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Thursday August 4, 2022

August 4, 2022 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 4, 2022

Charest, Baber and Aitchison keep it courteous in final Conservative leadership debate

May 18, 2022

Three of the five candidates vying to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada took part in the race’s final debate Wednesday evening in Ottawa in what proved to be a courteous, sparks-free affair — aside from the barbs aimed at those not in attendance.

The bilingual event, with the first half taking part in English, came just over one month from when the party will select its third permanent leader in five years on Sept. 10.

Jean Charest, the former Quebec premier and one of only three candidates who took part in the debate, chided the presumed frontrunner, MP Pierre Poilievre, and another candidate, MP Leslyn Lewis, for not participating.

Charest likened the decision to “a fish that says it doesn’t want to swim in the ocean” and thanked Conservative MP Scott Aitchison and former Ontario MPP Roman Baber for showing up on Wednesday.

Wednesday September 29, 2010

September 29, 2010 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 29, 2010

Is that Bettman or Booman?

The ideas have taken a few days to take root, but that’s because so many thoughts came to mind when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was introduced at the J.L. Grightmire Arena in Dundas Tuesday night before the Kraft Hockeyville game between the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres.

To a chorus of boos, of course.

Why does Bettman insist on putting himself through the humiliation of hearing the catcalls? He heard them on the biggest stage when he presented the Chicago Blackhawks with the Stanley Cup in June. Tuesday he heard them at the 1,200-seat venue, which was full of children.

We understand why Bettman needed to be in the building on both occasions.

Obviously, he needs to be in the house when the league’s champions are crowned.

In the Dundas instance, he wanted to show he believes in the grassroots of hockey. We get that. Not to be overly cynical about it, it was also an opportunity for TV time.

Yet in hindsight, does it really help the image of the NHL — and the future of the NHL — when the guy running the league is being booed in front of several hundred children? Why bring on the hatred by taking centre stage at centre ice?

Surely, Bettman couldn’t have imagined the crowd was going to seranade him. Remember, Dundas is only a long slapshot away from the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, the place where the NHL commissioner so steadfastly refused to consider as a landing spot for the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes franchise last year.

Dundas is, in fact, now part of the amalgamated city of Hamilton. (We can imagine Bettman was jumping for joy when a community connected to Hamilton won the rights to the game over every other Canadian possibility).

The Dundas-Phoenix-Bettman connection also serves to highlight the raw joy children feel for the game and the uglier big business side of the sport. There was such a passionate fan base in Dundas that hundreds of fans lined up outside the arena in the pouring rain — the children played hooky to watch hockey, with the support of their parents — waiting for the arrival of the Sabres early Tuesday.

Meanwhile, as much as Bettman tries to convince the hockey world that the NHL can survive in Phoenix, save the franchise rallies in the desert sun have drawn smaller crowds than the one which stood in the rain to catch a glimpse of the mediocre pre-season lineups.

Can it really still be a surprise that another NHL season is about to begin without any concrete developments in the pursuit of new ownership in Phoenix?

Oh, and speaking of another unfulfilled passionate NHL hockey audience, 50,000 fans are expected to show up on the Plains of Abraham Saturday for a rally to support the return of a team to Quebec City.

Hockey in the South versus hockey in the North. The more things change, the more they stay the same. (Source: Ken Warren, Ottawa Citizen)

Thursday June 25, 1998

June 25, 1998 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 25, 1998

Tiananmen clouding Clinton trip

For months leading up to Bill Clinton’s hotly debated trip to China, Harry Wu has stood as the last line of moral defence for the U.S. president.

The long-imprisoned Chinese dissident has continued to rail against the “Butchers in Beijing” from his new home-in-exile in the United States, but he has also spoken out in favour of Clinton’s trip, which begins tomorrow, in the face of stinging attacks from Clinton’s critics in Congress.

But on the issue of Tiananmen Square, Wu offers no encouragement.

“He should not show himself on the Tiananmen Square, ” Wu says. “The president of the United States is very different from other leaders of the world.”

Nine years after Chinese soldiers gunned down hundreds of protesters, Tiananmen Square continues to resonate in the U.S. and around the world as the singular demonstration of Beijing’s arrogant authority.

So much so that how the U.S. president handles the controversial welcoming ceremony there Saturday, as well as the gamut of human rights issues in China, could determine whether Clinton returns to Washington on Independence Day next month in triumph or disgrace.

A recent poll found that 64 per cent of Americans believe Clinton should not go to Tiananmen Square, even though that is the traditional location for welcoming foreign leaders.

Debunking the so-called “Beijing spring, ” Amnesty International released an open letter to the president last week listing 50 Chinese dissidents who have been “harassed” in the past year and called on Clinton to meet with dissidents — pointedly noting that Ronald Reagan met with a similar group during his trip to the Soviet Union.

The human rights group also called on Clinton to forcefully request amnesty for hundreds of political prisoners.

While offering an opportunity to put his stamp on China, Clinton knows too well the trip is strewn with pitfalls.

The visit could not have come at a worse time for Clinton.

Two congressional committees began hearings on whether the Chinese illegally funneled contributions into Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign and whether he improperly permitted the transfer of sensitive satellite technology that the Chinese can use to improve guidance systems for their intercontinental ballistic missiles.

As well, the Chinese have been accused of helping Pakistan develop nuclear weapons and sending missile technology to Iran. (Hamilton Spectator, C1, 6/24/1998)