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Saturday February 13, 2021

February 13, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 13, 2021

Lovers in dangerous times: Valentine’s Day winners, losers in pandemic

When it comes to romance in the age of the coronavirus, COVID-19 hasn’t entirely clobbered Cupid.

March 28, 2020

This Sunday will be the first Valentine’s Day since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic last March.

If you’re thinking of making the time-honoured romantic gesture of sending your beloved roses or a bouquet, you will have plenty of company.

“Since COVID, the flower industry has just gone through the ceiling,” said Sarah Watkin, a veteran of the floral industry who works at Jim Anderson Flowers.

While the retail side of flower shops has dried up, the delivery facet is blooming because the floral industry was already set up for pandemic conditions, even before the arrival of the coronavirus. “The flower business has always been very close to 70 per cent on the phone anyways,” she said.

“There’s been very little pivoting for the flower industry, let me tell you.”

Jackie Bell-Jones, who owns Burke Flowers, confirms it was “not a huge shift” to adapt her operation to the new reality. The majority of her business was already not done in person.

“Business is up (on the delivery side),” she said, although wedding orders have fallen off.

Watkin said over the years, her customers have had less need to make their orders at the counter.

Plus, competitors such as drug stores that stock a few flowers ahead of Feb. 14 don’t have the same delivery infrastructure as her shop. “This year, we don’t have them stealing our thunder,” she said.

November 28, 2020

If you are in the habit of wooing your love over a romantic meal on Valentine’s Day, you’ll have to supply the ambience yourself because restaurants haven’t been able to open their dining rooms. It will be Tuesday before the gradual reopening of the economy arrives in Middlesex-London and restaurant owners find out in which colour zone the city will be placed.

Tony Elenis, head of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association, said Valentine’s Day — although not as important as Mother’s Day or Father’s Day for eateries — was still a big one in pre-pandemic times.

“Valentine’s Day is a busy day, absolutely,” he said. “Valentine’s is a day that restaurants are spotlighted.”

Marty Novak, marketing and communications manager for Palasad Social Bowl, said this year’s Valentine’s Day will be a “missed opportunity” for his facility that draws a lot of the first-date crowd and even prospective grooms proposing in the place’s escape rooms.

February 14, 2020

“We actually go all out for Valentine’s Day, Valentine’s Day is a fantastic day for us,” he said, but that won’t be the case this year, although staff are gearing up for the reopening a few days later.

“We would have gone completely all out for it” if restrictions had been lifted before Valentine’s Day, Novak said, with features such as live music.

Elenis points out you can still enjoy a romantic meal on Sunday — you’ll just have to have it delivered or pick it up yourself.

“It’s not even (just) the little guys. Even the big guys are hurting,” he said of the restaurant industry. (London Free Press) 

 

Wednesday July 29, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday July 29, 2020

NHL returns after months-long hiatus due to coronavirus pandemic

May 15, 2020

NHL hockey returns Tuesday after a months-long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Montreal Canadiens are in Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers meet the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place as part of Tuesday’s three-game exhibition schedule that kicks off Phase 4 of the league’s return-to-play plan.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers square off in Toronto in Tuesday’s other game.

Edmonton and Toronto are serving as hub cities for the 24 NHL teams that are returning to action, though the Canadiens and Flames are listed as the home teams Tuesday night.

Each team will play an exhibition game at Scotiabank Arena or Rogers Place between Tuesday and Thursday before the playoff qualification round begin on Saturday.

The NHL suspended its season March 12 due to the spreading global pandemic and announced its four-stage return plan May 26. (Global) 

 

 

Friday March 10, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday March 10, 2017

All parties should lay out their plan for hydro

Next year’s provincial election could be called the hydro vote. Of course there other issues — the length of the Liberal party’s rule, the economy, and others. But nothing resonates with Ontarians right now like hydro rates.

It’s understandable, even though some of the hyperbole being bandied about is over the top. So is laying all the blame at the feet of the Liberals when the Progressive Conservatives also played a role in setting the table.

But whether you agree with the weight being attached to energy as an election issue or not, it is what people are talking about. That’s why the Liberals have finally moved on plans to reduce bills. According to Alectra Utilities, Hamilton ratepayers will get a bigger than average break on their bills, with residential fees set to drop 27 per cent, and small business rates 28 per cent. That’s not insignificant.

The Liberal plan, though, is something like remortgaging your house. The money will be paid back over a longer period of time, so the resulting interest payments will end up costing more. Does that really matter to people if their bills go down? We’ll see.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath won’t be outshone. She has put forward a plan she says will save up to 30 per cent on bills and doesn’t involve remortgaging the house. The plan would allow consumers to opt out of time-of-use pricing, cap profits for private power producers supplying the grid and return Hydro One to full public ownership by buying back shares. This plan will appeal to many, especially since the partial privatization of Hydro One is widely opposed.

