women

Thursday July 25, 2024

Canada's women's soccer team has marred the start of Paris 2024 with a scandal involving espionage through a drone, casting a shadow over their Olympic reputation and joining the ranks of infamous state-sponsored cheating scandals.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday July 25, 2024

Link to the animated version of this editorial cartoon.

Canada’s Soccer Scandal: A Humiliating Start to Paris 2024

December 3, 2022

In a misstep that has overshadowed their gold-medal glory, the Canadian women’s soccer team has managed to kick off the Paris 2024 Olympics with a scandal that’s less “sportsmanship” and more “spy game.” Yes, Canada’s latest Olympic entry is not a record-breaking performance but a full-blown scandal involving espionage with a drone.

Let’s put this into perspective. When we talk about state-sponsored doping, countries like Russia, China, and North Korea come to mind. Russia’s doping scandal, exposed in 2015, involved a sprawling state-supported program so elaborate it could have been scripted by a spy novelist. This wasn’t just about athletes taking banned substances; it was a coordinated effort involving falsified tests and a state-run cover-up. The fallout? Russian athletes were banned from competing under their flag, and the country faced severe sanctions from international sports organizations.

News: Canadian Women’s Soccer Team Caught Spying on Opponent With Drone Ahead of Olympics

August 1, 2012

China, too, has had its fair share of doping controversies. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Chinese government’s doping programs were so widespread that they seemed to be operating with the sole purpose of winning medals at any cost. This systematic abuse led to stripped medals and a long-term black mark on their sports programs, with many athletes suffering lasting health consequences.

North Korea, while less documented, has not escaped suspicion. Allegations of state-sponsored doping have hovered over the country, with rumours suggesting a pattern of using performance-enhancing drugs to elevate its athletes on the world stage. Despite the murkiness of the evidence, the association with such practices damages their reputation.

Fast forward to Canada’s present-day debacle: our women’s soccer team, in a bid for an edge over New Zealand, turned to spying—using a drone to capture training sessions. French authorities caught Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited analyst, and assistant coach Jasmine Mander in the act. They were promptly sent home, and head coach Bev Priestman offered to step down from the opening match, a gesture accepted in an attempt to salvage some semblance of integrity. Yet, the damage was done.

Opinion: Canada’s soccer spying scandal is a humiliating way to kick off Paris 2024

February 27, 2018

The Canadian Olympic Committee’s decision to mandate ethics training for staff following these Games underscores a glaring issue: if we need to be reminded that cheating is wrong, we have a bigger problem. This scandal, involving the unauthorized drone and espionage, not only casts a long shadow over the team’s achievements but also puts Canada in an uncomfortable spotlight, alongside those infamous states known for their ethical breaches.

So, ask yourself, is this the legacy Canada wants to build at Paris 2024? Are we aiming to join the ranks of Russia, China, and North Korea in the annals of disgrace? This isn’t just a minor lapse; it’s a significant blemish on a nation that once prided itself on fairness and sportsmanship.

March 3, 2010

As the Olympic Games unfold, will Canada be remembered for its athletic prowess or for this sordid episode? The hope is that this scandal will be seen as an isolated incident in an otherwise illustrious sporting tradition. However, if this is the new face of Canadian sportsmanship, perhaps our Olympic motto needs a rethink—“Own the Podium by Any Means Necessary” might be closer to the truth than we’d like to admit. (AI)

Reader Comments

Meta Al – What people are saying

The comments react to a controversy involving Team Canada and spying at the Olympics, with many expressing embarrassment, shame, and disappointment. One comment notes that while the behaviour was not ethical, it is a common practice in sports. (Click on the image below to read reactions)


 

 

Saturday December 3, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday December 3, 2022

How Canada can build on World Cup run ahead of 2026 cycle

June 6, 2015

There were still plenty of valuable lessons for Canada despite the losses, though, and Les Rouges can apply those “learnings” – as coach John Herdman refers to them – when the country co-hosts the 2026 World Cup.

The Canadian men’s national team made history, just not enough of it.

As breathtaking as the team’s performances were in various stages, Canada still suffered defeat in all three games. It’s difficult to draw sweeping conclusions based on small sample sizes in tournament settings, let alone in a nation’s first men’s World Cup in 36 years.

Tuesday October 18, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 18, 2022

Drones Embody an Iran-Russia Alliance Built on Hostility to the U.S.

September 22, 2022

The Iranian-made drones that Russia sent on Monday to divebomb Ukraine’s capital delivered the most emphatic proof yet that Tehran has become a rare, increasingly close ally to the Kremlin, offering both weapons and international support that Russia sorely lacks.

There is no deep love between Russia, newly a pariah for attacking another country, and Iran, for decades one of the most strategically isolated nations in the world. But the two authoritarian governments, both chafing under Western sanctions, share a view of the United States as their great enemy and a threat to their grip on power.

“This is a partnership of convenience between two embattled dictatorships,” said Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Both countries are deep in crisis, struggling economically and politically. Iran is attempting to quell street protests that pose the most serious challenge in years to the government, while Russia is trying to manage rising dissension over a faltering war effort and an unpopular draft.

The emergence of a Moscow-Tehran alliance has multiple international implications, potentially dimming prospects for a new agreement to rein in Iran’s nuclear program and raising the pressure on Israel, Iran’s sworn enemy, to take Ukraine’s side in the war.

