brain – mackaycartoons

Wednesday February 20, 2019

February 27, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 20, 2019

Gerald Butts and Justin Trudeau ‘would finish each others’ sentences’

The two men, who met at McGill, forged their bonds in debate club. In an interview with McGill News, Trudeau said the experience helped convince him he wasn’t cut out for a career as a lawyer or a debater.

January 21, 2016

Nonetheless, in 2013, like a throwback to his college days, he was smack back in a debate while running the campaign that would land him in the PMO, and Butts was advising during each commercial break.

“Butts … practically pinned his friend against the wall,” according to a 2015 Maclean’s profile. “He slung a jacketed arm over Trudeau’s shoulder and spoke in hushed tones, inches from his face. It wasn’t so much aggressive as intensely friendly — a boxer with his longtime coach — with Trudeau occasionally nodding at Butts’s words.”

January 12, 2007

That helped reinforce a stereotype that Butts served as the brain of the operations while Trudeau provided the charming smile and personality to woo voters.

Their life stories, are of course vastly different: Butts, 47, born to a coal miner and nurse in Cape Breton, graduated from McGill, and after earning a master’s degree even briefly pursued a PhD in literature at York University in Toronto.

Before finishing his degree, he entered politics, rose through the ranks of former Ontario Premier Dalton McGinty’s office and later became chief executive of World Wildlife Foundation-Canada.

90s sensation: Beavis & Butts

Trudeau, meanwhile, the son of a former prime minister, pursued a career as a teacher after McGill until decades later, Butts helped convince him to run for office.

“I often did get the sense that they often would finish each others’ sentences,” said Jonathan Kay, who helped Trudeau with his autobiography and was a columnist for the National Post.

Kay said their personalities helped balance each other out, and the stereotype of Butts as the brains behind the operation is a mistake.

“They were very much equals,” he said, adding, “when they’re together they balance each other out.” (Continued: Financial Post)

Friday, December 16, 2016

December 15, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, December 16, 2016

Trudeau Comfortable With Minimum Age Of 18 To Buy Legal Pot

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thinks Canadians old enough to drink alcohol are old enough to smoke marijuana legally.

September 16, 2016

Trudeau made the comment a press conference in Ottawa Thursday, days after a federal task force on marijuana legalization recommended the national minimum age to buy recreational marijuana be set at 18. The report also suggested provinces and territories be permitted to raise the age to harmonize with alcohol consumption laws.

In most provinces, the legal drinking age is 19. In Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta, the age limit is 18.

The Canadian Medical Association had urged the task force to recommend a minimum age of 21, pointing to evidence that brains are still developing until the age of 25.

April 21, 2016

The prime minister, who has long said pot legalization is about keeping the drug away from children and profits away from criminals, told reporters the task force’s recommendation felt like a “reasonable” compromise.

“We know the largest misdeeds of marijuana use happens at a lower age than 18, 19 years of age, and I think this is a responsible approach that we have found in terms of balance that is both practical and useful,” he said in French.

The task force, chaired by former Liberal justice minister Anne McLellan, acknowledged in its report that there are a range of views on the right age to be able to buy legal pot.

July 29, 2013

Setting the age too high risks “preserving the illicit market,” the report reads, and raising the possibility young Canadians will face criminal records since “the highest rates of use are in the 18 to 24 age range.”

The report also said a minimum age of 25, as recommended by the CMA, was “unrealistic” and would force many young Canadians to turn to the black market. (Source: Huffington Post)

Thursday July 12, 2001

July 12, 2001 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday July 12, 2001

Goofy gag proposal doesn’t serve public

If Hamilton city council has an ounce of common sense, a staff proposal that could see councillors and staff jailed, fired or fined for leaking information to the media will be in the trash by the time you read this.

This proposed bylaw, which was to be debated by committee of the whole yesterday, is so heavy-handed it’s laughable. It’s a caricature of good public policy.

In a time when even those not much interested in the affairs of government agree Canadians should have much more access to information than they do at present, bureaucrats at city hall want you to have less.

Proponents of the bylaw argue it’s needed to serve the interests of taxpayers. The argument goes something like this: When confidential business becomes public prematurely, the city’s negotiating position is weakened, and taxpayers could be stuck with a higher bill as a result. Thus, they argue, the public interest is not well served.

No amount of draconian legislation will stop leaks, especially not at Hamilton city hall. Leaks are a symptom, not the problem. The problem is the lack of a constructive relationship between city staff and elected officials. Fix that problem, and leaks will cease to be the headache they are.

Do we have a vested interest in better access to information concerning how this city is operated and governed? Yes. And so do you. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)