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Tuesday December 2, 2020

December 9, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 2, 2020

COVID-19 doesn’t care about politics

Remember the Team Canada approach to fighting COVID-19, the one where political parties would put the collective fight above partisan interests? Remember “we’re all in this together?”

October 8, 2020

That was all so yesterday. Today, there is very little non-partisan co-operation between federal parties. And Canadians, too, have become increasingly partisan and divided. 

It was probably all inevitable, but it’s unfortunate, nonetheless. 

Partisanship has entirely replaced bilateral co-operation in Ottawa. The government stands accused of flubbing Canada’s vaccine program. Because of that mismanagement we are at “the back of the line,” according to federal Conservatives.

It is true that the government, and especially the prime minister, have been unnecessary vague about vaccine delivery and rollout details. It is not true that we are at the back of the pack. Canada was the fourth country in the world to strike an agreement with Pfizer, one of the vaccine producers. It was one of the first to sign up with Moderna, another producer.

December 1, 2020

Moderna co-founder and chair Noubar Afeyan, who came to Canada as a refugee from Beirut before he moved to the U.S., says this country is in good shape. In an interview with CBC News, he said “Canada’s not at the back of the line,” adding “Each of the contracts we negotiated — and Canada was among the first to enter into a supply arrangement with Moderna — is individual, and of course the people who were willing to move early on, with even less proof of efficacy, have assured the amount of supply they were willing to sign up to. I know in the case of Canada their number is about 20 million doses.”

It is fair to criticize the Liberals for their communication to date around vaccines, but it is not factual to claim Canada is at the back of the line. However, that is a good example of how partisan strategy has replaced the collaboration that was a welcome feature of the pandemic’s early days. 

November 28, 2020

It is also true that Canada will not get vaccines as quickly as countries like the U.S. and U.K., where vaccines were developed and produced. This country doesn’t have that production capacity. It did at one point. There was publicly owned Connaught Labs, which was privatized under the Mulroney Conservative government in the ’80s. Later, the Harper government cut research and development spending and other pharmaceutical companies closed shop and moved elsewhere. Now that capacity is largely gone, and it needs to be replaced, urgently.

A similar partisan divide exists among Canadians overall, according to recent opinion polling data. In general, Liberal and NDP voter respondents in several different polls were more likely to be primarily concerned about the health impact of COVID-19, while those who identified as Conservative were more likely to be concerned about the economic and business impact. According to polling by the Angus Reid Institute, 89 per cent of respondents who voted Liberal, NDP or Bloc reported regularly wearing masks, while 71 per cent of Conservative voters reported doing the same. 

May 8, 2019

Interestingly, one poll by Leger suggests many Canadians are not so concerned about getting the vaccine at the same time as the U.S. or U.K., where vaccines are produced. Forty-eight per cent said that they were “not that concerned” and feel “a few months won’t make much of a difference,” while 37 per cent said they are worried that we won’t get the vaccine at the same time. 

The point that matters most is this: COVID-19 doesn’t care about our political leaning. It is an equal opportunity virus. And that should unite us more than anything else. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: 2020-41, Annamie Paul, Canada, Chrystia Freeland, Coronavirus, covid-19, Erin O’Toole, Jagmeet Singh, Justin Trudeau, navigation, pandemic, ships, Yves-François Blanchet

Thursday April 19, 2012

April 19, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday April 19, 2012

Burlington lift bridge raised for Hamilton-bound ships

The Burlington Canal Lift Bridge has been raised to allow freighters to get in and out of Hamilton Harbour.

Department of Public Works spokesperson Jeremy Link said Wednesday the bridge – which was stuck partway up after a cable broke Tuesday morning – was inched upwards during overnight to open harbour access.

The bridge is still closed to road traffic.

Engineers are still assessing the problem and the repair and no date has been set for re-opening the bridge.

Ships were beginning to stack up outside Hamilton Harbour before the bridge was raised. Two arrived after the bridge stuck Tuesday morning and three more are expected Wednesday.

The Hamilton Street Railway has set up detour routes around the bridge for routes which use Beach Boulevard.

The two freighters — a tanker and a cargo ship — were anchored in Lake Ontario off Burlington’s waterfront and not far from the canal as engineers investigated the possibility of safely lifting the bridge completely so the ships can pass.

The movable bridge’s opening sections became stuck partway up at 25 metres at 9:40 a.m. Tuesday after a cable broke and stopped the bridge from opening further. Ships could not pass, nor could road and pedestrian traffic use the bridge.

The lift bridge yearly allows about 6,500 ships, including about 700 cargo carrying ships, to pass through the canal and into Hamilton Harbour. An average 10,000 vehicles pass over it each day according to 2009 statistics. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Posted in: Hamilton Tagged: bridge, Burlington, Canal, freighters, Hamilton, jam, lift bridge, public works, ships, skyway, traffic, WD-40

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Please note…

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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