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Wednesday April 5, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday April 5, 2017

Don’t Let Politicians Rewrite National Anthems

Some members of the Senate are determined to stop Parliament from changing the words of the national anthem, with one senator deriding the late Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger’s proposed amendments to O Canada as “clunky, leaden and pedestrian.”

May 10, 2013

Bélanger, who passed away last summer after a battle with ALS, sought to make the anthem gender-neutral by removing the phrase “all thy sons command” and replacing it with “all of us command.”

The bill passed in the House of Commons largely along party lines, with all Liberal and NDP MPs voting in favour of the changes, while most Conservatives opposed. Some notable female Tory MPs, including Michelle Rempel and Lisa Raitt, backed Bélanger’s bill.

Nearly a year later, the bill is now in its last legislative phase — third reading in the Senate — awaiting a final vote.  As per the Senate’s procedural policy, debate on the bill can be continually adjourned by critics, punting a vote on the matter to a later date. (Source: CBC News) 

Meanwhile, after nearly three years of talks, the NHL announced Monday it will not participate in the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, a decision that is turning out to be incredibly unpopular with many players.

June 7, 2008

“It’s crap. I don’t understand the decision,” said a clearly disgruntled Erik Karlsson to CBC Windsor.

The Swedish player and captain of the Ottawa Senators is among many high-profile players voicing discontent in the wake of the announcement. 

One of the most outspoken against the decision has been another Swede — Henrik Lundqvist. The New York Rangers goaltender tweeted that “a huge opportunity to market the game at the biggest stage is wasted.”

Carey Price, who helped lead Team Canada to a gold medal at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, said it’s a particularly tough blow to the younger players.

“I feel like we’re short-changing some of the younger players that haven’t had that opportunity,” he said. “It’s tough to swallow for some of those kids, I’m sure. At a human level, this is a big worldwide event that the world takes part in and you know, we want to shine our light too.”

Marc Savard, a Canadian who is under contract with the New Jersey Devils, joked that tryouts for the team will be posted at local rinks.

Canada has long dominated the game, winning nine gold medals for men’s hockey since 1920 — including consecutive wins in 2010 and 2014.

This will mark the first time NHLers won’t participate in nearly 20 years. (Source: CBC) 

 

Saturday October 29, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Saturday October 29, 2016 'Pretty Good Rich Kids': Reaching the OHL takes more than talent What does it take to make it to the Ontario Hockey League? Skill? Certainly. Speed? Sure. Strength? No question. But it also takes something else Ñ something over and above raw talent and physicality. To make it to the OHL, you also need a winning ticket in the lottery of birth. A year-long Spectator investigation finds a highly significant number of the league's Ontario-raised players are from suburban neighbourhoods where most people are well-educated, earn high incomes and live in expensive homes. The odds of them crossing paths with someone living in poverty are extremely low. For anyone familiar with the extraordinary cost of playing hockey in Ontario Ñ $15,000-or-so annually for an elite AAA player and getting higher Ñ this won't come as a shock. If you want to be the next Sidney Crosby, says Wilfrid Laurier University's William McTeer, "the first question you have to ask is how much money do your parents have and are they prepared to invest in your future as an athlete.Ó But cost isn't the only thing keeping children in Hamilton and across Ontario out of the game. Several factors, including geography, public policy and the funding mechanisms of non-profits, are making it increasingly difficult for low- and middle-income families to access the sport, particularly at competitive levels. "I think it's tragic," says Philip White, a sport sociologist at McMaster University. "You live in a culture where everybody is supposed to have an opportunity to advance and kids are simply shut out.Ó Our analysis is grounded in data. Stick with us while we get the heavy stuff out of the way. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator) http://www.thespec.com/sports-story/6931904--pretty-good-rich-kids-reaching-the-ohl-takes-more-than-talent/ Canada, Ontario,ÊHamilton, hockey, soccer, amateur, sport, professional, money, wealth,

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 29, 2016

‘Pretty Good Rich Kids’: Reaching the OHL takes more than talent

What does it take to make it to the Ontario Hockey League?

Skill? Certainly. Speed? Sure. Strength? No question.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday November 28, 2007 Probe into hockey brawl between 8-year-olds A decision on whether to lay a criminal charge in connection with a hockey brawl involving eight-year-olds at a tournament in Guelph, Ont. will likely come on Wednesday, says a police spokesperson.Ê "It's the interaction between the two coaches -- whether or not that was a consensual fight or an assault," Sgt. Cate Welsh of the Guelph Police told CTV.ca on Tuesday.Ê Niagara Falls Thunder coaching staff allegedly spat at a counterpart with the Duffield Devils, Welsh said.Ê But what had everyone talking is the bench-clearing brawl erupting at the game's end on Friday, which involved such young players. Players for both sides belong to Novice AAA teams.Ê "This is a really rare incident," Richard Ropchan, executive director of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association told CTV.ca, adding he can't think of a similar one in his nine years with the OMHA.Ê "Certainly the fact that eight-year-olds are involved -- well, that certainly got my attention."Ê Ropchan added that the brawl "points right to the adults involved. You can't blame the kids for that."Ê Witnesses say there were cheap shots throughout the game, culminating with a fight. (Source: CTV News)Êhttp://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2007/11/26/ontario_leads_in_child_poverty.html Hockey, fighting, contact, brawl, coaches, aggressive, brutality, history, Roman, gladiators, Rome, war, violence, editorial cartoon, 2007

