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Saturday June 6, 2020

June 13, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday June 6, 2020

Toronto hairstylist launches petition, calls for Ontario to reopen salons, barber shops

April 25, 2020

A long-time Toronto hairstylist has launched an online petition calling on the Ontario government to reopen hair salons and barber shops, months after closing amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

Norm Wright, who has spent most of his three-decade career at Taz Hair Co. in the Yorkville neighbourhood, opened a petition on Change.org this week to voice his frustration about remaining shut down.

As of Thursday night, it had nearly 10,000 signatures.

Ontario is the last remaining province without an announced opening date for the industry, Wright said. With new health and safety measures already in place at his salon and others in the hair industry, he insists they are ready to reopen now, “We are taking steps that businesses that have been allowed to be open have not [taken] and we don’t feel that we are being taken seriously,” he said.

“If these family-owned businesses aren’t being taken seriously for much longer, they’re going to close.”

Donna Dolphy, who owns a salon in Toronto, told Global News she is worried that if shops like hers remain closed much longer, customers will turn to the underground market.

Life in a Pandemic

“Where are they going to go? Nobody wants to look like a sheep dog for very long,” she said.

“They’re going to want to have service done. And if this continues we may not have clients come back in our chair.”

New measures at many barber shops and hair salons include taking clients’ temperature at the door, fewer work stations, no blow-drying and removing items like magazines, Wright explained.

“If this continues on the velocity it’s continuing on while other businesses that aren’t taking the same precautions are allowed to reopen, hair and beauty in Ontario will be decimated,” he said. (Global News)

Saturday April 4, 2020

April 11, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

April 4, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 4, 2020

Should I keep away from others while walking? Prof says yes

Walking has been a welcome relief for people feeling cooped up in these unprecedented times of social distancing, but even this ordinary activity raises questions about what’s appropriate when approaching fellow pedestrians.

Coronavirus cartoons

Exercise and fresh air are important for both physical and mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak — but so is following some key guidelines, advises Corinne Hart, associate professor of Ryerson University’s Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing.

Maintaining six feet of space is at the top of her list.

Hart is walking her 13-year-old Goldendoodle daily through Toronto’s historic Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

With its wide roads that wind through the cemetery’s picturesque 200 acres, it’s the ideal place to keep a safe distance from others while walking, said Hart.

“It’s so nice, and there’s lots of space,” Hart said Thursday in a phone interview.

But it’s important to keep two arm lengths away from people, she added.

“Don’t stop and have chats with people where you’re going to get close. The smartest thing is to err on the side of caution and keep far away.”

And while dog parks are a popular place to hang out — they’ve been as busy as ever this week as people flock outdoors — Hart said it’s better to stay away from them. Congregating anywhere isn’t a good idea, and dogs are unpredictable.

“I was shocked at how many people were in the dog park actually when I was walking today,” she said. “I would say don’t.”

Dogs might get into tussles, prompting owners to rush and pull them apart, or go talk to the other person, she explained.

“Unless you’ve got a big dog park (to maintain distance) and your dog is really well-behaved and is going to come when you call.”

Hart, who teaches community health nursing and practice at Ryerson, also cautions against walks for people in self-isolation. While people in isolation surely crave the outdoors more than anyone, self-isolating means halting all contact with others. Leaving the house presents too many risks.

“If by some chance something happens — you fall, you get hurt, there’s an accident — then you’re stuck out there with people all over you,” said Hart, who’s also Ryerson’s academic lead for interprofessional education in the Faculty of Community Services.

But for those not in self-isolation, outdoor exercise is recommended. And biking and running don’t pose any more of a risk than walking, as long as they’re not done in close contact with others. (CTV)

Friday August 24, 2018

August 24, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday August 24, 2018

‘He kind of ripped off the Band-Aid:’ some Tories relieved after Bernier quits

August 17, 2018

After a bombshell day for the Conservative party, many members attending the annual Tory convention in Halifax expressed quiet relief on Thursday that the long-expected divorce of maverick MP Maxime Bernier from the party was finally out of the way.

Delegates from across the country began arriving for the three-day policy convention in Nova Scotia just as Bernier staged a spectacular resignation from the party in Ottawa, calling the Tories “intellectually and morally corrupt” and announcing plans to start his own party for the 2019 election.

As news of Bernier’s announcement reverberated around the convention halls, many members said they felt it was something they felt was inevitable after the Quebec MP’s recent flurry of controversial tweets.

It was “only a matter of time” until Bernier would leave, either by choice or by ousting, one member said.

May 28, 2008

“He kind of ripped off the Band-Aid,” another stated, a phrase that was repeated by several others.

A few people commented that some larger donors to Bernier’s campaign are now feeling angered by his rash decision to mount a battle against the Conservative party, and that they now feel a sense of “buyer’s remorse.”

