Daily Cartoonist

Tuesday June 1, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 1, 2021

Canada-wide search urged as children’s remains found

The Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation announced last week that remains were found at a former residential school set up to assimilate indigenous people.

July 13, 2017

The find sparked outrage, prompting some in Canada to lay out tiny shoes at makeshift memorials. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged help but gave few details.

“As a dad, I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have my kids taken away from me,” Mr Trudeau told reporters. “And as prime minister, I am appalled by the shameful policy that stole indigenous children from their communities.”

While he promised “concrete action” when asked what the government would do he did not offer specific commitments.

Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said in a statement the families “deserve to know the truth and the opportunity to heal”.

“A thorough investigation into all former residential school sites could lead to more truths of the genocide against our people,” Mr Bellegarde said.

June 12, 2020

In Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, a statue of Canada’s first Prime Minister, John A Macdonald, is being removed following the discovery of the children’s remains. Macdonald’s role in residential schools has made him a target for protesters.

The children found on Thursday were students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia that closed in 1978. Some were as young as three years old. 

Canada’s residential schools were compulsory boarding schools run by the government and religious authorities during the 19th and 20th Centuries with the aim of forcibly assimilating indigenous youth.

June 3, 2015

Kamloops Indian Residential School was the largest in the residential system. Opened under Roman Catholic administration in 1890, the school had as many as 500 students when enrolment peaked in the 1950s.

The central government took over administration of the school in 1969, operating it as a residence for local students until 1978, when it was closed.

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada – set up to examine the history and impact of the residential schools – reported that the system amounted to “cultural genocide”. (BBC)

The discovery of unmarked graves at the former site of a residential school in Kamloops, BC, has sent Canada into paroxysms of shock and horror, which is an appropriate response, except that we already knew about this.

 

Tuesday May 18, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 18, 2021

Reopening Ontario outdoor recreational sites should focus on equity, access: advocates

Ontario golfers have been pushing the province to reopen courses ordered closed while the province is under stay-at-home orders, but some observers say access to outdoor recreational facilities serving a wider population should be just as high on the agenda.

January 8, 2021

Doctors and recreational facility administrators say Canadians need access to affordable, inclusive and local ways to get outside and exercise, so long as health care professionals deem it safe.

“Many of the people I care for live in dense apartment buildings, have small indoor spaces and don’t have the luxury of a backyard,” said Dr. Naheed Dosani, a palliative care physician and health justice activist in Toronto.

“We need to really be thinking about how to keep these people physically and mentally healthy.”

Dr. Dosani and others hope the province will make any reopening of recreational opportunities equitable. As well as golf courses, basketball nets, skate parks and tennis courts have remained out of bounds for months.

April 8, 2021

Golfers and club operators argue the sport is safe since it’s possible to golf while masked and physically distanced, other provinces are currently allowing the sport and people aren’t travelling to play.

“They are looking to play their local golf course in their home community for the physical and mental health break that the sport provides,” Mike Kelly, the executive director of the Golf Association of Ontario, said in May.

Several doctors have even given golf and many other outdoor forms of exercise the green light because the risk of transmitting COVID-19 is low outside.

However, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been unwilling to budge because the province has routinely reported more than 2,000 new, daily COVID-19 and many intensive care units are still overwhelmed.

April 6, 2021

“I talk to my buddies. I know what happens,” Ford said Thursday.

“They pick up another buddy, two or three. They go out, they go golfing…then after golfing, they go back, they have a few pops. That’s the problem.”

Ford said he hopes to reopen outdoor recreational facilities by June 2, but the golf industry is not relenting and some have even reopened in defiance.

Yet many say reopening plans can’t just focus on a sport that comes with pricey fees, often requires a membership and doesn’t always attract youth.

“Given what we’ve learned about this pandemic and how it has had a disproportionate impact on people experiencing poverty and racialized communities, it’s quite disappointing that there’s been such advocacy around a sport like golf,” said Dr. Dosani.

“It probably speaks to who has the loudest voice at times like this, and who has the resources to advocate.” (CTV)

Letters to the editor, The Hamilton Spectator, Saturday May 22, 2021 

MacKay cartoon unfair to golfers

I found the Graeme MacKay editorial cartoon (May 18) harsh and unjustified and not up to his usual standard. The hundreds of thousands of golfers in Ontario consist of people of all ethnicities, ages and gender. They consist of doctors, nurses, front-line workers, policemen, firemen, bus drivers, truck drivers, retirees, workers at The Hamilton Spectator, etc. They are husbands, wives, grandparents, aunts and uncles. As with any large random group of people in Ontario they have suffered during the pandemic the loss of loved ones, had surgeries delayed, lost employment, lost businesses, helped their children with schooling, given to charities and hospitals and adhered to the health protocols as a group no different to others.

His illustration of a “typical” golfer is demeaning and reminds me of the comment made by Doug Ford PhD (pontificating harmful despot) this past week about golfers and their penchant for alcohol. Graeme, be careful of the company you keep.

