sovereignty – mackaycartoons

Tuesday February 12, 2019

February 19, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 12, 2019

Why Canada needs to make the Arctic a national priority

July 26, 2007

You may not know this, but Canada’s Arctic makes up nearly 40 per cent of our country’s land. Based on that alone, you would think that our federal government would prioritize the protection, careful development and stewardship of the far north.

But you’d be wrong. If northern development and affairs are priorities with the Trudeau government, it’s not obvious from the outside. In fact, a growing number of international experts are voicing concern that Canada is falling behind in terms of coherent policy and ambition of our northern territory.

Scandinavian countries aren’t making the same mistake. Neither are Russia and China, both of whom have robust and ambitious goals and are taking actions that should concern Canadians.

Russia, for example, is remilitarizing its far north in order to improve its access to Arctic territories. There is new military hardware, improved communication infrastructure. Industry, surface and marine transport and offshore resource development have seen massive investment. Russia is also expanding its icebreaker fleet to improve shipping lane access.

April 1, 1999

China last year released a white paper about the Arctic. Its stated policy goals are to “understand, protect, develop and participate in the governance of the Arctic, so as to safeguard the common interests of all countries and the international community in the Arctic, and promote sustainable development of the Arctic.”

This issue isn’t new. But it’s getting more urgent for a couple of reasons. One is climate change. With ice receding shipping channels are getting bigger and more accessible and commercial interests are getting more pressing. The other is Russia’s ambitious push to restore its place in the world order — to levels it hasn’t enjoyed since the days of the USSR — and the place Arctic development and ownership play in that.

Then there is Finland, and other Nordic countries, where northern development has always been more of a priority than in Canada. At the University of Oulu, on the edge of the Arctic Circle, Finns are testing a 5G network to study and develop communication technology and innovation. And in 2016, the Finnish government launched the Aurora project, referred to as an “Arctic intelligent transport test ecosystem” to facilitate testing of autonomous vehicle technology in harsh conditions on northern roads. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator Editorial)

Tuesday January 6, 2015

January 5, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 6, 2015

Julian Fantino out as veterans affairs minister

Canada’s prime minister has replaced embattled Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino with retired air force officer and first-time MP Erin O’Toole.

In a release Monday, the government said Fantino will remain in cabinet as associate minister for defence Ñ the same post he held before being named international co-operation minister in 2012.

This time, Fantino will focus on Arctic sovereignty, information technology security and foreign intelligence, the release said.

The change was made during a quiet ceremony at Rideau Hall around midday and addresses for now what has been a nagging controversy for Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Fantino faced repeated opposition calls for his resignation or firing in the fall over his handling of the Veterans Affairs Canada portfolio. The department has faced much criticism from some veterans because of the decision to close regional offices and for a lack of support for veterans with mental illness.

In November, the auditor general found the department was not doing enough to provide mental-health services to veterans, just days after it was revealed the government had returned nearly $1 billion in lapsed funding to the treasury in recent years.

Fantino was out of the country attending commemorative Second World War events as the opposition called for a response to the auditor general’s report.

Fantino was roundly criticized for a testy meeting with veterans early last year and for refusing to speak with the wife of a veteran who pursued him down a hallway in Parliament. (Source: CBC News)

Wednesday September 10, 2014

September 9, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 10, 2014

Lost Franklin expedition ship found in the Arctic

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says one of Canada’s greatest mysteries now has been solved, with the discovery of one of the lost ships from Sir John Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition.

“This is a great historic event,” Harper said.

“For more than a century this has been a great Canadian story.… It’s been the subject of scientists and historians and writers and singers. And so I think we have a really important day in mapping together the history of our country,” the prime minister said.

At this point, the searchers aren’t sure if they’ve found HMS Erebus or HMS Terror. But sonar images from the waters of Victoria Strait, just off King William Island, clearly show wreckage of a ship on the ocean floor.

The wreckage was found on Sept. 7 using a remotely operated underwater vehicle recently acquired by Parks Canada. When Harper revealed the team’s success at Parks Canada’s laboratories in Ottawa Tuesday, the room burst into applause and hollering.

“This is a day of some very good news,” Harper told the assembled group of researchers, some of whom had flown all night to be in Ottawa for the announcement.

“It appears to be perfectly preserved,” Harper said of the ship, adding that it has “a little bit of damage

In a statement, the prime minister said Franklin’s expedition laid the foundations of Canada’s Arctic sovereignty. He called the lost ships Canada’s “only undiscovered national historical site.”

The prime minister paid tribute to the search teams — a partnership between Parks Canada, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Arctic Research Foundation, the Canadian Coast Guard, the Royal Canadian Navy and the government of Nunavut — whose work since 2008 has paid off.

“This discovery would not have been possible without their tireless efforts over the years, as well as their commitment, dedication and the perseverance of the many partners and explorers involved,” Harper said.

2011-2015

Franklin’s crew became locked in the ice during a doomed search for the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean in 1845. All 128 crew members eventually died, though there’s evidence to suggest some may have survived for several years.

Many searches throughout the 19th century attempted to find the lost ships, but the mystery of what happened to John Franklin and his men has never been solved. (Source: CBC News)

OTHER MEDIA

This cartoon was posted to Yahoo Canada News, ipolitics and National Newswatch.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Harper celebrates #FranklinExpedition find #cdnhistory http://t.co/2KksxNTljE pic.twitter.com/47XSamvPP5

— mackaycartoons (@mackaycartoons) September 10, 2014

IN HARPER’S CANADA Libraries and archives ARE being TRASHED, books ARE being BURNED. SCIENTISTS ARE being CENSORED…

Posted by Occupy Canada on Thursday, September 11, 2014

Tuesday August 21, 2012

August 21, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday August 21, 2012

Harper’s Arctic visits net mixed results

Each of the last six summers, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has journeyed to the North, sprinkling throughout its remote communities promises of federal funding and development.

This year will be no different: Harper leaves today for a five-day trip that begins with a rally near Whitehorse and ends Friday in Churchill, Man.

Harper appears to have the Midas touch about him on these annual visits.

2011-2015

The projects and people he encounters, albeit rarely beyond the bounds of a carefully-choreographed photo-op, get money and encouragement.

In return, his government gets to bask in days of positive news coverage, backed by some of the most beautiful images of the country.

But it seems that what Harper tries to turn to gold in his visits up North doesn’t always stay that way.

Many projects he has announced for the region in recent years are behind schedule and some places he stops later find themselves falling on hard times.

Last year, Harper visited the Kluane National Park, home of Mount Logan, Canada’s highest mountain. There, he announced a new visitor’s centre and extolled the region’s “lush valleys, immense ice fields (and) spectacular mountains.”

But a research station located just outside its gates has since had its federal funding cut, and the last federal budget will also see the national park’s services cut as well. (Source: Halifax Chronicle Herald)