Oil sands – mackaycartoons

Saturday February 3, 2024

February 3, 2024 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 3, 2024

Alberta’s Urgent Issues Overshadowed by Premier Smith’s Controversial Policies

In the vast landscape of pressing challenges faced by Alberta, Premier Danielle Smith’s recent unveiling of sweeping changes to the province’s policies, particularly those related to transgender youth, has sparked a divisive debate. While the issue at hand deserves attention and discussion, it is crucial to recognize that this might be a calculated distraction from more critical and urgent issues that demand the government’s immediate focus.

December 2, 2022

Alberta is grappling with a multifaceted crisis that includes a strained healthcare system, an opioid epidemic, a severe shortage of doctors, and a growing crisis of homelessness and housing. These challenges directly impact the well-being of Albertans on a daily basis and require comprehensive and immediate solutions. Yet, Premier Smith’s policy changes, while significant, seem to divert attention from these urgent matters.

In shaping herself as the northern version of American anti-“woke” governors, such as Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, Premier Smith appears to be strategically appealing to her far-right conservative base. By focusing on controversial issues related to gender identity and sports, she risks sidelining the broader concerns that affect the entire population.

News: Danielle Smith unveils sweeping changes to Alberta’s student gender identity, sports and surgery policies

October 14, 2022

The policies, as announced, have faced criticism for going further than those in other provinces like Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. Critics argue that these changes not only interfere ideologically in the provision of necessary healthcare for trans and gender-diverse young people but also pose a risk of forcing vulnerable individuals back into the closet or even homelessness.

While the transgender youth policy is indeed important, it must be viewed in the context of the more immediate crises confronting the province. The hospital emergency room crisis, exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic, demands urgent attention and resources to ensure the well-being of all Albertans. The opioid crisis continues to claim lives, necessitating a comprehensive strategy for addiction treatment and harm reduction.

Moreover, the severe shortage of doctors is a systemic issue that requires proactive measures to attract and retain healthcare professionals in the province. Addressing homelessness and the housing crisis is paramount to ensuring the basic dignity and security of Alberta’s citizens.

May 31, 2023

Groups supporting transgender rights, including Skipping Stone Foundation and Egale Canada, have condemned Smith’s policies, calling them a direct and unprecedented attack on 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians and trans and gender-diverse youth. Legal battles are looming, with promises to challenge the constitutionality of the measures in court.

Moreover, the proposed restrictions have drawn international concern, with Canada’s health minister labeling them “extremely dangerous.” The potential impact on children’s lives has sparked strong condemnations from Liberal ministers, emphasizing that issues surrounding kids’ reproductive health should not be turned into political stunts.

Doctors in the province have criticized Premier Smith for making medically “false” statements about transgender youth care and gender reassignment surgery. The lack of consultation with medical professionals raises questions about the evidence behind these policies and whether they are based on ideology rather than scientific literature.

News: Alberta premier’s policy changes around trans youth could be harmful: doctors

November 15, 2022

As Alberta’s healthcare professionals express concerns about the potential harm these policies may inflict on vulnerable youth, it becomes evident that the government should prioritize a broader and more inclusive dialogue. In a province facing numerous urgent crises, it is vital to ensure that policies are rooted in evidence, consultation, and a genuine commitment to the well-being of all citizens.

While the issue of transgender youth and related policies deserves thoughtful consideration, Premier Smith’s approach risks overshadowing the more immediate and critical challenges faced by the people of Alberta. It is time for a nuanced, evidence-based approach that addresses urgent issues without sacrificing the well-being of any segment of the population for political gain. (AI)

Thursday October 28, 2021

October 28, 2021 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 28, 2021

New environment minister faces questions about past activism

Canada’s new environment minister says his past as an activist should not raise alarms in the energy industry or the office of Alberta’s premier.

April 20, 2019

“I don’t have a secret agenda as environment minister,” Steven Guilbeault said today after the first meeting in Ottawa of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new cabinet. “It’s a government effort to tackle … what many consider one of humanity’s greatest challenges, which is climate change.”

Guilbeault said the government’s plan to fight climate change is “very clear” and most of it — such as carbon pricing and the push for more public transit and cleaner energy sources — is “already known.”

January 26, 2021

The Trudeau government has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Before entering electoral politics in 2019, the Quebec MP co-founded Équiterre, a Quebec-based environmental organization, and was the director of a provincial chapter of Greenpeace. He spoke out against pipeline projects, including the Trans Mountain expansion.

May 14, 2019

Guilbeault also took part in stunts to draw attention to environmental causes.

