Renowned editorial cartoonist Michael de Adder may have lost his job, but he insists he hasn't lost his voice.
The author and illustrator, a member of the Order of Canada and winner of numerous national newspaper awards, says he was fired by The Chronicle-Herald newspaper this week after nearly 30 years after publication.
“I saw it coming for a long time, but I thought I had more time. I knew newspapers all over the world were in trouble. It's not just Halifax. So I was preparing for this,” he said on Wednesday, a day after receiving “the call.”
“They told me they no longer needed my input, so to speak. And they limited the drawing section to twice a week.
The newspaper was recently sold in a million-dollar deal. Toronto-based media company Postmedia Network Inc. has purchased insolvent SaltWire Network Inc. and Halifax Herald Ltd., and approximately 60 SaltWire employees were laid off in August.
De Adder has been one of Canada's leading political cartoonists for years, cursing out celebrities and politicians with biting humor or capturing the mood of the moment.
He said the industry has shrunk over time and there is little job security.
“The better you get at drawing editorial cartoons, the more those in power fear you,” he said. “They are afraid that I will express my opinion.”
Praise and controversy
Over the years, his cartoons have moved the nation and at other times sparked a backlash.
His 2018 editorial cartoon following the Tragic Van Attack The case that left 10 people dead and 14 injured in Toronto was widely publicized. It showed two young hockey players – one in a blue and white Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, the other in a white and yellow jersey. Humboldt Broncos Jersey – Together on the Bench. The cartoon showed the country mourning two tragedies: the Humboldt team bus crash in Saskatchewan and the attack in Toronto.
Receive the latest news from the country
To stay informed about news affecting Canada and the world, sign up to receive breaking news alerts as soon as they happen.
“An editorial cartoonist's job is to draw what everyone is talking about, and most often what everyone is talking about is something absurd, political, and it's a normal day,” he told Global News at the time. “On days like this it's the opposite, no one is laughing, you have to capture something that is completely sobering.”
On another occasion, de Adder found his drawings mired in controversy.
In February 2019, one of his comics depicting SNC-Lavalin sparked controversy after one of his comics caused a storm on social media.
The cartoon showed former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on opposite sides of a boxing ring. Trudeau is advised to “keep hitting her, attorney-client privilege has tied her hands.” Wilson-Raybould's depiction showed her bound and gagged.
Critics said it was an ugly reminder of violence against women, especially indigenous women.
Later that year, in July, he incurred the ire of Fox News and was fired from all New Brunswick newspapers after a controversial portrayal of then-US President Donald Trump.
The cartoon shows Trump walking past two dead migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border and asking, “Do you mind if I play?”
“I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back,” de Adder told Global News at the time.
“I'm not going anywhere”
Fellow editorial cartoonist Terry Mosher, who has worked in the field since the 1960s, acknowledged that the art form is suffering.
He told Global News that his colleagues' votes were needed, and called the newspaper's decision in the de Adder case “really, really stupid.”
“In a word, in a gesture, this is what we do. We laugh at people. We laugh at our institutions. Because we understand that nothing is perfect,” Mosher said of his work.
Meanwhile, De Adder has no intention of stopping.
“I'm not going anywhere. “I think I will do this until the day I die,” he said.
He currently has contracts with The Globe and Mail and The Hill Times. He is also building a subscription-based model to share his work.
— with files from Global News' Mike Armstrong and Rhonda Brown
