What's the dealio on all the outrage following Stephen Harper's remark that "virtually all" the 8 candidates running for the Liberal leadership race are anti-Israel? Oh, right, this is Canada. Canadians love to wax indignant especially when provoked by a Conservative Prime Minister commenting on the leadership choices running for the "natural governing party." Harper's comment came at an awfully convenient time for Michael Ignatieff supporters just as their leader was spastically flipping all over the place over the issue of Israel's attack on the Lebanese town of Qana this past Summer. He's gone from suggesting he lost no sleep over civilian deaths caused by the war in Qana, to suggesting Israel committed war crimes when it attacked the Lebanese town. Harper's comments came at an opportune time for Liberals to loudly wail in protest in order to drown out a major gaffe committed by their Harvard Messiah. It's a nice tactic of distraction, commonly used by 6 year olds.

While it would've been wise for Harper to keep quiet and allow the leadership contenders to pummel Ignatieff by themselves, it shouldn't be lost on observers how serious Ignatieff's flip flop puts to question his decisiveness on international issues.

Perhaps it was tactical for Harper to point out his own resolute stance on the recent mideast conflict which did not waver one bit, but in fact challenged the fence-sitting or non existant traditional stance Canada had played in that region of the world, primarily under Liberal governments. That fact is we saw examples of bias by the Liberal party against the state of Israel this summer. Let's not forget the "fact finding mission" Opposition MP's took to Lebanon this August. As well, calls to remove Hezbollah from the terrorist list.

Harper's not accusing Liberals of being anti-semetic, he's accusing them of being anti-Israel. Maybe it was a stretch for Harper to blanket the entire slate of Liberal contenders as anti-Israel, when in fact backbench elements in the Liberal caucus better fit the bill. It may not exactly be fitting for a Prime Minister to make such a statement, but to those who see Ignatieff's bold statement claiming "war crimes" as refreshing, the same can be said of Harper who isn't afraid of saying what's on his mind as well.

The stereotype of an environmental activist is the vegetarian, sandal wearing, multiple pierced liberal with no tolerance for a conservative government, and especially any type of environmental policy formulated by a conservative. It doesn't matter how environmental a right leaning government could possibly be, it's assumed by environmental groups that conservatives are more interested in the green of money than the green of nature. This, despite the fact that leading environmentalists crowned Brian Mulroney, a (Progressive) conservative, the greenest Prime Minister in Canadian history for his efforts to reduce acid rain, and his establishment of the South Moresby national park. Here is a case where the results of environmental plans are graded for their effectiveness. So while many would conclude Jean Chretien and Paul Martin as green Prime Ministers for advancing Canada's willingnesss to embrace the Kyoto protocol, they fail the grade for a hollow promise whereby meeting targets to reduce greenhouse gases became quite clearly, an impossible undertaking.

Then, on the eve after drawing this cartoon I watched a great program on PBS hosted by Bill Moyers which investigated conservative attitudes towards the environment through evangelical Christians. It challenged the old notions that to be environmental, you have to be liberal. Here's how the program is described:

A new holy war is growing within the conservative evangelical community, with implications for both the global environment and American politics. For years liberal Christians and others have made protection of the environment a moral commitment. Now a number of conservative evangelicals are joining the fight, arguing that man's stewardship of the planet is a biblical imperative and calling for action to stop global warming.

But they are being met head-on by opposition from their traditional evangelical brethren who adamantly support the Bush administration in downplaying the threat of global warming and other environmental perils. The political stakes are high: Three out of every four white evangelical voters chose George W. Bush in 2004. "Is God Green?" explores how a serious split among conservative evangelicals over the environment and global warming could reshape American politics. For more on this documentary...

My apologies for not posting my lastest cartoon sooner. The above cartoon ran in the Saturday edition of the Hamilton Spectator. It marks the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday by depicting the current crop of local politicians who are vying for council as a bunch of gourds. I've kept a cartoon of North Korea's Kim Jong-Il posted since it is far more topical than a municipal election campaign. What makes elections interesting is the possibilty of upsets, and the entertainment aspect of watching politicans get dumped from their positions. This upcoming election in Hamilton will probably see the return of the same old councillors, several of them now career councillors, reposition themselves to carry on clinging from their perches while they oversee a rusting industrial city continue into decline.

Ironically, the future of Kim Jong-Il's dictatorship is less certain at this point than the political futures of a number of Hamilton city councillors. If we're lucky, 30% of eligible voters in Hamilton will cast a ballot next month to determine who'll make up the next council. Predictably, councillors more adept at campaigning than decision making will reappear with barely a scratch from their opponents.

What's even more lousy about this election is the possible return of ex-councillors running for the few vacant seats up for grabs. Even in the Mayoral race, the current incumbant's biggest challenge comes from an ex-councillor who lost in a previous Mayoral race and in a subsequent federal election. Gee, now there's a guy we sure can rally around to get this city moving again.

I've observed quite a few municipal elections in the past few years but nothing comes as uninspired and as dull as this one. What's so unfortunate is that more than ever before, municipal politicans have become responsible for so much that influences our daily lives, from taxes to where we meet stop signs on our streets yet nobody around me seems to have much hope or energy to demand more from who's put in charge. 

