From a plummeting economy to the amazing U.S. Presidential Race, to Canada’s lowest voter turnout in history to the Canadian government being thrust into upheaval, 2008 had a little bit of everything.

As 2008 began, much of the world was already in the midst of a financial crisis. Storms swept through the world in the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, and still show no signs of slowing down. The economy in 2008 was characterized by stock and real estate market meltdowns, unprecedented bank failures, massive layoffs and rising unemployment, disappearing credit and historic government bailouts of the financial and auto sectors.

And unlike Harper’s reassuring words that Canada would remain unaffected, almost every major province was. British Columbia saw U.S. demand for lumber plummet with prices dropping below profitable levels. And their mining industry suffered as demand from China dropped and commodities took a nose dive. Oil-rich Alberta, once one of the richest provinces in the country, saw the price of oil drop 78% from its peak in July when it hit $147 a barrel. Now, oil hovers under the $40 a barrel mark. In Ontario, the auto industry fights for its life after receiving a $4 billion bailout from the Canadian government. Saskatchewan fared better than the rest as a result of its diversity in energy, agriculture and potash, but still declined as a result of lower commodity prices.

2008 also saw the best and the worst of elections. Charismatic Obama took the world by storm becoming the first black president in the history of the U.S. His ability to run the first ever internet campaign with blogs, Youtube videos, Facebook appeals and more resulted in the highest voter turnout in the history of the U.S. leaving McCain in his wake. In contrast, Canada’s federal elections were a disaster resulting in the lowest voter turnout rate in history.

Shortly after, the Canadian government was thrust into panic and upheaval. Following Stephen Harper’s proposal to cut public funding for political parties, the Liberals and NDP attempted to form a coalition government to topple the minority Conservative government with the help of the Bloc. Harper was able to dodge the bullet by convincing Michaëlle Jean to prorogue parliament until January. We then saw Stephan Dion resign (finally) with Michael Ignatieff becoming the interim leader of the party. Ever since the Liberal-NDP coalition attempt, support for the conservatives has risen.

Will Harper and the Conservatives learn from their near defeat? Will Canadian politics continue to entertain us through the New Year? That and more to come in 2009.

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Tags: coalition, Economy, financial crisis, harper, obama, year in review

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Economy, Federal Election, Federal Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.