Commonwealth

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Tuesday, October 8, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Stephen Harper to boycott Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka

The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, has said he will not attend a November summit of the Commonwealth in Sri Lanka because of what he called human rights abuses on the island.

“We remain disturbed by ongoing reports of intimidation and incarceration of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities, reported disappearances, and allegations of extra-judicial killings,” he said in a statement on Monday.

The UN’s human rights chief said last month Sri Lanka could be sliding toward an authoritarian system as the country’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, gathered power around him.

Harper is the only leader from the Commonwealth, which groups Britain and many former colonies, to announce he will boycott the November summit. Britain also has criticised human rights in Sri Lanka.

Harper said it was unacceptable that Sri Lanka had yet to investigate allegations of atrocities during and after a long civil war with Tamil rebels, which ended in 2009. Sri Lanka has denied allegations its troops committed major crimes.

“It is clear that the Sri Lankan government has failed to uphold the Commonwealth’s core values, which are cherished by Canadians … I will not attend the 2013 Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Colombo,” said Harper.

Canada will be represented by Deepak Obhrai, the parliamentary secretary to the foreign minister, John Baird. (Source: The Guardian)

FEEDBACK

This cartoon is featured in a gallery of editorial cartoons at Yahoo! Canada News and posted to the Yahoo! Canada News Facebook page. It’s also found at Cagle Cartoons.

Monday June 4, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Monday June 4, 2012

Jubilee pageant: Rain fails to dampen

It aimed to evoke the extravagant “water triumphs” of yore, a spectacle on the Thames to rival a Canaletto painting.

There was certainly water, too much, in fact, as driving rain drenched the diamond jubilee river pageant, the grandest procession the Thames has borne.

But to the estimated 1 million people crammed along the river’s banks, the 1,000-boat flotilla, with the Queen at its heart, was an undoubted triumph.

The armada was accompanied along the Thames by cheers from damp spectators, swaddled in rainwear and bunched under thickets of umbrellas. It was a very British occasion in all respects.

The 20,000 participants battled wind-whipped waters. Especially valiant were the rowers and kayakers following the Gloriana barge at the head of the £12m flotilla, and the soaked choir who managed a rousing rendition of Rule Britannia at the pageant’s end. The flypast of Royal Navy helicopters in diamond formation, which was supposed to provide a finale, was cancelled.

Aboard the royal barge, the lavishly decorated river cruiser Spirit of Chartwell, the Queen, with a pashmina wrapped around her shoulders and discreet rug to hand, waved at the crowds for an hour and a quarter. She shunned the specially constructed mini-thrones and opted to stand for most of the time.

Her highlight, judging from the beaming smile, was when Joey, the War Horse puppet, reared on the roof of the National theatre as the royals passed.

The Queen disembarked, no doubt with some relief, by Tower Bridge, where, back on terra firma and under a rain canopy, she watched the rest of the flotilla pass by. (Source: The Guardian) 

 

Wednesday July 25, 2007

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday July 25, 2007

Hamilton eyeing 2015 Pan-Am Games?

At this point, it’s still in the very preliminary stages. But tourism and sporting officials in Hamilton are discussing the possibility of Hamilton making a bid for the 2015 Pan Am Games.

Tourism Hamilton’s David Adames says no formal discussions have taken place, but that could change in the next couple of weeks if the Canadian Olympic Committee decides to back a bid for a Pan Am bid.

Those in favour suggest the city would benefit from the hundreds of millions in federal and provincial dollars for sporting infrastructure.

But those opposed point out it will cost the city as much as 200-million dollars of its own money. (Source: CHML News)

Commentary

I know it’s the summer when I draw back to back on local news — when little stories are the fodder for editorial cartoons, simply because of a dearth of news on the national and world fronts.

Today’s subject is the mulling over by city officials to make a bid for the 2015 Pan-American games. “Here we go again” — I utter defiantly against the predictable enthusiasm of my colleagues in this editorial page room. Just as the current Pan Am games are being played out in Brazil with virtually no television coverage and scant knowledge that they’re even going on a few bright lights in Hamilton are aching for the event to be played out here.

As with the city’s earlier bid for the Commonwealth Games the thinking seems to be more about a blatant opportunity to grab a lot of provincial and federal funds to fix up existing arenas and stadiums than really understanding the traditions, history and spirit of what’s behind certain international games.

At least with the second Commonwealth Games bid we were demonstrating perseverance by going after the games for a second time. Along the way we were learning what the Commonwealth games were all about, and became aware of the fact that the games had it’s origins with the first Empire Games being played in Hamilton back in the 1930’s. Our bids were not only just about fixing up our crumbling arenas, we had a genuine desire and connection to the games.

The politics of the bidding process screwed us, but at least we learned. More persistence could get us a Commonwealth Games sometime down the road.

But a Pan Am games bid? Now we’re back to the old federal/provincial cash grab without really knowing what we’re getting into.

I sketched the cartoon below but thought it really went beyond how I feel about the potential of hosting a big international games event. I’m not a bread not circus’ advocate, just suspicious of Hamilton’s tendency to put off fixing crumbling buildings and infrastucture with the hope that one day this city’s going to win the lottery.