Parliament

Friday September 23, 2022

September 23, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 23, 2022

First salvo between Pierre Poilievre, Justin Trudeau proves pair will be formidable opponents in Parliament

When Stephen Harper first appeared in the House of Commons as opposition leader in 2002, prime minister Jean Chrétien offered his congratulations, adding: “I want the new leader of the Opposition to have many, many years to learn how to do the job, on the job.”

December 7, 2012

Mr. Harper, in reply, said he was only four years old when Mr. Chrétien entered the House, and even then he remembered telling his mother: “Someone has to do something to stop that guy.”

On Thursday, Pierre Poilievre confronted Justin Trudeau for the first time as Leader of the Official Opposition. The Conservative Leader said “it is good to see the Prime Minister here, visiting Canada, to fill up the gas on his private jet.” (Mr. Trudeau was in Britain for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth and in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. On Saturday he flies to Japan to attend the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.) Mr. Poilievre then launched into a sharp attack on Liberal increases in carbon and payroll taxes, even as inflation continues to soar.

Having offered perfunctory congratulations, Mr. Trudeau soon went after Mr. Poilievre. “If Canadians had followed the advice of the Leader of the Opposition and invested in volatile cryptocurrencies in an attempt to opt out of inflation, they would have lost half of their savings.”

We live in harsher times.

June 14, 2022

Mr. Poilievre displays a level of confidence, command and control in debate that both of his predecessors, Erin O’Toole and Andrew Scheer, noticeably lacked. He speaks largely without notes, keeps his questions focused, presses his points relentlessly.

But after seven years as PM, Mr. Trudeau is every bit his equal, parrying the Conservative Leader’s thrusts and confidently promoting the Liberal record. These two will be formidable opponents in the House

Mr. Poilievre has been targeting inflation – or Justinflation, as he likes to call it – almost since the pandemic began. We can debate the merits of the economic supports that governments put in place when the pandemic arrived – to my mind, they saved the day – and whether those supports should have been wound down sooner.

But what matters politically is that people are hurting, and Mr. Poilievre has been pounding the inflation issue for years. High inflation, rising interest rates, a possible recession – these are not afflictions that a government this long in the tooth can easily survive.

May 20, 2016

But Mr. Trudeau has cards of his own to play: the cryptocurrency nonsense, Mr. Poilievre’s support for the protesters who occupied Ottawa, his tendency to play footsie with conspiracy theories.

The Prime Minister clearly believes that Mr. Poilievre is not simply a political opponent, but a threat to peace, order and good Liberal government. He sees the Conservative Leader as a wrecker. He aims to stop him. Historical precedent suggests he will fail. (Continued: The Globe & Mail) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

Saturday April 30, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 30, 2022

Ottawa police chief vows to stop biker rally as city braces for potential protests

February 19, 2022

Ottawa’s police chief has vowed to stop an upcoming biker rally from reaching the city’s downtown core as residents brace for a potential rerun of the so-called “Freedom Convoy” anti-government protests that paralyzed the Canadian capital earlier in the year.

Thousands of bikers are expected to arrive in Ottawa on Friday for the “Rolling Thunder” rally purportedly called in honour of military veterans.

The rally’s organizer, Neil Sheard, has denied that the event is a protest, but prominent anti-vaccine figure Chris Sky has been advertised as a “special guest” speaker, and Veterans for Freedom, a group which opposes public health measures, is also part of the event.

Organizers had planned to march on Parliament Hill on Friday and then meet at the war memorial the following day. But the interim chief, Steve Bell, warned that a “heavy police presence” and road closures would instead greet the bikers.

The city is still reeling from the February protests, when hundreds of commercial trucks blockaded the streets in front of Parliament Hill, honking their horns at all hours of the day and night and defying multiple orders to leave the area.

February 15, 2022

That event began as a protest against public health measures, but quickly transformed into a broader anti-government movement, with protestors calling for Justin Trudeau’s government to face criminal prosecution.

