mackaycartoons

Graeme MacKay's Editorial Cartoon Archive

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

U.N. United Nations

Friday June 19, 2020

June 19, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

June 19, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday June 19, 2020

Why Canada fails time and again on the world stage

September 21, 2016

Our politicians are possibly the weakest link in the chain. They are never elected on the merits of their foreign policy ideas, and as a result never prioritize when in office. When they do think about it, they often confuse invitations to Davos and vacations in Tuscany as evidence they are worldly. They prioritize slogans (“Canada is back!”) and costumed photo-ops over the grueling legwork and devil’s bargains that real diplomatic strategy requires.

Our political leaders can be dilettantes because the Canadian public simply doesn’t care. Foreign policy is never on the top 10 list of voter priorities. They demand almost nothing from Ottawa other than access to Disney World. And they grossly overvalue soft power, mistaking Canada’s global popularity with power and influence.

And, of course, the public has the luxury of not caring because Canada is happily isolated, protected by oceans on three points of the compass, and by a mostly reliable behemoth on the fourth.

All of this was true under the previous government, and the government before them, going back decades. It has been pointed out endlessly. Hands have even been wrung. But nothing changes. Because ultimately none of us genuinely cares enough to do anything about it.

Losing the Security Council seat is not a catastrophe. It will be greeted with a lot of shrugs, and go largely unnoticed by the public. The Conservatives will howl in outrage, but they howl about even the tiniest things, so it is impossible to tell if they actually care. Tomorrow, we will move on, because the loss just doesn’t hurt.

March 4, 2020

At this point it is obvious that in order for any of this to change, we are going to need to be hurt. Canada is going to have to burn its fingers on the stove, burn them badly, before we finally take foreign affairs seriously.

What will that look like? I don’t know. Look around the world and at the various international nightmares being visited upon dozens of nations. Refugees, war, disasters, ethnic conflicts—it could be any or all of these at once. Canada’s turn will inevitably come. And when our real geopolitical crisis finally arrives, it will be ugly and traumatic as we collectively realize how many decades were wasted, and how little diplomatic muscle we have to claw our way back the day our luck runs out.

We were not elected to the United Nations Security Council today. There were two seats open and we were running against Ireland and Norway to fill them.

Before I continue, I need to say a few things to my former colleagues in the Canadian Foreign Service who might be reading this. You are going to roll your eyes at what I have to say. You’ll point out it’s all been said before (which is true). You will claim I don’t have the view from the field (also true). You will add that campaigns like this are infinitely harder than I understand (probably right). And you will accuse me of not appreciating the hard work being done by Canadian diplomats at home and abroad (here you are wrong).

Our loss in New York is not the fault of the Canadian diplomats who have been working for the last five years trying to secure the votes we needed today. The current team is one of the best, and they played the hand they were dealt as well as they could. And it was a lousy hand.

February 8, 2020

Norway and Ireland were always going to get the European bloc of votes. And while we are once again whoring ourselves out to Saudi Arabia with arms sales, we have been unpredictable enough to make them angry. That, combined with a typically pro-Israel foreign policy meant our Middle Eastern support was likely weak. In Africa, our aid spending has not kept pace with Norway or anyone else, and while our mining companies are mostly responsible players, there are enough bad apples to spoil the barrel. Add an angry China to the mix, which has one vote but lots of money to persuade other countries to vote against us, and the electoral math simply did not add up.

This loss is just more proof (throw it on the pile over there), that Canada’s foreign policy establishment is incredibly weak. This country does many things well. But international relations is just not one of them.

To start, we have a tiny academic community that studies foreign policy and educates future diplomats, limited to just a handful of specialized programs. And academia is almost entirely isolated from the practitioners at Global Affairs Canada. Unlike most other western countries, it is very rare for diplomats to move back and forth into universities (or into the private sector either). As a result, our foreign policy rarely benefits from new blood and new ideas.

Our politicians are possibly the weakest link in the chain. They are never elected on the merits of their foreign policy ideas, and as a result never prioritize when in office. When they do think about it, they often confuse invitations to Davos and vacations in Tuscany as evidence they are worldly. They prioritize slogans (“Canada is back!”) and costumed photo-ops over the grueling legwork and devil’s bargains that real diplomatic strategy requires.

