junk – mackaycartoons

Friday June 8, 2018

June 8, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday June 8, 2018

‘We have taken back Ontario’: Doug Ford leads PCs to majority government

Led by Doug Ford, Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives have secured a majority government, ending nearly 15 years of Liberal power in the province.

The NDP will form the province’s Official Opposition, while the embattled Liberals were handed a substantial rebuke from voters, losing the vast majority of their seats at Queen’s Park.

Kathleen Wynne announced she will resign as Liberal leader, as the Grits failed to pick up the eight seats necessary to maintain official party status.Buoyed by Ford — a one-term Toronto city councillor and businessman — the PCs ran a populist campaign long on commitments but short on fiscal details, promising a tax cut for the middle class and corporations and a drastic reduction in the price of hydro and gasoline.

“My friends, this victory belongs to you. This victory belongs to the people. And tonight, the people of Ontario have spoken,” Ford said in a victory speech to supporters at an event in Toronto.

“I promised to deliver a strong, stable majority government and together we did that. Together we made history. We have taken back Ontario, we have delivered a government that is for the people,” he continued.

As was expected, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath held onto her seat in Hamilton Centre, where she has served as an MPP since 2004. Heading into election day, polls suggested that the NDP had a slim chance of eking out a win. While such an improbably scenario never materialized, the New Democrats manged to take 39 seat, up from the 18 they held when the campaign began.

Wynne, Ontario’s first female and openly LGBT premier, was re-elected in Don Valley West, though the race was much tighter than it has been in previous years. The incumbent Liberals, who enjoyed a majority since 2014, suffered a stunning collapse.

The party only managed to secure seven seats, which means they have lost official party status in the Legislature. (Source: CBC)

My cartoon review of the 2018 election
My thoughts in advance of the 2018 campaign
My thoughts on Doug Ford following his leadership win

Back up Cartoons

On election night it’s always a good idea for cartoonists to have cartoons drawn up in advance in case the results don’t go quite as planned. For last night I drew the above one for a healthy PC victory. I had components ready for a minority NDP result ready to go, which I felt was unlikely. Here are the others… for a weak PC majority/minority and a PC landslide

Time machine back to the back up cartoons from 2014 election

The Results vs. the Polls

The Results of the 2018 Ontario Provincial Election (voter turnout 58%)

PC: 76 seats, 40.49% NDP: 40 seats, 33.57% LIB: 7 seats, 19.59%

Green: 1 seat, 4.6%

This election has been very well polled and nicely aggregated by the CBC through it’s poll tracker. In recent elections surveys have been pretty unreliable in forecasting the outcomes in Canada’s recent federal election, and especially the Brexit referendum, the U.S. Presidential and the French elections. Knowing the site will likely be refreshed soon, here is a screen graph of all the findings right up to a day before voting day 2018.

Letter to the Editor, The Hamilton Spectator Published, June 13, 2018

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Friday April 29, 2016

April 28, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday April 29, 2016

Naturopath who treated boy who died of meningitis should be held accountable, physicians say

The naturopath who treated Ezekiel Stephan, an Alberta boy who died of bacterial meningitis in 2012, “did not meet the standard of care” and should be held accountable for her actions, according to a critical letter sent to the College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta by nearly four dozen physicians across Canada.

The situation raises broader questions about the growing trend toward the regulation of naturopaths in Canada and whether the colleges are doing proper oversight, said Michelle Cohen, a family physician in Brighton, Ont., who wrote the letter.

The college has opened an investigation based on the letter and did not respond to an interview request.

David and Collet Stephan were found guilty in a Lethbridge court on Tuesday of failing to provide the necessaries of life for their son Ezekiel, who was 19 months old.

The Stephans went to a naturopath, Tracey Tannis, because they suspected that the boy had meningitis. The naturopath testified that she did not physically examine Ezekiel and that she had advised the Stephans to take him to a hospital. But she gave Ms. Stephan an echinacea treatment for the child. Others testified that Dr. Tannis discussed Ezekiel’s case with his mother.

Naturopaths are governed by a self-regulatory college in Alberta, in a manner similar to doctors and nurses. Dr. Tannis is still listed as a member in good standing of the College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta and there are no notes attached to her registration to suggest that there have been any concerns about her actions.

The physicians’ letter criticizes the naturopath for recommending a treatment for a sick child without having examined him and for failing to provide vital information about the grave risks of meningitis and the urgent need for a lumbar puncture and treatment to prevent death or permanent brain damage.

“Albertans should expect that any regulated health-care professional meeting the standard of care for treating children would have basic knowledge about meningitis,” the letter says. “Albertans should also expect that any regulated health professional using the designation ‘Dr.’ would not recommend a treatment for a child without first physically examining them to arrive at a diagnosis.”

Dr. Tannis did not respond to an interview request on Wednesday. (Source: Globe & Mail)

Friday May 13, 2011

May 13, 2011 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday May 13, 2011

Liberals need to rebuild from the ground up

It’s been a week since the Liberals saw their party pushed to the precipice, and by now stunned disbelief should be giving way to a concern over what to do next.

The Liberals probably should have spent some time soul-searching and trying to figure out just how and why the party lost its historic connection to Canadian voters.

But before it crosses that bridge, it might want to concern itself with another dilemma, how it has managed to alienate diehard, card-carrying members of the Liberal Party.

It wasn’t just soft Liberals who abandoned the party, but many people who have never voted anything but Liberal held their noses and not only voted for the NDP, but for Stephen Harper and the Conservatives as well.

Given the scope of last week’s defeat, the Liberals will have to rebuild the Big Red Machine from the ground up, and that will include Liberal workers and party members at the riding level.

But given the autocratic series of decisions made by the Liberals over the last decade or so, it may not be easy to bring even those staunch Liberal supporters back into the fold.

Canada’s governing party, supposedly by divine right, began to unravel when haughty Liberal insiders, not voters or members of the party, began to openly suggest it was time for Jean Chretien to step aside as prime minister to make way for their man.

These Liberal decision makers, unconcerned about what the voters or even party faithful might think, began to discredit their leader and were pushing then-finance minister Paul Martin to the front of the queue to replace Chretien, despite the prime minister’s ability to weave a series of majority governments. (London Free Press)