It was slated to go on the front page of the Spectator but the bosses didn't think it was appropriate to illustrate an article about a Tim Horton's going into City Hall. It's not funny to stereotype Hamilton for it's number of tattoo parlours, Money Marts, and Donut shops according to the higher ups. At least one person liked it:

With news of renewed demands for a new stadium to replace the old Ivor Wynne, I was looking through the archives and came across a story from almost 15 years ago. It could easily be an article written in the present:

It's an area sorely in need of attention. The stadium search North-end catalyst?
The Hamilton Spectator - February, 03 1993

Hamilton's search for a potential stadium or "multi-use professional sports complex," focused on the waterfront, has advanced with city council's decision to study possible sites in the west harborfront.

Council approved a $300,000 feasibility study, in the capital budget, to examine vacant or under-utilized industrial properties in the bayfront area west of Victoria Avenue. The study will include long-range economic, transportation and leisure plans for what's being described as the "west harborfront precinct."

Some eyebrows could be raised with the city's decision to reject possible stadium sites further east, and the fact that potential alternatives in the suburban municipalities won't be studied.

Some good arguments, however, can be made for a potential facility in the west harborfront. The area is touted as having the best potential along the bayfront, partly because of proximity to downtown. Together with the waterfront parks and marina complexes now taking shape in the west harbor, a stadium could be a catalyst for investment in a part of the city which sorely needs it.

Industrial properties east and west of Bay and north of Barton are possibilities. That would put the project close to the new Harborfront Park, the impressive new open space on the western shoreline being established on the former Lax property. We trust that in their enthusiasm for a stadium with a waterfront ambience, as developed in some American cities, the politicians don't get the idea of attempting to put the sports project in the new park.

Alderman Terry Cooke, who first proposed a waterfront sports complex last year, says the Harborfront Park isn't being considered as a locale. That's good, but it would be reassuring if the new park is explicitly excluded when the study gets under way.

Any stadium in the North End raises major questions of proper access, adequate parking, and potential problems with the use of industrial lands which could be contaminated. In regard to the latter problem, Mr. Cooke sees a sports complex as one way to tackle the issue of a degraded environment head-on. He believes the future of the entire bayfront will be compromised if the problems of contaminated waste aren't addressed.

As for an alternative locale in the suburbs, Mr. Cooke doesn't preclude the idea. However, he suggests that if public money is involved in the project, there's a stronger case for spending it in the west harborfront than in the suburbs. His perspective could make for interesting debate at the region.

While a new stadium has long been seen as inevitable in ensuring a better future for the Tiger-Cats and other professional sports franchises in Hamilton, the right place for the facility is another question.

Greg Sorbara, the Province's Finance Minister, was at the Spec last week to speak to the Ed. Board. (It's taken me a while to get around posting this.) I like the guy. He's smart, friendly, funny, and trustworthy. His boss, the Premier, is friendly in person, but when he gets talking his aww shucks attitude and his tendancy to blow off government falterings with statements like "our work has only just begun", and "we were handed a mess by the previous Tory government", it gets to be a bit grating. Sorbara gives similar message points, but he seems to be more genuine when reflecting on the challenges of government. If it were my choice Sorbara would be leader of the Liberals and Premier of Ontario -- but it's not the case so the man will continue to be puppet master to Dalton McGuinty.

I haven't always been kind to Sorbara. Here's a few of my cartoons over the last 4 years which have included the provincial Finance Minister:

Here Hamilton is shafted as Sorbara caters to the 905 area around Toronto taking advantage of social service pooling.
Here he delivers his second Provincial Budget
Here Sorbara nurses the imposition of the Health Premium in the Liberal's first Budget.
Here Sorbara and McGuinty are shown doing very little as homeowners get burned on their property assessments.
Here Sorbara and McGuinty are portrayed in a issue combination cartoon, one relating to securing a Shriner sponsored hospital in Ontario, and another

* * * * * Update: October 30, 2007 * * * * *

A new cartoon featuring Greg Sorbara's sudden decision to sit as a backbencher in the second term of the McGuinty Liberal government:

 

A cartoon I drew in the summer leading up to the 2007 election campaign.

Progressive Conservative leader John Tory was the first party leader to pay a visit to the Hamilton Spectator during the current election campaign now going on in the province. I've been looking forward to hearing what he had to tell us as it was his first meeting. Both Dalton McGuinty and Howie Hampton have each made several visits in the course of the last year.

Here's a video summary of what Mr. Tory had to say to us.

Did you get all that? That Mr. Tory's is quite the yakker, and it's a wonder he has the ability to take in any air between all the sentences. I took the last available seat at the table in the little board room to hear what he had to say. It turned out to be almost directly across the table from where he was seated. Usually when I attend these things I like to situate myself a little ways from the q & a between the guest/handlers and the assembled journalists. But I was kinda stuck in a spot reminiscent of my school days when pencil sketching was impossible and complete attention towards the lecturer, or feigned attention, (as was the case through most of my Math classes) was the order of the session. John Tory came across as a know-it-all high school teacher, with the appearance of a well coiffed game show host, and the somewhat pompous airs of an Emperor who has yet to acquire a Kingdom to rule over.

