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Thursday May 16, 2024

May 16, 2024 by Graeme MacKay

Alice Munro, the Nobel Prize-winning Canadian author, passed away at 92, leaving behind a literary legacy marked by her exceptional storytelling abilities, profound insights into human relationships, and unwavering dedication to her craft

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 16, 2024

Alice Munro (1931 – 2024)

Alice Munro, the Nobel Prize-winning author renowned for her exceptional storytelling abilities, passed away at the age of 92. Throughout her prolific career, Munro captivated readers with her poignant portrayal of the emotional lives of girls and women, leaving behind a lasting legacy in literature.

News: Alice Munro, Canadian author who won Nobel Prize for Literature, dies at 92

May 8, 2014

Sandra Martin’s piece in The Globe and Mail reflects on Munro’s transformative impact on the literary world. Munro’s ability to pack insight, nuance, and suspense into a few pages was unparalleled, earning her international acclaim and numerous prestigious awards, including the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2013. Martin highlights Munro’s dedication to her craft, which persisted despite personal challenges, emphasizing her resilience and determination as an artist.

Munro’s profound connection to her small-town upbringing, as articulated in her conversations with Daphne Merkin, allowed her to infuse her stories with a universal appeal that resonated across time and place. Martin underscores Munro’s refusal to conform to societal expectations, which enabled her to craft narratives that delved into the complexities of human relationships with authenticity and honesty.

The editorial from The Toronto Star further celebrates Munro’s legacy, portraying her as a master of the short story form whose work transcended geographical and temporal boundaries. Munro’s stories, deeply rooted in the landscapes and lives of ordinary people, offered profound insights into the human condition, capturing the joys, sorrows, and complexities of life and relationships.

Editorial: Alice Munro found in Ontario a world as rich as any in literature

May 3, 2023

Both pieces highlight Munro’s ability to say more in a few pages than most novelists could in entire books, a testament to her mastery of the short story form. Munro’s clean prose, layered with nuance and empathy, explored the depths of the human heart, inviting readers to confront their own truths and vulnerabilities.

Moreover, Munro’s personal journey, from her humble beginnings in Wingham, Ontario, to receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2013, serves as an inspiration. Despite facing personal challenges, including the loss of her daughter and battles with dementia, Munro remained committed to her craft, producing fourteen bestselling collections over her career. Her ability to find beauty and meaning in everyday experiences, as well as her keen insight into the complexities of human relationships, cemented her status as one of the greatest fiction writers in English literature.

In sum, Alice Munro’s contributions to literature have left an indelible mark, characterized by her exceptional storytelling abilities and her profound understanding of the human experience. As readers continue to revisit her works, Munro’s stories will endure, offering solace, insight, and inspiration for generations to come. (AI)

Posted in: Canada Tagged: 2024-09, Alice Munro, author, Canada, death, Feminism, fiction, literature, Obit, obituary, story telling

Wednesday September 8, 2021

September 16, 2021 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 8, 2021

Canada’s Trudeau struggles, two weeks before election

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who has slipped in the polls and faced angry protesters on the campaign trail, with one even throwing stones at him – is struggling with less than two weeks to go before snap elections. When he called the September 20 elections a few weeks ago, the 49-year-old Liberal Party leader was in a far better position.

September 1, 2021

At that point, Trudeau was ahead of Conservative leader Erin O’Toole in opinion surveys and hoped to ride his handling of the coronavirus pandemic to a third term. But since that August 15 announcement, his campaign has stagnated and his hopes of returning at the head of a majority government seem difficult to fulfil. On Monday, Trudeau suffered a fresh indignity – as he was leaving an event in London, a city southwest of Toronto in Ontario province, he faced a crowd of protesters angry over proposed mandatory coronavirus vaccines and other crisis measures.

Someone threw what appeared to be a handful of gravel at him, television footage showed. No one was injured. 

“Yes, I felt some of that gravel,” Trudeau confirmed yesterday. 

