The top five political stories of 2019

OTTAWA — Major scandal, widespread environmental protests, a federal election and a lasting discussion on the state of national unity are some of the things that made headlines this year.

There’s no question 2019 was a big year in Canadian politics. With the help of several experts, Saltwire has broken down the top political stories of the year.

1 — SNC LAVALIN’S LASTING IMPACT

The year began with what became the biggest story of the year: then-attorney general and Justice minister Jody Wilson-raybould accusing the Prime Minister's Office of interference in her handling of a fraud case involving Quebec-based contracting company SNC Lavalin.

The first domino in the fiasco was the resignation of former Treasury Board president and longtime Nova Scotia MP Scott Brison in January. It prompted a cabinet shuffle that saw Wilson-raybould demoted to Veterans Affairs.

“That was a huge story and we're still seeing the repercussions,” said University of P.E.I. political science professor Don Desserud.

Not only did the story shape election discourse, SNC Lavalin recently pleaded guilty to one count of fraud, a plea deal that resulted in other charges being withdrawn.

Seemingly having learned a lesson from the ordeal, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently penned in an explicit separation between the prosecution branch of the attorney general's office and the federal government in the mandate letter to Justice Minister David Lametti.

2 — ENVIRONMENT: THE YEAR OF GRETA

This was the year of climate protests, of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and of a notable surge of support for the Green Party in Atlantic Canada, federally and provincially.

It was also the first year for the implementation for federally imposed carbon pricing, despite opposition from some provinces, causing political divisions on a provincial and national scale.

In 2019, the environment became a top political issue at the national level, something Canada’s political parties took note of in their party platforms, said Dalhousie political sociologist Howard Ramos.

“There’s a supermajority of Canadians, even in Alberta, who recognize the need for climate action. We see an openness (to) the Paris targets, you see an openness to carbon pricing and you see the energy that came with Greta when she came to Canada and mobilizing youth. It's become a front and centre issue.”

3 — ELECTION 2019: NO TO RIGHT-WING POPULISM, YES TO MINORITY GOVERNMENTS

For Ramos, one major takeaway of the federal election is the lack of support for far-right and populist policies in Canada, in contrast to what has been observed elsewhere.

Ramos said this was seen on both a national and regional scale with Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada's failure to win any seats, including Bernier’s own, or attract many votes (the party received approximately 1.6 per cent of the popular vote nationwide).

“It shows that Canadians are more middle-centre in terms of their politics and that there's no room for that kind of far-right politicking,” Ramos said.

Another major story out of the election, and one that dominated the headlines for the last few months of 2019, is the regional divisions made apparent by the results — most notably, the Liberals were completely shut out of Alberta and Saskatchewan in favour of the Tories, while in Atlantic Canada, 26 out of 32 seats returned to the Liberals after a full red sweep in 2015.

4 — A COUNTRY DIVIDED?

The concerns about national unity that evolved from the 2019 federal election results is a story that deserves recognition of its own.

“There are some very clear fault lines now,” Desserud said.

In early December, the Council of the Federation met in Toronto to try to find some common ground in order to set the stage for federal policymaking. With tensions high, the premiers knew it would be wise for Ottawa to make whatever they could agree on a top priority.

The provinces presented a number of requests. Of the major ones was more money for health care, specifically an increase in funding by an annual escalator of 5.2 per cent to the Canada Health Transfer, which has long been a top priority of the Atlantic region due to its aging population). Another request was a retooling of the federal fiscal stabilization fund to better rise to the needs of oil-producing provinces facing financial struggles (mainly Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador.)

The fiscal stabilization program has been framed as an easier solution to economic disparity, one of the areas driving the east-vote split, as opposed to any sort of reopening of the equalization formula, which some provinces were calling for.

5 — WHERE THE TORIES GO FROM HERE

One of the final major headlines of 2019 was the resignation of Andrew Scheer as Conservative party leader in mid-december, pending the selection of a new leader, and the ensuing leadership race to replace him.

Not only did the story shape election discourse, SNC Lavalin recently pleaded guilty to one count of fraud, a plea deal that resulted in other charges being withdrawn.

Scheer’s effectiveness as leader has been in question since the disappointing results of the federal election. The party’s second-place support has been in part blamed on his unwillingness to take a hard stance one way or another on social issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion.

Desserud says the division between social and fiscal conservatism within the party is unsurprising, considering the party is an amalgamation between the former Progressive Conservative and more right-leaning Canadian Alliance.

“Scheer was getting it from both sides, the moderate Progressive Conservatives didn't like he wouldn't come out in favour of same-sex marriage … and the social conservatives were upset that he wasn’t clearly on their side,” Desserud said

“Whoever is going to be leader is probably going to take that as a message to not be wishy-washy.”