2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
8
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders drops out of the race for Democratic presidential nominee, leaving Joe Biden to face off with Donald Trump for the White House.
12
OPEC and other producers agree to a 10-million-barrel-per-day production cut in a bid to shore up flagging oil prices.
15
Citing possible impacts on wildlife at river crossings, a Montana judge halts construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in that state.
16
The federal government announces an aid package for the country's oilpatch, including $1.7 billion to help clean up orphaned and abandoned well sites.
17
Canadian troops begin replacing absent staff at Quebec long-term care facilities hit hard by the novel coronavirus.
18-19
In the bloodiest Canadian mass shooting in history, a gunman — dressed in police clothing and driving a mock RCMP cruiser — kills 22 people across northern Nova Scotia before being shot dead by Mounties, who lose one of their own.
20
For the first time ever, oil prices crash into negative territory as the coronavirus pandemic continues to throttle demand for petroleum leading to a massive glut.
22
Contrary to the president's accusations, an American senate intelligence committee report concludes there was no undue bias in investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election that aided Donald Trump.
23
For the first time in 97 years, the Calgary Stampede cancels its marquee event. The Calgary Folk Festival also pulls the plug.
23
U.S. President Donald Trump sets off alarm bells by telling a COVID-19 press briefing that injected disinfectant and UV light should be examined as possible cures.
27
Alberta ethics commissioner Marguerite Trussler rules there was nothing improper in the UCP government's 2019 firing of Elections Commissioner Lorne Gibson, who was investigating improprieties in the party's 2017 leadership race won by Jason Kenney.
27
Thousands are forced to evacuate in Fort Mcmurray in the face of a flooding Athabasca River clogged by a massive ice jam.
29
Six are killed when a Canadian Armed Forces Cyclone helicopter crashes into the Mediterranean Sea.
MAY
1
The federal government bans multiple versions of what it calls military-style assault rifles, rousing conservative fury.
7
Charges are dropped against former Trump adviser Michael Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about contacts with a former Russian ambassador in 2016.
7
In the latest wound in America's racial divide, a former white police officer and his son are charged with murdering a jogging Black man, Ahmaud Arbery, in Brunswick, Ga. The dead man's supporters allege a police cover-up after a video surfaces of the killing two months after it occurred.
8
Rock 'n' roll pioneer Little Richard dies. He was 87.
13
Attacks on a maternity ward in Kabul and a high profile funeral leave dozens dead and Afghanistan's peace process in doubt.
14
After two months of pandemic lockdown, the first phase of Alberta's economic relaunch begins tentatively, with Calgary left out of some of the opening due to a higher number of COVID-19 cases.
15
State Department inspector general Steve Linick, who was investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of possible wrongdoing, is fired by President Donald Trump. It's the latest in a string of such firings.
17
Snowbird team member Jennifer Casey is killed when the Tutor jet she is in crashes shortly after takeoff in Kamloops, B.C.
18
Despite researchers' doubts about its effectiveness and warnings over its safety, U.S. President Donald Trump says he's been taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to ward off the novel coronavirus.
19
In a world first, police lay a terrorism charge in the February machete slaying of Noell Arzaga in Toronto because it's allegedly linked to the incel movement.
21
Beijing announces it'll use a national security law to target dissent in restive Hong Kong in a move undercutting the city's autonomy within China.
22
A Pakistan International Airlines Airbus crashes in a residential area of Karachi. Ninety-seven people are killed.
25
George Floyd, a black man, dies after pleading for his life while a Minneapolis police officer accompanied by three colleagues pins him by the neck with his knee. Video of the encounter sparks days of protests and riots in the city that spread throughout the U.S. for days.
25
Restaurants, bars and hair salons reopen in Calgary and Brooks after a COVID-19 lockdown of more than two months.
25
Calgary city council votes to ban the practice of so-called conversion therapy within its boundaries.
26
A report prepared by Canadian military personnel aiding longterm care workers hard-pressed by COVID-19 reveals horrifying conditions and troubling practises at five Ontario facilities.
27
The official fatality count in the U.S. from the novel coronavirus pandemic hits 100,000, with more than 1.7 million known cases.
30
For the first time, a commercial rocket, the Spacex Crew Dragon, lifts off to take astronauts to the International Space Station.
JUNE
1
As anti-racism demonstrations continue in many U.S. cities, President Donald Trump unleashes police and soldiers on peaceful protesters outside the White House to clear a path for him to hoist a Bible for a photo op outside a nearby church.
3
Thousands march through Calgary streets to protest racism and police violence in the biggest demonstration in the city in nearly two decades. It's one of several Black Lives Matter demonstrations that occur in Calgary.
8
In the face of massive countrywide protests targeting police violence, Minneapolis city council votes to disband its city's police force.
10
NASCAR bans the Confederate battle flag at its races. That follows announcements that statues honouring Confederate figures will also be banned, part of the aftermath of the George Floyd death and protests.
12
Calgary ends nearly three months of a civic COVID-19 emergency declaration as Alberta's economy and activities open up further.
13
Calgary, particularly its northeast, is pounded by severe hail and rain that causes widespread property damage and flooding.
