Graeme Gallery 2025

Wednesday December 31, 2025 | Substack Newsletter 55

The term “Graeme Gallery” has been around much longer than these Substack reviews of the week’s news through editorial cartoons. A few newspapers still have a staff cartoonist, and I am now one of the few left in Canada. When I started at the Hamilton Spectator nearly 29 years ago, there were many more cartoonists. It’s a tradition to feature a page or two of cartoons from the past year during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The alliterative name “Graeme’s Gallery” was coined by someone editing the page in the early 2000s, and it has stuck ever since. You can while away a lot of time surfing through a huge archive of them including my predecessor, Blaine through this link.

Transitioning from print to digital, I wonder if these annual retrospectives are becoming a needless throwback, especially since it’s now easy to link back to past works on web pages. This years is pared down from three galleries to one (last year’s is here.) You can find all my cartoons on my website, complete with context and links to related works. I maintain a chronology that includes nearly every editorial cartoon I’ve drawn with references to earlier pieces in the text below each current cartoon. I do this to clarify my evolving thoughts on various issues and to enhance the reader experience. Honestly, there’s probably an overload of access and blah blah blah associated with my cartoons, but I assume that’s what’s desired from my devoted subscribers. From what I’m told by archivists and historians, these posts will be appreciated long after my corpse has turned to dust.

Below is a selection of what I believe are the best cartoons I drew in the past 12 months, highlighting some of the key subjects that emerged (or dragged on) in 2025. It’s impossible to capture everything, and a cartoonist must consider certain limits, with the primary one being the vantage point from which we observe the busy world. While I might be tempted to focus on the latest antics of a particular attention seeking U.S. President, I strive to strike a balance between engaging with those distractions and shedding light on the less absurd but equally important issues closer to home.

In my 2025 cartoon retrospective I traced a few steady themes: style over substance, leadership gaps, rising trade tensions, and growing climate strains. From satirizing presidential pageantry and symbolic renames to cartoons about stalled Canadian politics, tariffs that rallied Canadians, and province-level divides over wildfires, I hope I captured how spectacle often distracted from real problems. Visits from King Charles III and links with Mexico highlighted Canada’s distinct path amid U.S. uncertainty. Overall, the year showed leaders favouring headlines over solutions — and cartoons kept calling attention to what was being ignored.

January 22, 2025 - Symbolic Renaming: The Gulf of America

President Trump’s plan to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” is political theatre and a distraction from real issues. The cartoon “THE UNITED STATES OF TRUMP” mocks this by renaming states, and later moves in 2025, such as creating a Bureau of External Revenue, renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War, and rebranding the Kennedy Center as the Trump Kennedy Center, show a focus on symbols over substance. Don’t be surprised if more changes will come within the months to come highlighting symbolism and pettiness of this self-loving administration.

January 25, 2025 - Canada’s Leadership Crisis: A Stalemate

Justin Trudeau’s resignation early in the year left a leadership gap that stalled federal decision making while the Liberals searched for a new leader. The cartoon shows politicians tearing down a Trudeau statue, symbolizing backlash against his fiscal and environmental plans; he was replaced after ten years by a government led by Mark Carney that rolled back many Liberal policies. The cartoon depicts political leaders dismantling a statue of Trudeau, symbolizing backlash against his environmental policies and the growing tensions between federal and provincial leaders. What ultimately replaced ten years of Liberal government was a new one led by Mark Carney that essentially heralded the undoing of many policies of the previous government.

February 4, 2025 - Trade Wars: Unifying Canadians

Trump’s tariffs have sparked trade tensions with Canada and brought people together across party lines. The cartoon shows Trump as a tantrum-throwing toddler, illustrating his reckless approach to foreign affairs. Talk of annexation has faded, along with jokes about “Governors of the great state of Canada,” but Canadians continue to boycott U.S. products and are cutting back on vacation trips to the United States. While rhetoric about annexation has subsided, Canadians feel betrayed by their closest friend and ally, seething with anger not only toward the President and his yes-(wo)men who perpetuated it but also at the vast swaths of Americans who either added to it or sat in silence. Relations between the two countries will never be the same, and earlier this year, the newly elected leader of Canada, Mark Carney, made the stark declaration that “the old relationship with the United States is over.”

November 12, 2018 - Raging Fire Next Door

I reach into my archives for the one above to ease those who might be tuning in from Europe. Like Canada you are wedged between two cuckoo countries, Russia and the USA. You have very real concerns about Putin, and whether you’re going to wake up one morning to a warmongering encroachment into yours or a neighbouring democratic country. At the very least you have a great deal of strength in numbers among powerful countries with rich histories of empire and military might. Contrast that with what little Canada has in the event Trump has some bozo eruption of invading us. Look to the days to come of what happens in Venezuela, and Cuba, and Greenland. Then consider the imperialist “Trump Corollary” that harkens back to the Monroe Doctrine and cloaked with “America First” and a middle finger to its longtime partnerships of mutual respect. Canada has much to be worried about.

March 6, 2025 - Kingly Ambitions

Trump’s claim that “America is back” in his first State of the Union as the 47th President sparked fears of protectionism and authoritarianism. The cartoon lampoons him as a monarch, suggesting autocratic tendencies while highlighting symbols of Russian influence. These instincts are reflected in his additions of gaudy gold trim to the White House, the unilateral demolition of the east wing to construct a Versailles-style ballroom, and his proposal for an Arc de Triomphe–style monument dedicated to himself. Hey, I’m fascinated by monarchy as well, but I don’t fancy myself as some despotic King like you know who. The irony is palpable, as the United States was founded on a rejection of such kingly trappings, serving as a model for nations to overthrow their royal autocrats. Yet, in 2025, an elected American President openly defied these principles, not just symbolically but purposefully, through tactics like stacking the high courts, demanding fealty from Republican politicians, and rendering Congress and other opposing bodies ineffective. If Trump knew anything about history, he’d realize it never ends well with those pushing divine monarchy.

