wyattsworld's Newest Cartoons

History exposed

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I heard the phrase “history exposed” on a news cast and realized this was an easy to understand way to describe what is happening globally.

Je sui Charlie

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I live in a part of the world where political cartoonists and what they comment on do not carry as much influence or have as much effect as they do in other nations. I deeply honour and respect the bravery of those who lost their lives in the attack on Charlie Hebdo. Cartoonists have always angered repressive regimes and ideologies. Je sues Charlie!

Oops!

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Typical of resource-focused governments, the Yukon government has placed most of its "eggs" in the resource basket. Of course, resource values are determined by forces far outside of the control of this little Canadian territory.

Grinched!

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The capital city of the Yukon, Whitehorse, shut down an annual Christmas tradition, the Garbage Truck Santa. A local city employee donated his time to drive a decorated garbage truck through neighbourhoods playing Christmas songs and passing out candy to children. The City said the lit-up truck was a distraction to other drivers. Humbug!

Moore the Artist

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Continuing his government's attack on the arts and culture, Heritage Minister James Moore threatened to remove funding for artists.

Moore is less

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Heritage Minister James Moore denied that his department was muzzling archivists and librarians from talking to students in classrooms. They were.

Science schmience

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The Canadian government continues to gag scientists.

Neck-tie games

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Yukon politician's showed there support of the Canadian seal industry by wearing seal-skin ties. This cartoon drew quite a bit of flack as I used the words "baby-seal" in the text. While the industry claims that baby seals are no longer killed, the reality is that the definition of "baby seal" has been redefined to mean nothing younger than 12-14 days, around the time the animal's coat turns white.

Mental Government

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A very successful and much needed pilot mental health program was suddenly and quietly axed by our not-so-forward-thinking government. It seems they thought they could fly under the radar on this one, but mental health staff and clients went ballistic. The government quickly recanted, miraculously finding funding for another year. Rumors abound that their folly was inspired by the possibility of a national election, and thus the lunatic logic that playing Russian roulette with necessary health programs could lead to more federal funding for other apparently more important items, like mining and building bridges.

Beaver killers

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In anticipation of building a dock this spring along the banks of the historic Yukon River, government employees "accidently" removed a pile of food a family of bank beavers had stored for the winter. Why this work was done in the fall, instead of waiting until spring to relocate the beaver family, remains a mystery. Fortunately, a path near the beavers is well used and someone noticed the starving rodents. You'd never know the little buck-toothed critter is our countries national symbol.

Blame Canada

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Canada, magnificent country of vast open spaces and majestic mountains, and of few people and high carbon emissions, just can't seem to get its act together on this climate change/weirding thing. Melting permafrost and disappearing sea ice don't seem to be enough to encourage our politicians to have the intestinal fortitude to be leaders in this area. Sad, really, since climate change is being felt across the North more than in most other areas.

WikiLeaks woes

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The release of thousands of classified documents by WikiLeaks had Canada's minister of defence only slightly worried, or so he said.

True North strong and ours

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper has embarked on his annual arctic sovereignty tour. It's more of a flash of Peacock feathers then anything real in the way of infrastructure or increased military presence. Not that Canadians want more military, but circumpolar countries, including the USA, have their sights on the rich resources buried beneath the ice and snow.

John Graham

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Canadian John Graham, a member of the Champagne/Aishihik First Nations, was extradited to the USA on the basis he could be charged as an American Indian for the murder of Annie May Aquash in 1975 in the US. Documents kept at the Denver Police station prove the US Department of Justice has known since 1998 that it could not prosecute a Canadian aboriginal person, and Graham in particular. And the US may have tricked Canadian officials by never mentioning that fact when they requested an extradition three years ago. Once Graham was extradited, US prosecutors dropped the federal charges (in February) because Graham could not be considered an American Indian. Graham had, however, already been hit with murder charges from the state of South Dakota after he was extradited. If the federal department knew they would eventually lose the case, it means they convinced Canada to release one of its citizens on a false premise, and they planned to only hit him with state charges all along.

They want her for president?

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Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has gone to great lengths to hype the supposed dangers of a big government takeover of American health care, admitted recently that she used to get her treatment in Canada's single-payer system.

Bullets over ice

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Foreign ministers of five Arctic coastal states will gather this Monday (March 29, 2010) for talks in Ottawa, Canada, on the economic and environmental challenges facing the planet's polar frontier. Already, United States, Canada, Norway, Russia and Sweden have, since 1989, either built or announced plans for a total of at least 66 combat-capable vessels that are specifically intended for northern waters.

Child advocate

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After much criticism from First Nation governments and other agencies, the Yukon government has finally created an independent child advocate position. The belief is that children and youth will now have a voice in the child welfare system. The person who filled the position was, at one time, living on skid row in Vancouver, hooked on heroin and alcohol. He says his life turned around when he made a deal with God. That deal led to a clean and sober life and eventually to this position.

Bad ass Canadians

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Courtesy of the actions of our Conservative government, Canadians have gone from being known as friendly, socially responsible and leaders in climate change, to a country now known for turning a blind eye to torture, social injustice among first nation peoples and interference in the climate change conference in Copenhagen.

A Teddy Bear and his booze

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The Yukon Liquor Corporation runs responsible drinking campaigns throughout the year. They are generally good ideas, using a variety of methods to draw the attention of drinkers, which in the Yukon, is just about everybody. This year, someone came up with the not so brilliant idea of putting out a calendar of cute, cuddly teddy bears. A few of the fuzzy critters were cuddling up to bottles of brew. Some thought the juxtaposition of children's toys with alcohol was a bit thoughtless.

Dictator democracy

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Canada's Prime MInister, Stephen Harper, prorogued parliament. This is not an uncommon practice. However, the length of the delay in parliament returning is unusual and the issues this particular proroguing interrupts – especially the question of what Canadian troop's knew of the torture of Afghan detainees – has brought the Conservative government under serious criticism from all political stripes.

Finger puppets

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The premier of the Yukon, Dennis Fentie, has been under fire for about a year over his interfering and heavy-handed manner of governing. One caucus member quit because of this. The other members of his government have either been quiet or have towed the party line in support of their leader. Often, the Premier speaks on behalf of his caucus even if they are present in the House during Question Period.

Aa apple for the teacher

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The minister of Education, Patrick Rouble, ran into a few problems in negotiating a new contract with the Yukon Teachers Association

Trevor the Dog

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Trevor, a German shepherd/Rottweiler cross, has had a very difficult life. Left chained to a tree for so long that his skin actually grew around his collar. He was dragged behind a truck, suffering multiple injuries from that, and finally bit someone and was thrown into the pound where he was expected to meet his untimely end. Local activists came to his rescue, his case eventually making it all the way to Yukon's Supreme court. He was released under very strong restrictions, which were recently broken, and he was thrown back onto deathrow. Fortunately, he has been released yet again with even more stringent restrictions. Hopefully, his care takers will take care of him this time.

Kenyon comes down

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Minister Jim Kenyon, who had earlier threatened to quit over his leader's interference in his government portfolio, suddenly changed his tune. Apparently he hadn't said he would resign, despite a room full of people who heard different.

Yukon Workers Lament

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The Yukon Worker's Safety and Compensation Board, which provides support to injured workers, announced that Yukon had some of the highest incidences of work-related injuries in Canada. I reworked a poem by the famous Yukon poet Robert Service to make a point.