Halifax Editorial Cartoonist’s Work Featured on Canada Post Stamp – Halifax

You are probably familiar with the work of iconic cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon having seen it in the pages of the Chronicle Herald for the past 35 years, but the next time you look at your mail you might see one of his drawings in upper right corner as a Canada Post stamp. .

MacKinnon was one of five editorial cartoonists honored by Canada Post this week with a collectible stamp that features one of their most famous designs.

Canada Post has chosen the 2018 MacKinnon cartoon that honors the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team that was involved in a fatal bus crash in Saskatchewan. The cartoon shows a hockey player dressed in the green and gold colors of the Humboldt Broncos, slumped on his skates with the word “Sask” on his back. He is supported by 10 other players dressed in red with the short forms of the provinces on their jerseys.

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Canadian editorial cartoonist explains how he came up with the idea for the Humboldt Broncos cartoon

“It’s a huge honor,” MacKinnon said from his studio in Halifax. “I was not expecting it and my head is still spinning a bit. I think the most important thing is to be in the company of other designers.

Canada Post’s new stamp collection also includes Serge Chapleau of La Presse, Brian Gable of The Globe and Mail, Terry Mosher of the Montreal Gazette and Duncan Macpherson of the Toronto Star.

MacKinnon has been with the Chronicle Herald since 1986 and has published over 8,000 cartoons. He has won nearly every award, including 21 Atlantic Journalism Awards, six National Newspaper Awards, and was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2016.

After 35 years of working under the pressure of daily deadlines, MacKinnon said it didn’t get any easier, but he still relished the opportunity to draw cartoons and communicate with the public.

“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world and I really like it, but at the same time there are days when I hate it and I prefer to lay bricks,” he said. “You always have that deadline at the end of the day and sometimes it gets you really good stuff and sometimes it just raises your blood pressure.”

With such a decorated career already behind him, MacKinnon had seen his illustrations exhibited in many different places, from the United States Library of Congress to the washrooms of local pubs, but he never thought he would see his designs on display. a postage stamp.

“I like to draw on a fairly large scale and the older I get the more I want to draw and to get it all down to the size of a stamp I didn’t think it would actually be readable, but it turned out to be OK,” MacKinnon said.

MacKinnon sees himself as a columnist, using satire and humor using pictures instead of words. He says his images and illustrations tell the story, typically making the audience or reader laugh and sometimes cry, depending on the topic.

“For me, it’s always been about drawing and I think I can get my point across faster and with more impact if it’s done right than most columnists can do with a column,” MacKinnon said. “As cartoonists, we have a huge advantage in being able to do this. “