The top 10 winners and losers of 2017
As 2017 draws to an end, it’s time to reflect on the people and events in Canada that made headlines over the past 12 months. In that spirit, here’s my 10th annual list of winners and losers from across the country. As in past years, many big names and events failed to make the list due to heavy competition.
First, the winners, in no particular order:
1. Lindsay Shepherd: The Wilfrid Laurier University teaching assistant won a full apology from the school after she was initially reprimanded for showing her tutorial class a controversial clip of a debate on gender pronouns that had already aired on TVO. A victory for Lindsay — and free speech. 2. Rubber duck: Despite costing $120,000 to bring it to Ontario, a sixstorey rubber duck was a huge hit, drawing 750,000 viewers to the Toronto waterfront as part of Canada Day celebrations. The duck made later appearances in Midland, Owen Sound and Sault Ste. Marie. 3. Maggie MacDonald: This northern Quebec teacher won an international prize worth $1 million (U.S.) for her work in Salluit, an Inuit community. She beat out 20,000 other nominees for one of the world’s top awards for teaching excellence. 4. Setsuko Thurlow: This Toronto resident, 85, was one of two women to accept the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. The anti-nuclear campaigner was 13 and living in Hiroshima when the U.S. dropped a nuclear bomb on the city. 5. Michael Redhill: This Toronto writer had just $411 in the bank when he won the Giller Prize, Canada’s richest literary award, worth $100,000 for his novel Bellevue Square. 6. Valérie Plante: This first-term city councillor won a stunning upset victory over veteran Quebec politician Denis Corderre to become the first woman to be elected mayor of Montreal. 7. Chickens: Toronto city council approved a pilot project that will allow residents in some areas to keep up to four chickens in their backyards. Sorry, no roosters allowed. 8. Toronto sports teams: The Argos won the Grey Cup, Toronto FC captured the MLS championship and Auston Matthews won the Calder Cup as the NHL’s top rookie, the first Leaf to win the award in more than 50 years. 9. Naheed Nenshi: The Calgary mayor defied pollsters by winning a third straight victory with over 50 per cent of the vote in an election where he was thought to be a sure loser. 10. The Yukon Toe: A shrivelled human toe that’s the key ingredient in a “sourtoe cocktail” at a Dawson City, Yukon bar was stolen by a patron. Fortunately for the bar owners, though, the toe was returned a few days later.
And now the losers:
1. Jagmeet Singh: The Sikh from Brampton won the federal NDP leadership race. That should have earned him a spot on the winners’ list, but under his leadership the NDP’s share of the vote has fallen in all six byelections since he took over the party reins. 2. Skating rinks: Ottawa spent $5.6 million to install an NHL-size rink on the front lawn of Parliament Hill that is to be open just 10 weeks. Any backyard rink maker with a garden hose would have done it for $300. 3. Christy Clark: The B.C. Liberal premier led her party to a minority re- election victory, but the Greens opted to back the NDP, thus ending the Liberals’ 16 years in power. Clark quit and left politics. 4. Sears Canada: The once-iconic department store chain closed its doors forever, shuttering 190 stores and leaving 15,000 employees out of work while some bosses got huge bonuses. 5. Justin Altman: This mayor of Stouffville showed no remorse for creating a creepy CSI-type mural in his office washroom with dozens of photos of staff, councillors, local residents and even journalists. 6. Hi: By a vote of 110-0, Quebec provincial legislators adopted a motion urging store clerks to welcome customers with a simple “bonjour” instead of “bonjour/hi” as way to reaffirm that French is the province’s official language. 7. Mr. Wonderful: TV personality and businessman Kevin O’Leary, who calls himself Mr. Wonderful, failed in his bid to win the federal Tory leadership, quitting the race days before it ended. 8. Air Transat: The airline kept passengers on board two planes at Ottawa’s airport for up to six hours, in one case without food, water or air conditioning. A passenger called 911 in total frustration with the airline. 9. Toronto Islands: The islands were closed to the public for three months as Lake Ontario water levels rose to nearrecord heights, flooding homes and huge swaths of parkland. 10. Donald Trump: The U.S. president suffered yet another embarrassment (although he likely would never admit it), only this time in Canada when the new owners pointedly removed his name from the 68-storey Trump International Hotel and Tower in downtown Toronto.