Saturday September 19, 2015

September 18, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday September 19, 2015

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May dominates debate on Twitter

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was not in attendance at the Globe and Mail’s leader debate in Calgary on Thursday, but on Twitter she may have come out on top.

May used Twitter to answer the same questions faced by NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper at the Globe and Mails leader debate.

The social media company filmed May’s responses, retorts and fact-checks in a Victoria church and posted them to Twitter.

In total, May’s video posts received 14,000 retweets and favourites, and she gained 3,900 new followers.

May’s account also received the most mentions on Twitter at the beginning of the debate, topping Trudeau by more than 2,000.

In an appearance on CTV’s Power Play earlier on Thursday, May criticized the diversity of the debate.

“(I am) participating at some distance, but perhaps we can make our way into the old boys club yet,” May said in an appearance on CTV’s Power Play earlier on Thursday.

She continued to mock the makeup of event on Twitter.

In an appearance on CTV’s Power Play earlier on Thursday, May criticized the diversity of the debate.

“(I am) participating at some distance, but perhaps we can make our way into the old boys club yet,” May said in an appearance on CTV’s Power Play earlier on Thursday.

She continued to mock the makeup of event on Twitter.

Before the debate, May didn’t shy away from taking jabs at the Globe and Mail event, which she called a “bogus, corporate, private debate.”

Despite May’s exclusion, Sean Humphrey, the Globe and Mail’s vice-president of marketing, has defended the debate’s format.

May has also been left off the podium at the Munk Debates on foreign policy in Toronto and a French-language debate on TVA.

The Green Party Leader criticized Harper and Mulcair for their plans to skip the traditional televised leader’s debate, which is scheduled for Oct. 7. (Source: CTV News)

SATIRE FACT CHECK

By Bruce MacKinnon

By Terry Mosher

Same take by two of Canada’s great editorial cartoonists. Excluding political leaders based on their gender fits well with the stuffy old image of “Canada’s National Newspaper” from a bygone era. Was former NDP leader Audrey McLaughlin excluded in debates in the 1980s, or Alexa McDonough in the 90’s, or Kim Campbell, or more recently Pauline Marois, Kathleen Wynne, or Rachel Notley, just to name a few? No. With respects to my cartoonist colleagues, playing the gender card in this case is a bit disingenuous – Women have been leading political parties throughout Canada for the last 40 years. It’s not about Ms. May’s gender that excluded her from the debate, it’s her fringe party’s low ranking in the polls. It’s also why for every 500 or so main three party cartoons we satirists serve up only a few that actually include the Green Party. When a veteran politician of nearly 10 years finds defence in editorial cartoons then maybe, just maybe, the gig for that politician is up.

Friday January 30 2015

January 30, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

A redo, 17 years later

In 1998 I had a completely different style when it came to cartooning that relied entirely on the cross hatching technique, a standard used by editorial cartoonists for centuries. By 2001, I had mostly abandoned the usage, thanks to the introduction of Photoshop as a means to edit cartoons on computer. I’m still very fond of the technique and I have file cabinets full of past work. My eyes, however, might be thankful in their own way that the strain that once came at the end of the day as a result of staring down thousands individual ink lines is mostly a thing of the past.

From June 17, 1998

1998 was a year when the Canadian dollar experienced a great drop in its value against the US greenback. That’s when it dipped way down into the mid 60 cent range. There it hovered until the start of 2003, when it made its charge towards par, fortified with the strength that came with Canada emerging as a Petro state when oil prices were at record highs. There was a bit of a dip when the loonie got jostled around the the time of the economic meltdown of 2008, but for the most part, the Canadian dollar has been on a course of strength for more than a decade.

So out from the archives comes this cartoon from a different time but for a familiar reckoning we Canadians are not unaccustomed to. Great for exports, lousy for cross-border shopping.

Friday September 7, 2013

September 6, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 6, 2013

Obama Arrives In Russia For G20 Summit

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — President Barack Obama is heading into the lion’s den of Russia, confronting Syria’s key patron as well as foreign leaders skeptical of his call for an international military strike against Bashar Assad’s government.

Obama on Thursday began a two-day visit to St. Petersburg for the Group of 20 economic summit, putting him in the same country as Edward Snowden for the first time since the American fugitive fled to Moscow earlier this year. Both Syria and Snowden have been sore points in an already strained U.S.-Russian relationship, fueling the notion that Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin just can’t get along.

The White House went out of its way to say Obama, who arrived Thursday after a quick flight from Stockholm, would not meet one-on-one with the Russian leader while in St. Petersburg. But officials predicted the two would still have a chance to interact when they cross paths at various meetings.

Still struggling to persuade dubious lawmakers at home on Syria, Obama in Russia will seek to win over world leaders reluctant to get drawn in to yet another U.S.-led sortie in a Mideast nation. Although Syria wasn’t formally on the agenda for the economy-focused summit, U.S. officials were resigned to the fact that the bloody civil war there surely would overwhelm any talks about global economics. (Source: Huffington Post)
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Wednesday August 14, 2013

August 14, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday August 14, 2013

Late-night python startles Hess bar patrons

A group of bar patrons got a late-night surprise when they ran into a three-foot python on their way out of Hess Village.

Hamilton animal control was called on Aug. 7 around 3 a.m. after the patrons left the bar and found the snake slithering into some bushes in a lot near King Street West and Hess Street.

According to the Reptile Store, located a dozen or so blocks from where the serpent was discovered, these snakes are not dangerous.

The ball python is “if not the most popular species of snake, definitely the most popular python,” said Jon Kendrick, business manager of reptilestore.ca.

They get their name because, when startled, they coil up, tucking their head into the middle — like a ball.

They’re timid, Kendrick says, which makes them popular pets.

Because of its “handle-ability,” this one was likely a pet, animal control supervisor Cal Burnett said.

But animal control doesn’t know to whom the snake belongs or from where it came.
The escapee didn’t come from the Reptile Store, Kendrick ensures.

“Again, thankfully, they don’t pose a threat of any significance unless you’re a small mouse.”

Last week, a 45-kilogram African rock python killed two boys — 4-year-old Noah Barthe and his 6-year-old brother, Connor — after it strangled them in a New Brunswick apartment. (Source: CBC News)

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