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Thursday May 5, 2016

May 4, 2016 by Graeme MacKay
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Thursday May 5, 2016 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Elizabeth May on Wednesday for suggesting that the Fort McMurray fires should be linked to global warming. Responding to comments made earlier, Trudeau said May's suggestion that the disaster was "very related to the global climate crisis" was neither helpful, nor accurate. But he agreed with part of May's message. "ItÕs well known that one of the consequences of climate change will be a greater prevalence of extreme weather events around the planet," Trudeau told reporters at a news conference. "However, any time we try to make a political argument on one particular disaster, I think itÕs a bit of shortcut that can sometimes not have the desired outcome. There have always been fires. There have always been floods. ÊPointing at any one incident and saying: ÔThis is because of that,Õ is neither helpful, nor entirely accurate. We need to separate a pattern over time from any one event. What we are focused on right now on is giving the people of Fort McMurray and the rest of Alberta the kind of support that they need right now and in the months and indeed the years to come.Ó May had told reporters that the devastating destruction caused by the wildfires in Fort McMurray was a sign of worse things to come if the planet doesnÕt scale back its consumption of fossil fuels. Prompted by questions from reporters at a separate news conference, May said that scientists cannot link specific events to climate change. But she noted that the disaster was following a pattern. ÒThe fact that the forest fire season has arrived so early in northern Alberta is very likely a climate event - very likely related to extreme high temperatures and very low humidity, very low precipitation and it is, as we saw in the quote from one of the firefighters - itÕs a firestorm,Ó she said. ÒIt jumped a highway, it jumped a river. ItÕs a devastating tragedy right now and I t

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 5, 2016

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Elizabeth May on Wednesday for suggesting that the Fort McMurray fires should be linked to global warming.

Responding to comments made earlier, Trudeau said May’s suggestion that the disaster was “very related to the global climate crisis” was neither helpful, nor accurate. But he agreed with part of May’s message.

“It’s well known that one of the consequences of climate change will be a greater prevalence of extreme weather events around the planet,” Trudeau told reporters at a news conference.

“However, any time we try to make a political argument on one particular disaster, I think it’s a bit of shortcut that can sometimes not have the desired outcome. There have always been fires. There have always been floods.

Pointing at any one incident and saying: ‘This is because of that,’ is neither helpful, nor entirely accurate. We need to separate a pattern over time from any one event. What we are focused on right now on is giving the people of Fort McMurray and the rest of Alberta the kind of support that they need right now and in the months and indeed the years to come.”

May had told reporters that the devastating destruction caused by the wildfires in Fort McMurray was a sign of worse things to come if the planet doesn’t scale back its consumption of fossil fuels.

Prompted by questions from reporters at a separate news conference, May said that scientists cannot link specific events to climate change. But she noted that the disaster was following a pattern.

“The fact that the forest fire season has arrived so early in northern Alberta is very likely a climate event – very likely related to extreme high temperatures and very low humidity, very low precipitation and it is, as we saw in the quote from one of the firefighters – it’s a firestorm,” she said. “It jumped a highway, it jumped a river. It’s a devastating tragedy right now and I think our focus is always on the right now: to think for the firefighters, for first responders, for people who are losing their homes. It’s a disaster. But it’s a disaster that is very related to the global climate crisis.”

May’s comments drew a vicious backlash after they were reported on social media websites from critics who accused her of exploiting the tragedy to advance a political agenda. (Source: National Observer)


Letter to the Editor, May 11, 2016 – Environmentalists are offended

RE: Fort McMurray cartoon (May 6)

The cartoon showing environmentalists clapping at the terrible tragedy in Fort McMurray is outrageous libel. Forestry experts say the majority of wild fires are caused by humans. If the environment was taken seriously instead of those concerned being called tree huggers by irresponsible smart alecks, chances are this tragedy would never have happened. To claim those who care about this planet are happy that their fellow citizens have suffered horribly is disgusting. – Bill Prestwich, Dundas

