RCMP

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) 

 

Friday September 12, 2019

September 12, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 12, 2019

Did Trudeau really give ‘the largest’ waiver of cabinet confidence in history?

Forced to address the SNC-Lavalin scandal on the first day of the federal election campaign, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau made a sweeping statement.

“We gave out the largest and most expansive waiver of cabinet confidence in Canada’s history,” he said in response to reporters’ questions about a Globe and Mail article that said the RCMP’s efforts to examine the SNC-Lavalin affair have been stymied by the government’s refusal to lift cabinet confidentiality.

But legal experts tell CTV News they’re not sure how Trudeau is measuring what he calls the most “expansive” waiver of cabinet confidence, let alone how true his claim is.

Some other examples from past years include former prime minister Stephen Harper approving confidence waivers for the RCMP investigation into the Senate spending scandal.

Harper’s predecessor Paul Martin gave the Gomery Commission cabinet documents linked to the Liberal sponsorship scandal that rocked Ottawa in the mid-2000s.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer also spoke about the SNC-Lavalin affair on the first day of electioneering.

“The RCMP is investigating into possible obstruction of justice charges in the prime minister’s office,” Scheer said Wednesday as he formally launched his campaign.

However, the Globe and Mail said Mounties want to thoroughly question witnesses as part of an “examination,” not a formal investigation.

The SNC-Lavalin affair has been trailing Trudeau for months, ever since former justice minister Jody-Wilson Raybould alleged that she was inappropriately pressured by the prime minister and his office to end the criminal prosecution of the Quebec engineering giant. (CTV News) 

 

March 30, 2007

Visitors to my site will note my cartoons on international affairs are few and far between. My cartoons on the federal, local issues are far more abundant in numbers. Occasionally non domestic cartoons will creep in when domestic issues have become dull or just plain tired. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to declare that most people are fatigued with anything having to do with Quebec’s election 5 days ago. The latest big national story is the RCMP coverup, which already has my eyes glazing over and having me think, well haven’t we been down this road before? R.C.M.P. = Y.A.W.N. – nobody around here is talking about it.

So my mind was set on the recent debacle between Britain and Iran which is like a good old fashioned cold war like escalation of good against evil. I have a feeling the Iran thing will be hanging around as long as the RCMP thing — months.

Speaking of international cartoons two of my old galleries have just been updated. The old September 11 gallery has now been amalgamated and showcases stuff drawn related to the War on Terror. The Iraq Gallery has also been updated.

September 20, 2006

Picking subjects to cartoon about is a tricky thing. I wrote in an earlier entry about how the summer silly season makes it a bit challenging to pin down a topical subject that’s the current talk of the water cooler circles. I took this Monday off leaving some delicious issues to bake and grow stale…and then become fresh again (after I initially thought the issue was long past expired.) So drawing cartoons is a balance between covering the different levels of news goings-on, i.e. world, national, provincial, and local stuff, and being sure not to miss the really topical news stories of the day. The big story may not gel for a few days, so it’s easy to get ahead of yourself by cartooning too early, or missing the the story altogether in case the story gets overtaken by other events. What I’ve got to keep reminding myself is that I can’t cover everything. By missing one day in the news cycle, however, you can’t help getting upset when good news stories come and go.

Today I face a whole list of great stories I can draw on, but the trick is figuring out which one will appeal to a broad audience and have the most shelf life. The Muslim world vs. Pope Benedict XVI issue continues to go on. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ranted in front of the U.N. last night, and Stephen Harper appears tomorrow. The Chairman of the CBC quit his job for a rather comedic reason, and the Liberal leadership race goes on with some interest which I haven’t had the opportunity to comment on since early June.