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Canada

Wednesday January 11, 2023

January 11, 2023 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 11, 2023

Federal government inks deal to buy fleet of F-35 fighter jets

January 12, 2022

Canada has signed off on the final contract to buy F-35 jet fighters to replace the air force’s aging CF-18s, Defence Minister Anita Anand said Monday.

The final agreement for 88 warplanes — involving the Canadian and U.S. governments and the jet’s manufacturer — won’t see its first delivery until 2026 and the first F-35 squadrons will not be operational until 2029, senior defence officials said during a technical briefing before the minister’s announcement.

The project’s budget of $19 billion remains the same as originally forecast by the Liberal government when it signalled the purchase last year. Anand and other government officials are sticking to that projection despite the likely effect of inflation — which has caused budgets for other major programs to rise dramatically.

The deal represents a dramatic turnaround for the Liberal government, which promised not to buy the F-35 and to instead purchase a cheaper jet fighter and use the savings to bolster the navy.

July 19, 2010

The Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper first announced plans to go with the Lockheed-Martin-built jet in the summer of 2010.

The plan was shelved in the face of criticism from both the parliamentary budget officer and the auditor general, who questioned the cost and whether defence officials had done enough homework on other aircraft that might meet the air force’s needs.

The F-35 has experienced some high-profile glitches and mechanical problems over the years.

A second senior defence official, also speaking on background Monday, said that Canada will get the latest version of the F-35 — Lot 18, Block 4 — which has the most advanced technology. 

Anand said Monday that, because the government waited to purchase until now, Canada will be buying a proven aircraft that other allies are using now. She said the stealth fighter’s technology has evolved to the point where it no longer has issues, and Canadians can be confident the government did its due diligence.

October 7, 2014

Conservative defence critic James Bezan was scathing in his response to the announcement. He said it took the Liberals far too long to come to the conclusion that the F-35 is the appropriate aircraft and accused the government of engaging in “political games” to avoid embarrassing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“This is a situation where he originally said he would never buy the F-35 and did everything in his power to stop it from actually happening, but at the end of the day, this is the only modern fighter jet that can deliver the capabilities Canada so desperately needs,” Bezan said.

“And so here we are today, where Justin Trudeau has to eat crow and do what’s right for Canada, do what’s right for the Royal Canadian Air Force, and do it right for our NORAD and NATO allies.” (CBC News) 

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: 2023-01, air force, Anita Anand, Canada, Defence, F-35, fighters, flip flop, Harjit Sajjan, Justin Trudeau, military, shopping, u-turn

Tuesday January 10, 2023

January 10, 2023 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 10, 2023

Three Amigos Summit 2023

February 23, 2017

Mexico draws millions of international tourists each year with its sandy beaches, mountains, rainforests and rich culture.

But travelling anywhere can come with safety risks, as Canadians in the Mexican state of Sinaloa experienced last week following the Jan. 5 arrest of alleged drug trafficker Ovidio Guzman. Guzman is a son of former cartel boss Joaquin Guzman, also known as El Chapo. His capture resulted in explosions of violence in cities across the state, led by members of the Sinaloa cartel.

As a result of the violence in Sinaloa, the Canadian government has issued an advisory warning travellers to avoid non-essential travel to several states in northern, western and central Mexico and to exercise a “high degree of caution” in other parts of the country. (CTV News) 

November 18, 2021

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hoping to champion North America free trade while settling trade irritants at the “Three Amigos” summit in Mexico City, but his priorities might be drowned out by more pressing border issues between the United States and Mexico.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hoping to champion North America free trade while settling trade irritants at the “Three Amigos” summit in Mexico City, but his priorities might be drowned out by more pressing border issues between the United States and Mexico.

“I think as it’s currently framed, the North American Summit is a lot about Mexico,” said Maryscott Greenwood, CEO of the Canadian American Business Council, who noted that Biden preceded his visit to Mexico by inspecting a busy port of entry for migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

In that context, Trudeau’s main challenge as he steps foot in Mexico City will be “to be relevant and to be heard,” added Greenwood.