Ed Jenner, Burlington

MacKay cartoon says it all

MacKay’s cartoon of indignant golfers was hilarious and right on point. Golfers complaining they can’t golf is the biggest first-world problem imaginable. If it’s the worst thing they have to worry about, they should consider themselves lucky.

Rosemary Gossich, Hamilton

“Having published this cartoon that seems perfectly clear, his paper received (the above) feedback from an aggrieved reader. Granted, there’s something confirming about drawing a cartoon about whiners and having someone whine about it, but the task remains to try to make your points clear while accepting that they will whooosh over some heads anyway.”

Saturday March 27, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday March 27, 2021

Week in Review: Stuck things

Crews are working to clear a traffic jam at Egypt’s Suez Canal, the world’s busiest trade route, after the massive container ship “Ever Given” ran aground. Global News explains what this could mean for oil prices. 

March 23, 2021

Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is sticking with his long-standing view that a federal carbon price is not the way to tackle the growing threat of climate change across the country, following a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada authorizing its constitutionality.

In an interview on CTV News Channel’s Power Play on Thursday, O’Toole said his approach would focus instead on partnering with provinces and bolstering the economy to get emissions down, though he didn’t provide exact details about how doing so would achieve his stated goal.

“The court said what we all know — that climate change is real and it’s important for us to have a serious approach,” he said.

May 14, 2019

“I want to have a plan that Canada can meet its targets. I’ve also said I’d like to see a net-zero approach plan, a made-in-Canada net-zero approach plan over the longer term, which is the 2050 timeline, but to do it without taxing people. As I said the carbon tax impacts our competitiveness and it hurts people in the margins the most. I think it’s backwards to be honest.”

In a 6-3 decision, the top court decided on Thursday that a price on pollution is entirely constitutional and that Ottawa has a right to set minimum pricing standards for greenhouse gas emissions in the provinces.

May 27, 2017

“The undisputed existence of a threat to the future of humanity cannot be ignored,” wrote Chief Justice Richard Wagner.

The case brings a legal end to a years-long battle between Ottawa and many provinces over the carbon price, and prompted Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to start looking at a homegrown carbon-pricing mechanism and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney to nudge open the door to doing so too.

Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta challenged the Liberal government’s 2018 Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act in court, arguing it was a federal overreach into provincial jurisdiction over everything from taxes and the environment to natural-resource development.

O’Toole said his party would target large emitters of greenhouse gas emissions and respect the individual carbon reducing frameworks already in place in some provinces.

During the party’s policy convention over the weekend, delegates notably voted against a resolution that would have included the line “climate change is real” in the party’s official policy document.

Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said the Supreme Court’s decision on carbon pricing is a “good day for Canada.”

“Read the academic literature, go talk to an economist. They will tell you it’s the most efficient and effective way to reduce emissions and to incentivize innovation,” he told Power Play. (CTV)

“That cargo ship wedged in the Suez Canal may be a disaster for international trade, but it’s been a boon for political cartoonists. And it being an international incident, lots of people get to chip in, like Canadian Graeme Mackay, who likens it to the Conservative Party’s environmental stance”

Thursday January 28, 2021

 

January 28, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 28, 2021

Canadian politicians struggle to come to grips with the global vaccine race

The global scramble to vaccinate the human race against COVID-19 is bigger than Canadian politics. But every Canadian politician no doubt understands the political and human importance of this country seeming to do well in this multinational competition. 

January 7, 2021

The result this week is anxiety and a rush to assign blame that has failed to produce easy answers to the central question of what, if anything, Canadian officials could be doing to procure more of what’s arguably the most precious commodity on Earth.

But this consternation among Canadian politicians might be obscuring a bigger question for the world: Is this really the best way to go about vaccinating 7.6 billion people against a common threat? 

The latest spasm of concern about Canada’s vaccine supply can be traced to a production facility in Puurs, Belgium, where Pfizer has been manufacturing one of the two approved vaccines for use in Canada. Pfizer has decided to retool that facility so that it can increase production. In the short-term, that means fewer doses will be available.

In response to Pfizer’s change of plans, Ontario Premier Doug Ford quickly declared that, if he were prime minister, he’d be on the phone to Pfizer’s top executive demanding the previously scheduled shipments. “I’d be up that guy’s ying-yang so far with a firecracker he wouldn’t know what hit him,” Ford said.

December 1, 2020

It stands to reason that if getting a plentiful supply of the Pfizer vaccine was as easy as getting up Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla’s ying-yang with a firecracker, nearly every leader on the planet would be doing so. But Ford got a chance to test his theory — a day later he spoke with the president of Pfizer Canada. If a firecracker was lit during that conversation, it has so far failed to change Pfizer’s plans.

In Ottawa, the consternation has been only slightly less colourful, culminating in an “emergency debate” in the House of Commons on Tuesday. 