 November 28, 2007

But it also takes something else — something over and above raw talent and physicality. To make it to the OHL, you also need a winning ticket in the lottery of birth.

A year-long Spectator investigation finds a highly significant number of the league’s Ontario-raised players are from suburban neighbourhoods where most people are well-educated, earn high incomes and live in expensive homes.

The odds of them crossing paths with someone living in poverty are extremely low.

For anyone familiar with the extraordinary cost of playing hockey in Ontario — $15,000-or-so annually for an elite AAA player and getting higher — this won’t come as a shock. If you want to be the next Sidney Crosby, says Wilfrid Laurier University’s William McTeer, “the first question you have to ask is how much money do your parents have and are they prepared to invest in your future as an athlete.”

But cost isn’t the only thing keeping children in Hamilton and across Ontario out of the game.

Several factors, including geography, public policy and the funding mechanisms of non-profits, are making it increasingly difficult for low- and middle-income families to access the sport, particularly at competitive levels.

“I think it’s tragic,” says Philip White, a sport sociologist at McMaster University. “You live in a culture where everybody is supposed to have an opportunity to advance and kids are simply shut out.”

Our analysis is grounded in data. Stick with us while we get the heavy stuff out of the way. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator)

 

Wednesday March 3, 2010

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday March 3, 2010

That podium isn’t cheap

All that gold — and silver and bronze — seemed so shiny and bright on Sunday afternoon and evening. Outfitting ourselves in flags, toques, Team Canada hockey jerseys, “mad-trapper” hats, curling sweaters and the famous red mittens never seemed so, well, patriotic.

Close to 99 per cent of Canadians, according to a poll, say they were pleased with our athletes’ performance. The hockey final broke TV-watching records and the closing ceremonies didn’t come far behind.

The wave of national pride — “I’ve never felt more proud to be a Canadian” was the somewhat hyperbolic theme — is still rippling across the country. The pride is a direct consequence of Canadian athletes’ performance and 26-medal count at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. And that is a direct consequence, by almost all accounts, of the five-year, $117-million Own The Podium program.

But only days after the Olympic flame was extinguished, many Canadians are already hemming and hawing over how much money they want to put toward continuing Own The Podium.

Leading up to Vancouver, Canadian taxpayers put in $66 million; the rest came from the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC), corporate sponsorships, the B.C. government, and national Olympic and Paralympic committees. It is hard to dismiss the argument Canada “bought” its Olympic success. A less cynical view might be Canada finally invested in its amateur athletes and got good results. Either way, it is clear, world-beating athletes come at a cost. (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Wednesday September 1, 2004

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday September 1, 2004 Post Olympic Blues Canada's athletes trailed back from Athens on Monday into the teeth of a national inquest over their performance at the Olympics which garnered just 12 medals. The modest haul, two fewer than the Canadian team managed in Sydney in 2000, and good for only 21st on the medal table, set off a media inquest that blared from radio and television. "Unless we make major changes in how we support and train our athletes, we will likely be suffering through the same national angst after the 2008 Games," the Toronto Star warned in an editorial. The Canadian Olympic Committee made an immediate request for more money to support athletes, calling for a US$5300 increase in government money for senior athletes to a minimum of US$20,000 a year. It also said it would review the country's approach to the Games, in an analysis which coincided with press reports that Dave Johnson, national swimming coach, would be sacked after his teams dire performance in Athens. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) Canada, provinces, funding, amateur, athletics, sports, wrestling, medals, Olympics

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 1, 2004

Post Olympic Blues

Canada’s athletes trailed back from Athens on Monday into the teeth of a national inquest over their performance at the Olympics which garnered just 12 medals.

The modest haul, two fewer than the Canadian team managed in Sydney in 2000, and good for only 21st on the medal table, set off a media inquest that blared from radio and television.

“Unless we make major changes in how we support and train our athletes, we will likely be suffering through the same national angst after the 2008 Games,” the Toronto Star warned in an editorial.

The Canadian Olympic Committee made an immediate request for more money to support athletes, calling for a US$5300 increase in government money for senior athletes to a minimum of US$20,000 a year.

It also said it would review the country’s approach to the Games, in an analysis which coincided with press reports that Dave Johnson, national swimming coach, would be sacked after his teams dire performance in Athens. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)