After weeks of disruption, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act, permitting officials to freeze bank accounts and suspend the commercial licences of truck drivers involved. On Monday, the federal government announced an inquiry into the use of the rarely-used legislation.

The protests ended after nearly a month when police stormed the blockades and arrested nearly 200 demonstrators. Ottawa authorities later revealed that the demonstrations cost the city more than C$36m (US$28m, £22m).

“I do not want our children, seniors and other vulnerable residents re-traumatized. Our businesses should not be forced to close again,” Ottawa city councillor Catherine McKenney wrote on Twitter Monday.

August 28, 2012

Zexi Li, a downtown resident whose exasperation with non-stop truck honking led to a C$306m class action lawsuit against the convoy, told the Guardian she and others fear that “mistakes will be made again” as officials attempt to prepare for the influx of bikers.

“Without a doubt, there was a loss of trust in the city, in our officials, in the police from the protests. We were just utterly disappointed by the people that were supposed to protect us,” she said.

Sheard warned earlier this week the event could turn into a “free-for-all” as bikers are forced to deviate from a previously planned route after police said they wouldn’t allow vehicles into the downtown core.

“We keep hearing that things never should have gotten as bad as they did if certain steps had been taken from the very beginning,” said Li. “Well, we know what those steps are now. So all the need to do, in theory, is take those steps.” (The Guardian) 

 

Wednesday February 9, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 9, 2022

Conservatives split on whether convoy protest should stay or vacate Parliament Hill

June 24, 2021

Conservatives appear increasingly split over whether a protest against COVID-19 health restrictions in the nation’s capital should stay or go.

Many Tory members of Parliament have pledged full support to the protesters, including recently elected interim leader Candice Bergen and Pierre Poilievre, the first candidate to announce his bid for party leadership.

Entering the House of Commons on Tuesday, Alberta Conservative MP John Barlow says he doesn’t think the protesters should leave and believes they have been respectful, adding some of his constituents are in the crowd.

“Let’s put this in perspective. This isn’t like you brought Ottawa to a screeching halt,” he said.

“I live right downtown when I’m in Ottawa. I’ve managed to get to work. I haven’t been kept up all night. Is it ideal? No. But this could be ended if the prime minister comes out and does his job.”

Tuesday February 8, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 8, 2022

How conspiracy theorists steered Canada’s anti-vaccine trucker protest

February 26, 2021

Thousands of demonstrators have successfully occupied Canada’s frigid capital for days, and say they plan on staying as long as it takes to thwart the country’s vaccine requirements.

The brazen occupation of Ottawa came as a result of unprecedented coordination between various anti-vaccine and anti-government organizations and activists, and has been seized on by similar groups around the world.

It may herald the revenge of the anti-vaxxers.

The so-called “freedom convoy” – which departed for Ottawa on 23 January – was the brainchild of James Bauder, an admitted conspiracy theorist who has endorsed the QAnon movement and called Covid-19 “the biggest political scam in history”. Bauder’s group, Canada Unity, contends that vaccine mandates and passports are illegal under Canada’s constitution, the Nuremberg Code and a host of other international conventions.

Saturday January 29, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday January 29, 2022

What in the Wordle? The New Viral Word Game Dividing the Internet

April 4, 2020

In the past few weeks a new phenomenon has emerged on Twitter feeds around the world: a mysterious grid – five squares across, six down – littered with green, yellow and black tiles.

Sometimes it’s uploaded as a boast, sometimes a lament. Either way the grids are a something of a scorecard for the internet’s latest obsession and battleground, Wordle – a no-frills, daily online word puzzle that gives users just one chance, in six attempts, to solve the five-letter word of the day. And it’s proving to be as addictive as it is simple.

“Exponential growth cannot be denied. Maths cannot be shrugged away,” one Twitter user warned this week. “If you can’t see the terrifying truth of what is happening you are a denialist and a fool: Twitter will be 98.7% Wordle by Tuesday.”