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Wednesday February 19, 2025

The increasing control over political candidates' public engagements in Ontario raises concerns about transparency and democracy, reflecting a shift towards meticulous message management at the cost of open debate.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 19, 2025

The Training of the Seals

Doug Ford, "Captain Canada," charms Ontario voters despite pressing provincial issues, leading to strong poll numbers ahead of the election.

February 14, 2025

In our democracy, debates and open conversations are vital. They help ensure that politicians are accountable and transparent. However, in Ontario, there’s a worrying trend: Progressive Conservative (PC) candidates, including their leader Doug Ford, are avoiding public debates and media interactions. This behaviour raises concerns about the health of our democratic process.

Recently, it’s been noted that PC candidates in areas like London are skipping public forums, choosing instead to campaign door-to-door. This strategy denies voters the chance to hear from those who aim to represent them, effectively stifling the democratic process that thrives on public exchange and scrutiny.

Even Doug Ford himself has been absent from media engagements after debates, despite participating in media sessions during a trip to Washington, D.C. This absence is particularly troubling in an election where crucial issues like healthcare and climate policy are at the forefront.

News: Ontario election: PC Party candidates face heat for skipping London debates

November 9, 2021

The party’s decision to limit exposure and tightly control messaging may be an attempt to avoid missteps. However, it also suggests a lack of confidence in their candidates’ ability to speak freely and defend their positions. This control creates the impression that candidates are more like puppets, directed by unseen handlers rather than their own beliefs.

This approach is unfair to voters, who deserve representatives willing to engage openly and honestly. It undermines the core of democracy, which relies on diverse viewpoints and rigorous debate for informed decision-making.

News: Niagara Conservative Candidates on Mute

Without open engagement, voters are left with a watered-down version of political discourse, lacking the depth needed to address complex issues. This not only limits voters’ ability to make informed choices but also erodes trust in the political system.

As voters, we need to demand more from those who wish to lead. Politicians who avoid scrutiny and debate should face consequences at the polls. Our democratic process isn’t served by candidates who operate behind the scenes, guided by hidden forces.

It’s time for a change. We must insist on transparency, engagement, and accountability from our political leaders. Only then can democracy thrive, providing the insight and debate we need to tackle today’s challenges. As the election approaches, let’s remember the power of our voices and the importance of demanding a political arena where free thought and genuine engagement are the norm.

Will your vote go to the local candidate who doesn’t show up for anything?

It’s pretty disheartening to see so many local candidates skipping out on the all-candidates debates; it’s a clear indicator that the standards in our democratic process are slipping. What’s even more frustrating is that most of these candidates are from the ruling Progressive Conservative party. Ask yourselves: Do you really want someone who’s just toeing the party line representing your interests? It seems like candidates don’t even get the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities to the local voters anymore. Add to that the lack of political flyers, no door-knocking from candidates or even volunteers, hidden election signs, and minimal media engagement, and it feels like we’re witnessing one of the most invisible election campaigns in Ontario’s history. Maybe this is part of Premier Doug Ford’s plan for the PCs, but it still doesn’t explain why the other parties are so quiet in the 2025 election. Honestly, from where I’m drawing, I haven’t seen much of anything.

Anyway, enjoy my making-of video for February 19, 2025. The Ontario election is just 9 days away…

– The Graeme Gallery

Read on Substack

Wednesday October 31, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 31, 2018

What this year’s topical Halloween costumes tell us about the darkest fears of modern life

In 2018, traditional Halloween costumes simply don’t cut it. Vampires and witches are so uninspired, so overdone. You want real horror? Try looking outside.

October 27, 2005

Perhaps this explains why Halloween costumes are taking a turn for the topical, and why the New Yorker’s Emily Nussbaum attended a party this weekend dressed in the scariest costume she could think of: the New York Times’ midterm election poll. Other sightings include the usual array of Donald Trumps, multiple Ruth Bader Ginsbergs and the literal death of democracy.

This is nothing particularly new. A New York Times article from 1998 lists faddish Halloween costumes like Monica Lewinsky, Woody Allen, and Lorena Bobbitt, while Lewes in Sussex has long been famous for burning effigies of characters, from the pope in 2005 to Angela Merkel in 2012. But in recent years this seems to have crossed over into the mainstream. Last year, at the height of #MeToo, there seemed to be a clutch of ever-present Halloween “handmaids” wherever you went. While this is the third consecutive year that “Brexit” has been a viable (and common) outfit choice of outfit.

