YDF

Thursday February 23, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 23, 2023

Doug Ford and the $150 stag and doe

Young Doug Ford: The Series

You never have to worry much about subtlety when it comes to Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

Nuance isn’t in the family genes. When Ford’s brother Rob was Toronto’s mayor, their shared plan for the city’s portlands — a huge waterfront area just east of downtown that’s just yearning for smart development — included a giant shopping mall and the world’s biggest Ferris wheel, for which they were much mocked by the higher orders of city sophisticates.

July 28, 2018

It didn’t faze Ford, who’s never wasted much time worrying about sophisticates in any case. His lack of artifice was evident when he became premier and made one of his first acts a surprise move to whack Toronto’s city council down to size, chopping it by almost half and thus — by his reckoning — freeing taxpayers of a lot of expensive timewasters. When it came to name a new head to the provincial police force, Ford plumped for a family pal, who later withdrew over the ensuing uproar. When he sought to prevent a confrontation with teachers over a new contract he threatened to invoke the notwithstanding clause, thereby provoking an even bigger confrontation than he’d been trying to avoid.

May 29, 2020

It’s a trait that doesn’t always work to his disfavour. The obvious sincerity of his performance during the COVID pandemic did much to counter the poor impression he’d made and helped him to easily win a second mandate. Since then he’s reverted to form, publicly urging John Tory to hang on as mayor after he’d admitted to an extramarital affair, loudly warning the city would be “toast” if voters replaced Tory with “a lefty.”

That’s Ford being Ford. Torontonians may have come to recognize that fact; it remains to be seen how far they’re willing to go in accepting it.

At the moment the premier is caught in a very Ford-like situation he utterly fails to understand. Prior to the wedding of one of his four daughters last summer a stag and doe party was organized to help pay the bills, with tickets priced at $150. Questions arose when it became known that a number of developers had attended, given that a few months later the province announced it was freeing up several chunks of land for development in a protected greenbelt around the city, some of which had been purchased by builders after Ford came to power in 2018. At least one of those developers, according to the Toronto Star, was at the wedding fundraiser.

The premier sees questions about the issue entirely as an unwarranted attack on his family.

February 16, 2023

“It’s absolutely ridiculous. About a $150 stag? You’ve got to be kidding me,” he groused during one heated round of reporter questioning.

“This is the first time in Canadian history you go after any premier’s family, which there used to be an unwritten rule (that) you don’t do that, go after any mayor’s family, any prime minister, but, I guess, when it comes to us there’s different rules.”

It’s highly doubtful this is really the first time journalistic questioning has strayed into a politician’s family life, but you can see Ford’s point. Why are people picking on his daughter over a matter she has nothing to do with?

“No one can influence the Fords,” he’s insisted repeatedly, noting the family’s practise of opening their doors to large throngs of people on a regular basis, with everyone welcome.

March 22, 2019

Money raised at the stag and doe, he says, was handled by “the boys.” That apparently refers to the friends of the groom, a police officer. Ford is big on the cops. “There’s no secret I absolutely love our police officers,” Ford said earlier in his years as premier when he was criticized for naming a Toronto cop to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. “I’m proud to say that three out of my four daughters are with police officers, so there’s my bias right there as well,”  he said at the time.

His remarks happened to coincide with the announcement of $20.5 million to fight gang violence in a suburban Toronto community. The fact that the appointee was an open fan of the premier and hadn’t applied for the post, and came at a time the commission was looking into a case involving the Toronto police, would have struck him as immaterial. The guy was “top notch.” What’s anything else got to do with it?

Ford sent the matter of the stag and doe to Ontario’s integrity commissioner and was cleared. The premier had no knowledge of any gifts the couple received and “there was no discussion of government business” at the event, the commissioner ruled. Yes, there were developers invited, but they were family friends.

March 8, 2019

Combining the personal with the political is a Ford trait. It’s part of his appeal to the people who are happy to vote for him. It works both ways, though: If your personal friends are heavy with cops and developers, people are going to ask questions if cops and developers seem to be doing particularly well from your government.

