queen – mackaycartoons

Thursday November 26, 2015

November 25, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 26

Justin Trudeau meeting Queen, Cameron in London

Trudeau has a bit of history with the Queen, having met the now 89-year-old monarch as a young child in the late 1970s when his father Pierre Trudeau was Canada’s prime minister

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reacquainted himself with Queen Elizabeth, this time as the prime minister of Canada rather than the son of Canada’s parliamentary leader.

Trudeau, making his second whirlwind tour on the international summit circuit in as many weeks, is meeting Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace Wednesday morning.

The Queen also met Sophie and the two youngest Trudeau children.

Canadian Press photographer Doug Ball took this iconic photo of Pierre Trudeau performing a pirouette during a photo session of several leaders at Buckingham Palace on May 7, 1977

Trudeau will then deliver a speech at Canada House in Trafalgar Square, followed by a sit-down with Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street where it’s expected climate change, anti-terrorism measures and the Canada-European Union free trade agreement will be on the agenda.

Trudeau has a bit of history with the Queen, having met the now 89-year-old monarch as a young child in the late 1970s when his father Pierre Trudeau was Canada’s prime minister.

“She was very tall, which points out how little I was at the time,” Trudeau recalled in a comment released by his office prior to Wednesday’s audience.

“They were nice moments because I knew how much my dad liked her. You could tell my dad was really proud to be introducing his son to the Queen.”

Trudeau is travelling with his wife Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau and two of their own three youngsters, Ella-Grace and Hadrien, are along for the trip.

Trudeau will leave the United Kingdom on Thursday for Valetta, Malta, where the 54-country Commonwealth grouping is holding its biennial leaders summit.

Early version

Trudeau has said he’ll be working to encourage some of the Commonwealth members to step up their ambition on fighting climate change, while others in the Commonwealth are only too aware of the dangers from rising sea levels posed by global warming.

Malta’s prime minister will hold a special session on climate change Friday afternoon.

Trudeau and many of the other Commonwealth heads will then move on to France, where French President Francois Hollande has invited world leaders to open the 21st United Nations climate conference, or COP21, next Monday. (Source: Toronto Star)

Saturday August 15, 2015

August 14, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday August 15, 2015

Dundas filming ban lifted with limitations

A petition created on Thursday to end the moratorium — that is now not a moratorium — on filming in Dundas has exceeded its original goal of 1,000 signatures.

After six days its new target is 2,000.

Petition creator and Dundas local Kevin Ramage, 32, is trying to set up a meeting with Coun. Arlene VanderBeek to give the community a voice.

He set out to speak to locals and business owners to get a grasp on how they feel about the original ban, and new case-by-case limitations.

Meanwhile, the properties that were originally flagged as temporarily unavailable on the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) website now have a new message.

After VanderBeek released her statement of “re-examination,” Susan Monarch, manager of tourism Hamilton, told The Spectator on Aug. 7 the wording on OMDC files were changed to say there may be limitations, and if interested in the property to contact the film office.

There are three check marks available on the OMDC listings — not available, available and caution — Monarch said.

Ramage reached out to VanderBeek Tuesday to set up a meeting, hoping to present his findings, but he has not yet received a response.

“None of the businesses that I spoke to, and that signed the petition, had any knowledge that a moratorium or filming limitations were ever going to be put in place,” he wrote in the statement.

Most business owners pulled Ramage into their back rooms, speaking to him at length about their thoughts on the issue. He said business owners either found out about the changes from customers coming in and asking them why they didn’t want production in town, or from the media.

“They were not pleased about the lack of community involvement on the issue.”

The decision for the moratorium, and now limitations, were made following discussions with the city’s film office staff, some residents and the BIA board of directors, which includes VanderBeek. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Wednesday September 12, 2012

September 12, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday September 12, 2012

3,100 citizenships ordered revoked for immigration fraud

The federal government has started the process of revoking the citizenship of 3,100 people suspected of lying to become Canadians.

Speaking at a news conference on Ottawa Monday, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the federal government is “applying the full strength of Canadian law” to crack down on individuals suspected of obtaining citizenship fraudulently or falsifying information required for permanent residency.

“Canadian citizenship is not for sale,” Kenney told reporters. “We are taking action to strip citizenship and permanent residence status from people who don’t play by the rules and who lie or cheat to become a Canadian citizen.”

CBC News has learned cabinet has revoked the citizenship of 19 out of the 3,100 people using cabinet orders so far. The orders in council do not include the names of the individuals and the government will not release the names.

To date, letters have been sent to at least 500 of the 3,100 or so citizens suspected of fraud. Individuals may appeal to the Federal Court to stop the process.

If they don’t respond to their letters, requests to revoke citizenship go to cabinet. The entire process is expected to take months.

This crackdown on fraudulent citizenships is part of an investigation into some 11,000 people who may be lying to apply for citizenship or maintain permanent resident status.

Kenney’s department is working closely with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Canadian offices abroad to track down suspicious cases. (Source: CBC News)

Monday June 4, 2012

June 4, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Monday June 4, 2012

Jubilee pageant: Rain fails to dampen

It aimed to evoke the extravagant “water triumphs” of yore, a spectacle on the Thames to rival a Canaletto painting.

There was certainly water, too much, in fact, as driving rain drenched the diamond jubilee river pageant, the grandest procession the Thames has borne.

But to the estimated 1 million people crammed along the river’s banks, the 1,000-boat flotilla, with the Queen at its heart, was an undoubted triumph.

The armada was accompanied along the Thames by cheers from damp spectators, swaddled in rainwear and bunched under thickets of umbrellas. It was a very British occasion in all respects.

The 20,000 participants battled wind-whipped waters. Especially valiant were the rowers and kayakers following the Gloriana barge at the head of the £12m flotilla, and the soaked choir who managed a rousing rendition of Rule Britannia at the pageant’s end. The flypast of Royal Navy helicopters in diamond formation, which was supposed to provide a finale, was cancelled.

Aboard the royal barge, the lavishly decorated river cruiser Spirit of Chartwell, the Queen, with a pashmina wrapped around her shoulders and discreet rug to hand, waved at the crowds for an hour and a quarter. She shunned the specially constructed mini-thrones and opted to stand for most of the time.

Her highlight, judging from the beaming smile, was when Joey, the War Horse puppet, reared on the roof of the National theatre as the royals passed.

The Queen disembarked, no doubt with some relief, by Tower Bridge, where, back on terra firma and under a rain canopy, she watched the rest of the flotilla pass by. (Source: The Guardian)