	Delegates	Googled with the word 'egghead'	Googled with the word 'question-able'	Googled with the word 'baggage'	Googled with the word 'boring'	Googled with the word 'Trudeau'	Googled with the word 'muffin'
Michael Ignatieff	1,252	2,070	20,300	20,000	19,800	49,200	1,540
Bob Rae	832	1,690	16,000	15,700	12,300	50,600	266
Gerard Kennedy	706	199	641	747	710	17,000	117
Stephane Dion	698	179	850	630	546	48,800	141
Ken Dryden	194	204	873	9,100	9,860	34,900	389
Joe Volpe	193	104	61,700	10,600	796	21,800	543
Scott Brison	163	166	10,600	868	806	33,800	107
M. Hall Findlay	41	33	241	1,100	730	836	22

Above is a tally of delegate votes for each candidate vying for the Liberal leadership alongside a comparison of candidate names googled with various words. The numbers show Ignatieff leads alongside the googled word 'egghead', 'baggage', 'boring', and 'muffin'. Bob Rae wins next to 'Trudeau', and Joe Volpe comes on top next to the googled word 'questionable'. More googled comparisons will follow in the weeks to come.

 

 

Today's cartoon, along with this week's takes on the Joe Volpe issue ends a gap of several months when I did nothing related to the Liberal leadership race. Compared to other events in the news the race really never registered anything that needed to be commented on. Before the race there was speculation that big time players would enter the race like John Manley, Frank McKenna, and even Sheila Copps. But then they decided not to run so up to now the race has been very dull, with the more interesting news centering on who's the latest candidate to drop out. While we're hearing from the polls and pundits on who is best qualified for the job, here's how I see who would fit the job from a cartoonist's point of view:

Scott Brison - Don't know much about him. Never drawn him. He's got potential for cartoonists. I see him as a weasley turncoat who preceeded Belinda Stronach by being lured to the Liberals during the stormy sponsorship scandal fallout days with a cabinet job. There's no chance he's going to win, but surely he's weasling himself into a possible cabinet job.

Stéphane Dion - They say Ken Dryden bores an audience to sleep when he stands up and makes a speech. What about Dion? Man, is he ever tiresome... and humourless. As annoying as Jean Chretien was with his choppy English at least he could be funny. Dion is just painful to listen to. I'm all for the Liberals alternating between anglophone and francophone leaders... and the party is due for a french speaking leader if tradition dictates... but pick one who can speak both languages elegantly, like Trudeau, or Ste. Laurent (I suppose).

Ken Dryden - The hockey great who's the resident Liberal expert on childcare and other social things. His hockey background alone has been nice fodder to combine in editorial cartoons. That distinction seems to have run its course and now there's not much left remarkable in the guy. He's not a tremendously cartoonable guy.

Martha Hall Findlay - One point against her is her long name. Too many words to fit on lapels and briefcases as a cartoon means to identify people who aren't recognizable. Since I knew right from he outset that she doesn't have a chance of winning I've never really bothered to find out much about her. I still don't know who she is, in the same way I don't know who the MP Maurizio Bevilacqua was before he dropped form the race. She's an attractive woman, which makes her no good to caricature.

Michael Ignatieff - Known best as the egg head Harvard professorial - second coming of Pierre Elliot Trudeau - whose lived in the United States for the last 30 years candidate. He seems pretty right wing on a lot of matters which suggests to me he's running for leader of the wrong party. 'Iggy' is the nickname bestowed on him by other large brained intelligensia friends. Now the name has found its way into editorial cartoons in the same manner 'Dubya' identifies George W. Bush. For this reason alone I dread Ignatieff becoming Liberal leader. I've only recently learned how to properly pronounce 'Ignatieff' after calling him 'Igni-eff" for months. He does have a pretty cartoonable look about him, and his large brain can be the source of great satire.

Gerard Kennedy - When he jumped into the race he left Ontario provincial politics as, arguably, Dalton McGuinty's most competant cabinet minister (Education). His intelligence doesn't seem to be an asset in the same way Bob Rae's horrible record of governing should be a hinderance. If I were a left of centre Liberal delegate I'd be voting for this guy, despite how choppy his French is, and no matter how lacking in energy his speeches have been lately. It's exactly for reason that he carries so little baggage that I'd hate to see him win. Drawing him day in and day out would be a huge challenge.

Bob Rae - The former Ontario premier would be my first choice to win the Liberal leadership for cartooning reasons. It would be very difficult for him to lead without being reminded every day of his disasterous record as a head of government. He seemed to be doing a fine job patching up his personal legacy by mediating, heading public inquiries, and issuing reports since he was Premier, obviously putting his Rhodes Scholarship marinated brain to good non-political use. So now it seems he wants to redeem his political legacy, a legacy that not even the most anti Harris/Eves Ontarians will easily forget.

Joe Volpe - The former Martin cabinet minister has signed up more delegates than any other candidate in the race, which experts say will make him a big power broker on convention day. Still, with all the bumbling, coincidently related to signing up new members, Volpe carries enough potential delegate weight which may guarantee him a cabinet post in a future Liberal government so long as it's not Michael Ignatieff leading it. I see him as the most old fashioned Liberal Party candidate, where you know little about what the guy stands for despite his ability to gladhand himself into the party's power inner sanctum. This, along with his fuzzy hair, droopy eyes and big honker of a nose makes him ideally cartoonable. Thankfully, he'll never be Prime Minister.