Kathleen Mahar-Wagner of Quebec proudly displayed her reaction, fashioning a hand-drawn sign saying “bye bye Bernier,” which she wore around her neck.

“I’m very glad that he made the decision and that he’s left. I think it will be better for the party that he take his ideas and he does what he wants with them.” (Source: CTV)

Tuesday September 22, 2015

September 21, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 22, 2015

Stephen Harper ‘playing a very divisive game’ with niqabs, Tom Mulcair says

Stephen Harper is “playing a very divisive game” with his government’s effort to impose a ban on niqabs during the citizenship oath, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said Monday, just days before a French-language debate in Quebec — a province in which identity politics continues to drive a wedge between voters.

“I’m not about the politics of fear and division. Mr. Harper is going to always go after that. If he senses that there’s something there that can divide Canadians one against the other, he’ll do it,” said Mulcair during a morning campaign stop in Nova Scotia.

The Bloc Québécois has also taken up the issue, saying it would go even further than the Tories and impose a ban on face coverings during citizenship ceremonies and in the voting booth.

For his part, Mulcair has had to negotiate a tricky path on the issue. His party needs to retain the hard-won votes it secured in Quebec in 2011, but cannot risk losing support in the diverse suburbs of Toronto and Vancouver, where voters appear to be opposed to the government’s effort to impose a ban.

Part of his approach has been to accuse Harper of dog-whistle politics.

“He talks about ‘old stock Canadians,'” Mulcair said this morning, alluding to a comment Harper made during last week’s leaders’ debate in Calgary.

“That’s a code word. He knows what he’s doing when he does that.”

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said earlier this week that the Grits have “always been crystal clear” about their opposition to a ban on niqabs and other veils. (Source: CBC News)

Saskatoo Star Phoenix, September 23, 2015

Saturday October 18, 2014

October 17, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 18, 2014

What’s fair play in an election campaign?

The efforts of purported online hackers to “expose” a Ward 3 candidate as a Freemason just jumped to the top of a list of questionable campaign tactics in Hamilton.

It’s getting to be a long list.

Alleged mass destruction of Marie Robbins signs in Stoney Creek. An anonymous letter disputing how long Sandy Shaw has lived in Ward 1. A suspected “whisper campaign” about the health of mayoral candidate Brad Clark.

Mudslinging

Clark, in turn, was accused of mudslinging after claiming candidate Fred Eisenberger misled the public by withholding rapid transit memos when he was last mayor. Clark then faced criticism when it was revealed he got the memos from outgoing Mayor Bob Bratina, not via a Freedom of Information request, as suggested by his campaign.

The difference between hardball tactics and dirty politics is often in the eye of the beholder, said political pundit Gerry Nicholls, known for creative attack ads during his time with the conservative National Citizens Coalition.

“Attack ads, brawling tactics … it’s kind of par for the course in elections,” said Nicholls, who fondly recalls skewering federal politicians using “farm animals and billboards.”

“Politics really is a blood sport. If you’re not ready for the rough stuff, maybe you’re not ready to run for office.”

Still, Nicholls said every candidate has to respect basic rules, such as libel law. “You don’t call someone a liar … You may hint at it, you may imply it,” he said. Also, do your research. A factually incorrect attack ad “can really come back and bite you.”

Clark rejects the characterization of his campaign as negative. He argued Thursday the vast majority of his announcements have been positive and added it’s fair to criticize the track record of opponents.

“There’s a difference between comparing performance and quite literally name calling,” said Clark in response to a Spectator question at a news conference on improving council relations.

The Stoney Creek councillor has indeed endured some notable barbs from mayoral competitors like Brian McHattie, who has called him “Machiavellian.”

Clark also recently held a news conference to address what he felt was a “whisper campaign” about his rheumatoid arthritis, which he said is in remission and has never interfered with his duties as councillor.

Shaw was irritated to learn about the anonymous pokes at her residency. The rookie candidate said she briefly lived outside the ward for family reasons but is back and has had a home in Ward 1 for 32 years. She describing the letter in field hockey terms: “like a crack at your ankles on a breakaway.”

Ward 3 candidate Matthew Green is the latest victim — or, possibly, beneficiary — of a political attack. A YouTube video ostensibly posted by the online collective of hackers Anonymous warns viewers the rookie candidate is a Freemason who moved his business to Ward 3 to “control” the neighbourhood.

Some online comments noted the video does a good job reminding viewers of Green’s activism and media plaudits for being a “young professional to watch.”

Green said he appreciates the shoutout, if not the “poor production values” and “tinfoil hat stuff.” He declined to say who he thinks is behind the video — but added it isn’t him.

“I don’t know, this election seems to have really brought out the kookiness in some people,” said the candidate, who described himself being “two-for-two” in unwanted election news after being accused of defamation following a heated exchange with a school board trustee.

“Maybe you haven’t arrived until someone makes an Anonymous video about you?” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)