15
The U.S Supreme Court rules in favour of employment protection for LGBTQ workers, a major loss for the Trump administration.
16
City council approves Calgary's largest-ever infrastructure project, the $5.5-billion LRT Green Line whose first phases will run from Shepard in the southeast, through downtown and to 16 Avenue and Centre Street N.
17
Canada falls short in its lengthy quest for a temporary seat on the UN Security Council, losing out to Norway and Ireland.
17
Alberta's UCP government releases its Fair Deal panel report on attaining more autonomy for the province. Premier Jason Kenney embraces a non-binding referendum on equalization payments, seeking a provincial pension plan and Alberta police force to replace the RCMP.
17
Excerpts from a long-awaited book by former Trump national security adviser John Bolton emerge with bombshells that include allegations the U.S. president sought China's assistance in his re-election and approved of Beijing's use of concentration camps for Muslim minorities.
18
The U.S. Supreme Court upholds legal protections of so-called Dreamers, U.s.-born children of undocumented immigrants.
19
U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, considered by many to be a Trump operative, moves to oust New York State Attorney Geoffrey Berman, whose office is investigating the U.S. president over corruption allegations.
19
A less-redacted version of the so-called Mueller report into Donald Trump's dealings with Russia during the 2016 presidential election reveals special counsel Mueller suspected the eventual U.S. president might have lied in written testimony and shines more light on dealings between the campaign and Moscow's operatives.
19
Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, already held for 18 months by Chinese authorities due to a diplomatic dispute with Ottawa, are charged with espionage by Beijing.
20
Parts of Arctic Siberia record unprecedented temperatures in the high 30 C range, increasing concerns over the impacts of global warming.
24
Calgary-based Westjet permanently lays off 3,333 employees as the airline grapples with the COVID-19 travel shutdown.
25
Criticism erupts over Alberta Premier Jason Kenney's hiring of speech writer Paul Bunner, who had in previous years written articles denouncing concerns over Indigenous residential schools and homophobia.
27
News reports state U.S. intelligence as saying Russian military has been paying Taliban guerrillas to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan with President Donald Trump's knowledge.
29
Premier Jason Kenney announces a plan to re-boot Alberta's ailing economy, including speeding up corporate tax cuts and spending more on infrastructure projects.
29
Hollywood comic giant Carl Reiner dies at the age of 98.
30
Ottawa announces the appointment of businesswoman and community advocate Salma Lakhani as Alberta's next lieutenant-governor, the country's first Muslim to assume that role.
JULY
1
After years of negotiations, a new North American free-trade agreement comes into effect between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
1
Russians vote to give President Vladimir Putin the right to extend his rule until 2036 while outlawing same-sex marriage.
2
The Supreme Court of Canada decides it won't hear a B.C. First Nations' appeal against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on environmental grounds. The dismissal appears to end years-long court battles against the project.
2
Ghislaine Maxwell is arrested for her alleged role in sex-trafficking young women linked to the late, accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
2
An armed man drives his pickup truck through the gates of Rideau Hall in Ottawa, the home of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov.Gen. Julie Payette. Manitoban and military reservist Corey Hurren is arrested after advancing towards the Trudeau home.
3
Ottawa bans the import to China of certain military items in protest of Beijing's new security law that cracks down on dissent in Hong Kong.
3
The We Charity backs out of a $900-million sole-source, federally funded volunteer program in light of the group's close ties to the Trudeaus.
6
Another blow is dealt to the Keystone XL pipeline's construction when the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a previous ruling halting it over environmental concerns.
8
The federal government predicts a historic $343 billion deficit for the year, due largely to the COVID-19 pandemic.
9
The U.S. Supreme Court rules
U.S. President Donald Trump must turn over his tax returns to New
York State prosecutors but not the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.
10
Accusations of blatant corruption greet U.S. President Donald Trump's commutation of the sentence handed down to his 2016 election campaign adviser Roger Stone who had been convicted of witness tampering, obstruction and lying to Congress.
13
It's revealed Lethbridge police officers Sgt. Jason Carrier and Const. Keon Woronuk had placed surveillance on and sought to intimidate then-ndp environment minister Shannon Phillips and those she met with in 2017. The officers were unhappy with NDP conservation policy. They're both temporarily demoted.
15
In an unprecedented attack, hackers target the accounts of a wide range of billionaires and politicians.
17
Congressman John Lewis, one of the last remaining major 1960s civil rights icons, dies of cancer at the age of 80.
18
Oregon political leaders condemn the actions of anonymous federal officers, who have been detaining Black Lives Matter protesters and others on Portland streets, and urge them to leave the city.
18
A tour bus on the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park rolls, killing three and leaving 24 others injured.
21
In a response to the growing backlash against perceived racist symbols, the CFL'S Edmonton Eskimos say they will change the team's name.
21
Calgary city council adopts the mandatory use of masks in all indoor public places in a bid to fend off a resurgent COVID-19.
22
Deepening the Liberal government's WE scandal, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau admits to paying back $41,000 in travel expenses to the charitable group.
29
French energy giant Total says it's writing off $9.3 billion in assets in Alberta's oilsands and ending its membership in the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers for economic and environmental reasons, the latest in a string of disinvestment moves plaguing Alberta's energy sector.