costume

Thursday February 22, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 22, 2018

How Justin Trudeau NEVER misses an opportunity to don traditional attire

Dressed head to toe in robes of gold, then red, then white – Justin Trudeau has certainly cut a distinctive figure during his first three days in India.

Bollywood Justin

Indeed, the Canadian Prime Minister seems to have made a point of dressing like a local during his debut visit to the country as leader.

But he also has a history of donning traditional robes at home, especially to honor special dates in the Indian calendar.

As far back as 2012, Trudeau attended the premiere of Midnight’s Children – based on the book about Indian independence written by Salman Rushdie – dressed in a white sherwani robe.

Screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, Trudeau was only a member of parliament when he attended along with wife Sophie Gregoire, who opted for a navy blue halter gown.

Twice last year he also marked important dates in the Indian calendar while dressed for the occasion.

After the junket- February 26, 2018

In August he stepped out wearing a kurta – which literally translates from its Persian origins as ‘a collarless shirt’ – in order to celebrate Indian Independence Day.

Then again in October he donned a dark black sherwani – a heavy, more formal robe usually worn over the top of a kurta – to mark Diwali.

Although on that occasion he drew the ire of many Hindus by tweeting the image along with the caption ‘Dewali Mubarak!’

Mubarak as an Arabic word which means ‘blessed’ and is not used as a greeting by the majority of the Hindu religion.

In January this year, Trudeau was again dressed up to celebrate Thai Pongal, the harvest festival of the Tamil people, in Scarborough.

Trudeau has also routinely celebrates vaisakhi, a Sikh harvest festival, and often does so in traditional robes.

In 2013 he took to the streets of Vancouver in an emerald green jacket with a white cap covering his head, in a nod to the traditional Sikh turban. (Continued: Daily Mail) 

 

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Tuesday October 31, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 31, 2017

Morneau not the only cabinet minister using conflict-of-interest loophole

 
Finance Minister Bill Morneau isn’t the only cabinet minister who used a conflict-of-interest technicality to maintain control of their assets while in power, the ethics watchdog confirms.
 

September 22, 2017

The office of Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson wouldn’t identify who else at the cabinet table holds controlled assets indirectly. It would only confirm “fewer than five cabinet ministers” do so, and they are not required to sell those assets off or put them in a blind trust.

 
The story was first reported by the Globe and Mail on Monday morning.
 
The Conflict of Interest Act covers assets that are directly held, a loophole Dawson has complained about.
 
The act defines controlled assets as “assets whose value could be directly or indirectly affected by government decisions or policy,” and includes things like publicly traded securities of corporations, registered retirement and education plans and stock options.
 

September 15, 2017

After being dogged by controversy over the shares and his use of private corporations to hold his assets, Morneau announced earlier this month that he would place his assets in a blind trust and divest shares worth about $20 million in his family-built company.

 
He later said he would donate to charity the difference in the value of his shares in Morneau Shepell between when he was elected in October 2015 and the day they’re sold.
 
Dawson is now considering whether to launch a formal investigation into whether Morneau had a conflict of interest in sponsoring a pension bill known as Bill C-27 while still owning shares in his family’s pension company. (Source: CBC News)

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Saturday October 14, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 14, 2017

The Next Big Thing in the Cannabis Industry

 
Canada has a pot problem, as Quartz Media recently warned us, but it’s a lucrative problem to have. One thing holding back this $8-billion market Forbes Magazine, April 13, 2017) is supply, and one little-known company plans to be the steward of it in a big way.  
 
When Canada legalizes recreational marijuana in less than a year, in line with a bill pushed through by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, legal supply is likely to be limited. There may not even be enough even if we are only considering medical marijuana usage. Keeping an eye on Insys Therapeutics (NASDAQ:INSY), Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (NYSE:SMG), Zynerba Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ZYNE), Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE: IIRP), Teva Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TEVA).
 
The supply picture is so fantastically tight that Health Canada has had to streamline the approval process for growers because medical marijuana users have tripled in number since last year alone, according to Quartz. When it becomes legal recreationally, a Deloitte report estimates the economic  impact will be worth $22.6 billion annually in other words, more than the combined sales of beer, wine and spirits.
 
Meet Cannabis Wheaton the world’s first cannabis streaming company, backed by a powerhouse team, with the biggest industry trailblazer leading the way.
 
Not only is Cannabis Wheaton jumping into a huge potential market where supply is forecast to struggle to reach demand, but it’s offering a lifeline to new and existing growers who need financing to get off the ground fast.
 
