Top Ten Canadian Political Stories - 2000-2009

As the decade wanes, Dan Arnold of CalgaryGrit fame is having a contest to determine the top Canadian political moment of the past ten years.  Here are my ten nominees in no particular order:

• the Right Unites
• Gays marry
• the ADQ becomes the number one political party in francophone Quebec, and then dissolves within two years
• Canadian soldiers fight (and die) in Afghanistan
• Newfoundland and Labrador becomes a one-party state
• the Sponsorship scandal explodes
• GG Jean pulls the plug on Parliament and the coalition breaks up
• Paul Martin clearcuts the Liberal Party
• the Tories create a beachhead in Quebec (and the NDP gets a toehold)
• the U.S. economy gets pneumonia, Canada catches a bad head cold

don't you think the NDP taking power in NS is a bigger story than danny Williams being the fourth PC premier of Newfoundland?

I think that's far from obvious at this point.  Danny Williams has been a lot more significant in challenging the neoconservative agenda than the NDP premier Doer.  I haven't seen a lot of evidence Dexter has much real fight in him.

I haven't seen Danny Williams "challenge" the neo-conservative agenda  - unless you count having a spat with harper over the Atlatic accord which already seems to have ended.

I count nationalizing Abitibi admist howls of rage throughout the mainstream press and running a ruthlessly and thoroughly effective campaign to wipe the Harpercons out of his province.  That's a lot more than one could say about Doer who rolls over when Harper pats him on the head and schills for our disgraceful invasion of Afghanistan.  It doesn't surprise me that you think party colours trump all other considerations but any objective observer would have to say Williams has had a much greater political impact than Doer.  We'll see about Dexter but he looks pretty milquetoast so far.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/peace-down-east-why-william...

* SSM

* Canadians are complicit in torture and murder of another nation's peoples

* Canadians accept mean politics as the norm

* Attack commenced on women's rights

* Canadians accept openly racist government

* Canadians accept non-action on the environment

* Canadians accept social divisions as the norm

* Poverty becomes acceptable

* War for the sake of war becomes acceptable

* Stroke of death for capitalism was heard

1) The start of the Harper era

2) Afghanistan

3) The late-00s financial crisis

4) The sponsorship scandal

5) The rise (and decline) of Green politics

6) Minority governments / The coalition fiasco

7) The Paul Martin coronation

8) Same-sex marriage

9) The flea that roared: Danny Williams

10) Reasonable accommodation / the ADQ

Actually, move 6 to 5.

Belinda Stronach has got to be on that list somewhere

The Chuck Cadman [11] vote / insurance policy bribe allegation maybe?

he he he ...

If you all don't mind me saying this, perhaps the start of the Layton era might count here, somehow?

In no particular order:

Fall of the Liberals: They entered the decade with a strong majority and suffered major losses in every election since

NDP: They entered the decade on life support and came back

Sovereignty in Quebec: Declined as a relevant issue, as "sovereignty fatigue" drove the PQ out of office in 2003 and was responsible for the rise of the ADQ in 2007. In 2008, the PQ would for the first time in its history improve its seat count without soverignty being front and centre

Minority Crisis: The election of a minority in 2004 rocked Parliament, as the governing parties had up until now been used to having total control. With one-seat margins between 2004 and 2006, floor-crossings and independent MPs suddenly became more influential and the upheaval proved difficult

Coalition Crisis: In 2008, the Opposition was prepared to take out the governing party and replace it with a coalition. Like the above, this rocked Parliament as moves like this had been rare in Canadian politics.

Nova Scotia: The first province east of Ontario to elect an NDP government.

Manitoba: The NDP wins historically large majorities, thus becoming cemented in Manitoba politics

Saskatchewan: The Saskatchewan Party sends the NDP to its lowest ever popular vote since the 30s, ending not only the party's 16-year reign but throwing the future of the NDP in doubt

BC: Gordon Campbell's Liberals reduce the NDP to 2 seats, a setback from which the NDP still has yet to recover.

Who cares anyways?: Federally and in many provinces, average election turnouts decline, setting new record lows in many cases

Was sovereignty front and centre in the 1976 election, or was it mainly a 'Let's-get-rid-of-Bou-Bou" campaign?

I don't know, but it certainly was a prominent issue in 1980, and the PQ did openly talk about a referendum in the lead up to the 1994 election that brought it back to power. Maybe not necessarily "front and centre" in the actual election campaign, but certainly on everybody's minds.

I think that another story of the decade was Ontario tossing the Pcs and electing McGuinty. Given that 38% of Canadians live in Ontario - what happens in Ontario politics is ipso-facto an important story.

1) rise of the Bolivarian movement in Latin America as an alternative to Washington

2) war on terror

3) emergence of a new Environmental consensus outside of North America (and to a lesser extent w/in NA)

4) rise of the BRICK nations in a multi-polar world (and transition from G8 to G20)

5) Great Recession, the failure of Monopoly Finiance Capitialism and its temporary revival after government bailouts

In Canada

1) polarization of politics with a united right, and a reinvigerated NDP and emerging Green Party.

2) transition to a resource dependent economy

3) transitioning to the new international symbol for conservative government.  Taking over where the USA has left off