Graeme MacKay was born on 23 September 1968 in Dundas, Ontario. As a graduate from Parkside High School in Dundas, he attended the University of Ottawa, majoring in History and Political Science. There, he submitted cartoons to the student newspaper, The Fulcrum, and was elected as graphics editor by newspaper staff. Between 1989 and 1991, he illustrated and, along with writer Paul Nichols, co-wrote a weekly comic strip entitled "Alas & Alack", a satire of current-day public figures framed in a medieval setting.
After a 2-year working tour through Europe and North Africa, he began getting illustrations published on a freelance basis in various newspapers and magazines, including the Toronto Star, the Ottawa Citizen, the Chicago Tribune, the Canadian Forum, and Policy Options, published by the Institute for Research on Public Policy. Between 1995 and 1997, he regularly submitted and had local editorial cartoons published in the Ancaster News and other Brabant newspapers (now owned by Metroland Media Group) under the pseudonym "Ham."
His work led to him being hired as a full-time editorial cartoonist for the Hamilton Spectator in 1997. Between 1999 and 2003, Graeme illustrated a comic strip exclusively for the Hamilton Spectator called Gridlock featuring 5 characters working at a fictitious local taxi company called Hammercab. Gridlock's creation came about through a partnership with Wade Hemsworth, a columnist at the Hamilton Spectator, who wrote the scripts.
Graeme has lived in Hamilton, Ottawa, and Toronto. He also worked in London for 18 months as a counter clerk in the food halls of Harrods in Knightsbridge. He now[as of?] resides in Hamilton with his wife Wendi and their daughters, Gillian and Jacqueline.
On August 22, 2017, an editorial cartoon[9] by MacKay was published in the Hamilton Spectator depicting a person wearing a Nazi uniform and holding a tiki torch being beaten and hit by four hippies holding peace-themed signs. BentQ, Hamilton's LGBTQ2SI+ Media and Community Hub, responded to this cartoon in an article[10] that identified the cartoon's Nazi sympathizing nature and its similarities, however unintentional, with Neo-Nazipropaganda. The cartoon was met with discord on MacKay's Facebook page, which led to MacKay taking the cartoon down.[11]
On March 22, 2018, an editorial cartoon[12] by MacKay was published in the Hamilton Spectator which depicted a person presenting as female being asked by a clerk at a Service Canada desk how they would like to be addressed. The individual answers that they are "the serene highness and extraordinary companion of the illustrious order" and continues in this vein, ending with "In Ms. Chatsworth's Gifted Class I went by Phil". The cartoon was referencing Service Canada's recent directive instructing its employees who interact with the public to stay away from terms such as Mr., Mrs., father and mother, and to "use gender-neutral language or gender-inclusive language."[13] MacKay's cartoon was met with backlash regarding its transphobic message.[14][15]
On August 24, 2018, an editorial cartoon[16] by MacKay was published in the Hamilton Spectator which depicted Ontario Premier Doug Ford looking directly into the light of an overhead slide projection showing an anatomical cross-section of the male pelvic region, titled "The Penis." Ford is shown positioned with part of the slide projecting male sex organs on his face with a caption stating, "A sex-ed snitch line has been set up to report any funny business." The cartoon was in response to the Progressive Conservative government's repeal of the 2015 Ontario sex education curriculum, and subsequent decision to seek reports of teachers not using the pre-existing curriculum taught between 1992 and 2015. The cartoon provoked criticism and led to publication in the Hamilton Spectator of letters to the editor, and a column[17] written, in defence of the cartoon, by the newspaper's Editor-in-Chief, Paul Berton.
On August 20, 2021, an editorial cartoon[18] by MacKay comparing and contrasting the Taliban with the Conservative Party of Canada elicited several complaints and letters to the editor of the Hamilton Spectator of unfair and biased coverage. The cartoon appeared during the first week of the 2021 Canadian federal election campaign and is formatted as a split screen. The top frame shows a Taliban leader, surrounded by armed militia, giving assurance that "...we're not the old Taliban.", after declaring control of Afghanistan; set alongside in a lower frame are surly Conservative supporters with leader Erin O'Toole stating, "...we're not the old Conservative Party." Letter writers expressed offence to such a comparison, while others justified the negative reaction to the editorial cartoon as what is to be expected with satire.[19]
Exhibitions
Participant, "Bye Bye Jean", 2003, La Galerie Rouge, 228 rue Saint-Joseph, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada[20]
