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Today’s cartoon…is a week late

Recent editorial cartoons by Graeme MacKay are available for viewing (most of the time) at the online site of the Hamilton Spectator. You can also get a glimpse of the most recent work by scrolling down the right side of this page to what’s been posted to his Twitter feed…

Like most newspapers, the Hamilton Spectator is ending its give-away of online content. It’s been a nice 10 year or so free run, but with it has come a reduction in ad revenue and a loss of content providers, namely, journalists, photographers, and… cartoonists. This is probably the last chance to keep traditional newspapers, like the Hamilton Spectator, from completely sinking into the abyss in the transition to subscriber supported digital media.

 Look for cartoons posted here 1 week after publication in the Hamilton Spectator, alongside contextual articles to help better understand the satire behind important issues of the day. Graeme has drawn thousands of cartoons over his lifetime, most of which have been digitized and available for viewing through mackaycartoons.net.

If you care about local news and rely on professional coverage by experienced journalists to keep you informed, please consider subscribing to your local traditional newspaper.

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From the Archives – Meckling National Park

Meckling National ParkFrom the Archives

Meckling National Park – Eden of the North

From my grade 12 or 13th Geography class at Parkside High School in Dundas, Ontario, 1986 or 1987. Ms. Reid was our teacher and this was a co-production among me, Brad Lyall and Graeme McIntosh, for a map project of an imaginary government run park. The SCTV humour influence is very much apparent. We got a 19 out of 20 for this, and deservedly so.

Wednesday September 10, 2014

Wednesday September 10, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 10, 2014

Lost Franklin expedition ship found in the Arctic

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says one of Canada’s greatest mysteries now has been solved, with the discovery of one of the lost ships from Sir John Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition.

“This is a great historic event,” Harper said.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013“For more than a century this has been a great Canadian story.… It’s been the subject of scientists and historians and writers and singers. And so I think we have a really important day in mapping together the history of our country,” the prime minister said.

At this point, the searchers aren’t sure if they’ve found HMS Erebus or HMS Terror. But sonar images from the waters of Victoria Strait, just off King William Island, clearly show wreckage of a ship on the ocean floor.

Thursday, February 13, 2014The wreckage was found on Sept. 7 using a remotely operated underwater vehicle recently acquired by Parks Canada. When Harper revealed the team’s success at Parks Canada’s laboratories in Ottawa Tuesday, the room burst into applause and hollering.

“This is a day of some very good news,” Harper told the assembled group of researchers, some of whom had flown all night to be in Ottawa for the announcement.

Thursday, February 21, 2013“It appears to be perfectly preserved,” Harper said of the ship, adding that it has “a little bit of damage

In a statement, the prime minister said Franklin’s expedition laid the foundations of Canada’s Arctic sovereignty. He called the lost ships Canada’s “only undiscovered national historical site.”

The prime minister paid tribute to the search teams — a partnership between Parks Canada, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Arctic Research Foundation, the Canadian Coast Guard, the Royal Canadian Navy and the government of Nunavut — whose work since 2008 has paid off.

“This discovery would not have been possible without their tireless efforts over the years, as well as their commitment, dedication and the perseverance of the many partners and explorers involved,” Harper said.

2011-2015

2011-2015

Franklin’s crew became locked in the ice during a doomed search for the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean in 1845. All 128 crew members eventually died, though there’s evidence to suggest some may have survived for several years.

Many searches throughout the 19th century attempted to find the lost ships, but the mystery of what happened to John Franklin and his men has never been solved. (Source: CBC News)

 

OTHER MEDIA

This cartoon was posted to Yahoo Canada News, ipolitics and National Newswatch.

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

IN HARPER’S CANADA Libraries and archives ARE being TRASHED, books ARE being BURNED. SCIENTISTS ARE being CENSORED…

Posted by Occupy Canada on Thursday, September 11, 2014

Groundhog Day

From the vault, Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Three groundhogs see their shadows, the other three don’t.

It’s Groundhog Day, and the long-range forecast is in from Canada’s woodchuck “weathermen.”

Ontario’s Wiarton Willie emerged from his cozy den this morning and immediately spotted his shadow, which according to groundhog folklore means Canadians can expect six more weeks of what has already been a long, cold, snowy winter.

A little earlier Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam waddled out into the morning light, but unlike Willie, he did not see his shadow — indicating warmer days are just ahead.

Fred la Marmotte in Val d’Espoir, a town in Quebec Gaspésie region, wasn’t deterred by falling snow. He rendered his early-spring verdict around 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday.

As for America’s rodent royalty, Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil — the most famous groundhog of them all — he did see his shadow this morning, heralding another month and a half of Old Man winter.

However, regardless of what the groundhogs may be trying to tell us, Environment Canada is predicting the frigid temperatures that have gripped much of the country for the past two months will likely persist right through February. (source: CBC News)