The Orange Week: Smoke, Bridges and Blame

Midway through the week my part of Canada was blanketed by wildfire smoke from fires hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away. The sky turned orange, the air smelled acrid, and the smoke irritated throats and eyes. I spent the first days railing against Trump after Senator Adam Schiff urged Canadians to buy California wine. The anti‑tariff alcohol boycott seems to be working; I feel more sympathy for blue California than for red states such as Kentucky, where lawmakers are threatening consequences unless Canadians resume buying their bourbon.

A renegotiated deal to open the Gordie Howe Bridge was delayed after a Trump‑connected donor objected to losing a toll monopoly at the Ambassador Bridge, which has long caused bottlenecks. The smoke then gave me three themes of commentary: first, criticism of Trump’s climate science denial; second, predictions about life now that we have largely given up acting on climate change; and third, a regional smackdown of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s reckless climate denial. Let’s review the week in cartoons:

Tuesday July 14, 2026 — Wine, tariffs and neighbourly nudges

The boycott over U.S. tariffs has become a small but effective pressure point. Senator Adam Schiff’s call to buy California wine turned a political spat into an economic signal. It matters less as pure trade policy and more as a test of influence and sympathy. California’s appeals feel like a neighbour asking for help. Republican political and legislative complaints read like a demand for repayment.

Wednesday July 15, 2026 — Bridge business and backroom bargaining

The Gordie Howe Bridge should be about moving goods and people, not political leverage. Last‑minute interventions by Manhattan shysters delayed the opening and exposed how private interests can alter public projects. The practical gain remains the bridge itself, easing a chronic bottleneck. The rest looks like headline politics and deal‑making that benefits insiders.

Thursday July 16, 2026 — Orange sky wake up call

The smoke made the season’s shift unmistakable. Orange skies and acrid air are not aesthetic oddities; they are immediate evidence that the climate system is under stress. This is not about neatly assigning blame. It is about recognizing that the climate we once took for granted is changing and will demand different responses.

Friday July 17, 2026 — Protecting lungs and systems

Poor air quality from wildfires is a public health problem, not just an inconvenience. Short‑term measures matter, like good filters and clear public alerts. Longer term, we need resilient health systems, better building standards, and coordinated community plans so people are not left exposed when the smoke returns. If you think these air quality days are bad now, imagine how much worse and longer they will be a decade or two from now.

Saturday July 18, 2026 — Leadership on trial

Cutting budgets for firefighting and conservation is a policy choice with real costs. Reactive spending after a crisis does not replace steady investment in prevention and preparedness. Effective leadership would prioritize science‑based planning and resources before the next emergency. The public consensus that once treated climate change as an urgent crisis has eroded, and corporate pledges made not long ago have been abandoned because customers apparently do not care enough.

Saturday June 15, 1935 — The Four Horsemen, by Ivan Glassco, Hamilton Spectator

A classic gag warned that camp‑fires, carelessness, cigarette butts and matches were fuelling a severe Ontario fire season 91 years ago (e.g., around North Bay, Kenora and Lake of the Woods), and today, July 18, 2026, hundreds of wildfires are again raging across northern and northwestern Ontario with officials and scientists attributing the recent surge and extreme fire behaviour largely to climate‑driven hot, dry conditions.

Friday June 21, 2024 — The Four Horsemen

As summer brings record heat, climate change has unleashed four horsemen: extreme heat, floods, violent weather, and biodiversity loss, all driving health crises, infrastructure strain, and ecosystem collapse worldwide.

Donald Trump (AKA: The Dirtiest President Ever) jumped into the smoke debate, insisting the acrid haze over parts of the United States was “Canadian smoke.” That echoes an old American habit: when Arctic air plunges south and the Deep South shivers, it is always billed as cold coming from Canada. The idea is absurd. Should we start calling tropical storms that reach Canada “American hurricanes,” or slap tariffs on the United States for sending bad weather our way? The notion of taxing cross‑border air currents is ridiculous. And yet Trump is flirting with imposing tariffs on wildfire smoke drifting into the U.S., turning meteorology into trade policy. Don’t get me started on the standard direction U.S. industrial emissions tend to drift.

It is telling that Trump found time to switch gears from the latest grievance consuming him, taking to some airwaves on Thursday night, launching into another round of his long discredited claims about rigged elections. That performance helped distract from the U.S. entanglement with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, from business arrangements that benefit him, and from the Epstein files reportedly held by his personal lawyer, who now faces a rushed, highly partisan confirmation process to become U.S. attorney general. Throw in Senator Lindsey Graham’s sudden death and the comedy surrounding Senator Mitch McConnell’s mysterious living or dead status and there was much fodder to pluck. To this Canadian, it is juicy political theatre, but too inside baseball in U.S. domestic politics for my main interest. In other news, the world’s eyes will be on a FIFA final match this coming Sunday in New Jersey, through orange smoke, no doubt, Argentina vs. Spain. Trump will be cheering on his preferred team, and it won’t be Spain.

GO Spain!

The Graeme Gallery offers a weekly review of news through my editorial cartoons, delivered free via email every Saturday. I’ve been the editorial cartoonist at the Hamilton Spectator since 1997, with work also appearing in the Toronto Star. While I remain committed to print, platforms like Substack allow me to share my work online if needed. I invest deeply in these posts, driven by a long-standing passion for current events. Thank you for subscribing, and for your support—please share with others and consider subscribing, in case you haven’t.

© 2026 Graeme MacKay. All rights reserved. Reproduction requires permission. MacKaycartoons.net