Our political leaders can be dilettantes because the Canadian public simply doesn’t care. Foreign policy is never on the top 10 list of voter priorities. They demand almost nothing from Ottawa other than access to Disney World. And they grossly overvalue soft power, mistaking Canada’s global popularity with power and influence.

And, of course, the public has the luxury of not caring because Canada is happily isolated, protected by oceans on three points of the compass, and by a mostly reliable behemoth on the fourth.

October 13, 2010

All of this was true under the previous government, and the government before them, going back decades. It has been pointed out endlessly. Hands have even been wrung. But nothing changes. Because ultimately none of us genuinely cares enough to do anything about it.

Losing the Security Council seat is not a catastrophe. It will be greeted with a lot of shrugs, and go largely unnoticed by the public. The Conservatives will howl in outrage, but they howl about even the tiniest things, so it is impossible to tell if they actually care. Tomorrow, we will move on, because the loss just doesn’t hurt.

At this point it is obvious that in order for any of this to change, we are going to need to be hurt. Canada is going to have to burn its fingers on the stove, burn them badly, before we finally take foreign affairs seriously.

What will that look like? I don’t know. Look around the world and at the various international nightmares being visited upon dozens of nations. Refugees, war, disasters, ethnic conflicts—it could be any or all of these at once. Canada’s turn will inevitably come. And when our real geopolitical crisis finally arrives, it will be ugly and traumatic as we collectively realize how many decades were wasted, and how little diplomatic muscle we have to claw our way back the day our luck runs out. (MacLean’s) 

 

Posted in: Canada, International Tagged: 2020-22, beaver, Canada, diplomacy, International, issues, trophy, U.N. Security Council, U.N. United Nations, world stage

Thursday April 12, 2012

April 12, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday April 12, 2012

Mac should set the standard on openness

Universities play an important role in the fabric of democratic societies.

They are guardians of academic freedom, and carry the responsibility of instilling into their students important ideas and enduring values of our society.

A couple of those ideas are the openness and accountability of public institutions in a democracy and the right of the public to know how its money is being spent.

In that context, McMaster University’s determined struggle to keep secret the details of the financial affairs of former president Peter George is particularly disappointing. The approach to accountability, transparency and disclosure displayed over a course of years leaves the university with a black eye of its own making.

This isn’t just about McMaster. In an era of increasing public demand for open data, the lack of openness displayed is far too common among leading public institutions spending public money and acting on our behalf. We have seen it with the province’s Ornge scandal, with the city’s debate about open police budgets, with executive salaries at Ontario Hydro, and more.

As detailed in Wednesday’s Spectator, this newspaper engaged in a six-year struggle with the university over the release of documents. Every step of the way, the university has fought the release, sought to prevent the former president’s contract and his expenses from being disclosed.

Universities were made subject to freedom of information laws in June of 2006. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Posted in: Hamilton Tagged: academic, alligators, Bashir Assad, castle, ceasefire, Critical, deadline, expenses, freedom, Hamilton, International, King, Kofi Annan, McMaster, moat, Peter George, President, rebels, secrecy, Syria, thinkers, thinking, transparency, U.N. United Nations, University

Tuesday April 10, 2012

April 10, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday April 10, 2012

Syria clashes blight ceasefire hopes

Fresh clashes have broken out in Syria despite the passing of a UN-backed deadline for a complete withdrawal of government troops and weapons.

Activists reported shelling in Homs and areas of northern Aleppo province, and unrest in the capital, Damascus.

Rights groups said 11 people had been killed on Tuesday.

Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, in Russia for talks, said Damascus had taken steps to adhere to the plan by withdrawing some troops.

He blamed “armed gangs” for the continuing violence.

Under the peace plan – negotiated by the UN and Arab League’s special envoy on the Syrian crisis, Kofi Annan – Syrian troops were to have completed their withdrawal from population centres and stopped the use of heavy weaponry by Tuesday, ahead of a full ceasefire coming into place on Thursday.

Damascus had agreed to the deadline, but on Sunday demanded written guarantees first that its opponents would give up arms, along with a promise from foreign states not to fund them.

Speaking after talks with his Russian counterpart, Mr Muallem said army units had been withdrawn from some areas, a number of detainees released and agreement reached on getting humanitarian aid to those in need. (Source: BBC News) 

 

Posted in: International Tagged: Bashir Assad, ceasefire, deadline, International, Kofi Annan, rebels, Syria, U.N. United Nations

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...