In 2001, Guilbeault was arrested after scaling Toronto’s CN Tower to raise awareness of climate change. In 2002, he was involved in a Greenpeace stunt that saw activists climb onto the roof of then Alberta premier Ralph Klein’s house to install solar panels.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said Tuesday that Guilbeault’s appointment to the environment portfolio sends a “very problematic message” to the province.

April 11, 2018

“I certainly hope that [Guilbeault] … will quickly demonstrate to Alberta, and other resource-producing provinces, a desire to work together constructively on practical solutions that don’t end up killing hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Kenney said.

Asked about Kenney’s comments, Guilbeault said oil companies already recognize that more needs to be done to tackle climate change and that many already have agreed to hit net-zero emissions by 2050. He also noted that the new mayor of Calgary, Jyoti Gondek, wants the city to declare a climate emergency.

Canadians made it clear in the recent federal election campaign that they want “not just the federal government but all governments to do more” to address climate change, he said. (CBC)

Thursday February 27, 2020

March 5, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 27, 2020

Jason Kenney’s tantrums do not flatter Alberta

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is good at a lot of things. But when it comes to pointing the finger, he’s an absolute champion. Pointing the finger of blame at his predecessor Rachel Notley. At British Columbia for balking at his pipeline demands. At the rest of Canada (except Saskatchewan) for not sufficiently supporting Alberta’s oilpatch interests.

December 10, 2019

But when the federal government is the target, Kenney is a gold-medal Olympian finger pointer. Take this week’s Teck Frontier oil sands mine decision, for example. Announcing the company’s decision to not move forward with the project (even before the federal cabinet had approved or denied it), Teck CEO Don Lindsay said very clearly the reasons for shelving Frontier are a mix of low investor interest and environmental concerns. He pointedly did not blame the federal or any other government, although he made reference to Canada needing energy policy solutions that satisfy competing interests.

November 21, 2019

But to hear Kenney and his ministers talk, Teck holds Justin Trudeau personally responsible for the pullout. Kenney and friends certainly do. They say the Trudeau government’s lack of enthusiasm for new oil projects has created the national crisis we are now experiencing, and has also discouraged investors like Teck to the extent that they want nothing to do with investments like the $20 billion required for the mine north of Fort McMurray.

It is not hard to imagine that the sort of civil conflict now playing out across Canada over resource development would cause companies like Teck to be squeamish. But are political and societal volatility really enough to derail a project like this? To believe that, as Kenney seems to, would be beyond naive.

December 15, 2015

Lindsay wrote in his letter: “Global capital markets are changing rapidly, and investors and customers are increasingly looking for jurisdictions to have a framework in place that reconciles resource development and climate change.”

Speaking of money, Teck’s stock recently dropped more than 20 per cent in under a week. Like a lot of fossil-based resource companies, it is struggling, most recently with a weak fourth quarter. The simple fact is the global landscape is changing, and those “capital markets” are increasingly skittish about investments that rely on fossil fuels.

Lindsay has also said in the past that if the price of oil doesn’t increase significantly in the coming years, Teck would not be financially viable. There is no indication that will happen.

Bottom line: Teck was an iffy bet at best, and the uncertainty caused by deeply divided public opinion may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

April 11, 2018

But isn’t the Trudeau government responsible for the current lack of consensus over resource policy? It certainly shares some of the responsibility. But leave it to a partisan extremist like Kenney to say with a straight face there isn’t blame all around. So Alberta is only a victim here? Its reluctance to commit to enforceable emission caps isn’t part of the problem? Its refusal to support any sort of price on carbon, even though the majority of Canadians expressed support for just that in the last election? (Parties that support a price on carbon got more electoral support than ones that didn’t, especially Kenney’s ideological roommates the Conservatives.)

Alberta’s problems are real. But they cannot all be laid at the feet of the federal government. The rest of Canada wants a serious plan to address climate change. Kenney may not like that, but unless he can figure out a way to move Alberta someplace else — say, next door to Kentucky — he would be wise to become part of the solution instead of being a champion, foot-stamping finger pointer. (Hamilton Spectator editorial)

Thursday December 20, 2018

December 23, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 20, 2018

Ottawa’s Gift to Alberta

December 13, 2018

The $1.6-billion aid package Justin Trudeau just handed Alberta’s wounded oilpatch is little more than a handkerchief for drying the province’s bitter tears.

It shows the federal government is aware of Alberta’s plight. It permits the prime minister to parade his capacious empathy. And it proves Ottawa is willing to act on behalf of that province’s oil and gas sector, though only in a limited way.