What does this tell us about our fears? The bad news is that our fears are so front and centre that you can dress as Trump, or a nation’s voting intentions, or the concept of institutionalised sexism, and people will understand. This ubiquity only really happens in times of genuine crisis. The good news is that these costumes are an act of rebellion. By dressing as “our fears”, we are mocking them. And by mocking them, we are diminishing them. As Stephen Colbert says, you can’t laugh and be afraid at the same time.

October 31, 2008

But few things are as dull as a Halloween party full of ultra-partisan topical costumes. Within seconds of entering, you know exactly how all the conversations will go. You will spend your evening having your ear bent off about some half-remembered statistic from the news, while wishing you could slink off and get drunk with the attendee dressed as Sexy Super Mario. It is good to wear your stripes on your sleeve and all, but Halloween should be stupid. Let’s keep it that way. (Source: Guardian) 

 

Saturday May 12, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 12, 2018

NDP suspends Quebec MP Christine Moore in wake of inappropriate conduct allegations

November 6, 2014

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has temporarily suspended Quebec MP Christine Moore from her duties with the party and ordered an investigation after a veteran of the war in Afghanistan accused her of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

The allegations against Moore are the latest to rock the third-place party. Singh expelled another MP from caucus last week following a three-month investigation that was sparked by a complaint from Moore.

In an interview, retired corporal Glen Kirkland said Moore first approached him after he testified before a parliamentary committee in June 2013, where he had been asked to speak on the treatment of ill and injured soldiers.

January 31, 2018

Kirkland was wounded in an ambush in Afghanistan in 2008 while driving a light-armoured vehicle that was hit by recoilless rifle fire. The shot killed three other soldiers and left Kirkland with severe injuries, including a damaged pancreas and right eye, crushed vertebrae, bleeding in the brain and PTSD.

Kirkland did not want to get into specifics Tuesday. But he did tell the CBC that Moore followed him back to his hotel and continued to send explicit messages, even turning up unannounced at his Manitoba home before he forcibly told her to stop.

January 26, 2018

“I’m not claiming rape or anything,” Kirkland, who is now a real estate agent in Brandon, Man., told CP. But, he said, “she was inappropriate. She used her position of power and authority to get what she wanted.”

In a statement released Tuesday, Singh said Moore will remain a member of caucus pending the results of an investigation, but that she is being temporarily relieved of her duties on committees and other party matters.

“I take these allegations very seriously and I will be appointing an independent investigator to conduct a fair and full examination,” Singh said. (Source: Edmonton Journal) 

 

Wednesday June 16, 2010

June 16, 2010

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday June 16, 2010

Canadian version of Fox News on the horizon

Canada will be getting another all-news TV channel, one that aims to banish the established “boring, smug and condescending” news networks to the sidelines with a snappy, right-wing take on current events modelled on America’s wildly successful and controversial Fox News.

Quebecor Media Inc. announced Tuesday it plans to launch Sun TV News, ending months of speculation and anticipation in Ottawa over what had been dubbed “Fox News North.”

Sun TV News will replace the Sun TV station in Toronto and be a collaboration between Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.A) and its TVA Group and Sun Media Corp. units and will challenge “the English Canadian TV news establishment,” Pierre Karl Peladeau said Tuesday at the network’s launch at the Toronto Sun Building in downtown Toronto.

“We see an opportunity in offering Canadians something new, something better, something distinct. It is time to shake up the current players of the Canadian broadcasting system,” Peladeau said in a statement.

Heading the new channel will be newly hired Quebecor vice-president Kory Teneycke, a former staff member at the Prime Minister’s Office, who said Canadians have tuned out traditional news channels that are “boring, smug and condescending.”

“CBC News Network and CTV News Channel have had respectively 21 and 13 years to get it right and they’ve failed to win over viewers,” Teneycke said.

“Canadian TV news today is narrow, complacent, and politically correct,” he said, adding that Sun TV News will be “different,” with hard news reporting during the day and “straight talk” opinion journalism at night. (CTV)