March 23, 2005

“For Canada to be really heard and noticed, it has to have one priority and it has to be really aggressive about it. And I realize that’s sort of un-Canadian,” she said. “But that’s the way it goes with trying to capture the attention and the imagination of the United States, which has a lot going on.”

Speaking from Mexico City, Louise Blais, a former diplomat and now senior special adviser to the Business Council of Canada, said that while the border issues will be “distracting,” she thinks the Canadian delegation will manage to carve out time for the files it feels are important.

“So that’s a challenge, but that’s not to say that it won’t happen,” said Blais.

Trudeau arrived in Mexico City on Monday for a three-day visit, which will include bilateral meetings Tuesday with Biden and Lopez Obrador as well as meetings with business leaders. (The National Post) 

 

Posted in: Canada, International, USA Tagged: 2023-01, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Border, Canada, diplomacy, gangs, International, Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, Mexico, migrants, summit, Three amigos, USA, violence

Friday January 6, 2023

January 6, 2023 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 6, 2023

Canada and the U.S. both have House Speakers. For one of them, the stakes are a lot higher

It’s being called the “battle for the gavel,” a historic fight in the U.S. over who will hold the title of Speaker, the presiding member of the House of Representatives.

Angry Washington – available at the boutique.

For nearly two full days, bitter partisanship within the Republican party, now the majority in the House, has turned what’s normally a swift affair into a protracted stalemate over who from their ranks ought to hold the job.

Multiple rounds of voting so far haven’t meaningfully moved the needle, and it is holding up the start of the next Congress for the first time in 100 years.

“The rest of the world is looking,” said U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday of the chaos.

“They’re looking at, you know, can we get our act together?”

By contrast, the drama that’s attached to what might be called the “race for the mace” in Canada — the election of a Speaker for the House of Commons — pales in comparison.

The job of Speaker hearkens back over 600 years to the formative Parliaments in Britain, and an agreed-upon need for someone to oversee and guide the work of the legislature.

That a Speaker is required for Congress as well as for the House of Commons and Senate is part of the constitutions of both countries.

Still, with the two countries having different systems of government, the jobs have developed differently over time and with contrasting political dynamics.

December 16, 2020

In the U.S, the evolution has given the House Speaker a number of powers which — depending on the makeup of Congress — can allow a Speaker to derail a president’s agenda, drive their own party’s legislative goals and reward or punish fellow elected representatives with plum committee posts.

That makes the person in the job — normally chosen from the majority party — exceptionally influential; among other things, should the president not be able to fulfil their duties, nor the vice-president, it is the House Speaker who is on deck.

Former House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer used a sports analogy to describe the difference between the post in Canada versus that in the U.S.

“In Canada, it’s far more of a referee, where in the U.S. it is more like a quarterback,” he said when reached by the Star on Tuesday.

What Speakers referee is the House of Commons itself, ensuring the rights and privileges of MPs are respected as is the decorum and work of Parliament — there’s rarely a day, for example, where the Speaker doesn’t intervene to ask MPs to mind their manners as they joust.

They do it from a largely neutral position as the job is understood by all parties to place the business of Parliament above that of partisanship. Speakers only cast a vote in the event of a tie, don’t participate in debates, stay away from partisan party caucus meetings and even have to watch their words when they campaign for seats during general elections. (The Toronto Star) 

rom sketch to finish, in 30 seconds, 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.

https://mackaycartoons.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-0106-NATshort.mp4

 

Posted in: Canada, USA Tagged: 2023-01, Anthony Rota, Canada, House of Commons, House of Representatives, Justin Trudeau, Kevin McCarthy, news, Parliament, recess, Speaker

Wednesday January 4, 2023

January 4, 2023 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 4, 2023

Convoy organizer says plans to stage a 2023 protest in Winnipeg are off

Freedom Convoy 2.0 appears to be a bust.