July 9, 2021

Some protesters “were practically foaming at the mouth, they were so mad at me,” he said, adding: “It is absolutely unacceptable that people (would) be throwing things and endangering others at a political rally.” The incident – which comes during a crucial campaign week with two scheduled debates that could tip the election scales – drew condemnation from Trudeau’s rivals, O’Toole and New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh.

“Political violence is never justified,” O’Toole tweeted late Monday, while Singh said: “It is not acceptable to throw objects at anyone. Ever. No matter how angry you are. And, it’s never ok to try to intimidate people who don’t agree with you – or the media.” Trudeau is now in a statistical dead heat with O’Toole, with 34% support for the Liberals and 32% for the Tories, according to a Nanos survey released Tuesday – a difference that is within the poll’s margin of error. 

The prime minister has faced off on several recent occasions with what he described as “anti-vaxxer mobs” and “a small fringe element in this country that is angry, that doesn’t believe in science.” 

Protesters have shouted racial and misogynist slurs at his entourage. Demonstrations also targeted hospitals across Canada that are struggling with a sudden spike in Covid cases, and candidate lawn signs have been defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti.

In late August, Trudeau was forced to cancel an event over security concerns. 

So far, Trudeau has pledged not to allow so-called “fringe” groups “to dictate how this country gets through this pandemic.”

August 17, 2021

And Felix Mathieu, a politics professor at the University of Winnipeg, said the angry protests and Trudeau’s pushback might actually benefit the Liberals, who stumbled in the early days of the campaign. Although O’Toole has promoted the use of vaccines, “his party remains widely associated with those who vehemently oppose vaccines and Covid containment measures,” Mathieu told AFP.

That allows Trudeau to present himself as a defender of public safety, especially as he steps up criticisms of the Tories’ rejection of mandatory vaccines, Mathieu explained. 

More than 83 percent of those Canadians eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine (12 years or older) have received one dose and 76% are fully vaccinated, according to government data.

October 16, 2019

The Liberal plank proposes mandatory jabs for public servants and travellers on trains, planes and buses. It also earmarks C$1bn (US$800mn) to stitch together a patchwork of provincial vaccine passports.

Pollster and former political strategist Tim Powers said the violent protests are “concerning.” “The pandemic has intensified people’s manner of anger and the way they express anger,” Powers told AFP. “There are a lot of people who are very frayed and beaten down by the pandemic, and campaign events provide an opportunity for some people to showcase their discontent,” he said, adding a warning: “Who knows what can happen in these sorts of circumstances.”

But Powers said he agrees that the protests are “providing the Liberals with a useful political prop,” allowing Trudeau to be seen fighting against anti-vaccine groups who might threaten a quick post-pandemic return to normalcy – just as Canadians are heading back to classes and offices. (Gulf Times)


Other editions from the “Boy Who Cried…” Series…
     

Posted in: Canada Tagged: 2021-31, book, Canada, election2021, Erin O’Toole, fear, Justin Trudeau, literature, moderate, parody, sheep, wolf

Thursday, May 8, 2014

May 8, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Thursday, May 8, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday, May 8, 2014

Death of an Original Hipster

Farley Mowat, one of Canada’s best-known authors and a noted environmentalist, has died at age 92.

Mary Shaw-Rimmington, the author’s assistant, confirmed his passing to CBC News on Wednesday afternoon. Mowat died at his home in Port Hope, Ont.

Mowat, author of dozens of works including Lost in the Barrens and Never Cry Wolf, introduced Canada to readers around the world and shared everything from his time abroad during the Second World War, to his travels in the North and his concern for the deteriorating environment.

Pierre Berton 1920-2004

More than 17 million copies of his books, which have been translated into dozens of languages, have been sold worldwide. The gregarious writer was a consummate storyteller, whose works spanned non-fiction, children’s titles and memoirs.

Describing Mowat as “a passionate Canadian,” Prime Minster Stephen Harper touted the writer as “a natural storyteller with a real gift for sharing personal anecdotes in a witty and endearing way.” (Source: CBC News)

Meanwhile, we may have reached “peak beard frequency,” according to research published in the journal Biology Letters recently.

