2023-02

Tuesday January 31, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 31, 2023

Parliament resumes

Members of Parliament are making their way back to Ottawa ahead of resuming sitting on Monday, as the city prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of the arrival of “Freedom Convoy” protesters.

September 23, 2022

Liberal and Conservative MPs gathered on Parliament Hill Friday for respective caucus meetings, plotting out their priorities for the 2023 sitting of the House of Commons, which kicks off on Jan. 30.

Among the top issues facing federal politicians this winter are the ongoing cost-of-living crunch and risk of a recession; the state of Canada’s health-care systems and the prospect of massive new funding deals with the provinces; as well as the government’s ability to deliver services amid the recent increased reliance on private consultants.

In widely differing but similarly-rousing speeches to their caucuses, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre previewed the lines of attack that are sure to be repeated in question period, both centred around an ongoing debate the two leaders are having over whether Canada is “broken.”

April 8, 2022

“Everything feels broken,” Poilievre said in a speech that questioned what is happening in this country, from the rates of drug overdoses to violent crime.”[Trudeau] gets very angry when I talk about these problems. He thinks that if we don’t speak about them out loud that Canadians will forget that they exist.” 

“You told us that better was always possible, and yet everything is worse, and you blame everyone else,” he said. 

Responding to the claims from his Official Opposition counterpart, Trudeau shot back that Poilievre has “chosen to amplify people’s real anger, and instead of offering them solutions, to offer them more anger.”

June 14, 2022

In his caucus address, Trudeau spoke about how the Liberal “positive vision” for the future “could not be more different than Mr. Poilievre’s version.”

The New Democrats gathered on Parliament Hill last week for their pre-House strategy session. In a statement on Friday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said that his caucus plans to leverage its supply-and-confidence deal with the minority Liberals to “to fight for relief from the crushing cost of living, and rebuilding and protecting public universal free health care.” (CTV) 

 

Saturday January 28, 2023

January 28, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday January 28, 2023

Developers who bought Ontario Greenbelt land linked to Ford government

YDF Merch

Since Ontario Premier Doug Ford was first elected four years ago, developers have paid tens of millions of dollars for a number of properties that include protected lands the province is now proposing to carve out of the Greenbelt.

Among those properties is a substantial piece of land lying largely in the Greenbelt that sold for $80-million in September, just weeks before the government revealed its new plan.

During the 2018 election campaign, Mr. Ford promised not to touch the Greenbelt – a vast arc of farmland, forests and wetlands across Southern Ontario. The pledge followed public uproar over a video that showed him saying he would allow housing development on a “big chunk” of the protected area. Again, in late 2020, he made a similar promise.

May 3, 2018

The Ford government reversed itself in November, announcing plans to remove 7,400 acres from the Greenbelt for the construction of at least 50,000 new homes. At the same time, land elsewhere would be added to the Greenbelt that, the government says, would result in a net increase of 2,000 acres.

The proposal to open up the Greenbelt to development has sparked protest from environmentalists, agriculture advocates and land-use experts, who argue that swapping one piece for another may be ineffective, because land has different environmental values, and that this also paves the way for other developers to push for their properties to be removed from the Greenbelt.

The proposed carve-outs of 15 areas of land include at least nine properties that were bought by developers for $10-million or more – transactions that topped $300-million in total – since the Progressive Conservatives took office in 2018, property records show.

November 23, 2022

At least four developers who bought the properties the government is now proposing to remove from the Greenbelt have either donated to the PC Party, hired conservative lobbyists, or both.

The government defended the decision to open up parcels of Greenbelt land to development but did not address questions related to the developers.

Among the sales in the Greenbelt parcels up for potential development, the most recent occurred in mid-September, about six weeks before the government’s announcement.

On Sept. 15, a company controlled by developer Michael Rice bought the 280-hectare property in the Township of King for $80-million. The real estate agent who sold the property promoted it as a “prime land-banking opportunity,” referring to the practice of holding undeveloped land for future opportunities.

The property had previously traded hands in 2000 – before the Greenbelt protections were put in place – for about $9.3-million.

