Editorial Cartoon

Tuesday February 2, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 2, 2021

No written guarantee on EU vaccine shipments, says international trade minister

January 28, 2021

Minister of International Trade Mary Ng said she has received assurances that export controls on vaccines introduced by the European Union will not affect Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine orders. 

Testifying at the House of Commons trade committee Monday, Ng said the government received verbal assurances in phone conversations with EU officials that Canada’s shipments will not be disrupted.

Opposition MPs asked Ng why the government had not secured a more formal, written guarantee from the EU.

Ng said she spoke with EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed the issue with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“I reiterated that Canada has advanced purchase agreements with vaccine manufacturers in Europe, and we expect that those agreements be respected,” Ng said.

January 7, 2021

“Vice-President Dombrovskis provided strong reassurances that this mechanism will not delay vaccine shipments to Canada, and we both committed to continue to work together, as we have since the beginning of the pandemic.”

On Jan. 29, the European Commission introduced new export controls for the 27-member bloc, which requires member states to get authorization before they can export vaccine doses out of the EU.

The export controls have raised concerns that Canada’s advance purchase agreements may not be honoured, which would threaten the supply of vaccines coming into the country. Canada is not on a list of countries exempted from the controls.

While Ng said Canada would prefer to get on that list, she did not elaborate on a pathway to do so. She repeatedly brought up that other countries such as the United States and Australia are also not exempt.

Ng said she spoke with the Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium Sunday, Sophie Wilmès, who gave similar assurances that Canada’s advanced purchase agreements would be honoured.  The Pfizer vaccines Canada has ordered are being manufactured at a facility in Puurs, Belgium.

Conservative MP Ziad Aboultaif said the government should have pushed for a written guarantee. 

“There’s a term here — if it’s not in writing, [it] never happened. Do you agree?” Aboultaif asked.

Ng responded that she was confident in the assurances she had received.

“What I would say is that assurances by a vice-president and commissioner of the European Union, as well as the European Union president, to a prime minister, is a … good thing,” Ng said. (CBC) 

 

2020 Graeme Galleries

2020 Gallery – Ontario
2020 Gallery – Canada
2020 Gallery – Covid-19
2020 Gallery – Trump

 

2020 Editorial Cartoons

Dec. 5 – 11, 2019
Dec. 12 -18, 2019
Jan. 7 -13, 2020
Jan. 14 -21, 2020
Jan. 22 -28, 2020
Jan. 29 – 4, 2020
Feb 5 – 11, 2020
Feb 12 – 19, 2020
Feb. 20 – 27, 2020
Feb. 28 – Mar. 5, 2020
Mar. 6-12, 2020
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Apr. 28 – May 2, 2020
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May 29 – June 4, 2020
June 5 – 11, 2020
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Dec. 1 – 5, 2020
Dec. 8 – 12, 2020
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2020 Year in Review

2019 Editorial Cartoons

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) 

 

Thursday May 14, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 14, 2020

‘Social bubbles’ allow you to see friends as coronavirus lockdowns ease — but they might not work

As more countries look to lift their coronavirus lockdowns, “social bubbles” have been floated as an idea of how to ease restrictions, but experts say they could be difficult to put into practice.  

Marvellous Maps

A social bubble entails allowing people to form a group with a select number of people they are allowed to see socially outside their own household. 

They have been put forward as a way to continue containing the spread of Covid-19, which has infected more than 3.6 million people worldwide and killed over 257,000, according to the latest figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 

New Zealand — which has been heralded as an example for bringing its coronavirus cases down to zero — has already implemented social bubbles. It lifted certain lockdown restrictions last week and allowed people to expand their bubbles to contact with close family outside their own households. 

April 18 2020

Meanwhile, Belgium is reportedly considering allowing people to socialize with a group of up to 10 people. It currently allows people to meet up with two others outside their household, so long they are outside and keep a distance from each other.

William Hanage, associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said social bubbles were “certainly a component of how, once the initial outbreak is under control, measures could be refined.” 

However, he added that “as the size of the cluster grows, the probability that one of its members could become infected obviously increases.”

Mike Tildesley, an associate professor who specializes in infectious disease control at the University of Warwick, said that while “in principle, it’s a really sensible strategy,” practically it would be difficult to implement. 

He also said that narrowing down a list of friends — and ensuring that those friends also have the same list — sounded like a “social nightmare.” 

“You could envisage this situation where you name a group of friends, they name a group of friends that includes you, but it has some people that aren’t included on your list and all you’ve got is some sort of porous process that (the coronavirus) filters through the population more slowly that it did before,” Tildesley added. (CNBC) 

 

Tuesday November 5, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday November 5, 2019

Is there lead in your tap water? Canada-wide investigation exposes dangerous levels of toxic metal

Hundreds of thousands of Canadians are consuming tap water laced with high levels of lead leaching from aging and deteriorating infrastructure.

A year-long investigation by more than 120 journalists from nine universities and 10 media organizations, including the Toronto Star and the Institute for Investigative Journalism, collected test results that properly measure exposure to lead in 11 cities across Canada. Out of 12,000 tests since 2014, one third — 33 per cent —exceeded the national safety guideline of 5 parts per billion.

Reporters also fanned out to 32 cities and towns across the country — from Victoria, B.C., to Grand Pre, N.S. — to knock on doors in neighborhoods with older homes. With the help of residents who volunteered to take part, the teams conducted 260 water tests using accepted standards and submitted samples to accredited labs. The results showed 39 per cent of samples exceeded the current federal guideline.

Experts call threats from lead exposure a simmering public health crisis. But many Canadians remain unaware of serious long-term health consequences because government oversight is often lax and secretive.

Canada is blessed with the world’s third largest renewable freshwater supply covering about 12 per cent of the country’s surface area. But while Canada may be a global water superpower with a reputation for snow-capped mountains, crystal clear lakes and free flowing rivers, lead exceedances in tap water are chronic and sometimes extreme, the investigation found.

Test results from samples taken in cities including Prince Rupert, B.C., Regina, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon and Montreal showed lead levels comparable to — and in some cases beyond — those of U.S. cities that have made international headlines for their tainted water. (Toronto Star)