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Saturday April 10, 2021

April 17, 2021 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 10, 2021

Prince Philip loved Canada, and knew this country in good times and bad

Prince Philip, in personal encounters, had a special ability to put you immediately at ease at the same time as he kept you on edge. It was his style: he loved to demystify the monarchy so you didn’t sound like a blithering idiot when you were addressed by a member of the family. But at the same time, he also brought to conversation a degree of forthright questioning that sometimes could turn you into … well, a blithering idiot.

October 3, 2002

He loved Canada and probably visited this country more than any other on the planet, both officially with the Queen he served so dutifully and lovingly all those years, and privately on many more occasions, especially in connection with the Duke of Edinburgh Awards or the World Wildlife Fund.

In a life spread throughout most of the 20th century and well into the 21st, he met thousands of people and graced hundreds of institutions. When he made one of several visits to Massey College in the University of Toronto during the Golden Jubilee Year (2002) to become the college’s first Honorary Senior Fellow he was asked — inevitably — to unveil a plaque honouring the visit. The college flag was draped somewhat ornately over the plaque and he went up to it with a certain degree of familiarity:

June 11, 2016

“You about to see the handiwork of a master unveiler of plaques,“ he said with a wry smile. Then he took one corner of the flag and with a few twists of the wrist made it twirl in the air which made everyone laugh.

He wrote later that he had “a soft spot” for Massey College. He had laid its cornerstone in a previous visit in 1962 and he was a particular friend of the college’s founder, Vincent Massey, the first Canadian-born governor general. It was part of a much larger soft spot for Canada as a whole.

January 23, 2021

And he knew the country in good times and bad. Famously, during the troubled visit of 1964 during the height of the Quiet Revolution Quebeckers backs were turned on him and the Queen as their official car headed for the provincial legislature. Later at a press reception, he pointed out that if Canada was tired of being a monarchy perhaps we could try to end it with a bit of civility. “We don’t come here for our health,” he pointed out. “We can think of other ways of spending our time.”

Although a deeply intelligent and inherently kind man with an extraordinary sense of duty, it was his testiness that was a big part of his appeal, and also what got him into trouble. Depending on your views of the monarchy, his off-the-cuff quips were either a sign of the blatant ridiculousness of the Crown or proof of its enduring power. It was usually a matter of perspective.

April 9, 2002

He certainly understood the often murky deal between the Crown and the media that both sides played. On the one hand, there was deep resentment within the Royal Family and those officials who served them at the brutal way the media could often push into their lives during troubled periods. At the same time, the media has for some time now been the leading handmaiden in securing the Crown’s hold over people’s imagination, to the equal irritation for their own reasons of republicans and royalists alike.

He was a man marked for life by his earliest experience of being poor but royal, impoverished but often in the presence of vast wealth, alone in the world but determined to survive and make his mark. And it was all done with a sense of duty that has few parallels in our own time. (National Post) 

 

Posted in: Canada, International Tagged: 2021-14, Balmoral, Canada, Commonwealth, consort, corgi, death, Duke of Edinburgh, duty, Monarchy, Obit, Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth, royalty, service, shadow, UK

Thursday March 22, 2018

March 21, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 22, 2018

Service Canada moves away from calling Canadians Mr., Mrs., or Ms.

Service Canada employees who interact with the public are being asked to stay away from terms like Mr., Mrs., father and mother, and to use gender-neutral terms in their place, CBC News has learned.

According to documents obtained by Radio Canada, the French-language arm of CBC, front-line staff must now “use gender-neutral language or gender-inclusive language.”

“This avoids portraying a perceived bias toward a particular sex or gender,” says a copy of speaking notes prepared for managers and team leaders.

“It is important that Service Canada, as an organization, reflects Canada’s diverse population and ensures that the views and interests of Canadians are taken into account when we develop policies, programs, services and initiatives,” says the directive.

The new guidelines also rule out using terms such as mother and father because they are “gender specific” and say the neutral word “parent” should be used instead.

The same goes for honorifics such as Mr., Mrs., and Ms., and in both languages. Instead, employees are being directed to address customers by their full names or ask them what they want to be called.

Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, whose department oversees Service Canada, took to Twitter Wednesday to clarify that agents can still call people Mr. or Ms. if that’s what the caller prefers.

“We are only confirming how people want to be addressed as a matter of respect,” he said. (Source: CBC News) 


Letter to the Editor (Hamilton Spectator – March 28, 2018)

Editorial cartoon was tone-deaf

I can’t begin to imagine what led not only Graeme MacKay, but a team of editors, to think the Service Canada this cartoon was anything other than ignorant, transphobic and hugely problematic.

I had to read it twice because I thought I was missing something. I hoped there was no way it could be as tone-deaf as it seemed at first reading.

Since Service Canada announced its new gender-neutral directive, I’ve read and heard a lot of opinions (wholly from people who identify with the gender they were assigned at birth) about how “ridiculous” they find the directive to ask Canadians if they identify as Mr./Mrs. or mother/father (by extension, male/female/non-binary).

