This is my first stab at a genuine blog. I've maintained a messageboard for several years but it always gets hijacked by spammers who post their links for dubious itemry. But I like interactivity, and I like getting feedback from you folks.
So let this experiment begin.
I guess I need to talk about something so I'll start with a cartoon I had printed a couple weeks ago regarding the local drama involving a road blockade brought on by native aboriginals over a land dispute with the crown, O.P.P., province, developers... aka the whiteman.
I had a cartoon published on the editorial page of the National Post! Funny thing is my own editors wouldn't run this cartoon in the Spectator...
Friday April 21, 2006 Cartoon
...and the nice touch to my debut in the Post was a letter to the editor printed the next day by someone offended by the cartoon:
First Nations cartoon offensive
Published: Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Re: Editorial cartoon by MacKay, dealing with the native roadblock in Caledonia, Ont., April 25.
After the innumerable clashes between First Nations and provincial governments, you would think that people would start asking why First Nations are protesting, instead of ignoring them or, worse, poking fun at them. I found yesterday's cartoon purposefully ignorant of the actual conflict, and offensive toward the plight of the many First Nations in Canada. The artist's choice of employing stereotyped and offensive images in this cartoon goes far beyond a simple comical comment on events, and strives to depict the protests and protesters as absurd and without any relevance to our society. These protests are a reaction against years of discrimination and wardship; the opinions that the cartoon portrays will only serve to frustrate the very real problems that we as a country have brought on ourselves.
In the future, please be more careful when choosing the cartoon you wish to publish; I more often than not find the cartoons you publish quite witty, but this one pushed the envelope too far.
Cristina Newman, Vancouver, B.C.