There are legitimate questions being asked about how a few companies came to buy specific pockets of property that were removed from Greenbelt protection. Answering those questions would help preclude the sort of suspicion that leads to intrusive questions about who attended a stag and doe. (The National Post) 

 

Saturday January 28, 2023

January 28, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday January 28, 2023

Developers who bought Ontario Greenbelt land linked to Ford government

YDF Merch

Since Ontario Premier Doug Ford was first elected four years ago, developers have paid tens of millions of dollars for a number of properties that include protected lands the province is now proposing to carve out of the Greenbelt.

Among those properties is a substantial piece of land lying largely in the Greenbelt that sold for $80-million in September, just weeks before the government revealed its new plan.

During the 2018 election campaign, Mr. Ford promised not to touch the Greenbelt – a vast arc of farmland, forests and wetlands across Southern Ontario. The pledge followed public uproar over a video that showed him saying he would allow housing development on a “big chunk” of the protected area. Again, in late 2020, he made a similar promise.

May 3, 2018

The Ford government reversed itself in November, announcing plans to remove 7,400 acres from the Greenbelt for the construction of at least 50,000 new homes. At the same time, land elsewhere would be added to the Greenbelt that, the government says, would result in a net increase of 2,000 acres.

The proposal to open up the Greenbelt to development has sparked protest from environmentalists, agriculture advocates and land-use experts, who argue that swapping one piece for another may be ineffective, because land has different environmental values, and that this also paves the way for other developers to push for their properties to be removed from the Greenbelt.

The proposed carve-outs of 15 areas of land include at least nine properties that were bought by developers for $10-million or more – transactions that topped $300-million in total – since the Progressive Conservatives took office in 2018, property records show.

November 23, 2022

At least four developers who bought the properties the government is now proposing to remove from the Greenbelt have either donated to the PC Party, hired conservative lobbyists, or both.

The government defended the decision to open up parcels of Greenbelt land to development but did not address questions related to the developers.

Among the sales in the Greenbelt parcels up for potential development, the most recent occurred in mid-September, about six weeks before the government’s announcement.

On Sept. 15, a company controlled by developer Michael Rice bought the 280-hectare property in the Township of King for $80-million. The real estate agent who sold the property promoted it as a “prime land-banking opportunity,” referring to the practice of holding undeveloped land for future opportunities.

The property had previously traded hands in 2000 – before the Greenbelt protections were put in place – for about $9.3-million.

October 27, 2011

Mr. Rice’s development company, Rice Group, hired Frank Klees, a former Ontario PC cabinet minister, between 2019-20 to lobby the government “on the economic development opportunities represented by a number of the client’s emerging projects,” the lobbyist registry says. The contract predated Mr. Rice’s purchase of the land in King Township. Mr. Klees did not return an e-mail seeking comment.

In addition, provincial records also show that a person with the name Michael Rice has donated more than $10,500 to the PC Party since 2018. This individual also donated money to the Liberals in 2018. As well, three donors with the same names as Rice Group executives have given the PC Party thousands of dollars since 2018.

Mr. Rice did not respond to e-mails requesting comment. (The Globe and Mail) 

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 …

 

Saturday December 24, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday December 24, 2022

Angry about Doug Ford or inflation? You’re not alone, ‘rage index’ poll finds

Series: Young Doug Ford

Inflation is fuelling anger among Canadians even though gasoline prices have dropped and most are not worried about their personal finances, a new poll suggests.

Pollara Strategic Insights’ monthly “rage index” survey found people were even more angry about rising prices than they were during the summer.

“People are not in a good mood as the year comes to a close,” Dan Arnold, chief strategy officer at Pollara, said in an interview.

“They’re more upset now about inflation (than in previous rage index polls) and it could be because these things build over time,” said Arnold, noting prices at the gas pumps have actually plunged in recent months.