On the other hand, this is Mr. Tory's first election as PC leader and I'm getting the sense that while voters are slowly being introduced to his vision and style of leadership he's also learning the ropes as he goes. One thing quite apparent is that a lot of what he says makes a lot of sense. The faith-based school funding issue is one of them. The initial reaction is to call his idea crazy. However, for the mere fact that we already fund Roman Catholic schools, for historical reasons which are probably irreversible, I'm convinced that religious schools probably should be publicly funded for fairness purposes. If it standardizes benchmarks across all schools, including faith based institutions then it can only serve to benefit Ontario's entire educational system.

I just don't know why the Tories have made this the big issue of the campaign. Unless, it's part of a larger strategy by the PC's to somehow use their faith-based school funding proposal to show how they're not the old party of the Harris era. How will the PC's stance affect the traditional mixed faith base of the Liberal Party? Will the PC's rather strange embracing of faith-based funding convince voters that they're at the very least decisive and upfront as a contrast to the flip flopping promise breaking Liberals? Tory could very well give McGuinty a good whacking in next week's televised debate.

It'll take a lot more yakking by John Tory to beat the Liberals this election round, I suspect.

I've always held a soft spot for Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. It's not easy to admit that when everyone and his dog wretches whenever his name comes up in the news. I gained interest in politics at the age of 14, just as Mulroney was running for the leadership of the PC party. For the first 16 years of my life Pierre Trudeau was my leader (except for the brief time when Clark was in charge.) So my exposure to Canadian politics was limited to listening to my parents and grandparents bicker about Pierre Trudeau. I can't explain what drove them crazy at the time but I sensed there was quite a bit of fatigue for the man and quite a bit of hope for a new guy who was fresh, younger, less of an egghead, charismatic, polished, without the arrogance of office, and, to be frank, someone who wasn't francophone. It washed off on me, as well as the millions of Canadian voters who handed Mulroney and his party the biggest majority government in history. I followed his rise and fall, his successes and failures, from beginning to end with great fascination. It was a case study during my years of interest in political science.

Currently Canadians are being served up the biggest exposure of the man's life since he left office over 15 years ago, on the eve of the release of his political memoirs. The above cartoon pretty much illustrates the sentiment of the population. I don't think it matters whether he trashing Pierre Trudeau or he's singing the virtues of doing something about climate change -- he'll always be despised for whatever he says or writes from the vast majority of Canadians. It is therefore not at all surprising that there are very loud howls of outrage that he dare bring up the whole Meech Lake thing and how he thinks it was wrecked by Pierre Trudeau (who happens to be deceased and can't defend himself, in case you haven't been reminded about this by Trudeau sympathizers).

Is it really surprising to Canadians that the Meech Lake Accord, Mulroney's near successful attempt to bring Quebec into the constitutional family wouldn't remain a thorn in his side for so many years following its death in the late 80's? Is it really that surprising that Mulroney would feel the need to convey his animosity for Pierre Trudeau, who alone may not have derailed Meech Lake, but may have influenced the Clyde Wells and Elijah Harpers of this country to do the deeds themselves?

Again, let's remind ourselves that these are Mulroney's official memoirs. Everybody knows Mulroney and Trudeau's political adversarial nature extended to their personal relationships, and to not include some insight to that would be unfortunate for historians, and bad for book sales. If Mulroney felt Trudeau was a Nazi sympathizer it's probably better to read it memoirs and take it for what it's worth, even if it comes across as the rantings of a bitter man who's become used to his legacy being overshadowed by his predecessor.

In retrospect it's hard not to be reminded of the passions which we held in the 80's. It's obviously hard for most Canadians to let go of allegiances to which ever Prime Minister one felt more respect for. Either one worships Trudeau and hates Mulroney, or one hates Trudeau and worships Mulroney. Unless you're a Quebec separatist or an alienated westerner, there really doesn't seem to be any middle ground... yet. So the debate will continue being "who was the better Prime Minister?" and a generation from now no one will care. What will be agreed upon is that they both left big legacies for the country. Trudeau gave Canada the Charter of Rights, and Mulroney gave the country Free Trade. Both failed on economic fronts, and both did much to damage national unity. One thing that can be said about the two, is that they were both giants in Canadian history, and it'll be a long time before we ever see their likes again.

* * * * *  Update October 15, 2007  * * * * *

I paid $10 to attend a talk and book signing session when Mulroney swung by Burlington last Friday. I coughed up the $53 it cost to purchase the thick memoirs. The old PM looked good. He spoke to the crowd of 300 or so including Lincoln Alexander, newly elected MPP Joyce Savoline, Terry Cooke, and Mayor Cam Jackson. Mulroney spoke about his life from boyhood to leaving 24 Sussex and peppered the talk with his familliar self-depricating humour and blarney. Burlington was the last stop on his cross country tour and over the weekend excerpts of Jean Chretien's book started making the headlines, especially the stuff about how he really feels about his successor, Paul Martin. I look forward to checking Chretien out if he takes is book on tour and swings by this area.