Reaction:

Prestwich is correct in one sense, the Fort McMurray victims could have avoided the fires but not by listening to the advocates of anthropogenic climate change. Instead, the town planners should never have built homes so close to the forests or should have cleared a wide swath of trees to prevent naturally occurring fires from jumping. I accept that Prestwich is not laughing at the victims of the fire but when he claims that the fires might have been avoided had people listened to “concerned” environmentalists presumably like him, I sense a very conceited man who feels vindicated by the fires. That’s almost as bad as pointing a finger and laughing. – Steve


Letter to the Editor, May 9, 2016 – Cartoon unfair to environmentalists

RE: Fort McMurray fire disaster cartoon (May 5)

Your editorial cartoon depicting environmental advocates making fun of Fort McMurray was unfair. We do not laugh at the people who are victims of the fire. But we do recognize that their activities are part of the reason our planet is in such trouble due to climate change. It is unfortunate these people were victims of the changing environment, but it is a situation they helped create. – C. Farmer, Hamilton

Reaction:

C. Farmer, those people are no more to blame for the fire than you are. That’s the problem with fanatics. – Pat


From spec.com…

1

Posted in: Canada Tagged: Alberta, Canada, climate change, environment, Feedback, Fort McMurray, Hephaestus, oil, Oil sands, protesters, tar sands

Wednesday January 21, 2015

January 20, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Wednesday January 21, 2015Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 21, 2015

Stephen Harper’s economic luck runs out

Five years ago, as the world economy was still trembling in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Canada hosted a meeting of the G-7 finance ministers and top central bankers.

Wednesday January 14, 2015The man in charge was Canada’s late finance minister, Jim Flaherty, who decided to hold the meeting in Iqaluit in early February. A simple glance at weather history would tell you that not only was it likely to be extremely cold in Iqaluit in the depths of winter but when storms brewed in the Arctic, Iqaluit’s airport could be shut for days. Not a welcome prospect when your guest list included U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet.

Flaherty went ahead, convinced a meeting in Iqaluit would be a great way to highlight Canada’s Northern presence. The weather turned out to be sunny and relatively mild. The world’s top financial leaders were rewarded with Canada Goose parkas and got a chance to go dog-sledding. The meeting was a huge success. Lady luck had shone down on the government.

Wednesday December 3, 2014Luck had served Flaherty and the Harper government well from the moment they took power in 2006, particularly when it came to the economy. The Liberals had bequeathed the Tories a sound fiscal situation and a string of surpluses, so much so that in its early years, the Harperites could cut taxes and still boost spending on their favourite causes like the military, with seemingly no consequences. They also inherited a well-regulated banking system and an earlier ban on bank mergers that meant no Canadian bank was big enough to swagger on the world stage and do the kind of foolish things their U.S. and UK counterparts ended up doing. These factors, the consequence of Tory fortune rather than policy decisions, made a real difference when the financial crisis hit.

But the Tories’ real stroke of luck was that resource prices, particularly oil but also coal, iron ore and other commodities, remained strong even after the financial crisis, reflecting China’s continued growth. As manufacturing in central Canada collapsed, the West surged, filling federal coffers and providing jobs to unemployed workers from Central and Eastern Canada.

What’s more, real-estate prices not only didn’t dip, they kept roaring ahead. Again, luck was the major factor at play. Like other bubbles, Canada’s real-estate boom was powered by its own internal logic, as well as low interest rates. It didn’t really make any sense but the politicians weren’t about to complain. When it came time to vote, Canadians peered south of the border and saw devastation when it came to employment and house prices. Canada was doing pretty well so they held their noses and voted for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in 2008 and 2011.

RB-HelmetHarper-promoNow, almost a decade on, Flaherty is gone and the Harper government’s remarkable stretch of luck is at an end. The collapse in the price of oil isn’t the fault of Harper or his hapless finance minister, Joe Oliver, but neither was the run-up in the price to their credit either. There’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of fortuitous circumstances. The problem occurs when you take that luck for granted, promising tax cuts and a return to surplus when prudence would have told you to hold off. (continued: Toronto Star)


 

Social Media
Published on Yahoo News Canada.

