As a die-hard socialist living in pretty capitalistic times, I take a good shot of left-wing Prozac with my orange juice every morning. God knows, some days I need two — just to restore my gumption for challenging the rich and powerful.

The year that passed, however, offered lefties like me a considerable quotient of natural anti-depressants — because it seems to me that we actually won a few battles last year. Here’s my Top 10 list of the greatest things to happen to the left in 2005:

1. Minority government: Minority government makes for great drama. It also makes for good policy. This minority government lasted just 17 months, but brought more new social spending than any government in a generation, made genuine progress on equity issues, and protected workers’ contracts under corporate bankruptcy. In fact, I liked this one so much, I want another.

Ironically, despite the left’s success extracting this progress from the Liberals, NDP strategists lose sleep worrying about the diluting impact of minority on their party’s brand. But from the perspective of what actually happens in society, minority government was the year’s greatest gift to the left.

2. George Bush: A bumbling right-winger who manipulates his country into hopeless military adventures is already a lame duck not a year into his second term, and has run up the largest (and most pointless) government deficit in human history. What more could the left ask for?

The painful part is that Mr. Bush could probably get re-elected today (which says something scary about U.S. democracy). That poses a real and present danger to the whole planet in its own right. In every other country, however (including Canada), Mr. Bush is a shot in the left’s arm.

3. The Latin American revolution: The election of union leader and coca farmer Evo Morales as Bolivia’s President last month was the latest conquest for the renewed left-wing tide sweeping Latin America. Fidel Castro used to be in a club of one; now he has most of the continent on his side. The next showdown: Mexican elections this July. Andres Lopez Obrador, the left-wing mayor of Mexico City (currently topping the polls), could bring the revolution right to the Rio Grande.

4. Montreal and Kyoto: Canada played host to the 11th Conference of the Parties in Montreal, which formally approved the next stage of Kyoto rules on greenhouse pollution. Despite serious arm-twisting by the non-participating Americans, all 157 countries there agreed to move to the next stage. Now if only Canada could get its act together and live up to our own commitments.

5. Conrad Black: Sure, it doesn’t put a chicken in the pot. But the sight of Conrad Black sitting in the docket warms any left-wing heart. I nominate Linda McQuaig (whom he once wanted “horsewhipped”) as his chief prosecutor, and 12 former strikers at the Calgary Herald as the jury. My only regret: Canada’s toothless securities regulators couldn’t do the job themselves.

6. Same-sex marriage: Liberation for some is a little liberation for all. The minute all those gay and lesbian couples began jubilantly charging down the aisle, the issue was settled. Last June’s Commons vote made it official. Even Stephen Harper’s attempts to pander to the religious cornerstone of his party (promising to reopen the issue) seem half-hearted. He knows it’s a done deal.

7. Child care: It took a minority government to get the Liberals to follow through on their 12-year-old promise of national child care. And we’re not quite there yet: There’s not nearly enough money on the table, and Ottawa’s kowtowing to privatizers in Alberta threatens the whole principle. But a national child-care program — our first new national social program in decades — is about to be delivered. (And just as my own kids are graduating from daycare. Rats.)

8. Aboriginal summit: Canada’s “kinder, gentler” reputation is not always deserved — and nowhere is the gap between reputation and reality greater than the appalling poverty of aboriginal peoples. The first ministers’ summit in Kelowna promised real change: a $5-billion plan to close the gap in basic living conditions. That would be a truly historic accomplishment. Now we just have to get Ottawa to do it.

9. Steve Nash: The Canadian basketball star has game, all right. He’s also got heart: a left-wing one, to be precise. He publicly opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq (a brave stand, since he earns his living before rambunctious, often-inebriated hordes of Americans), he reads Che Guevara, and he generously supports (with time, more than money) an array of social justice causes. This year, he was the NBA’s most valuable player. Forget that action: I nominate him for sporting role model of the decade.

10. World Economic Forum: Strange to see this tony institution on a left-wing hit list. But its 2005 Global Competitiveness Report says it all: It listed five high-tax, egalitarian, cradle-to-grave European welfare states (topped by Finland and Sweden) as among the most competitive economies in the world. Indeed, these jurisdictions took fully half the top 10 spots, proving there’s nothing uncompetitive about taxes or welfare programs — as long as they’re smart and innovative.

Whether society is moving to the left or to the right depends on far more than just which party is in power. It depends on deeper trends in social attitudes and social structures. To be sure, the power of global corporations and elite leaders is pretty daunting. But every now and then, the good people fighting for a better world actually win a battle or two.

If I can assemble a similarly optimistic Top 10 list next New Year’s, that would prove the pendulum is swinging back our way.

Jim Stanford

Jim Stanford is economist and director of the Centre for Future Work, a progressive labour economics institute based in Vancouver. He has a PhD in economics from the New School for Social Research in New...