May 1, 2025 - The Conservative’s Leadership Party Dilemma

The Conservative Party is grappling with internal strife post-election, exposing deep factionalism. The cartoon portrays Pierre Poilievre after losing his long-held position as MP for Nepean-Carleton in suburban Ottawa. Though he secured a safe Conservative seat in rural Alberta during a summer by-election, questions about his leadership lingered in the latter months of the year. A leadership review looms just weeks away, and while polls suggest he has majority support from delegates, the number of Conservative MPs in his caucus has dwindled due to floor crossers and one member quitting politics altogether. Meanwhile, the Liberal government sits just one seat shy of a majority, with growing speculation that more Conservative MPs might be tempted by the centrist appeal of the governing Liberals, who are behaving more like an old-time Progressive Conservative government than the left-leaning Trudeau administration many despise.

May 27, 2025 - Royal Signals

King Charles III’s visit to deliver the Carney government’s Speech from the Throne highlights Canada’s unique identity and resilience amid ongoing tensions with the U.S. The accompanying cartoon illustrates the monarchy’s enduring role as Canada’s constitutional foundation, contrasting it with Donald Trump’s outsider status, depicted as a misbehaving child in the naughty corner. Despite Trump being honoured with a state dinner at Windsor Castle last summer, the UK heads into the new year facing a stalled trade deal with the U.S. and the BBC grappling with a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit from Trump. As 2025 wraps up, reports suggest that King Charles and Prince William will embark on separate tours of the U.S. to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence and promote the 2026 World Cup. For Canadians raising their elbows in solidarity during the U.S. travel boycott, both tours will likely land like a lead balloon among their royal subjects north of the border.

May 31, 2025 - Wildfire Divide and Priority Differences

As wildfires raged in 2025, prairie premiers Scott Moe and Wab Kinew showcased contrasting approaches to climate change. The cartoon underscores their differing strategies within a broader debate. By the end of 2025, urgency and federal action on climate change had significantly diminished. Discussions about carbon tax became as popular as a wet sock, overshadowed by a focus on pipelines. It’s as if once-in-a-century natural disasters happening every year is just a thing we all have to expect, with fingers crossed it doesn’t happen close by.

June 5, 2025 - Steel Tariff Eruption

Trump’s tariffs have strained global steel markets and trade, prompting Canada to diversify export markets and pursue innovation. Despite those efforts, firms like Algoma Steel faced huge layoffs and other challenges. The tariffs have raised costs, pushed up consumer prices, and slowed steel-dependent sectors such as automotive and construction. I live in Hamilton, Ontario, once called the “Pittsburgh of the North” for its steel industry. Like many Western steel cities, production has slowly declined as work shifted overseas where it is cheaper. These tariffs risk turning a manageable transition into a downward spiral: blast furnaces idle, robots replace workers, and a few industrial tycoons stand to gain.

September 18, 2025 - Canada-Mexico Unity Bridge

As Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum and Mark Carney work to strengthen their ties amid U.S. uncertainties, the cartoon illustrates their cooperation through a handshake, set against Trump’s fiery rhetoric—symbolizing resilience in the face of challenges. These two nations flank a continent marked by tension, and in the coming year, they will engage in renegotiating the free trade bloc while also hosting the world during the World Cup.

October 28, 2025 - Reaganstein

The Halloween cartoon “Reaganstein” critiques the lasting influence of former President Ronald Reagan’s policies in contemporary politics, juxtaposing them with Trump’s tariffs. The Doug Ford government effectively educated those who may have been unaware, resonating deeply with many others. Their messaging hit the mark, contrasting sharply with exaggerated and entirely fabricated narratives propagated by Trump and his associates.

It was the (Trumpy) stewards of Ronald Reagan’s legacy at The Reagan Institution and Foundation whose statement ignited a political firestorm, showing how copyright claims can be weaponized in trade disputes. I had my own encounter with them when they forced the removal of one of my 47 presidential caricature designs. No other presidential archive had ever made such a ludicrous demand. After I asked them to relent, they replied they’d reconsider. Weeks passed without action, so I illustrated the new narrative they were pushing about a legacy they were supposedly entrusted to preserve.

Presidents of the United States

2025 showed how noise and theatrics can drown out urgent, practical work. My cartoons aimed to cut through the headlines, holding leaders to account and reminding readers what truly matters — steady governance, real solutions, and long-term thinking. If the year taught us anything, it’s that satire remains a small but necessary check on politics that prefers spectacle to substance.

As always, here’s some editorial cartoon making-of clips, below are my best of 2025:

Since 1997 I’ve been the staff editorial cartoonist at the Hamilton Spectator, a paper with a long satirical tradition following in the footsteps of Blaine, Doug Wright and Ivan Glassco, and in recent years my cartoons have also appeared in the Toronto Star. The shift from print to digital is precarious but I’ve still got plenty of fuel left, and while my ties to the Spectator, a community voice since 1846, remain strong, platforms like Substack give me a way to carry my work online if things go awry and my livelihood is affected. I put a lot of time and energy into these posts, perhaps too much, but my urge to write about current events goes back decades and the cartoons I draw alongside those words are the cherries on the cake.

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