infrastructure – mackaycartoons

Wednesday November 22, 2023

November 22, 2023 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 22, 2023

Doug Ford’s Green Dilemma: An Unappetizing Plate of Policy

April 18, 2023

As the advocacy group Ontario Place for All takes Premier Doug Ford’s government to court over the redevelopment plans for Ontario Place, the scenario unfolds like a childhood struggle over vegetables at the dinner table. Much like a parent urging a reluctant child to “eat his greens,” this legal battle is a call for Premier Ford to consume a hefty serving of environmental responsibility.

The group, in its pursuit of a “full environmental assessment,” is akin to a concerned parent demanding that Ford thoroughly examine the nutritional content of his policy plate. The court application challenges the omission of the West Island redevelopment from the initial environmental assessment, asserting that a new evaluation, inclusive of the spa complex, is imperative.

News: Ontario Place group seeks court injunction to pause redevelopment

January 12, 2019

In the parental tug-of-war, Ontario Place for All seeks an interim injunction, preventing the government from engaging in actions that would harm the West Island’s trees, amounting to a plea for Ford not to damage the delicate ecosystem. The group also demands transparency, asking for the government to reveal its lease with Therme and the business case for the West Island redevelopment.

Norm Di Pasquale, co-chair of Ontario Place for All, plays the role of the stern but caring parent, stating, “We just want the government to follow its own laws.” It’s a plea for Ford to adhere to the rules and engage in a consultation process, mirroring a parent’s insistence on following established guidelines.

May 12, 2022

On the flip side, Premier Ford seems to adopt a defiant stance, claiming the public’s disinterest in his government’s bill to return land to the Greenbelt. This dismissal is reminiscent of a child claiming indifference to the nutritional benefits of greens. Ford’s government defends brief consultations on the bill, reminiscent of a child resisting a longer dinner engagement.

The Premier’s pivot to the carbon tax issue reflects a child distracting from one disliked vegetable to another. It’s a strategic move to shift focus, suggesting that the public cares more about a different topic – a familiar tactic in the art of diversion.

As the Greenbelt bill faces limited committee hearings, Ford’s government appears to assert newfound confidence, referencing polling figures as evidence of weathering the Greenbelt crisis. The memo from the premier’s office reads like a parent celebrating a child’s improved eating habits, emphasizing the positive outcomes of Ford’s policy adjustments.

News: Doug Ford says public ‘don’t give two hoots’ about Greenbelt reversal bill

Series: Young Doug Ford

In the end, the Ontario NDP’s queries about public engagement on the Greenbelt bill echo the persistent calls of a parent asking, “Why won’t you listen to the public?” Yet, Ford’s government remains steadfast, presenting its decisions as public-policy choices, much like a parent justifying unpopular but supposedly necessary dietary restrictions.

In this political dining room, the menu of environmental policies is served with a side of controversy, and Ford’s government is caught between appeasing the public palate and asserting its own perceived priorities. The question remains: Can Doug Ford find a balance on his policy plate that satisfies both the public’s appetite for environmental protection and his government’s strategic agenda? (AI)

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro. If you’re creative, give illustration a try:

Tuesday June 29, 2021

July 6, 2021 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 29, 2021

Catherine McKenna quitting federal politics, says years of online attacks were ‘just noise’

After enduring a barrage of online hate and physical attacks on her constituency office during her six years as an MP, Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna announced Monday she will not run again in the next election.

November 24, 2015

McKenna — who led the contentious fight to levy a national price on carbon emissions as environment minister — has long been the target of sexist attacks over her vocal defence of climate action in the face of entrenched opposition.

But she said the hardship she has endured in politics was not the motivation for her departure. Rather, she said, she wants to spend more time with her kids after many nights away during her time in office. She said the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to “step back and reflect on what matters most.”

McKenna also said she wants to focus her energies on fighting climate change from outside of government. She’s offered to help Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian delegation at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland later this year.

November 28, 2015

She’s no stranger to this forum. Only days after being named to cabinet in 2015, McKenna led the Canadian delegation at the COP21 conference in Paris where almost every country on earth agreed to emissions reductions to stave off the worst effects of climate change.

McKenna said her experiences shouldn’t dissuade young women from entering politics. While there may be some abuse, she said, elected office is still the best place to be to bring about change.