Men’s facial hair trends may be guided by Darwinian selection, researchers hypothesized. So they asked women and men to rate different faces with “four standard levels of beardedness.” The faces that were rarer were rated as more appealing. It’s an evolutionary phenomenon known as “negative frequency-dependent sexual selection.”

“The idea is that perhaps people start copying the George Clooneys and the Joaquin Phoenixs and start wearing those beards, but then when more and more people get onto the bandwagon the value of being on the bandwagon diminishes, so that might be why we’ve hit ‘peak beard’,” study author Prof Rob Brooks told the BBC.

“Peak beard” is reached when the most men in professions not usually associated with facial hear sport beards. The BBC suggests that may have happened in January when a Newsnight

Some say the Rubicon was crossed in January when Jeremy Paxman, the BBC Newsnight presenter, shaved his beard off, saying “beards are SO 2013.”

When “peak beard” frequency is reached, the pendulum swings back toward lesser-bristled chins — a trend we may be witnessing now, the scientists say. (Source: Discovery.com)

SOCIAL MEDIA

#RIP #FarleyMowat The original hipster http://t.co/1jDhLZC3Ow pic.twitter.com/O9PzOMl35A

— mackaycartoons (@mackaycartoons) May 8, 2014


REPUBLISHED in the Edmonton Journal, the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, and Yahoo News Canada. 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: author, beards, Canada, Editorial Cartoon, environment, Farley Mowat, hipster, literature, obituary, Yahoo

Saturday, April 7, 2007

April 7, 2007 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Saturday, April 7, 2007 The Taming of the Queue Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he has fulfilled his pledge to establish medical wait-times guarantees across Canada, but critics say the deal falls short of his campaign promise. "Today I am very pleased to announce that Minister Clement has succeeded in his mission," Harper said at an Ottawa wait-times conference. "All 13 provinces and territories have now committed to providing the first patient wait-times guarantees." The creation of a wait-times guarantee was one of the Conservatives' five priorities in the last election campaign. But the deal does not come into effect until 2010, and provinces only have to promise timely treatment in one of several priority areas: Cancer care, Hip and knee replacement, Cardiac care, Diagnostic imaging and Cataract surgeries. The Conservatives had promised in the last federal election campaign that they would ensure guarantees in all of the above areas. In the federal budget released on March 19, $612 million was set aside for the provinces and Ottawa to pay for the initiative and $30 million was set aside for wait-times pilot projects. (Source: CTV News) http://www.ctvnews.ca/critics-say-wait-times-deal-falls-short-of-promise-1.235960 editorial cartoon, 2007, Stephen Harper, Canada, William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado about Nothing, Climate Change, Quebec, Stephane Dion, Danny Williams, literature, parody

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, April 7, 2007

The Taming of the Queue

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he has fulfilled his pledge to establish medical wait-times guarantees across Canada, but critics say the deal falls short of his campaign promise.

“Today I am very pleased to announce that Minister Clement has succeeded in his mission,” Harper said at an Ottawa wait-times conference.

“All 13 provinces and territories have now committed to providing the first patient wait-times guarantees.”

The creation of a wait-times guarantee was one of the Conservatives’ five priorities in the last election campaign.

But the deal does not come into effect until 2010, and provinces only have to promise timely treatment in one of several priority areas: Cancer care, Hip and knee replacement, Cardiac care, Diagnostic imaging and Cataract surgeries.

The Conservatives had promised in the last federal election campaign that they would ensure guarantees in all of the above areas.

In the federal budget released on March 19, $612 million was set aside for the provinces and Ottawa to pay for the initiative and $30 million was set aside for wait-times pilot projects. (Source: CTV News)

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: 2007, Canada, climate change, Danny Williams, Editorial Cartoon, literature, Merchant of Venice, Much Ado about Nothing, parody, Quebec, Stephane Dion, Stephen Harper, Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare

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