 

Eggs in one basket, Prime Minister? #cdnpoli http://t.co/V8cXXpht8j pic.twitter.com/FzqmvmFgun

— Graeme MacKay (@mackaycartoons) January 20, 2015

 

This cartoon is perfect.

Posted by Meanwhile in Canada on Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Posted in: Business, Canada Tagged: Alberta, Canada, diversification, Economy, energy, oil, revenue, Stephen Harper, tar sands

Tuesday September 23, 2014

September 23, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Tuesday September 23, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 23, 2014

Stephen Harper to skip UN Climate Summit, attend dinner instead

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is hosting a major climate summit in New York on September 23, “to mobilize political will” towards reducing global emissions.

U.S. President Barack Obama will be attending, as will U.K. Prime Minster David Cameron.

In fact, 125 heads of state will be there.

Friday July 18, 2014Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, however, will not.

In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s office on Wednesday afternoon, spokesperson Jason MacDonald said that Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq will attend the summit in his stead.

“The Prime Minister will take part in the related dinner with the Secretary-General to discuss climate issues,” noted the statement.

Incidentally, Harper will be in New York that week to attend the Every Woman, Every Child event hosted by the Secretary-General on September 25th and to address the UN General Assembly.

The climate summit is not an official negotiating summit but comes one year ahead of a 2015 meeting in Paris where world leaders are aiming to a achieve a new legally binding and universal agreement on climate change — the first one since Kyoto.

Ban Ki-Moon hopes the summit on September 23 will be a catalyst towards that deal.

“Time is running out. The more we delay, the more we will pay,” he wrote in an op-ed for the Huffington Post last week.

“Climate change is accelerating and human activities are the principal cause, as documented in a series of authoritative scientific reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The effects are already widespread, costly and consequential — to agriculture, water resources, human health, and ecosystems on land and in the oceans. Climate change poses sweeping risks for economic stability and the security of nations.” (Source: Yahoo News Canada)

Posted in: Canada, International Tagged: Canada, climate change, Editorial Cartoon, environment, Oil sands, Stephen Harper, tar sands, UN, United Nations

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

January 14, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Tuesday, January 14, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Neil Young blasts Harper government for allowing development of Alberta oilsands

Neil Young is accusing the Canadian government of “trading integrity for money” when it comes to Alberta’s oilsands.

Speaking at a news conference Sunday, the rock legend suggested the Canadian government is “killing” First Nations people by pushing forward with rapid development of the oilsands.

“The blood of these people will be on modern Canada’s hands,” he said.

Young was speaking in Toronto ahead of the first of four benefit concerts aimed at raising money and awareness for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation’s legal fight against Shell Canada’s Jackpine oilsands mine expansion plan.

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator -The federal government approved the project last month despite a review panel’s conclusion that the project would result in severe and irreversible environmental damage.

Shell has said it will double its bitumen production in the region to 300,000 barrels a day and the project will create 750 jobs.

Young, who said he recently visited one of the oilsands sites, was joined at his press conference by a panel of anti-oilsands activists. The panel was moderated by environmentalist David Suzuki.

The “Honour the Treaties” concert will take place Toronto’s Massey Hall Sunday night, and moves to Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary later this week.

“I want my grandchildren to grow up and look up and see a blue sky,” Young said, noting he instead only sees a government “out of control.”

“Money is number one, integrity isn’t even on the map,” he said.

Jason MacDonald, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, countered that “projects are approved only when they are deemed safe for Canadians and (the) environment.” He added that the resource sector creates “economic opportunities” and “high-wage jobs” for thousands of Canadians. (Source: CTV News)

Posted in: Canada Tagged: Alberta, bitumen, Canada, Editorial Cartoon, native land claims, Neil; Young, oil, Oil sands, tar sands, wealth

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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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