Here’s the thing — this isn’t a measure taken in service of people who have no problem being referred to by the gender they appear to have been assigned at birth. This is a measure being taken in service of transgender and non-binary Canadians, many of whom have likely long felt uncomfortable being referred to incorrectly, and many of whom may have been too nervous or exhausted to explain (judging from the landslide of negative reactions in recent days, including the Spec’s own editorial comic, it’s easy to understand that anxiety).

I’ll never be able to get my head around people who want to oppose others’ rights to safety, inclusion and non-discrimination. Unless the Spec can speak to (and meaningfully apologize for) its decision to run this cartoon, that includes this paper.

Amy Kenny, Hamilton


Letter to the Editor (Hamilton Spectator – March 28, 2018)

Cartoon played to transphobia

I’m disappointed by this editorial cartoon, which relies on and reproduces transphobia. I’m gender non-binary and I assure you that, while I can be hilarious, being gender nonconforming is not, in itself, hilarious. The federal government has a strong role in shaping society, and its recent moves toward gender inclusive language, however small, are part of making Canada actually safer for people whose gender identities, like mine, don’t line up with the bodies they were born into. This cartoon is insulting and cheap, and doesn’t pass as humour for me.

Mx. Carla Borstad Klassen (they/them pronouns)


Commentary (Hamilton Spectator – March 26, 2018)

Tone-deaf cartoon made a mockery of LGBTQI2S+ community struggles

I finally had a chance to read my Spectator last Thursday on my bus ride home after a very long day at work. A day that had me listening on my headphones while working on my computer to fellow LGBTQI2S+ activists via Facebook Live. They held a news conference at The 519 Community Centre in the heart of Toronto’s Queer Village and demanded a public inquiry into the Toronto Police Service’s investigation of a serial killer who had targeted gay men.

They protested outside of Toronto Police headquarters and demanded the resignation of Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders for his mishandling of the investigation and victim blaming of the LGBTQI2S+ community. The message was clear, the lives of these murdered and missing gay men were not valued and hence the investigation into their deaths was not taken seriously until far too late.

On this same day I experienced a tone deaf, dismissive and damaging editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay making a mockery of those in the LGBTQI2S+ Community who self-identify as transgender, genderqueer, gender nonconforming, or non-binary. In the cartoon an individual who presents as female is asked by a clerk at a Service Canada desk how they would like to be addressed. The individual gives a glib and flippant answer ending with “In Ms. Chatsworth’s Gifted Class I went by Phil.” (Continued)

SaveSave

Posted in: Canada Tagged: address, Canada, forms of address, gender, government, language, neutral, neutrality, policy, political correctness, service, tiles

Wednesday April 12, 2017

April 11, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday April 12, 2017

Twitter skewers United with #NewUnitedAirlinesMotto

A day after viral videos of a bloodied man being dragged off an overbooked United flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport by aviation security fueled criticism of the airline, Twitter users poked fun at the airline’s tactics.

September 22, 2015

“We overbooked but you pay the price,” ”We Put The Hospital In Hospitality” and “We’ll drag you all over the world” were among the faux slogans being offered up on social media under #NewUnitedAirlinesMottos.

Others posted memes imagining Negan, the bat-wielding villain from “The Walking Dead,” patrolling the plane’s aisle. Another meme repurposed Monday’s viral image of a Florida sheriff denouncing drug dealers while surrounded by menacing officers by making the group appear to be standing in front of a United customer service counter.

September 17, 2015

United had offered vouchers worth $800 to anyone who would volunteer to give up their seat on the flight Sunday, but found no takers. Merriam-Webster says searches for the definition of “volunteer” in its online dictionary jumped 1,900 percent Monday. Merriam-Webster defines the term as “someone who does something without being forced to do it.”

Jimmy Kimmel quickly reacted to the controversy on his ABC late-night show Monday, with a fake United commercial that showed a flight attendant armed with brass knuckles.

United Airlines’ parent company CEO Oscar Munoz said he’s “upset” by the incident but believes his employees took the right action. (Source: Chicago Tribune) 

 

Posted in: International, USA Tagged: corporate, corporation, customer, Facebook, service, shaming, social media, twitter, United, United Airlines, USA

Friday May 22, 2015

May 21, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Friday May 22, 2015 NDP says they would bring back door-to-door mail delivery in Hamilton The federal NDP will reinstate door-to-door delivery and get rid of super mailboxes on the Mountain if the party forms government after the upcoming election. Hamilton MPs David Christopherson and Wayne Marston made the announcement at city hall this morning, lauding council for being "at the forefront" of the effort to save traditional mail delivery through its court battle with Canada Post. "If we have to change the legislation, we'll do it," Christopherson said of the plan to reverse Canada Post's multi-year plan to replace door-to-door delivery with super mailboxes across Canada. He acknowledged there would be cost to removing thousands of recently installed super mailboxes - including several hundred alone on the Mountain. But he said those costs, as yet not calculated, have to be "weighed against the cost to the (postal) service." He argued Canadians are better served by door-to-door mail delivery and added at a minimum, residents "deserve to be consulted" about the future of the service. The city will face off against Canada Post in court sometime next week over the legality of a bylaw that seeks to regulate where super mailboxes are installed in the municipal right-of-way. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5637988-ndp-says-they-would-bring-back-door-to-door-mail-delivery-in-hamilton/ Canada, Thomas Mulcair, NDP, mail, postal, delivery, snail, election, promise, service, communication

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday May 22, 2015

NDP says they would bring back door-to-door mail delivery in Hamilton

The federal NDP will reinstate door-to-door delivery and get rid of super mailboxes on the Mountain if the party forms government after the upcoming election.