Her office was vandalized and her Twitter feed the source of many misogynistic messages — but McKenna said entering federal politics was the only way she could enact Canada’s price on carbon and implement the country’s first “meaningful climate plan” to dramatically drive down emissions by 2030.

December 15, 2015

After the Supreme Court upheld the carbon levy as constitutional, she said, all parties came to accept that pricing pollution is the best way to curb emissions — a sign that politicians can make a difference.

As infrastructure minister, she also signed cheques worth tens of billions of dollars to build public transit and other green-friendly projects.

“For the many people who are understandably cynical about politics, I hope you take that as hard evidence as to what’s possible. Things change, sometimes the biggest things,” she told a press conference along the Rideau Canal in her Ottawa riding.

“I have had my share of attacks, but that’s just noise. People want you to stop what you’re doing, and they want you to back down. We doubled down.”

October 9, 1997

She vowed to do more to tackle the hate some women face when in Parliament. “I’ll do everything to fight that when I’m gone,” she said. “We need good people in politics. Politics matters.”

McKenna’s decision not to run again in Ottawa Centre creates an opening for another Liberal in a riding the party carried easily in the 2015 and 2019 federal elections after years of NDP representation by former New Democrat leader Ed Broadbent and later Paul Dewar.

There’s been some speculation that the former Bank of Canada governor, Mark Carney, may jump into politics after endorsing Trudeau and the Liberals at the party’s convention in April. Carney, who lives in the area, could make a bid to carry the Liberal banner in this urban seat. (CBC)

Wednesday May 19, 2021

May 26, 2021 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 19, 2021

Liberal MP Bob Bratina sticks to his guns on LRT

Give Hamilton East-Stoney Creek Liberal MP Bob Bratina this much: When it comes to LRT, at least, he’s a politician of conviction.

This week Bratina announced he will not seek re-election, because he disagrees with his government’s decision to invest $1.4 billion in light rail transit in Hamilton.

“I just can’t defend it,” Bratina said in an interview with The Spec’s Matthew Van Dongen this week. “They are saying this is a good project for Hamilton but I know in my heart it is not … I don’t know how I could continue as a member of the governing party.”

In his own party, Bratina’s opinion is an outlier. Infrastructure Minister and Hamilton native Catherine McKenna, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Labour Minister Filomena Tassi, who also represents Hamilton-West-Ancaster-Dundas, all support the project. Tassi reportedly cheered during the announcement.

Hamilton’s other high-profile political voice, Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath, and her party, also support LRT. So do other local MPs and MPPs, although it’s not clear where Conservative MP David Sweet stands — he, too, is not running again.

July 22, 2011

No doubt the decision is hard to swallow for Bratina. He has long opposed light rail in this city, and tried to derail it repeatedly when he was on council and then in the mayor’s office. To rub salt in the wound, Bratina says he was not consulted about the agreement between the federal government and the provincial government, and that his concerns about “affordability” were totally ignored.

So be it. Bratina is at least consistent in his opposition, and he cannot be accused of hypocrisy on this file. No doubt the Liberals will find another strong candidate to compete in the riding, and the NDP has also been historically competitive there.

To digress with a bit of political gossip, there is a juicy rumour circulating that Bratina plans another run for mayor in the next municipal election coming in 2022. Bratina won’t rule that out, but says he is focusing on his job as MP for the remainder of his federal term. He referred to the rumour as “speculation.”

The plot, if he does run, looks like this. Anti-LRT Hamilton councillors successfully push for the matter to be deferred to a referendum question on the next ballot, and we could see incumbent Fred Eisenberger running on a pro-LRT ticket while Bratina runs on an anti-LRT platform as Eisenberger challenger Vito Sgro did last election.

May 29, 2013

It’s good political drama, but unlikely to unfold that way. Bratina may well seek another term as mayor, and he could possibly win. But Ottawa and the provincial government have been clear that this $3.4-billion LRT investment is for LRT only, and they want an answer sooner rather than later so the thousands of jobs generated during construction could serve as a post-pandemic jobs recovery project. That doesn’t work if shovels aren’t in the ground until after the local election in the fall of 2022.

