Justin Trudeau – Page 84

Friday June 15, 2012

June 15, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Friday June 15, 2012

Justin’s High Wire Act?

Justin Trudeau should, after a suitable period of introspection, politely thank those who would have him press-ganged into taking on the Liberal leadership. Then he should tell them to heave off. And enjoy the summer. – He’s not ready. Neither is the Liberal Party of Canada.

This latest effort to resurrect Trudeaumania, prompted by Bob Rae’s decision to bow out of the leadership rather than fight like a junkyard dog over the scraps of power, is manic. Trudeau says he’s under intense pressure to run. That can only grow now that he’s opened the door. But this is a mug’s game. The effort to drive the 40-year-old to jump before his time is a sign, not of his suitability, but of the party’s desperation. (Source: National Post)

Meanwhile, Nik Wallenda is hoping to make history Friday as he attempts to be the first person to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope.

On a walk scheduled for 10:20 p.m. ET, Wallenda will cross from the American side to the Canadian side of the falls on a 500-metre wire suspended 60 metres above the churning water.

Others have crossed the water on tightropes, but over the gorge downstream and not for more than 100 years.

Wallenda estimates that the walk will cost him $1.3 million – the pricetag includes the fabrication and installation of the custom-made steel wire, permits and security on both sides of the border as well as travel and marketing.

He is recouping some of the costs through a deal with ABC to air his walk on a live special, which will air on CTV in Canada.

The Niagara Falls Parks Commission expects 120,000 people to gather on the Ontario side of the falls when Wallenda attempts his walk. (Source: CTV News)

Thursday February 16, 2012

February 16, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 16, 2012

Trudeau remark reveals underlying narcissism

Justin Trudeau betrays his political immaturity and narcissism in suggesting that his commitment to a united Canada is dependent on whether the Conservative government validates his personal values, say prominent political analysts.

“This guy is clearly self-indulgent; he really does think everything is about him and his feelings,” Barry Cooper, a political theorist at the University of Calgary, said Tuesday in commenting on statements Trudeau made in a recent French-language interview. “That’s a measure of his lightweight status in the firmament of deep-thinking Liberals.”

On Sunday, Trudeau, a Montreal MP, told his Radio-Canada host: “I always say, if at a certain point, I believe that Canada was really the Canada of Stephen Harper — that we were going against abortion, and we were going against gay marriage, and we were going backwards in 10,000 different ways — maybe I would think about making Quebec a country.”

The remarks have generated a furor this week. The blogosphere and the twitterverse went into hyperdrive, with commentators stunned that the 40-year-old son of Pierre Trudeau could so readily offend his father’s federalist vision. The politicians weren’t far behind. Not surprisingly, the Bloc Quebecois interpreted Trudeau’s remarks as an endorsement for their own opposition to the Conservative government.

A Tory MP, Merv Tweed, taunted Trudeau, saying “while our Conservative government is committed to keeping Canada strong, united and free, the member opposite is contemplating reasons for Quebec to separate from Canada.” (Source: Canada.com)

Thursday February 16, 2012

February 15, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

February 16, 2012

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 16, 2012

Trudeau remark reveals underlying narcissism

January 12, 2007

Justin Trudeau betrays his political immaturity and narcissism in suggesting that his commitment to a united Canada is dependent on whether the Conservative government validates his personal values, say prominent political analysts.

“This guy is clearly self-indulgent; he really does think everything is about him and his feelings,” Barry Cooper, a political theorist at the University of Calgary, said Tuesday in commenting on statements Trudeau made in a recent French-language interview. “That’s a measure of his lightweight status in the firmament of deep-thinking Liberals.”

On Sunday, Trudeau, a Montreal MP, told his Radio-Canada host: “I always say, if at a certain point, I believe that Canada was really the Canada of Stephen Harper — that we were going against abortion, and we were going against gay marriage, and we were going backwards in 10,000 different ways — maybe I would think about making Quebec a country.”

The remarks have generated a furor this week. The blogosphere and the twitterverse went into hyperdrive, with commentators stunned that the 40-year-old son of Pierre Trudeau could so readily offend his father’s federalist vision. The politicians weren’t far behind. Not surprisingly, the Bloc Quebecois interpreted Trudeau’s remarks as an endorsement for their own opposition to the Conservative government.

A Tory MP, Merv Tweed, taunted Trudeau, saying “while our Conservative government is committed to keeping Canada strong, united and free, the member opposite is contemplating reasons for Quebec to separate from Canada.” (Source: Canada.com)

December 28, 2007

December 28, 2007 by Graeme MacKay

From the beginning of the year to the end of 2007, the issue of climate change dominated headlines throughout Canada.

The year old cartoon above depicting Stephen Harper as Ebenezer Scrooge captures the moment of epiphany in late 2006 when the Prime Minister came around to the realization that, like it or not, the environment had to become a Conservative priority.

The next cartoon, from February, compares Harper and Jean Chretien with both trying to reverse sagging polls by throwing buckets of money at instant priorities.

Speaking of former Prime Ministers, Brian Mulroney reemerged in public after years of being out of the lime light. 2007 was to be the year the unpopular former PM would attempt to elevate his legacy by defending his record with a 1152 page book of Memoirs. While historians will be eternally grateful, his jabs at Pierre Trudeau provoked predictable howls of outrage from those who thought it was unfair for a living PM to criticize his dead nemesis.

With great anticipation and fanfare, 2007 saw the entry of the next generation of Trudeaus to public life when the stylish but not so substantive Justin was nominated as a Liberal candidate to run the next federal election.

Finally, the other big story of 2007, the strength of the Loonie, and how it has sent thousands of Canadians across to the United States in order to spend, spend, spend.

North Pole Oil, Fat Friends, Dion Prize, Soft Dion, Flick Off

For more Canadian editorial cartoons go to www.old.mackaycartoons.net/canada.

Friday January 12, 2007

January 12, 2007 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 12, 2007

Is Justin Trudeau set to run as MP?

Justin Trudeau is about to enter federal politics—well, according to everyone but him, that is.

While the 35-year-old school teacher and academic is remaining coy about his intentions, a report published in Montréal’s French-language daily La Presse on Tue, Jan 9, claims that the eldest son of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau is planning on running as a Liberal candidate in the next federal election in Outremont, a riding located in the centre of the Island of Montréal that is home to wealthy Francophone families and a sizeable Jewish community.

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Outremont is considered to be an extremely “safe” riding for the party—since its creation in 1933, the Liberals have failed to win the seat only once, in 1988—and the area’s current MP, former Transport Minister Jean Lapierre, has indicated that he does not plan to run in the next election.

Despite his denials and deflections (“I have no comment to make at this time,” Trudeau wrote in an email to the Montréal Gazette), the increasing likelihood of Trudeau’s entrance into the House of Commons has set political pundits and journalists abuzz. A recent article in Maclean’s magazine headlined “His Secret’s Out” claims that Trudeau hinted in an interview that he would make an announcement regarding his future in politics sometime after Christmas, while a close friend of the supposed star candidate reportedly told the magazine “Off the record, I think he’s pretty much there.” (Source: Vue)