Editorial Cartoon

Tuesday March 13, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday March 13, 2018

Organized mob used G20 tactics in Locke Street attack

An organized masked mob that wreaked havoc on the Kirkendall North neighbourhood over the weekend strategies similar to those used during the 2010 G20 riots in Toronto.

The group of 30 people, brandishing a banner that read ‘We Are The Ungovernable,’ donned black clothing and face coverings to conceal their identities — a tactic called “black bloc,” said Insp. Paul Hamilton on Monday.

After smashing a handful of storefront windows with rocks, lighting fireworks and setting off smoke bombs, they fled — some on foot and others by vehicle — from Locke Street South Saturday night, ditching their clothing after the unprecedented attack.

“They’ll strip off their black clothing and now they’re wearing something orange, and then they go down another street and they strip that clothing off, and it becomes very difficult,” he said. “Our immediate concern was for the public safety.”

Police believe they have recovered pieces of clothing, including some tucked at the top of neighbourhood driveways, as well as information about some of the getaway cars used, but no arrests have been made.

Who is responsible for the attack and what their motives are is not clear, but police have said they are investigating a possible link to the anarchist book fair that took place in the city over the weekend.

Later Monday, a sheet of plywood boarded up the window of The Tower, the meeting place of Hamilton anarchists on Cannon Street East at Victoria Avenue. A message was written across it in black letters: “We are not the least afraid of RUINS for we carry a new world here in our hearts” followed by the letter A in a circle, the anarchist symbol.

An anonymous poster on the website Anarchistnews.org claims to have taken part in the rampage, saying ” all my worst bosses have been small business owners — the problem isn’t the size of the business, it’s that the relationship is exploitative.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)  

SaveSave

Thursday January 11, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 11, 2018

Sen. Lynn Beyak’s views might be ‘typical’ but that doesn’t make them right

It’s sad to note that newly independent Senator Lynn Beyak is pretty much your typical Canadian. She comes off as well-intentioned and hard-working — the type of person you expect to see cheering in bleachers at small-town hockey rinks while holding a Tim Hortons coffee cup. I think of her when I think of the people Prime Minister Stephen Harper referred to with his “old-stock Canadians” quip last election campaign. 

But I say “sadly” of her typical-ness because Beyak, who Conservative leader Andrew Scheer removed from the Conservative caucus last week after she refused to take down offensive letters from her Senate website, is just like a great number of Canadians who are genuinely unable to see how their views are harmful. (For the record, in a statement Monday, Beyak said no one from Scheer’s office spoke with her or her staff about taking down the letters.) Instead, these Canadians still seem to believe in that mythical free pass to which many white people — and I am a white settler myself — try to clutch: that of good intentions.

As long as we have good intentions, many of us believe, there is no need to apologize, and no need to grapple with the weight of ugly words such as “prejudice” and “racism.”

But just because a view is typical doesn’t make it right.

The Beyak saga might have only reached a breaking point now, but it has been brewing for many months, starting way back in March of last year, when Beyak said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings of systemic racism against Indigenous peoples in Canada ignored the “well-intentioned” actions of instructors at residential schools.

“Mistakes were made at residential schools,” she said at the time, “in many instances, horrible mistakes that overshadowed some good things that also happened at those schools.” (Source: CBC News) 

 

 

Thursday June 22, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 22, 2017

LCBO extends hours in lead up to Canada Day as possible strike looms

The LCBO is extending hours amid fears of a last call due to a possible work stoppage next week.

March 4, 2015

With 8,000 unionized workers set to hit the bricks on Monday, the provincial alcohol monopoly some Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores will be open from 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. starting Thursday.

“Extended store hours across Ontario will help accommodate customer shopping leading up to Canada Day and possible labour disruption,” the LCBO said in a statement Wednesday.

“We continue to bargain with the union’s bargaining committee, with the union in a legal strike position as of 12:01 a.m. Monday,” the Crown agency continued.

“To ensure access to the best product selection and to avoid disappointment, customers should shop in advance of Sunday . . . if possible,” it said.

June 23, 2009

“We remain focused on reaching a fair, sustainable and responsible collective agreement. However, in the event of a labour disruption, we have plans to provide some level of service.”

Details on those strike provisions are not yet known.

In the event that workers are not on strike over the Canada Day long weekend July 1, the LCBO is hoping to keep as many as 450 of its 650 stores open with the longer hours that Sunday.

June 26, 2009

However, all outlets will be closed on the Saturday. They will be open Monday even though that is a statutory holiday.

Employees, 84 per cent of whom are part-time, are seeking greater certainty from the LCBO over scheduling and guarantees about eventually gaining full-time jobs.

Premier Kathleen Wynne, who is reforming labour laws this fall to protect workers in precarious employment circumstances better, has warned that “it’s a good idea for government to set an example in terms of good labour practice.” (Toronto Star) 

 

Wednesday May 17, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 17, 2017

Disney hack: Ransom demanded for stolen film

Disney CEO Bob Iger told ABC employees about the demand at a town hall meeting on Monday, The Hollywood Reporter said.

He did not name the film, but Deadline reports that it is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Mr Iger said Disney is refusing to pay, and that the studio is working with federal investigators.

He added that the hackers had demanded the ransom in bitcoin and that they would release the film online in a series of 20-minute chunks unless it was paid.

It is not the first film studio to be threatened with online leaks.

Last month, a group of hackers uploaded the fifth season of Orange is the New Black after Netflix refused to pay a ransom.

Dead Men Tell No Tales is the fifth instalment of the Pirates franchise and will see Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow return to the ocean alongside Geoffrey Rush and Orlando Bloom.

It is due to be released in cinemas in the US on 26 May.

Mark James, security specialist at IT security company ESET, said: “Anything that has a value will always be a potential victim of theft, either digital or physical. If someone has it and someone wants it then in theory there’s a market for it.” (Source: BBC)