The Ayatollah, by Graeme MacKay, c1980

The relationship between Russia and Iran has been developing for years. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia deployed his air force to Syria starting in 2015 to prevent the collapse of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime ally of Tehran. Russia and Iran worked in lock step militarily, with Russian warplanes providing cover for Iranian militiamen and Iranian proxy forces fighting on the ground.

Syria was one example of the effort by both to find ways to sap American strength and prestige wherever they could in the world, and Ukraine provides a similar opportunity on an even larger, more visible scale.

After its 1979 revolution, Iran formulated foreign policy around the slogan “Neither East nor West,” equally wary of the Soviet Union and the United States. Now, the Islamic Republic is choosing sides, analysts said, and images of Iran’s exploding drones accurately hitting their targets advertise it as a regional power to be taken seriously.

In Tehran, the spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry denied on Monday that his country was selling weapons to Russia, even as social media outlets linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which developed the lumbering yet lethal drones, boasted about them.

“There is no doubt that the drones used by Russia’s military are Iranian,” said a post on Sepah Cyberi, a Telegram channel affiliated with the Guards, while the country’s cyberarmy chief, Ali Akbar Raefipour, gloated on Twitter that Iran’s Shahed drone was now “the most talked about weapon in the world.”

Iran does not want to highlight the weapons sales because Ukraine is generally more popular than Russia among ordinary Iranians, and the Islamic Republic casts itself as a defender of underdogs in world affairs, said Mahmoud Shoori, deputy director of the Institute of Iran and Eurasia Studies in Tehran and an expert on Iran-Russia relations.

But at the same time, “Iran also wants to show the world that it has a military superpower as an ally and it has the capacity to sell weapons to such a power,” he said in a telephone interview. “It shows the West’s policies of maximum pressure to isolate Iran have not worked.” (The New York Times) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

Wednesday September 7, 2022

September 7, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 7, 2022

*An animated making-of clip may be found here may be found here. 

Why Some People Think Theresa May’s Easy Question For Liz Truss Was Not A Win After All

January 18, 2019

Theresa May riled up the Tory benches during PMQs when she asked Liz Truss why all female prime ministers have come from the Conservative Party.

It was Truss’ first PMQs as the prime minister, but May – who was prime minister herself between 2016 and 2019 – already seems to have taken to Truss more than she ever took to Boris Johnson.

Speaking on Wednesday, May said: “May I congratulate my right-honourable friend and may I congratulate her in her position as the third female prime minister of the United Kingdom.

“Can I ask my right honourable friend, why does she think it is that all three female prime ministers have been Conservative?”

April 9, 2013

A wave of jeering then broke out from the Tory benches, while the camera flashed to May sitting back down, looking particularly pleased with herself.

It’s worth noting that when May confirming she would be stepping down in 2019, she closed her speech by pointing out that she was “the second female prime minister – but certainly not the last”.

Back in PMQs, Truss smiled, and replied: “I thank my right honourable friend for her fantastic question, and I look forward to calling on her advice from her time in office as I start my work as prime minister.

“It is quite extraordinary isn’t it, that there doesn’t seem to be the ability in the Labour Party to find a female leader, or indeed a leader who doesn’t come from north London.

“I don’t know what it is, I don’t know what the issue is!”

The issue has been a sore spot for Labour for several years, particularly after several women stood for the leadership role back in 2020, and none of them were elected.

July 13, 2022

Truss has also appointed the most diverse cabinet in history, with not a single white man occupying any of the three great offices of state of home secretary, foreign secretary or chancellor of the Exchequer.

These roles have gone to Suella Braverman, James Cleverly, and Kwasi Kwarteng, who all cracked up at May’s observation about Labour’s leadership.

But, the easy question – which took aim at the Labour Party who were still leading in the polls in August – dodges the actual crises facing the UK right now.

Truss’ in-tray is most likely overflowing, due to the energy crisis, the climbing cost of living, inflation, the war in Ukraine and the collapsing NHS.

Critics of the Conservatives were also quick to point out that it was, of course, easier for the Tories to appoint a female leader, as they have had four since 2016.

July 24, 2019

Still, May’s soft approach shows already that she shares more cordial relations with Truss compared to Johnson, even though she was often dubbed Johnson’s continuity candidate in the Tory leadership race.

May and Johnson clashed repeatedly throughout both of their premierships, particularly over Brexit and partygate.

In January, May hit out at the then-prime minister for breaching Covid rules, telling the Commons: “Nobody is above the law.

“This is important for ensuring the necessary degree of trust between the public and Government.

“Like so many, I was angry to hear stories of those in Number 10, who are responsible for setting the coronavirus rules, not properly following the rules.” (Huffington Post)  

Tuesday August 30, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday August 30, 2022

Neanderthals and Strong Women

May 26, 2021

From a makeshift studio and with a news anchor’s measured tones, one of Canada’s most familiar faces shocked viewers, created a PR disaster at a national broadcaster and set off intense conversations about how employers treat women as they age.

She did it with a polite, unexpected farewell.

“I guess this is my sign-off from CTV,” the news anchor, Lisa LaFlamme said in a video that announced the abrupt end of her 35-year career at the network.

The dismissal of Ms. LaFlamme, who was most likely one of the newsroom’s highest-paid employees, followed a torrent of layoffs and budget cuts at CTV’s network and local news operations over the past seven years, which were made despite government assistance to news organizations. As in the United States, the internet and years of collapsing advertising revenue have left many Canadian news organizations in dire financial straits. The executive put on leave, Michael Melling, had overseen recent layoffs and cuts at CTV.