All the smart money says if the project is delayed that long the provincial and federal investment will be off the table. That would mean the end of LRT, and also that local taxpayers would be footing the bill for infrastructure investments (underground services and the like) along what would have been the route.

That won’t stop anti-LRT councillors and others from trying to stall or outright kill the project. Which raises an interesting question: Where is Progressive Conservative MPP Donna Skelly in all this? She has always been strongly anti-LRT, but her government now supports the project. The Spectator reached out to Skelly for comment on the matter, but she has yet to respond. Her response will be interesting. (Hamilton Spectator)

Saturday October 20, 2018

October 19, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 20, 2018

At least one robocall poll suggests a divisive LRT project has turned Hamilton’s mayoral election race into a statistical dead heat.

An automated telephone survey by Forum Research of 1,556 residents showed 39 per cent support pro-LRT incumbent Fred Eisenberger while 38 percent back anti-LRT challenger Vito Sgro. Other respondents either said they will choose another of the 15 mayoral candidates (12%) or were undecided (12%).

October 13, 2018

Respondents – a majority reached by landline – were similarly divided when asked how they felt about the contentious $1-billion light rail line, said Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff. Half said they opposed the project, while 46% were supportive.

And when those residents were specifically informed about the positions of both candidates on LRT and asked to choose between them again, the support split at 43 percent each.

“It is so close, the numbers are almost identical,” said Bozinoff of the survey, which claims a margin of error of 2.48%, with total sample results considered accurate 19 times out of 20. “What it means – because municipal voter turnout is not great – is that it is important for both sides to get out their vote on Monday.”

August 14, 2018

Forum Research was not paid for the survey and plans to release the results publicly Friday, said Bozinoff. The firm periodically conducts polls and offers the results for free to drum up clients.

Bozinoff noted light rail transit was also an issue – but not the top priority – for voters polled in a paid Forum survey conducted for The Spectator during the 2014 election.

This time, fully a third of respondents called LRT the top issue that would influence their vote.

By contrast, 17 percent chose taxes, 15 percent chose infrastructure/roads and nine-percent chose public safety. “Often, the top issue is taxes,” Bozinoff said. “Clearly, people feel very strongly about this (LRT) issue.”

Interestingly, the majority of respondents who offered an opinion about LRT feel passionately about the project, one way or another. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Saturday February 17, 2018

February 15, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 17, 2018

It’s potholes vs. buses this winter in Hamilton, and potholes are winning

Best winter … E-V-E-R … if you’re a Hamilton pothole, in which case you practically own the city this season, or its curb lanes at the very least.

February 13, 2015

Worst winter ever, if you happen to be a ball joint or some other part of an automobile steering and suspension system; or if you’re a driver relying on such parts to cushion the half-foot drops into craters so big they should have their own bike lanes.

Roads crews in Hamilton are responding with “all hands on deck” as they attempt to repair damage to the road in several priority areas across the city, day and night, filling literally hundreds of potholes with tons of asphalt, said the city’s public works department on Wednesday.

Even the bus drivers won’t drive some stretches of Hamilton road, so pockmarked are they, especially one of the city’s busiest streets, Main West, by the McMaster hospital. Earlier this week they launched a workplace refusal, unwilling to service some stops on Main West, instead posting notices at those stops and detouring around them, says Eric Tuck, president Local 107, Amalgamated Transit Union.

Worst ever for potholes?

“Anecdotal,” says Dan McKinnon. “But, yeah, it’s the worst I’ve seen.” And he’s seen a lot. Dan’s been general manager of Hamilton Public Works for a year and a half but before that spent decades on the roads with the department.

That’s why “we’re out there, day and night,” says Dan, of his public works teams, “on pothole duty.” Every unit, unless an emergency pulls them off. He’s not even sure how many workers he’s got on it because, beside city staff, he’s called in contract workers to help.

“I think it’s a few things,” says Dan. “There’s the freeze-thaw cycle but we get that every year. Twenty years ago we’d get it a couple of times a winter but lately it’s happening five to six times a winter. The frequency of the cycle has increased.

“And my personal theory is that the really bad winter we had in 2014-2015, with extraordinary cold, did damage that is just manifesting now.” (Source: Jeff Mahoney, Hamilton Spectator)