But wait, say the Liberals and other skeptics. The money from privatization is being used to fund health and education among other key areas. If that money is used to buy back shares, it will be at the expense of those other priorities. Now the NDP plan doesn’t sound quite so solid.

At least the two parties are putting out (relatively) clear messages. And by getting her party’s oar in the water on the most significant issue of the election, Horwath automatically positions the NDP as a credible alternative, on this matter at least.

Patrick Brown, come out, come out, wherever you are. The Progressive Conservatives have yet to outline in detail what they’ll do on energy. Perhaps because there is still a lot of time left. Perhaps because it’s a sticky issue for them, too. After all, it was Brown’s party that initiated the last attempt to privatize, which blew up in their face. And it’s going to be difficult for a party that believes in privatization to argue for making Hydro One public again. Then again, who would have predicted that the PCs would favour a carbon tax and support a modernized sex education curriculum. So who knows what they might have up their sleeve? They’d be smart to get at least some cards on the table soon though. (Source: Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Wednesday September 16, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday September 16, 2015 Harper riding high on surprise surplus Stephen Harper was hanging 10 on the crest of a surprise budget surplus Tuesday, showing off his fiscal bona fides as the federal election campaign prepared to convene in Calgary to debate the state of the Canadian economy. In British Columbia, the Conservative leader boasted about the latest Finance Department numbers, which show a $1.9-billion surplus for 2014-15 instead of a predicted $2-billion shortfall. At an event in North Vancouver, Harper wasted no time using the opportunity to mock the money-management skills of both Rachel Notley, Alberta's new NDP premier, and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau. "We know why there's a recession (in Alberta) Ñ it's not because the government ran a $2-billion surplus," Harper said. "There's a recession because oil prices have fallen by half, and the recession has been made worse because the NDP government came in and followed up by raising taxes on everybody." Trudeau Ñ who has linked the economic slowdown to the government's relentless pursuit of a pre-election balanced budget Ñ seems to think that $2-billion surplus provoked a worldwide fall in oil prices, Harper continued. "I mean, seriously," an animated Conservative leader said to laughter from the partisan crowd. "They think that somehow under these conditions, plunging the country back into deficit for years to come would be a good thing. Canadians get that, given the turmoil in the world, the fact that we have a budget balanced Ñ and we're going to keep that balanced Ñ is a good thing for this country." Trudeau has criticized the surplus as a product of underspending on vulnerable Canadians Ñ an accusation the Conservatives deny. A Liberal government would stick with its plan to run deficits for the first three years in office, making investments in infrastructure and seniors despite the surplus, Trudeau has said. Monday's surpl

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 16, 2015

Harper riding high on surprise surplus

Stephen Harper was hanging 10 on the crest of a surprise budget surplus Tuesday, showing off his fiscal bona fides as the federal election campaign prepared to convene in Calgary to debate the state of the Canadian economy.

In British Columbia, the Conservative leader boasted about the latest Finance Department numbers, which show a $1.9-billion surplus for 2014-15 instead of a predicted $2-billion shortfall.

At an event in North Vancouver, Harper wasted no time using the opportunity to mock the money-management skills of both Rachel Notley, Alberta’s new NDP premier, and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.

Monday, November 4, 2013“We know why there’s a recession (in Alberta) — it’s not because the government ran a $2-billion surplus,” Harper said.

“There’s a recession because oil prices have fallen by half, and the recession has been made worse because the NDP government came in and followed up by raising taxes on everybody.”

Trudeau — who has linked the economic slowdown to the government’s relentless pursuit of a pre-election balanced budget — seems to think that $2-billion surplus provoked a worldwide fall in oil prices, Harper continued.

“I mean, seriously,” an animated Conservative leader said to laughter from the partisan crowd.

“They think that somehow under these conditions, plunging the country back into deficit for years to come would be a good thing. Canadians get that, given the turmoil in the world, the fact that we have a budget balanced — and we’re going to keep that balanced — is a good thing for this country.”

Trudeau has criticized the surplus as a product of underspending on vulnerable Canadians — an accusation the Conservatives deny. A Liberal government would stick with its plan to run deficits for the first three years in office, making investments in infrastructure and seniors despite the surplus, Trudeau has said.

Monday’s surplus news couldn’t have come at a better time for Harper, who will join his NDP and Liberal counterparts Thursday in Calgary for a debate on economic issues, sponsored by the Globe and Mail and Google Canada. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

(Regina) Leader Post, September 17, 2015

(Regina) Leader Post, September 17, 2015

Edmonton Journal, September 19, 2015

Edmonton Journal, September 19, 2015