But it will accomplish almost nothing meaningful. It won’t staunch the bleeding in Alberta’s economy or ease the pain of its people because it does nothing to cure what really ails them — the oil pipeline bottleneck. Only a new pipeline or pipelines will fix this. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

November 15, 2005

Meanwhile, traditional Christmas pudding is dying out, new figures show, as under 35s are shunning the traditional dessert.

Decked with a sprig of holly, brandy and flickering blue flames, it has been considered the pinnacle of Christmas dinner since Victorian times.

December 20, 2007

Changing tastes down the generations mean sales of Christmas pudding are in slow but steady decline, falling at around 1 percent year on year, Tesco’s 2018 Christmas report has revealed.

It found that less than half of Brits now eat it on Christmas Day.

Just over one in five (23 per cent) people aged between 18 and 35 eat Christmas pudding, it said, with younger consumers favouring alternatives like chocolate pudding and pannetone.

However Christmas pudding is still the most popular Christmas day dessert among over 55s, six in ten (59 per cent) of whom eat it on Christmas Day. (Source: Telegraph)

Thursday May 5, 2016

May 4, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 5, 2016

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Elizabeth May on Wednesday for suggesting that the Fort McMurray fires should be linked to global warming.

Responding to comments made earlier, Trudeau said May’s suggestion that the disaster was “very related to the global climate crisis” was neither helpful, nor accurate. But he agreed with part of May’s message.

“It’s well known that one of the consequences of climate change will be a greater prevalence of extreme weather events around the planet,” Trudeau told reporters at a news conference.

“However, any time we try to make a political argument on one particular disaster, I think it’s a bit of shortcut that can sometimes not have the desired outcome. There have always been fires. There have always been floods.

Pointing at any one incident and saying: ‘This is because of that,’ is neither helpful, nor entirely accurate. We need to separate a pattern over time from any one event. What we are focused on right now on is giving the people of Fort McMurray and the rest of Alberta the kind of support that they need right now and in the months and indeed the years to come.”

May had told reporters that the devastating destruction caused by the wildfires in Fort McMurray was a sign of worse things to come if the planet doesn’t scale back its consumption of fossil fuels.

Prompted by questions from reporters at a separate news conference, May said that scientists cannot link specific events to climate change. But she noted that the disaster was following a pattern.

“The fact that the forest fire season has arrived so early in northern Alberta is very likely a climate event – very likely related to extreme high temperatures and very low humidity, very low precipitation and it is, as we saw in the quote from one of the firefighters – it’s a firestorm,” she said. “It jumped a highway, it jumped a river. It’s a devastating tragedy right now and I think our focus is always on the right now: to think for the firefighters, for first responders, for people who are losing their homes. It’s a disaster. But it’s a disaster that is very related to the global climate crisis.”

May’s comments drew a vicious backlash after they were reported on social media websites from critics who accused her of exploiting the tragedy to advance a political agenda. (Source: National Observer)

Letter to the Editor, May 11, 2016 – Environmentalists are offended

RE: Fort McMurray cartoon (May 6)

The cartoon showing environmentalists clapping at the terrible tragedy in Fort McMurray is outrageous libel. Forestry experts say the majority of wild fires are caused by humans. If the environment was taken seriously instead of those concerned being called tree huggers by irresponsible smart alecks, chances are this tragedy would never have happened. To claim those who care about this planet are happy that their fellow citizens have suffered horribly is disgusting. – Bill Prestwich, Dundas

Reaction:

Prestwich is correct in one sense, the Fort McMurray victims could have avoided the fires but not by listening to the advocates of anthropogenic climate change. Instead, the town planners should never have built homes so close to the forests or should have cleared a wide swath of trees to prevent naturally occurring fires from jumping. I accept that Prestwich is not laughing at the victims of the fire but when he claims that the fires might have been avoided had people listened to “concerned” environmentalists presumably like him, I sense a very conceited man who feels vindicated by the fires. That’s almost as bad as pointing a finger and laughing. – Steve

Letter to the Editor, May 9, 2016 – Cartoon unfair to environmentalists

RE: Fort McMurray fire disaster cartoon (May 5)

Your editorial cartoon depicting environmental advocates making fun of Fort McMurray was unfair. We do not laugh at the people who are victims of the fire. But we do recognize that their activities are part of the reason our planet is in such trouble due to climate change. It is unfortunate these people were victims of the changing environment, but it is a situation they helped create. – C. Farmer, Hamilton

Reaction:

C. Farmer, those people are no more to blame for the fire than you are. That’s the problem with fanatics. – Pat

From spec.com…