October 27, 2011

Mr. Rice’s development company, Rice Group, hired Frank Klees, a former Ontario PC cabinet minister, between 2019-20 to lobby the government “on the economic development opportunities represented by a number of the client’s emerging projects,” the lobbyist registry says. The contract predated Mr. Rice’s purchase of the land in King Township. Mr. Klees did not return an e-mail seeking comment.

In addition, provincial records also show that a person with the name Michael Rice has donated more than $10,500 to the PC Party since 2018. This individual also donated money to the Liberals in 2018. As well, three donors with the same names as Rice Group executives have given the PC Party thousands of dollars since 2018.

Mr. Rice did not respond to e-mails requesting comment. (The Globe and Mail) 

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 January 27, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 27, 2023

COVID-19 misinformation cost at least 2,800 lives and $300M, new report says

August 7, 2020

The spread of COVID-19 misinformation in Canada cost at least 2,800 lives and $300 million in hospital expenses over nine months of the pandemic, according to estimates in a new report out Thursday.

The report — released by the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), an independent research organization that receives federal funding — examined how misinformation affected COVID infections, hospitalizations and deaths between March and November of 2021.

The authors suggest that misinformation contributed to vaccine hesitancy for 2.3 million Canadians. Had more people been willing to roll up their sleeves when a vaccine was first available to them, Canada could have seen roughly 200,000 fewer COVID cases and 13,000 fewer hospitalizations, the report says.

July 15, 2022

Alex Himelfarb, chair of the expert panel that wrote the report, said that its estimates are very conservative because it only examined a nine-month period of the pandemic.

“It’s pretty clear that tens of thousands of hospitalizations did occur because of misinformation,” Himelfarb told reporters. “We are confident that those are conservative estimates.”

Himelfarb also said the $300 million estimate covers only hospital costs — the study didn’t include indirect costs associated with factors such as delayed elective surgeries and lost wages.

A number of studies have found that getting vaccinated can reduce the risk of COVID infection and hospitalization. But only 80 per cent of Canadians have been fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from Health Canada.

June 26, 2019

The CCA report defines two groups of vaccine-hesitant individuals: those who were reluctant to get a shot and those who refused. It says that reluctant individuals expressed concerns about vaccines in general and questioned the speed with which COVID vaccines were developed.

Vaccine refusers, on the other hand, were more likely to believe that the pandemic is a hoax or greatly exaggerated, the report says.

Beyond the health impacts, misinformation is depriving people of their right to be informed, said Stephan Lewandowsky, a professor at the University of Bristol’s School of Psychological Science in the U.K. and one of the report’s authors.

September 24, 2021

“In a democracy, the public should be able to understand the risks we’re facing … and act on that basis,” he said. “But if you’re drenched in misinformation … then you’re distorting the public’s ability — and you’re denying people the right — to be informed about the risks they’re facing.”

The report says misinformation relies on simple messages meant to evoke emotional reactions. It says misinformation is often presented as coming from a credible source, such as a scientific publication. (CBC) 

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 …

Letter to the Editor – The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday January 31, 2023 

MacKay unfair to anti-vaxxers

Again the tolerant and inclusive left shows their magnanimous humanity. Has MacKay explored the arguments of the side pushing back against the mandates, lockdowns, and other infringements on Charter rights, or is he content to show them as loudmouths dying for their freedom?

DeWitt Shainline, Hamilton

 

Thursday January 26, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 26, 2023

Tank re-enforcements on their way to defend Ukraine

April 12, 2022

President Biden has announced he is sending American tanks to Ukraine after weeks of disagreement between Nato allies over helping Kyiv to repel the Russian invaders.

As the war in Ukraine enters its 12th month, Biden said the US would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks, equivalent to a Ukrainian tank battalion.

The announcement coincided with a U-turn by Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, who promised about 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks for an international tank battalion “as soon as possible”, with another battalion likely to follow.

The Americans had been reluctant to send Abrams, arguing that they were too complex and difficult to maintain. It will be months before they arrive.

