Sunny ways – mackaycartoons

Thursday April 4, 2019

April 11, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 4, 2019

Let the Justin Trudeau scandal be a lesson: seemingly pristine leaders will always let us down

Must our politicians disappoint? That is the question that is keeping some of us on the liberal left up at night.

April 2, 2019

The latest let down is Justin Trudeau. He of the bilingual social media, refugee welcoming press stunts and (somewhat performative) feminism. While Trudeau was never as left wing as many of us economically, his leadership style on social issues did seem like a breath of fresh air. He appeared to be willing to take action that went against the narrative of the day, making genuinely tough decisions on issues like immigration where the easy option would have been to turn people away.

Trudeau had transformed his party from within rebuilding it in his younger, cooler image. Now, he stands accused by two female former cabinet colleagues of corruption. His response? To throw these whistle-blowers out of the Liberal Party. The disappointment is profound.

So Trudeau is human after all. His once fleet feet are made of clay. Yes another hero falls from their perch.

March 4, 2016

We expect a lot from our political leaders. So much so that they are bound to disappoint. But should we expect a kind of perfection from them we could never deliver ourselves? Is there a refugee whose life has been changed by Trudeau’s policies that would exchange that for this scandal not happening? Should Labour disown the minimum wage because it was introduced by a leader that let them down so badly elsewhere?

We do need to be clear about what our red lines are. We shouldn’t forgive Blair for the bloodshed of the Iraq War nor of the chaos and loss of trust in politics that followed it just because we think he’s right over Europe. Trudeau’s imperious treatment of his whistle-blowing colleagues should not be glossed over as if it meant nothing just because we like the way he stands up to Trump.

For public service to be the unalloyed good the liberal left believe it should be, we have to learn to be more grown up about those that deliver it. Both the hero worship and the demonisation come from a desire to believe that politicians are different from the rest of us. But we don’t just get the politicians we deserve, we get the politicians we are: weak, strong, courageous, stupid, clever and human. (Continued: The Independent)

Saturday September 1, 2018

August 31, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday September 1, 2018

Pipeline ruling comes at bad time for Trudeau Liberals

April 11, 2018

For Justin Trudeau’s governing Liberals, the timing couldn’t have been worse. On Thursday, as Canadian negotiators in Washington were struggling to salvage whatever they could from the floundering NAFTA talks, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled against the government’s signature Trans Mountain Pipeline project.

Both the North American Free Trade Agreement fiasco and the pipeline decision strike at the heart of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s economic strategy. That strategy relies on free trade deals and oil exports to keep the economy humming while the government concentrates on its ambitious social policy agenda, such as bettering the lot of Indigenous Canadians.

Of the trade deals, the NAFTA pact tying together Canada, the U.S. and Mexico was the most crucial. Similarly, of the pipeline projects, none was more important to the federal government than the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain expansion. It would bring heavy oil from the Alberta tarsands to British Columbia’s Pacific coast, where it could be loaded into oceangoing tankers.

Indeed, the Trudeau government deemed the Trans Mountain Pipeline so important that it agreed to buy it for $4.5 billion from its U.S. owner and pay all the costs of expanding it. This no longer seems like such a good deal.

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the government’s National Energy Board failed to take into account the effect of increased tanker traffic on B.C. coastal communities. It also ruled that the government failed to adequately consult Indigenous communities affected by the pipeline. It said construction cannot continue until these two defects are remedied. (Continued: Toronto Star)

Wednesday October 11, 2017

October 10, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 11, 2017

As Trudeau heads to Washington, Trump again muses that ‘NAFTA will have to be terminated’

As he prepares to welcome Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump is musing again about terminating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

July 17, 2017

“I happen to think that NAFTA will have to be terminated if we’re going to make it good. Otherwise, I believe you can’t negotiate a good deal,” Trump told Forbes magazine in an interview published Tuesday.

“(The Trans-Pacific Partnership) would have been a large-scale version of NAFTA. It would have been a disaster. It’s a great honour to have — I consider that a great accomplishment, stopping that. And there are many people that agree with me. I like bilateral deals.”

Trump is scheduled to meet with Trudeau at the White House on Wednesday, the same day the fourth round of NAFTA renegotiation talks will begin in a Washington suburb.

August 24, 2017

Trump has threatened to terminate NAFTA on several numerous occasions, appearing to see such threats as a useful negotiating tactic.

