resignation

So long Bill Morneau

Bill Morneau resigned his seat in Parliament. He announced he’s seeking a bid to become secretary general of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The real reason he’s quitting is due to becoming mired in the WE scandal after accepting and forgetting about travel gifts from the charity. He’s been Finance Minister since 2015 and has offered much fodder for editorial cartoons.

December 10, 2015
February 18, 2016
March 22, 2016
March 23, 2017
November 2, 2016
March 23, 2017
September 22, 2017
October 19, 2017
October 21, 2017
Canada’s Richie Rich
December 5, 2017
October 26, 2017
November 22, 2018
February 22, 2019
March 20, 2019
July 9, 2020
July 24, 2020

 

Andrew Scheer Gallery

Andrew Scheer resigned as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada today. Here is a gallery of cartoons:

May 30, 2017
December 13, 2017
August 17, 2018
August 24, 2018
November 20, 2018
Howdy Doodie Andy Scheer
March 5, 2019
April 13, 2019
May 2, 2019
May 7, 2019
June 8, 2019
June 11, 2019
June 20, 2019
July 13, 2019
July 17, 2019
August 27, 2019
September 26, 2019
October 2, 2019
October 24, 2019
October 31, 2019
November 7, 2019
December 13, 2019
April 28, 2020
January 28, 2020

Tuesday April 2, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday April 2, 2019

Trudeau apologizes to Grassy Narrows protester thanked for ‘donation,’ kicked out of Liberal Party fundraiser

February 15, 2019

Two former women cabinet minister from Justin Trudeau’s government, Jody Wilson-Raybould (Canada’s first indigenous Attorney General and Justice Minister) and Jane Philpott (Treasury Board President), were unceremoniously booted from party caucus today.

This follows an embarrassing moment for the Prime Minister from a few days earlier:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has apologized for how he responded to a protester Wednesday evening who was advocating on behalf of a northern Ontario First Nation struggling with health effects linked to historical industrial dumping upstream from the community.

Grassy Narrows First Nation held a protest and demonstration in Toronto on Wednesday evening during a Liberal Party fundraiser to press the Trudeau government on its promise to fund a specialized mercury treatment facility in the northwestern Ontario community that’s about 100 kilometres northeast of Kenora.

During the event, the protester appeared to be escorted out of the room while Trudeau thanked her for her “donation.”

“From time to time, I’m in situations where people are expressing concerns or protesting a particular thing, and I always try to be respectful and always try to engage with them in a positive way,” Trudeau told reporters in Halifax on Thursday morning.

“I didn’t do that last night — last night I lacked respect towards them and I apologize.”

Grassy Narrows also is pushing for federal help for remediation of the polluted English-Wabigoon River system and better compensation for people affected by the toxic element.

Animated!

In a video posted to the Council of Canadians’ verified Facebook page Wednesday evening, a woman is shown standing in front of the stage where Trudeau is standing; she appears to unfurl a banner that references the prime minister and compensation for the “mercury crisis.” She is heard saying “people in Grassy Narrows are suffering from mercury poisoning, you committed to addressing this crisis,” while appearing to be removed from the room.

Trudeau, still on the stage, is heard saying, while facing the direction in which the woman was taken out of the room, “Thank you for being here, thank you very much for your donation tonight, I really appreciate it,” which draws cheers and applause from the crowd.

The Grassy Narrows protest in Toronto was at the Omni King Edward Hotel, where Trudeau was scheduled to appear at a Laurier Club donor “appreciation event.”

Former Indigenous services minister Jane Philpott pledged in late 2017 that Ottawa would fund the development and construction of a treatment facility for people exposed to mercury-related illnesses in Grassy Narrows. A number of studies have linked  the comparatively poor health of people in the community to the dumping of mercury-contaminated effluent by Reed Paper, former owners of the mill in Dryden, into the river where members of the First Nation have traditionally fished.

The dumping also affected Wabaseemoong, another First Nation, about 100 kilometres northwest of Kenora. (Source: CBC News) 

 

Wednesday February 20, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 20, 2019

Gerald Butts and Justin Trudeau ‘would finish each others’ sentences’

The two men, who met at McGill, forged their bonds in debate club. In an interview with McGill News, Trudeau said the experience helped convince him he wasn’t cut out for a career as a lawyer or a debater.  

January 21, 2016

Nonetheless, in 2013, like a throwback to his college days, he was smack back in a debate while running the campaign that would land him in the PMO, and Butts was advising during each commercial break.

“Butts … practically pinned his friend against the wall,” according to a 2015 Maclean’s profile. “He slung a jacketed arm over Trudeau’s shoulder and spoke in hushed tones, inches from his face. It wasn’t so much aggressive as intensely friendly — a boxer with his longtime coach — with Trudeau occasionally nodding at Butts’s words.”

January 12, 2007

That helped reinforce a stereotype that Butts served as the brain of the operations while Trudeau provided the charming smile and personality to woo voters.

Their life stories, are of course vastly different: Butts, 47, born to a coal miner and nurse in Cape Breton, graduated from McGill, and after earning a master’s degree even briefly pursued a PhD in literature at York University in Toronto.

Before finishing his degree, he entered politics, rose through the ranks of former Ontario Premier Dalton McGinty’s office and later became chief executive of World Wildlife Foundation-Canada.

90s sensation: Beavis & Butts

Trudeau, meanwhile, the son of a former prime minister, pursued a career as a teacher after McGill until decades later, Butts helped convince him to run for office.

“I often did get the sense that they often would finish each others’ sentences,” said Jonathan Kay, who helped Trudeau with his autobiography and was a columnist for the National Post.

Kay said their personalities helped balance each other out, and the stereotype of Butts as the brains behind the operation is a mistake.

“They were very much equals,” he said, adding, “when they’re together they balance each other out.” (Continued: Financial Post) 

 

Wednesday February 13, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 13, 2019

Resignation of ‘very principled’ Jody Wilson-Raybould not a surprise, say former Manitoba grand chiefs

Two former Manitoba grand chiefs are defending Jody Wilson-Raybould as a strong leader following her resignation from cabinet Tuesday morning.

February 9, 2019

“She follows her convictions to the greatest degree. She’s very principled,” said Sheila North, former grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents Manitoba’s northern First Nations.

North worked with Wilson-Raybould on Indigenous files over the years, including missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and said Tuesday she was not surprised by her resignation.

“Her resolve to do the right thing is always on the top of her mind,” said North.

Wilson-Raybould’s resignation as minister of Veterans Affairs and associate minister of National Defence comes in the wake of a Globe and Mail story that alleged pressure was placed on her from the Prime Minister’s Office when she was the federal Justice minister.

Animated version!

The Globe reported she was pressured by the PMO to direct federal prosecutors to make a “deferred prosecution agreement” to avoid taking the Quebec-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin to trial on bribery and fraud charges in connection with contracts in Libya.

At a news conference later in the day Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “surprised and disappointed” with her decision to leave cabinet.

Trudeau denies he or his staff directed Wilson-Raybould to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin case. (Source: CBC)