February 10, 2022

Canada Unity, one of the anti-government protest groups behind the protests that headlined much of last year, has called off its plans to restage the event in Winnipeg in February.

“The Canada Unity Official Freedom Convoy 2.0 Reunion that was scheduled for Feb. 17 to 20th, 2023, is hereby officially being issued a 10-7 ‘out of service,” James Bauder wrote in a news release posted to the group’s Facebook page.

Bauder, who founded Canada Unity, said in December he would bring a four-day event back to Ottawa, staging it at an undisclosed spot outside the city and making daily trips to Parliament Hill. After police in Ottawa indicated they would have zero tolerance for such an event, Bauder said he would move it to Winnipeg instead.

He has now called that off, too.

In his Facebook post, he blamed non-specific security breaches and personal attacks.

Despite the fact the event was set to unfold in Manitoba, he said he is worried he or others could be charged under Ontario’s new Bill 100, which was passed last year after the first convoy protests. The law, dubbed the “keeping Ontario open for business act,” prohibits protests at protected transportation infrastructure, including airports and border crossings. It also allows for police to seize drivers’ licences and licence plates used in illegal blockades.

February 8, 2022

Bauder was among dozens of people arrested in February 2022 during the first convoy. He faces charges including mischief, and disobeying court orders and the police. One of his bail conditions bars him from travelling to downtown Ottawa.

The original convoy blocked several areas around Parliament Hill for three weeks. Demonstrations also shut down at least four border crossings elsewhere in the country.

The blockades resulting in the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act for the first time.

In the weeks leading up to the first protest in Ottawa, Bauder penned a “memorandum of understanding” and tried to deliver it to Gov. Gen. Mary Simon. It asked her and all sitting senators to sign an agreement that would overthrow the government and make Simon, the senators, Bauder, his wife Sandra and one other man the formal Canadian government.

They would then order all other levels of government to end every COVID-19-related restriction and reinstate workers who were suspended or fired for not being vaccinated.

Bauder’s group later joined with others to create the convoy blockade that also affected several other parts of downtown Ottawa and some provincial legislatures.

As the events unfolded in Ottawa, Bauder did not appear to be among the main organizers or leaders.

November 5, 2022

A public inquiry that investigated the government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act held six weeks of public hearings in the fall, which laid bare the details of chaos and dysfunction both within the various groups organizing the protests and the police forces and governments trying to end them.

A final report from that inquiry is expected next month. (The Toronto Star) 

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: 2023, 2023-01, audition, Canada, casting, convoy, drama, freedom, protest, trucker

Graeme Gallery 2022 – Canada

December 29, 2022 by Graeme MacKay

Thursday December 29, 2022. My publisher is showcasing 4 pages of my cartoons from the past year, 2022. Here they all are, plus a few extras. Click on any of the cartoons to link back to the original dates they were posted:

January 27, 2022
January 27, 2022
January 29, 2022
January 29, 2022
February 18, 2022
February 18, 2022
February 15, 2022
February 15, 2022
March 23, 2022
March 23, 2022
March 24, 2022
March 24, 2022
April 1, 2022
April 1, 2022
May 18, 2022
May 18, 2022
June 30, 2022
June 30, 2022
June 14, 2022
June 14, 2022
July 30, 2022
July 30, 2022
August 18, 2022
August 18, 2022
September 9, 2022
September 9, 2022
September 10, 2022
September 10, 2022
September 29, 2022
September 29, 2022
October 13, 2022
October 13, 2022
November 5, 2022
November 5, 2022
December 3, 2022
December 3, 2022

Last Year 2021 | OntarioGG22 | The WorldGG22 | 25th Anniversary

Posted in: Canada Tagged: 2022, 2022-44, Canada, gallery, Graeme Gallery, GraemeGalleries2022, Year in review
« Previous 1 2 3 … 307 Next »

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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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