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The political year that was

© David Russell

'Tis the season of making merry, celebrating with family and friends, sharing of Christmas joys and presents and reflecting on the events that have shaped the Canadian political scene over the past year.

Okay, the latter may be a Yuletide pastime in which only I and few others engage but given the dearth of activity traditionally transpiring this time of year on Parliament Hill, looking at where we've been for the past twelve months is what passes for political discourse between now and the next sittings of provincial and federal parliaments.

Thus, with eggnog in hand (I'll try not to slur my words as I type) and apologies to Mr. Letterman, I present to you my top ten list of some of the political happenings in Canada this year.

10. Here come the New Democrats

Who?

This year saw the resurgence of the federal New Democratic Party as a viable place to park votes. Former Toronto city councilor Jack Layton's leadership had re-ignited a political spark that may well lead to an increased presence in the House come next year's election. Indeed, in recent polls, the NDP is polling as high or higher in some parts of the country than even the Alliance and Tories combined. Many pundits predict that disaffected Tories unhappy with the Canadian Alliance takeover of their party will flock to the NDP rather than remain with the new entity.

9. Looking at the numbers

Wasteful government spending is nothing new to most Canadians, but in 2003 the fervor to uncover accounting abuses and corruption reached a new peak with the close examination of the spending habits of Canada's former Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski.

While he wasn't an elected official, the Radwanski affair cemented among all parties the notion that controls on government officials' spending habits needs much closer monitoring than it currently gets. Even the Governor General, normally exempt from close parliamentary scrutiny, found herself and her office earning the ire of fiscally conservative taxpayers.

8. Helicopter Hell [http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/cana... ]

The year ends as it began - for that matter as the Liberals' reign began - with Canada lacking aeronautic equipment necessary to meet its military obligations. Despite plenty of promises to the contrary, procurement tenders to replace our decrepit fleet of Sea King helicopters have yet to be issued. Keeping in mind that once a contract is awarded it will still be at least five years for the replacement birds to fly the Canadian skies, we can expect continued crashes and likely deaths of military personnel in the months and years to come.

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