figure skating • mackaycartoons

Saturday February 18, 2017

February 17, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 18, 2017

Ontario’s auditor general is not satisfied after an expert panel sided with the Liberal government in a $10.7-billion accounting dispute.

The auditor and the government disagree over whether a $10.7-billion surplus in two jointly sponsored pension plans should appear as an asset on the government’s books.

December 11, 2014

Auditor general Bonnie Lysyk says that because the government doesn’t have the right to unilaterally access that surplus, it shouldn’t count as an asset.

But an expert panel this week said that it is an asset because it has a future economic benefit, since the government could reduce contributions and would therefore have additional funds to spend elsewhere.

But Lysyk says in order for her to issue a clean audit opinion, she wants to see a letter from the unions representing workers covered by the plans saying the province can use that money.

The government says joint pension agreements already spell out how surpluses are to be handled and no additional letter is needed. (Hamilton Spectator)

Friday, February 14, 2014

February 14, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, February 14, 2014

Evgeni Plushenko shocks Sochi, retires before short program

Is Evgeni Plushenko done?

If so, the majestic Russian figure skater exited the spotlight with Evgenian stagecraft: Gold and gone.

The veteran show-master had just come out under the klieg lights at the Ice Palace to perform his short program in the men’s singles competition. He looked clearly out of sorts, rolling his shoulders, wincing, kneading the small of his chronically ailing back.

He motioned to the judges for a moment’s indulgence. Most spectators thought perhaps there was something awry with Plushenko’s music. But he stopped again, hands on hips, shaking his signature block tresses.

Couldn’t go through with it, in too much pain, apparently, and waved goodbye instead to the suddenly hushed crowd.

The 31-year-old had fallen on a quad during practice Wednesday, after leading Russia to gold in the inaugural team event on the weekend. He landed awkwardly again — looked more like a strain in the groin muscles — on a triple Axel in the warm-up Thursday night.

Left the ice, spoke to his coach and departed, stomping down the tunnel into the medical room.

“Do not judge him by tonight,” pleaded long-time coach Alexei Mishin, facing down reporters in the mixed zone. “Judge him by his history. Be kind.”

Plushenko, Olympic champion in 2006 and twice silver, including four years ago in Vancouver, has had a dozen surgeries on his problematic back. Injury caused him to miss all of the 2013 Grand Prix season, though he competed at nationals and came second.
The fall in practice, said Mishin, had opened up a three-inch gash, just above one of the operation scars on his back, where he now has plastic rather than bone.

“Yesterday I fell on the quad toe in training and I felt a problem in my back,” Plushenko explained when he reappeared to address journalists. “Today I went into training to see what I could do but I couldn’t jump. I skated maybe seven minutes maximum. I tried and tried and tried today.” (Source: Toronto Star)

Tuesday February 11, 2014

February 11, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 11, 2014

Flaherty picks middle of Olympics for date of federal budget

The Conservative government will deliver an earlier-than-normal February budget in an effort to recapture the policy agenda and set the stage for a good-news pre-election budget in 2015.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Monday afternoon that he will deliver his 2014 budget on Tuesday, Feb. 11, as he continued to play down expectations that it will include major new spending or tax cuts. The timing means the budget will be tabled during the Sochi Olympic Games, leading to opposition criticism that the Conservatives are trying to hide a “do-nothing” budget.

Conservatives stress that a low-key budget this year helps the government move toward its primary political goal, which is to announce a surplus for 2015 that is big enough to accommodate new spending and tax cuts ahead of the next election.

“There will be room for more money in the Government of Canada in the next several years because we’ve been careful,” Mr. Flaherty told reporters earlier in the day Monday. “We’ll have room to move on various issues.”

The Finance Minister repeated his claim that there is “no doubt” the budget will return to balance in the 2015-16 fiscal year and declined to answer when asked whether a surplus might appear one year early. Some private-sector economists have said that a balanced budget in 2014-15 is possible, depending on how the economy performs.

Over the past year, the Conservative government has made several attempts to reset its agenda and move attention away from the continuing Senate scandal. Moves such as a cabinet shuffle last July, a Throne Speech in October and a major trade deal with the European Union all failed to divert the public’s attention. (Source: Globe & Mail)