police budgets, dismissing advocacy to cut budgets, but vouching for more resources of social and health services to aid on crisis calls.

On the same topic, Bratina, a 78-year-old former Liberal MP and mayor, hammered home his support for beefing up the police in a recorded Zoom call submitted to Cable 14.

“Our streets are unsafe due to violent crime and reckless driving and women are nervous about going out at night,” he said.

April 27, 2022

Horwath, who entered political life as a city councillor before becoming MPP and then Opposition leader, assured viewers her adversarial relationship with Premier Doug Ford wouldn’t hinder Hamilton’s chances of landing provincial funding.

“Absolutely not,” she said, adding Ford doesn’t bear a grudge over her party role in the Ontario legislature and, in fact, “sent a very positive, affirming note” after she announced her candidacy.

Loomis said the premier would take his calls, but not Horwath’s, arguing “there’s no expectation that they will be able to work together in the future.”

But Horwath, calling her rival’s take “really naive,” likened dust-ups in the legislature to pickup hockey games between “buddies” who later go for beers.

Loomis, focusing on his opponent’s erstwhile job as Hamilton Centre MPP, contended constituents who helped re-elect her in the June provincial vote were “upset” over her resignation to run municipally and had a “valid perspective.”

“My question is have you considered how this would cause people to lose trust with you?”

That’s a “gotcha type of politics” that resembles “U.S.-style” electioneering, responded Horwath, who asked whether Loomis, a lawyer who moved to Hamilton from the United States, planned to keep his American citizenship.

“OK, you seem pretty adept at U.S. politics yourself,” he fired back, before asking her to address “a lot of talk” of her “running for mayor as you were running for premier.” (The Hamilton Spectator)

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 …

 

Friday September 30, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 30, 2022

King Charles: Will the monarchy move reconciliation forward in Canada?

Earlier this year, at a reception in Canada’s national capital, King Charles – at the time the Prince of Wales – was asked for an apology.

September 20, 2022

The request came from Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald, who told him that the Crown needs to make amends for the “assimilation and genocide” of indigenous schoolchildren at residential schools run by the Anglican Church – of which Charles is now the head – and for its role in colonisation.

The three-day visit was Charles’s nineteenth official tour in the country, and his last as the Prince of Wales.

Charles did not apologise on the trip, though he spoke of the need to “come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects” of history.

But some are hopeful that the new King’s accession will be the beginning of a more positive relationship between the Crown and indigenous peoples in Canada.

Around the world, Commonwealth nations, including Canada, are grappling with what the role of the monarchy following Queen Elizabeth’s death, and what her son, Charles, should do to make amends for colonialism.

In Canada, the King’s accession comes amid a national conversation about reconciliation with indigenous peoples.

June 1, 2021

It is a conversation that has been building for years, but came to the forefront last summer as First Nations came forward with evidence of the discovery of unmarked graves on the sites of former residential schools – government-funded institutions established in the 1800s that were part of a former policy to assimilate indigenous children.

For Canada, reconciliation is multi-faceted. In addition to a royal apology, many have called on the Crown to return indigenous artefacts that were removed and taken to Britain, and to play a more active role in honouring historic treaty relationships between the monarchy and indigenous people.

These treaties are constitutionally recognised agreements that define the rights and responsibilities between indigenous groups and federal and provincial governments. Treaties with the Crown date back to the 1700s, and negotiating modern treaties is seen as an important part of reconciliation. 

June 3, 2015

Cree writer and former treaty negotiator Darrel J McLeod argued in Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper earlier this month that Queen Elizabeth failed to use the resources available to her to make amends for things done in the Crown’s name – from issuing formal apology to the repatriation of indigenous artefacts.

He said he hoped the King will “have the insight and determination to accomplish what his mother wasn’t able to and use whatever time that might remain for the Windsor dynasty’s role in Canada to turn things around”.

Canada was a monarchy even before it was a country. Over 500 years ago, both French and British monarchs presided over colonies in Canada.

The connection between the Crown and indigenous peoples dates back even further, to when Europeans first set foot on the continent. (BBC) 

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 …

 

Thursday September 29, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 29, 2022

Butter Prices Continue to Soar Due to Ongoing Supply Shortage

December 8, 2016

Butter is our lifeblood, our saving grace. When all else fails, butter is there for us to spread on toast, toss into mashed potatoes, shower on our movie popcorn, or use to whip up a cake. But this essential ingredient is starting to cost a pretty penny, and right before its biggest time to shine, the holiday baking season.