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Saturday April 25, 2015 Canada Post strikes back in mailbox battle Canada Post has asked the courts to strike down Hamilton's mailbox installation bylaw the day after eight charges were laid under the new rules. Canada Post spokesperson Jon Hamilton said the legal counter-move came after the agency received a city order to stop ongoing installation of the controversial community mailboxes based on the recently passed bylaw. He said he wasn't aware of any charges under the bylaw, but added a hearing to consider Canada Post's application is scheduled for April 28. City spokesperson Mike Kirkopoulos said Friday eight charges related to three unidentified mailbox locations were sworn late Thursday Ð six against Canada Post and two against a subcontractor, SNC Lavalin. He couldn't immediately comment on what the latest court filing means to the city. "We regret that court action is necessary É but we're at a point where we need to continue to move forward," said Hamilton, noting, the agency has been in contact with the city since last June over the planned installations. The legal battle started when the city enacted a new bylaw earlier this month that requires the Crown corporation to apply for a $200 permit for each of an estimated 4,000 community mailboxes meant to replace door-to-door mail delivery in Hamilton. Council followed up on Wednesday by asking its lawyers to file a court application to "restrain" ongoing installation by Canada Post. The agency's counter-move appears to have been filed first, however. Canada Post has argued from the get-go its federal mandate trumps municipal bylaws and installation of the first of 1,000 mailboxes on the Mountain began last Friday. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5575336-canada-post-strikes-back-in-mailbox-battle/ Hamilton, Canada, Canada Post, mail, post, postal service, Superbox, court, legal, military, mission, bomb

Hamilton MPs David Christopherson and Wayne Marston made the announcement at city hall this morning, lauding council for being “at the forefront” of the effort to save traditional mail delivery through its court battle with Canada Post.

“If we have to change the legislation, we’ll do it,” Christopherson said of the plan to reverse Canada Post’s multi-year plan to replace door-to-door delivery with super mailboxes across Canada.

He acknowledged there would be cost to removing thousands of recently installed super mailboxes – including several hundred alone on the Mountain.

But he said those costs, as yet not calculated, have to be “weighed against the cost to the (postal) service.”

Thursday April 16, 2015He argued Canadians are better served by door-to-door mail delivery and added at a minimum, residents “deserve to be consulted” about the future of the service.

The city will face off against Canada Post in court sometime next week over the legality of a bylaw that seeks to regulate where super mailboxes are installed in the municipal right-of-way. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)


Published in Opinion 250 (Prince George BC), L’Acadie Nouvelles, Gull Lake Advance, Brandon Sun, Nanaimo Daily News, Regina LEader Post, Calgary Herald, and The Corner Brook Newspaper

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: Canada, Communication, delivery, election, Mail, NDP, postal, promise, published, service, snail, Thomas Mulcair

Thursday May 22, 2015

May 20, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Thursday May 22, 2015Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 22, 2015

Uber would require ‘political solution’ to operate ride-share in Hamilton

The city’s director of licensing says it’s up to politicians to decide whether Uber can overcome regulatory hurdles to operate in Hamilton.

“In all honesty, if, in fact, Uber is going to come to our community and operate, effectively dealing with their business model, they’ll require a political solution versus an enforcement solution,” Ken Leendertse said Thursday.

So far, the city has been at loggerheads with the San Francisco-based ride-share service, which has only kicked Hamilton’s tires but not committed to establishing a beachhead here.

It’s not clear if a political solution is on the horizon. Mayor Fred Eisenberger is in a wait-and-see mode, noting city staff are meeting with Uber representatives to “get a clear understanding” of how they can legally operate.

“This is something I support and encourage for all businesses looking to invest in Hamilton.”

During an information session this week, Uber representatives addressed concerns about insurance, vehicle safety and drivers’ background checks, Leendertse said.

“And we feel much more comfortable.”

But to legally operate in Hamilton, Uber would have to become a licensed taxi broker, he added.

That would significantly alter its business model: the company’s latest service, UberX, eliminates the need for dispatch services, and allows customers to hire unlicensed taxi drivers by using their cellphone.

Uber has established footholds in 250 cities around the world, but has been greeted with resistance with critics citing safety concerns. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Posted in: Lifestyle Tagged: business, cab, Canada, fish, Hamilton, International, market, media, Ontario, ride, service, share, social, taxi, Uber
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This website contains satirical commentaries of current events going back several decades. Some readers may not share this sense of humour nor the opinions expressed by the artist. To understand editorial cartoons it is important to understand their effectiveness as a counterweight to power. It is presumed readers approach satire with a broad minded foundation and healthy knowledge of objective facts of the subjects depicted.

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