“It could also be that more people are going out to restaurants and bars for holiday parties and are buying gifts so maybe they are feeling the pinch more than before — that’s probably driving it,” he said.

The firm surveyed 3,834 people across the country from Dec. 8 until last Thursday.

It is an online panel poll, but for comparison purposes, a random sample of this size would have a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The survey found 60 per cent have negative feelings about the economy — with 10 per cent happy and about 31 per cent neutral — but when it came to personal finances, responses were less pessimistic.

Here in Ontario, those surveyed expressed anger toward Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives for opening up the Greenbelt of environmentally sensitive land to housing development.

Some 62 per cent said they were angry about the surprise move — which allows 7,400 acres to be developed in exchange for all 9,400 acres of farm fields and wetlands elsewhere — while just eight per cent were happy and 30 per cent neutral.

December 10, 2022

“The Greenbelt move is damaging for him; his negatives appear to be on the rise,” Arnold said of Ford, whose party was re-elected June 2 with an expanded majority.

“One-third of Tory voters (33 per cent) are angry about it,” he said, adding only 19 per cent of PC voters approved.

Among self-identified New Democrats, 90 per cent disapproved of building on the Greenbelt, while 69 per cent of Liberal voters panned the scheme.

June 16, 2021

Ford was also criticized for his abandoned plan to use the Constitution’s “notwithstanding clause” to impose a contract on unionized education workers earlier this fall.

The poll suggests that invocation was a provocation with 61 per cent angry about it and 15 per cent happy and 25 per cent neutral.

“There was a lot of anger over this,” said Arnold, pointing out that 26 per cent of Tories were angry, although 37 per cent were happy.

Three-quarters of NDP voters — 76 per cent — were angry with the overriding of workers’ Charter rights with only one per cent happy; 72 per cent of Liberals were angry and eight per cent were happy. (The Toronto Star) 

From sketch to finish, in 30 seconds, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro … These sped up clips are posted to encourage others to be creative, to take advantage of the technology many of us already have and to use it to produce satire. Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comforted.

This clip shows the concept to sketch process. An uncoloured rough will be sent to an editor for approval. It shows the subject matter, the characters and setting, whatever text is in mind – in other words the general gist of what will be served up to readers the next morning. When accepted, you’ll note the sketch fades to a light grey and will serve as a guide on a new layer where lines will be refined and details added:

 

The second part involves colouring, patterning, shading and highlighting to create a three dimensional effect. This is when the cartoon takes on life: 

 

There are many many bells and whistles through the Procreate app that remain elusive to me but can potentially add more effects. It’s a never ending journey to discover new capabilities to look forward to in the coming years of cartooning.

Tuesday August 9, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday August 9, 2022

Ontario legislature session begins as Doug Ford’s government pushes ahead with new mandate

Young Doug Ford: The Series

Opposition parties and critics are calling on the Ontario government to provide more relief to tackle rising inflation while also expediting solutions for hospital staffing woes when the legislature returns and the provincial budget is tabled this week.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government will again table its 2022-23 budget on Tuesday, originally introduced in April and put to the test as a main plank of the PC platform during the June election.

After being re-elected, Mr. Ford said the budget would remain largely intact with the addition of a 5-per-cent increase to Ontario Disability Support Program rates that the party campaigned on, as well as a pledge to tie future annual increases to inflation. The budget promises $4-billion in additional spending for highways and roads and $10-billion for hospital infrastructure over 10 years.

August 3, 2022

But with the cost of living on the rise, inflation surging over 8 per cent and hospitals facing significant staffing shortages, critics say more measures need to be introduced to provide support for Ontarians.

Official Opposition NDP interim leader Peter Tabuns said Friday his party is calling for a new budget that increases spending for health care and education, as well as raises wages for public-sector workers. Mr. Tabuns said this would mean repealing Bill 124, introduced by the government in 2019, capping public-sector wage increases at 1 per cent for a three-year contract period. (The Globe & Mail)