Tuesday, January 1, 2019
by Mary P Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
Before the year that was 2018 fades into memory, for the record here are the top 12 major news stories of the year that impacted Vancouver Island, BC and Canada both domestically and globally.
- CANNABIS became legal in Canada (October 17, 2018).
- HUMBOLDT BRONCOS bus crash in April riveted and saddened both the sport community and the country. New Saskatchewan legislation regarding the division of crowd-sourced funding was tested.
- TRUDEAU’s GOVERNMENT fought long and hard for a renewed NAFTA but we still see Trump-imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum (affecting vehicle prices and jobs) and a squeezed dairy industry.
- BC GOT LNG after all: helps Trudeau’s energy agenda and will produce needed revenues for BC’s social programs.
- CANADA bought the Trans Mountain pipeline to send a positive international economic message, but oil has yet to flow; Alberta is fuming.
- PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION got a third try in BC in a Fall 2018 referendum (results announced Dec 20). First Past the Post won comfortably with 61.3%; 42.6% of eligible registered voters participated.
- CANADA arrested a Chinese tech company executive at the insistence of the US, squeezing this country politically and diplomatically; future economic and privacy/security losses may result.
- SMOKY SKIES due to summer wildfires in BC gave reason to re-examine air quality expectations.
- HOUSING CRISIS across Canada, with high impact in Victoria and Vancouver where the cost of housing drives people away from urban job locations; homelessness recognized as chronic.
- SOLSTICE-EVE WINDSTORM in December caused outages for one-third of BC Hydro’s Vancouver Island customers.
- BRITISH ROYALTY welcomed a ‘biracial’ duchess; in marrying Prince Harry, American actress Meghan Markle switched her pop-culture career for royal duties and a chance at broader philanthropy.
- FACEBOOK WAS CAUGHT selling private user data. But they keep doing it. Shows a stark need for tech industry regulation.
Top news stories of 2018 as first published on page 3 in the December 28, 2018 issue of West Shore Voice News.
The Queen’s 2018 Christmas message (commentary as first posted online December 25, 2018)
Windstorm’s power outage aftermath lasts 8 days on Vancouver Island | also see page 1 in the December 28, 2018 issue of West Shore Voice News.