mackaycartoons

Graeme MacKay's Editorial Cartoon Archive

  • Archives
  • DOWNLOADS
  • Expanded Archives
  • Kings & Queens
  • MacKaycartoons Inc.
  • Prime Ministers
  • Special Features
  • The Boutique
  • Who?
  • Young Doug Ford
  • Presidents

Theodore Roosevelt

Wednesday September 3, 2014

September 3, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Wednesday September 3, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 3, 2014

Despite tough talk, Canadian Forces are badly under-funded

Is Russian president Vladimir Putin a bad, bad man? We think probably he is. Do the butchers of the Islamic State, now running amok in Iraq and Syria, pose a clear and present danger to Western civilization? It seems so.

Friday August 8, 2014Therefore it’s good, we can agree, that this country’s prime minister and foreign minister, Stephen Harper and John Baird, can get their Winston Churchill on now and then. Harper and Baird’s denunciations of Putin’s reckless invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign country that had not fired so much as a rubber band towards Russia, have been refreshingly blunt.

Oh – except for our military, which, according to reporting by the Canadian Press’s Murray Brewster, is about to have another $2.7-billion lopped off its annual budget. Awkward. Postmedia’s Matthew Fisher reports that Ottawa is under pressure from North Atlantic Treaty Organization members to spend more, not less, as Harper heads to Wales for a NATO summit. Might someone at this confab publicly suggest that, when it comes to smiting evil, Canada is mostly bluster?

Tuesday June 18, 2013This is in no way intended as a slight against the Canadian Forces, whose members have displayed such skill, courage and simple good humour, in so many foreign engagements. No one who travels with the CF, or watches them work, can fail to appreciate their worth. The same very high standards, I observed recently, are exemplified by the Canadian Coast Guard. Thank goodness for them.

But the simple truth is that Canada’s military is badly under-resourced, given the range of emerging global threats, and the United States’ continuing withdrawal from its long-standing role as global policeman. Setting aside a sharp increase in defence spending between 2002 and 2010, the pattern has been for Ottawa to use the CF as a kind of piggy bank. When money is tight, it can safely be lopped out of the defence budget, because a) soldiers, sailors and airmen and women can’t complain too bitterly and b) the defence of North America is essentially an American responsibility. Right?

The Jean Chretien-Paul Martin Liberals famously balanced the federal budget on the backs of the CF during its so-called “decade of darkness,” in the 1990s. Those cuts were so severe that on some bases, according to soldiers I have spoken to, every second light bulb was unscrewed to save power. The Airborne Regiment was disbanded in the wake of the Somalia affair. Major procurements were cancelled, delayed or botched. In 2005, ringing in the dawn of a new era, Harper promised to undo all that. And until roughly 2010, with Canada at war in Afghanistan, his government delivered. (Source: Canada.com)

FOR LEGAL PURPOSES

The illustration of Theodore Roosevelt is exclusively authorized for sale on the REDBUBBLE marketplace through MacKaycartoons. Any unauthorized use or distribution on other platforms constitutes a violation of Graeme MacKay’s intellectual property rights. Individuals who unlawfully post and sell this illustration for personal gain should be aware that the original image, created by Graeme MacKay, was published in the Hamilton Spectator on September 3, 2014. This documentation has proven effective in securing compensation from infringers and will continue to be instrumental in protecting these rights in the future.Those who infringe on this design are hereby warned to remove it from their platform accounts immediately. Failure to comply may result in further legal action.

OTHER MEDIA

Posted to Yahoo News Canada.


FEEDBACK

Editorial cartoon blatant sexism (Sept 7)

Editorial cartoon published Sept. 3

 I totally agree with the sentiment of the cartoon, which showed Stephen Harper as a weak crybaby next to a strong leader.

But I strongly object to the choice of a young female as a representative of a diminutive, weak, indecisive, crybaby, etc. individual juxtaposed beside a strong, virile, decisive male.

I’m surprised that an editor allowed this blatant sexism to be published.

 Cecile Aurini, Hamilton

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: Canada, cuts, Defence, diplomacy, Feedback, military, spending, Stephen Harper, Theodore Roosevelt

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.

  • The Hamilton Spectator
  • The Toronto Star
  • The Globe & Mail
  • The National Post
  • Graeme on T̶w̶i̶t̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶(̶X̶)̶
  • Graeme on F̶a̶c̶e̶b̶o̶o̶k̶
  • Graeme on T̶h̶r̶e̶a̶d̶s̶
  • Graeme on Instagram
  • Graeme on Substack
  • Graeme on Bluesky
  • Graeme on Pinterest
  • Graeme on YouTube
New and updated for 2025
  • HOME
  • MacKaycartoons Inc.
  • The Boutique
  • The Hamilton Spectator
  • The Association of Canadian Cartoonists
  • The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists
  • You Might be From Hamilton if…
  • Young Doug Ford
  • MacKay’s Most Viral Cartoon
  • Intellectual Property Thief Donkeys
  • Wes Tyrell
  • Martin Rowson
  • Guy Bado’s Blog
  • National Newswatch
...Check it out and please subscribe!

Your one-stop-MacKay-shop…

T-shirts, hoodies, clocks, duvet covers, mugs, stickers, notebooks, smart phone cases and scarfs

2023 Coronation Design

Brand New Designs!

Follow Graeme's board My Own Cartoon Favourites on Pinterest.

MacKay’s Virtual Gallery

Archives

Copyright © 2016 mackaycartoons.net

Powered by Wordpess and Alpha.

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial
 

Loading Comments...