The Conservatives argue that an ill-fated partnership between the National Research Council and China’s CanSino Biologics distracted Justin Trudeau’s government from pursuing better options — but Public Services Minister Anita Anand told the Canadian Press in December that Canada was the fourth country in the world to sign a contract with Pfizer and the first to sign with Moderna, the other major supplier of an approved vaccine. 

The New Democrats argue that the federal government should have negotiated for the right to domestically produce the currently approved vaccines — but that presumably depends in large part on the willingness of companies like Moderna and Pfizer to do so. 

November 21, 2020

A real effort to ensure Canada had domestic capacity to produce a pandemic vaccine likely would have had to have been implemented years ago.

In the meantime, even the definition of success will be up for debate.

On Monday, for instance, Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus complained that Canada was not doing as well as the Seychelles, which had delivered at least a first dose to 20.22 per cent of its population through January 25. By comparison, Canada’s rate of vaccination was 2.23 per cent.

But the tiny island nation has a population of 98,000 people (roughly the equivalent of Red Deer, Alta). In absolute terms, the number of people who had received a dose in the Seychelles was 19,889. Canada, meanwhile, had administered doses to 839,949 people.

On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland countered that Canada was ahead of Germany, France, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. But three of those countries — Japan, Australia and New Zealand — haven’t yet begun their vaccination programs. And in two of those countries — Australia and New Zealand — COVID-19 is almost non-existent. (CBC)

 “Graeme MacKay (Hamilton Spectator) is hardly the only cartoonist decrying the uneven distribution of covid vaccines, but I like the ways he moderates the added unfairness for the Third World by noting that, even in First World nations, it’s not going all that well.”

January 28, 2021

This version with a wild error showing a 71 billion person figure in the number board went for more than a day until someone noticed and shared concern for confusion. My apologies for the mistake – Graeme MacKay 

Thursday December 17, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 17, 2020

A COVID Christmas can still be a giving time

Christmas is traditionally the biggest time for giving in Canada, but in this pandemic year that almost certainly won’t be the case.

December 8, 2018

Burdened by COVID-19-related financial stresses, fewer Canadians will be donating to charities this year, and many of those who do will offer less. At the same time, the pandemic has piled new responsibilities on top of the already burdensome workloads of many of the country’s charities that do everything from supporting the homeless to funding hospitals and vital medical research.

We’re not trying to make the year more depressing than it’s already been, but for the country’s charities, these conditions have created the perfect storm. And those fortunate Canadians who are still able to give to others should be aware of this.

They should listen to Bruce MacDonald, chief executive of Imagine Canada which works to support other charities across the land.

“The crisis is of a scale that we’ve not seen before,” he says, and his organization’s research backs his warning. No less than 68 per cent of Canadian charities have reported a drop in donations since the pandemic began. That translates into a massive, 30.6-per-cent decline in overall charitable revenues and possible losses of between $4.2 billion and $6.3 billion heading into a new year.

December 23, 2004

Hundreds of charities have already closed in 2020, even as 46 per cent of organizations in the sector told Imagine Canada that demands for their services have risen. Without a quick — and as yet unforeseen — turnaround, more charities will be forced to close while others will lay off staff and cut back the services they provide.

The public may not quickly notice some of these changes, even if they eventually prove profound. While there are close to 90,000 registered charities in the country, most are small, with budgets less $500,000 and are mainly run by volunteers. But the public might be surprised by some of the big-name charities have suffered a major hit.

December 18, 2001

The Globe and Mail recently reported that donations to the Canadian Cancer Society plunged by 70 per cent or $70 million this year while Cystic Fibrosis Canada had to cut 10 of its 69 staff members after what is expected to be a $6-million drop in its revenues.

Givings to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada fell by $13.5 million, just over 20 per cent, while after reducing its own operating costs by 30 per cent, the hard-hit United Way of Calgary is warning the organizations it supports that its funding to them could fall by the same amount.

Yes, the challenge facing the nation’s charities is grim. It’s not about numbers, either; it’s about people and social well-being. But it makes no sense to try to guilt every Canadian into stepping up because so many can’t.

Pandemic Times

Just 51 per cent of Canadians recently surveyed by Imagine Canada said they intend to make charitable donations this holiday season, a steep drop from the 62 per cent who answered in the affirmative in 2014. Thirty-six per cent of those who do plan to give say they will give less and the reason is often the same — the pandemic’s financial fallout.

So where does that leave Canada in this supposed season of giving? Whatever upheaval this year has brought, millions of Canadians have survived COVID-19 unscathed, their incomes and lifestyles untouched by the coronavirus. That’s also a fact.

To them we would say first: Consider the urgent, diverse and pervasive needs all around you. Then, we would simply add: Please remember your means. (Globe & Mail)

“MacKay’s point is more interesting. I might have avoided the red kettle, since Sally Ann gets criticized for mixing religion and charity, but it’s a recognizable symbol and the point remains that, if you can buy for your friends and family, you can help those without either.”