“Germany has really stepped up,” Biden said. “The expectation on the part of Russia is we’re going to break up [as a coalition]. But we are fully, totally and thoroughly united.”

The announcement came after a conference call between world leaders, including Rishi Sunak. Britain has already agreed to send 14 Challenger 2 tanks, a move that heralded the broader change of heart across the biggest players in Nato.

October 12, 2022

President Zelensky had called for 300 tanks to push the Russians back from territory they have taken. With contributions from other countries, it is believed Ukraine will receive at least 125. Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defence minister, said last night that Kyiv would now press for modern fighter jets, including American F-16s.

After weeks of tension between the US and Germany, and occasionally harsh recriminations from other allies, both Scholz and Biden were at pains to stress western unity. Biden said the US and its European partners were in “lockstep” and heaped praise on his German counterpart.

The Ukrainian government reacted jubilantly to the German-American package, which Zelensky’s chief of staff hailed as a “real punching fist of democracy against autocracy from the bog”, in a reference to President Putin’s Russia. Zelensky said he was “sincerely grateful” for “these important and timely decisions”.

February 25, 2022

Moscow has alternated between condemnation and displays of indifference. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, recently said western tanks would “not fundamentally change anything” in the conflict and today said they would “burn like all the rest” in Ukraine.

Peskov then warned that the delivery of the tanks would “bring nothing good to the future relationship” between Berlin and Moscow.

Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the US, added that a further donation of American Abrams tanks would be “another blatant provocation.” (The Times of London) 

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 …

 

Wednesday January 25, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 25, 2023

Bad Government – Worse Alternative

Trudeau is already into his eighth year in power and he has enough collective wisdom advising him to have understood that his political “biological clock” is ticking.

January 11, 2023

He has outstanding ministers like Anita Anand, Marc Miller and François-Philippe Champagne who would like their chance. The exceptional Chrystia Freeland is tired of just drumming her fingers on the table and may bolt if Trudeau sticks around.

If he does, there are items on his balance sheet that stand out for hard-pressed Canadians. Although plagiarized from the NDP, Trudeau has negotiated and put in place a plan to provide quality affordable daycare. Quite a feat.

At the same time, the chronic underperformers in key files such as Justice, Immigration, Transport and Public safety have been allowed to muddle along, accumulating errors until they become a crisis. Since when has it become a Herculean task to deliver a passport?

An impression of overall incompetence is beginning to stick to Trudeau. He needs a new broom to sweep clean in the PCO (Privy Council Office).

Trudeau’s worst mark on the progressive report card is in the environment.

October 28, 2021

When Guilbault wanders into a meeting of environmentalists today, those who once admired him now start analyzing their shoelaces.

Trudeau bought a pipeline to boost oil sands production but, ever eager to please, Guilbeault surpassed his master by going along with the mindless offshore oil extraction project at Bay du Nord.

Guilbeault has the temerity to try to sell it as”net zero,” by referring only to the extraction process. It’s embarrassing that he thinks he can con people into forgetting that the petroleum is going to get burned somewhere on the planet, contributing of course to global warming and climate change.

At the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, Guilbeault has just promised to restore 19 million hectares of land. That lofty undertaking, without the slightest hint of a plan (or a deal with the provinces) only served to remind Canadians of another vapid promise Trudeau made during a previous election: plant a billion trees. The actual number of trees planted was adjacent to zero. Make the announcement and disappear, sums up the Liberal strategy on sustainable development.

August 5, 2022

Brace yourselves because the new year, 2023, will likely be an election year. Should he choose to stick around, Trudeau will be in his fourth contest since first winning in 2015, a prospect as tiring for his troops as it is for Canadians.

The eternal Liberal rallying cry of “don’t split the vote” will also have more resonance than ever. Sure the Liberals successfully portrayed Andrew Scheer as a scary anti-choice relic and Erin O’Toole as (implausibly) an anti-vaxer! They won’t have anything of the kind to throw at the ultra-woke Singh. They will just have to point to Poilievre and, like a scary tale around the campfire, tell folks that Pierre the evil troll is coming for them unless they re-elect Justin the good. (CTV 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 …