The latest remark was slightly different. In the past, he has usually said he will cancel the agreement if the U.S. cannot secure a good deal. This time, he suggested that a good deal can only be secured after a cancellation.

Canadian officials have brushed off the Trump administration’s previous harsh rhetoric, saying such words are inevitable in any trade negotiation. And Trump has frequently declined to act on his musings about trade and other subjects.

Trump spoke amid growing concern that the negotiations could be headed for failure because of the Trump administration’s positions. The fourth round, scheduled to run Wednesday to Sunday, is seen as a crucial test of the level of U.S. interest in reaching an amended deal. (Source: Toronto Star)

Letter to the editor (October 18)

RE: Oct. 11 Hamilton Spectator editorial cartoon

The price for disobeying your elders

Mr. Mackay’s cartoon shows what happens when immature manic leader of the entitled millennials tries to outplay his fatherly opponent. Lack of respect for seniors wisdom of maturity and elder persuasion at any time eventually gets the results that are duly deserved.

As a member of a 212-year old immigrant family from the U.S. that was asked to leave over concerns of loyalty for the USA, I would venture that Mr. Trudeau and his team have fumbled the ball on the goal-line, mainly because of he and his father’s socialistic communist attitude toward answers for all things.

This is bankrupting Canada and its neighbour’s ability to support and defend it and is deserving of the cards that have been dealt!

Larry Pedlar, Burlington

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Thursday November 10, 2016

November 9, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 10, 2016

Trudeau pledges to work with president-elect Trump

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has congratulated Donald Trump on his stunning upset election win and is pledging to work with the president-elect, saying the two nations have a common goal in the success of their citizens.

In his first comments Tuesday’s U.S. election, upset, Trudeau looked past the months of divisive debate south of the border and stressed what the two countries have in common.

“The relationship between Canada and the United States is based on shared values and shared hopes and dreams and we will always work well together,” the prime minister said in Ottawa.

June 29, 2016

“We are strong because we listen to each other and we respect each other,” he told students gathered at a We Day event.

“I’m going to work with president-elect Trump’s administration as we move forward in a positive way for not just Canadians and Americans but the whole world,” he said.

It was a theme that was also reflected in Trudeau’s official statement on the election and his comments on social media Wednesday as Ottawa awoke to a new and surprising reality in America.

In a statement, the prime minister said that his government looks forward to working with the U.S. on issues such as trade, investment, and international peace and security.

“The relationship between our two countries serves as a model for the world. Our shared values, deep cultural ties, and strong integrated economies will continue to provide the basis for advancing our strong and prosperous partnership,” Trudeau said in his statement. (Source: Toronto Star)

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

March 28, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Canadians, Donald Trump’s candidacy is no reason to panic

Since the 1990s, the U.S. political roller coaster has often confounded Canadians. Many scoffed when the largest country in the world seemed to be paralyzed for months by the oldest scandal in the world — a married man, Bill Clinton, making time with a younger woman, Monica Lewinsky, who wasn’t his wife. Many were dismayed when the eminently prime-ministerial Al Gore lost to the easily mockable George W. Bush in 2000 — especially because Gore won more popular votes than Bush did. Still, nothing compares to the panic and horror Donald Trump’s candidacy has evoked.

Canadian confusion about the American presidential campaign circus makes sense: most Americans are equally disturbed. This campaign has been one of the most surprising and upsetting clashes in decades, and it has only just begun. Remember the too-long Canadian campaign of 78 days? U.S. Election Day, Nov. 8, is still eight months away.

The United States appears hopelessly divided, with the Republican surprise and the Democratic surprise suggesting the country is being pulled in opposite directions. Bernie Sanders may be the American Canadians most love to love: down-to-earth, earnest, substantive, unstylish, collectivist and socialist in a cuddly, non-Stalinist way. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is the type of American Canadians most love to hate: arrogant, flamboyant, egotistical, jingoistic and demagogic, playing personality politics.

A president Donald Trump meeting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would be even more awkward than Ronald Reagan meeting Pierre Trudeau. When they met in 1981, Reagan wore a suitably statesmanlike dark suit with a conservative striped tie, while Trudeau, looking more Floridian than Washingtonian, wore an open-necked shirt with a tan sports jacket, while sporting a dandyish red rose. (Continued: Montreal Gazette)