Butter is currently the most expensive it’s been since 2017, with the price of the savory spread up 24.6% over the 12 months ending in August, according to the Wall Street Journal. Furthermore, the US currently has the lowest amount of butter in storage facilities within that same five-year period, so there’s not a solid reserve to rely on.

There are several reasons for the price increase, including rising inflation costs. To make matters worse, due to the ongoing effects of the pandemic, labor shortages continue to slow things down at processing facilities across the country while the demand for butter continues to outpace supply in the Midwest, for example, according to the latest USDA dairy market report. 

The report also reveals that butter makers on the West Coast are running reduced production schedules. In the Northeast, retail butter demand is just picking up, yet tight inventories are causing some producers to regulate their supply across existing orders.

In short, you might want to reconsider before making that butter board.  (Thrillist) 

 

Wednesday September 28, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 28, 2022

Kremlin paves way to annexing 4 regions of Ukraine as it announces referendum results

The Kremlin paved the way Tuesday to annex part of Ukraine and escalate the war by announcing that residents of a large swath overwhelmingly supported joining with Russia in stage-managed referendums that the U.S. and its Western allies have dismissed as illegitimate.

May 3, 2022

Pro-Moscow officials said all four occupied regions of Ukraine voted to join Russia. According to Russia-installed election officials, 93 per cent of the ballots cast in the Zaporizhzhia region supported annexation, as did 87 per cent in the Kherson region, 98 per cent in the Luhansk region and 99 per cent in Donetsk.

In a remark that appeared to rule out negotiations, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council by video from Kyiv that Russia’s attempts to annex Ukrainian territory will mean “there is nothing to talk about with this president of Russia.”

The preordained outcome sets the stage for a dangerous new phase in Russia’s seven-month war, with the Kremlin threatening to throw more troops into the battle and potentially use nuclear weapons.

The referendums in the Luhansk and Kherson regions and parts of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia began Sept. 23, often with armed officials going door to door collecting votes. The ballots asked residents whether they wanted the areas to be incorporated into Russia.

March 4, 2022

Moscow-backed officials in the four occupied regions in southern and Eastern Ukraine said polls closed Tuesday afternoon after five days of voting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to address Russia’s parliament about the referendums on Friday, and Valentina Matviyenko, who chairs the parliament’s upper house, said lawmakers could consider annexation legislation on Oct. 4.

Meanwhile, Russia ramped up warnings that it could deploy nuclear weapons to defend its territory, including newly acquired lands, and mobilizing more than a quarter-million more troops to deploy to a front line of more than 1,000 kilometres. 

After the balloting, “the situation will radically change from the legal viewpoint, from the point of view of international law, with all the corresponding consequences for protection of those areas and ensuring their security,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

Many Western leaders have called the referendum a sham, and the UN Security Council was scheduled to meet later Tuesday in New York to discuss a resolution that says the voting results will never be accepted and that the four regions remain part of Ukraine. Russia is certain to veto the resolution. (CBC) 

 

Tuesday September 26, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 26, 2022

Border vaccine rules, mandatory use of ArriveCAN, mask mandates on planes and trains to end on Oct. 1

The federal government says it’s dropping all COVID-19 measures at borders on Saturday, meaning travellers will no longer need to provide proof of vaccination when entering Canada or wear masks on planes and trains.

As of Oct. 1, all travellers, regardless of citizenship, will no longer have to:

•Submit public health information through the ArriveCAN app or website;

•Provide proof of vaccination;

•Undergo pre- or on-arrival testing;

•Carry out COVID-19-related quarantine or isolation;

•Monitor and report if they develop signs or symptoms of COVID-19 upon arriving to Canada;

•Undergo health checks for travel on air and rail;

•Or wear masks on planes and trains.

Thursday August 19, 2021

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Monday’s decision is not a sign Canada is out of the pandemic, but said the government’s data showed the importation of new variants was no longer having an effect on the evolution of the virus in country.

The measures also apply to cruise ships so passengers will no longer be required to take pre-board tests, be vaccinated or use ArriveCAN. The government said guidelines will remain in place to protect passengers and crew, keeping in step with the United States.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was quick to claim the decision as a victory.

“After constant pressure from Conservatives [and] people across Canada, Trudeau Liberals finally back down on the disastrous ArriveCAN app, unscientific vaccine mandates and forced mask-wearing,” he tweeted Monday.

“None of the science changes October 1 but because of you, Trudeau has to. Let’s keep it up.” (CBC)