Since October I've drawn at least 20 editorial cartoons on the environment. I doubt I matched that number in the 9 years previous to October of 2006. Greenhouse warming, global warming, climate change - these are some of the buzz words of the green revolution that have become a part of our daily lives for the last 6 months. How does last year's #1 priority issue of health care drop completely drop out of the collective mindset this year? The war on terrorism is so last year, and now we're planted somewhere within an undefined space of time in which we so resolutely battle whatever is meant by the buzz words I mentioned above. "Go green now, or die", seems to be the mantra accepted by many as this revolution sweeps the - well, modern industrialized world, I guess. Who knows what they're thinking in certain third and second world nations where rainforests continue to be clearcut at an alarming rate and toxic waste is being spewed into the air and into the water without any thought of regulation. Really, do people here think that by signing onto the Kyoto Accord, China, India, and a number of environmentally comatose regimes in Africa, Asia, and South America, are going to be shamed into signing on for the good of the planet? 

An interesting government report was leaked to the Toronto Star which identified three groups of Canadians said to be susceptible to changing their actions to improve the environment:

• The "Suzuki Nation," making up one-fifth of the population, finds the negative state of the environment in conflict with their values, expresses high environmental concern and is motivated to take action. These are people who would be compelled to act even without offers of tax cuts and other economic incentives designed to change individual behaviour.
• "Invested Materialists" are the 28 per cent of people who do not find the current environmental state in conflict with their values and have low levels of concern. But these people will "act if given the right reason" such as an economic incentive or enhanced social prestige.
• The last category is "Ambivalent Materialists" – the 15 per cent of Canadians who feel that a polluted environment is in conflict with their values, but are not concerned about current pollution levels.

Do you know which group you belong to? I think you could add a group above the Suzuki Nation who'll never be satisfied with any government green plan unless a total ban is imposed on all fossil fuels. In fact, I think some people will never be happy until everyone, including John Baird and Stephen Harper, are forced to go back to nature wearing fig leaves on their naughty bits.

I'd like to suggest another group might be added to the ones above. One representing people who feel the current environmental state is in conflict with their values but understand that the economic sacrifices necessary to meet the Kyoto targets are too great considering barely a dent will be made in reducing global greenhouse gases.

I'd put myself in this last group and to paraphrase a well meaning slogan "think globally, and act locally", I'd like to see 'locally' replaced with 'continentally'. I think many more strides can be made if Canada, the U.S., and Mexico worked together  to cap carbon and sulphur dioxide emissions and effectively monitor what's being sent into our shared atmosphere. It would probably mean a new administration in the White House, but I think there could be real results other than the all-talk-no-action fantasy that is the Kyoto Accord.

Boris Yeltsin is dead. Many, I think, were surprised he was still alive. Perhaps he was pickled by the constant flow of alcohol he evidently consumed midway through his Presidency of Russia towards the end of his retirement. Who knows? The fact is after he handed the Kremlin keys over to Vladimir Putin in 2000 he never really resurfaced in the public limelight again, becoming largely forgotten.

It's only on reflection that I realize he was a character that shaped many editorial cartoons. Here are just a few I drew as he neared the end of his reign in a drunken stupor:

& 

Of course there must be credit given to the man who began his rise to stardom by toppling a Communist coup designed to reverse the democratic reforms initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev.

While he will undoubtedly go down in history for liberating Soviet citizens, he may be better remembered in the old "free world" for his trashing the old USSR, and thereby ending any remnants left from the cold war years. He oversaw the disintegration of the old Soviet Union and became Russia's first democratically elected leader. Then he tried to bring in goofy economic policies which only empowered corrupt oligarchs and angered legislators, and when things didn't go his way he brought back old style Soviet tactics to deal with dissent and ethnic unrest. Blasting the Parliament buildings with cannon fire isn't exactly the most democratic way to debate things with opponents, although Yeltsin seemed to think it was, and he got away with it. He also got away with pinching the bums of women politicians and bureaucrats; hamming for the cameras while visiting Berlin and by grabbing a conductors baton and leading an orchestra; playing the spoons on the head of Askar Akayev, the president of Kyrgyzstan; and staggering around in his underpants shouting for pizza in the hotel room during his first summit meeting with Bill Clinton.

Upon further reflection I connect the Yeltsin years with the Clinton years... and can't help associating those figures, as much the buffoons they were, to that relatively harmonious period of time in the pre-9/11 world. No wonder Bill Clinton loved to bear hug Yeltsin. But once Boris was gone, the good old days of close relations clearly started to wane. Seven years on Vladimir Putin continues to rule Russia at a far sobering and utilitarian pace. What freedom Yeltsin brought in, much has been clamped down upon by his successor. Here's one I drew shortly after Putin came to power in Russia:

Amazon.com summarizes the book as an intriguing selection of one hundred cartoons, many never-before-published, that were censored or suppressed for being too controversial, featuring the work of Gary Trudeau, Doug Marlette, Paul Conrad, Mike Luckovich, Matt Davies, Ted Rall, Norman Rockwell, Anita Kunz, Edward Sorel, and other notable artists...

...like me.

...and here's the cartoon he's talking about:

At the time I wrote on my website: "This one won't be printed in The Spectator. Editors felt the image was too lite to comment on the passing of the Pope. I didn't put up a fight. Cartoonists know all too well that even the very act of caricaturing the Pontiff is verging on blasphemy in the eyes of some devout Roman Catholics. It has been sent out to other newspapers through my syndicate and it'll be curious to see if anyone picks it up. I guess the other problem was that at the time of completion the old man hadn't yet kicked the bucket. It's bound to be an interesting few weeks to come leading up to the selection of a new Pope."

Here's (sound file) an interview of the author David Wallis from April 20, 2007, where he talks on New Hampshire public radio about the book. He talks about my cartoon around the 6:15 mark. Transcript.

Here's the story on the NPR website.

Pope Cartoons are one of those issues which always provoke letters. You can read other blog entries here and here.

Some context to any out-of-towners wanting to know about this curious cartoon...

A week ago I wrote about the entertainment aspect of legislative debate that is essential to liven up the tediousness of the democratic process. To those who earnestly express their outrage against humorous political ads or forceful blows during question period, I say, lighten up.

So Hamilton City Council was the stage this week for a split second of action that made some headlines in the Hamilton Spectator. Events turned sour after Councillor Bob Bratina was rambling on about something during council proceedings when Mayor Eisenberger interjected to speed things up. The resulting hissy fit from the smooth talking morning man /  city representative was beautifully captured on film.

It reminds me of my 5 year when she needs to clean up her crayons upon being told it's nap time. Seeing it all unfold with a grown man... now that's entertainment.

Occasionally I'm called upon to do caricatures of people, particularily those who are retiring or moving on to bigger jobs. Here's a picture (by Kathy Gayder) of Ian McLeod, the outgoing CFO of The Hamilton Spectator. He's moving on to head the finances of Metroland, the parenting company of the Spectator as well as several other dailies and community papers. In this cartoon I drew him as the King of the bean counters, whereupon he sits on a hill of beans. All the best, Ian.