Portfoolio 8: The Year in Canadian Caricature

Greg Turko is a policy analyst at the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and
Universities.

Portfoolio 8 documents 1992 through the eyes of 49 editorial
cartoonists. By all indications, it was a fruitful year for the
profession.

The condition of the Canadian and world economies continued to provide
a solid can-be-counted-on-every-day base of material, and the Royal
family’s use of cellular-phone technology added an international
flavor. It was, however, the constitutional debate/referendum
(remember?—right about the time of the Blue Jays’ World Series
triumph) that was the Eldorado of editorial cartooning. Any time Senate
reform and constitution amending become issues for the average person on
the street, editorial cartooning becomes the work equivalent
of—well—a Senate appointment. Moreover, the debate/referendum was
without question a genuine Canadian event as portrayed by the generally
defensive, narrow, regional perspectives adopted by cartoonists across
the country.

Editorial cartoonists have a difficult task. They have a few square
inches of editorial space to summarize complex events in a funny,
provocative, and artistic way. By contrast, editorial writers and
columnists need far more space to express their views (usually
self-righteous indignation and personal bias passing as analysis).
Portfoolio 8 is, therefore, an excellent, efficient, and quick way to
review 1992 Canadian and world highlights.