Producers need a miracle grow strategy, and Cannabis Wheaton is stepping in to fill the gap with a ‘royalty’ business model that is new to this market.
 
And for investors, the major upside is that this model removes the risks associated with putting all your money into a single-crop producer.
 
Cannabis Wheaton is intending to ‘stream’ pot, and 15 partners have already been lined up, along with 1.4 million square feet of growing acreage. (Source: Markets Insider) 

 

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Thursday October 20, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Thursday October 20, 2016 Voting to kill LRT would be difficult, Hamilton councillors told Council still has the power to derail LRT even with $70 million already spent on the project. But voting to kill the 100-per-cent provincially funded, $1-billion project would be procedurally difficult and fraught with legal risk, councillors were told during a 12-hour marathon meeting Tuesday. The prospect of a potential vote for or against LRT by a divided council attracted 150-plus residents to watch as well as two dozen who spoke publicly for and against the project. Enthusiasm for such a vote any time soon fizzled after lawyer George Rust-D'Eye suggested a move to delay or stop LRT would require two-thirds council support because of prior votes to move the project forward. Two councillors Ñ LRT supporter Sam Merulla and vocal critic Terry Whitehead Ñ did put forward a motion late in the meeting suggesting Metrolinx look at improving A-line transit up the Mountain alongside the funded LRT project. Metrolinx project head Andrew Hope said it was too early to say if the agency would look at such a request. "We would need to have further discussions with the city to understand what the actual intent is here," he said. Other councillors like Judi Partridge and Brenda Johnson, however, asked if council had any LRT "off-ramps" remaining, including major route changes or even a rethink to pursue bus rapid transit. City manager Chris Murray said council still has an opportunity to vote on "major milestones" including the environmental assessment submission next spring, an operating and maintenance agreement and a "master agreement" with Metrolinx. He emphasized council has already committed "in good faith" to moving LRT ahead with prior votes, including an Aug. 14, 2015 decision to create an LRT implementation office to work on the updated project that calls for a line from McMaster University to the Queenston tra

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 20, 2016

Voting to kill LRT would be difficult, Hamilton councillors told

Council still has the power to derail LRT even with $70 million already spent on the project.

But voting to kill the 100-per-cent provincially funded, $1-billion project would be procedurally difficult and fraught with legal risk, councillors were told during a 12-hour marathon meeting Tuesday.

The prospect of a potential vote for or against LRT by a divided council attracted 150-plus residents to watch as well as two dozen who spoke publicly for and against the project. Enthusiasm for such a vote any time soon fizzled after lawyer George Rust-D’Eye suggested a move to delay or stop LRT would require two-thirds council support because of prior votes to move the project forward.

Two councillors — LRT supporter Sam Merulla and vocal critic Terry Whitehead — did put forward a motion late in the meeting suggesting Metrolinx look at improving A-line transit up the Mountain alongside the funded LRT project. Metrolinx project head Andrew Hope said it was too early to say if the agency would look at such a request.

“We would need to have further discussions with the city to understand what the actual intent is here,” he said.

Other councillors like Judi Partridge and Brenda Johnson, however, asked if council had any LRT “off-ramps” remaining, including major route changes or even a rethink to pursue bus rapid transit.

City manager Chris Murray said council still has an opportunity to vote on “major milestones” including the environmental assessment submission next spring, an operating and maintenance agreement and a “master agreement” with Metrolinx.

He emphasized council has already committed “in good faith” to moving LRT ahead with prior votes, including an Aug. 14, 2015 decision to create an LRT implementation office to work on the updated project that calls for a line from McMaster University to the Queenston traffic circle. The city also signed a binding real estate protocol this fall.

But he added if council encounters a problem with the project or operating agreement that is “so significant that … we simply could not solve it, then I think that is where council would have to decide whether to keep going or not.”

Rust-D’Eye warned in his report that debate should not happen “without thorough consideration and legal advice with respect to the implications.”

City LRT point person Paul Johnson also noted Metrolinx has “spent or committed” between $60 million and $70 million on LRT planning so far, including 20 city staff and six Metrolinx officials working out of a local office as well as several consultants studying traffic, real estate and technical route issues.

He couldn’t tell frustrated councillors, however, how many buses might be available to use elsewhere in the city after LRT starts up on the busy B-line along Main and King streets because the options are still under study.(Source: Hamilton Spectator)

…It has been a loooong conversation on making LRT and enhanced GO Transit a Billion dollar reality in this city.  Here’s a gallery of transit cartoons from the past 5 years or so…

Not to mention these from 2010 and before: