2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
AUGUST
4
A massive explosion involving tonnes of long-stored ammonium nitrate on Beirut's waterfront kills more than 190 people and injures about 6,000 others. Following corruption allegations and an economic meltdown, the blast unleashes a political upheaval in Lebanon.
6
U.S. President Donald Trump says his country will slap a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian aluminum imports.
6
New York's attorney general announces the state is suing to have the NRA dissolved after uncovering evidence of fraudulent misdirection of funds that enriched its leadership.
6
Following a panel review, Alberta's UCP government announces curriculum changes for K-12, drawing considerable flak from educators.
10
It's reported that those with links to Alberta's UCP government directly sought and appeared to gain approval from the Health Ministry to build a $200-million privately-operated surgical facility in Edmonton.
11
Then-presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden chooses California senator and former prosecutor Kamala Harris as his running mate.
13
The United Arab Emirates and Israel announce they're normalizing relations in return for the Jewish state foregoing its annexation of parts of the West Bank.
13
U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledges he's blocking funding for the U.S. Postal Service to hinder its ability to deliver mail-in ballots for November's presidential election.
17
For the first time since the
First World War, the CFL cancels its 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic and after Ottawa refuses to issue the league a loan.
17
After being stung by his role in the WE scandal, Bill Morneau steps down as Canada's finance minister. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland succeeds him.
18
A Gop-led Senate committee finds Russian intelligence operatives and Wikileaks aided the 2016 Donald Trump presidential election effort through campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
20
In unusually blunt language after the UN Security Council rejects U.S. extended sanctions on Iran, Germany, France and the U.K. condemn the American action and cite Washington's 2018 withdrawal from a multilateral nuclear deal with Tehran.
20
Former senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon and three others are charged by federal prosecutors with fraud for allegedly redirecting hundreds of thousands of dollars donated to help build a wall on the U.s.-mexico border.
23
Racial tensions in the U.S. boil over again after police in Kenosha, Wis., shoot black man Jacob Blake in the back several times, leaving him paralyzed. In the following days, two demonstrators in the city are shot dead by an alleged teen vigilante. Professional sports teams postpone competition in protest.
23-24
In a second ballot victory, Ontario Conservative MP Erin O'toole is elected to lead the federal Tory party.
26
Salma Lakhani is installed as Alberta's 19th lieutenant-governor.
28
Japan's longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, announces he's stepping down for health reasons.
SEPTEMBER
1
K-12 students, wearing mandatory masks, begin returning to school in Calgary and other centres under unprecedented COVID-19 protocols.
2
A U.S. appeals court rules mass phone surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency — and revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden — was illegal.
3
A report from The Atlantic magazine alleges U.S. President Donald Trump called America's war dead “losers” and “suckers” while refusing to attend a 2018 ceremony at a First World War cemetery for American First World War troops in France.
8-9
Record heat that fuelled wildfires of unprecedented scope in California also rage north along the Pacific coast and destroy several towns in Oregon.
9
It's revealed U.S. President Donald Trump told journalistic icon Bob Woodward in February to March, 2020, that he knew the danger of COVID-19 and sought to keep that reality under wraps to prevent panic. In the following months, he went on to downplay the threat of the disease.
10
The B.C. Supreme Court rules against expanding the definition of Canadian health care into more of the private realm.
13
Scientists say the detection of phosphine in Venus' clouds suggests there might be life on the planet. Later debate questions this assertion.
14
The Calgary Flames name interim coach Geoff Ward as official bench boss.
18
Liberal and feminist U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies of pancreatic cancer at age 87. Her death leaves a crucial vacancy on the panel in the weeks leading up to the U.S. presidential election. The GOP controversially moves quickly to fill the vacancy.
19
An investigative journalism report states five large international financial institutions including JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank laundered about $2 trillion for criminal organizations and other shadowy characters between 1999 and 2017.
20
CBC comedy sitcom Schitt's Creek wins an unprecedented nine Emmy awards.
20
Far-right-wing agitators caught on video appear to physically assault anti-racism protesters in Red Deer. That follows an alleged vehicle attack on equal rights activists at Ponoka that left one person injured.
23
A grand jury's decision fails to indict any police officers in the March 13 fatal shooting of Black woman Breonna Taylor in her Louisville, Ky., home. That sets off another round of protests and clashes with police in several U.S. cities.
23
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs an executive order banning internal combustion cars by 2035.
23-24
President Donald Trump repeatedly refuses to commit to accepting a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the upcoming Nov. 3 election.
27
The New York Times reports
U.S. President Donald Trump recently paid only $750 in annual federal income taxes while paying none in 10 of the last 15 years, using massive revenue losses, loopholes and possible fraud.
27
Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the ethnic-armenian-controlled enclave of Nagorno-karabakh erupts.
28
The world death toll of novel coronavirus passes the one million mark about seven months after the global pandemic was declared.
29
In a chaotic and pugilistic first presidential election debate, Donald Trump refuses to condemn white supremacists and calls on supporters to police polling stations.
OCTOBER
1
Nearly seven decades in the making, a 12-kilometre stretch of Calgary's southwest ring road traversing the Tsuut'ina First Nation opens to traffic.
1
In the home stretch of the presidential election, Donald Trump and First Lady Melania test positive for COVID-19 with the U.S. leader heading to Walter Reed Military Medical Center for aggressive treatment.
2
In the latest in a series of massive energy sector layoffs, oilsands giant Suncor says it'll reduce its workforce by 15 per cent, or about 2,000 people, over the next 18 months.
6
Eddie Van Halen — a rock guitar virtuoso from his namesake band Van Halen — dies of cancer at age 65.
8
Thirteen members of far-right militia groups are charged with terrorism offences after an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is uncovered.
13
Alberta's UCP government announces sweeping changes to the province's health-care system that will eventually include up to 11,000 layoffs and outsourcing with an aim to save $600 million annually.
13-14
A violent mob attacks property and the lobster catch of First Nations fishers in southwestern Nova Scotia, part of an ongoing dispute over treaty fishing rights. A few days later, arsonists destroy a Mi'kmaq lobster storage facility.
15
DNA evidence leads Toronto police to identify the man who raped and murdered nine-year-old Christine Jessop in 1984 as family acquaintance Calvin Hoover, who died by suicide in 2015. Guy Paul Morin had been falsely accused of the crime years earlier.
16
Despite opposition from big city mayors concerned it would pose a safety risk, Alberta's UCP government decides to proceed with centralizing EMS dispatch services.
20
Alberta's chief medical health officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw says the province is in a “danger zone” as COVID-19 case numbers rise to new heights. A day later, Premier Jason Kenney goes into isolation after one of his ministers tests positive.
21
A conservative non-confidence motion in the Liberal government's opposition to an anticorruption committee is voted down, preventing a fall election.
21
In a major shift from traditional Vatican doctrine, Pope Francis says a “civil union law” needs to be created to protect the legal rights of gay individuals.
24
Premier John Horgan's NDP cruises to a majority victory in B.C.'S provincial election.
25
It's announced energy giant Cenovus will purchase Husky in a $23.6 billion deal to create the country's third largest oil and gas company.
26
Reversing their opposition to appointing justices during election years, Senate Republicans confirm conservative Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, creating a 6-3 right-wing majority.
26
Hundreds of Alberta hospital workers stage a wildcat strike protesting the Kenney government's privatization policies.
26
Premier Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party scores its fourth consecutive majority election victory since 2007.
27
Canada marks 10,000 COVID-19 deaths as the number of cases picks up steam in the country.
29
Three people are murdered by a knife-wielding man in a church in Nice, France, the third in a series of such attacks in France since September, blamed on Islamic terrorists.
31
Two people are killed and five injured when a man attacks them randomly with a sword in Quebec City. Quebecer Carl Girouard is charged.
31
Scottish actor Sean Connery, who pioneered the role of British spy James Bond, dies. He was 90.
NOVEMBER
2
The Islamic State claims responsibility for a shooting rampage by a convicted jihadist in Vienna, Austria, that leaves four victims dead and another 22 injured.
3
Dubbed the strongest storm to hit Central America in memory, Hurricane Eta slams into the region, causing widespread flooding, landslides and death.
3-7
American voters favour former U.S. vice-president Joe Biden over President Donald Trump but ensure the Senate remains controlled by Republicans. It takes nearly four days of counting absentee ballots amid a flurry of legal attempts by Trump to halt the process before the decision is declared.
5
A rapidly-worsening COVID-19 onslaught in Alberta overwhelms the province's contact tracing system, with nine of the province's hospitals plagued by outbreaks.
5
In a scathing report, auditor general Doug Wylie details $1.6 billion in faulty provincial government accounting while questioning sole-source contracts made by the Canadian Energy Centre “war room.”
8
Alex Trebek, beloved Canadian-born host of the game show Jeopardy!, dies of pancreatic cancer. He was 80.
9
Pharmaceutical drug maker Pfizer says its novel coronavirus vaccine in late development is 90 per cent effective, raising hopes of an end to the pandemic. It's soon followed by others with similar effectiveness.
15
Elon Musk's Spacex launches four astronauts toward the International Space Station, NASA'S first mission employing a privately-owned spacecraft.
18
The U.S. reaches a grim COVID-19 milestone: 250,000 deaths attributed to the disease, the largest such death toll in the world.
21
Canada and the U.K. reach a post-brexit transitional trade arrangement to maintain 98 per cent tariff-free trade.
24
With COVID-19 infections rising steeply, the Alberta government announces new measures, including a ban on indoor social gatherings, but one that avoids a business lockdown.
25
Argentinian soccer legend Diego Maradona, 60, dies of a heart attack.
25
Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump announces he's pardoning his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was convicted of lying to the FBI over the Russia probe into the 2016 presidential election.
27
Israel is widely blamed for the assassination near Tehran of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a move some believe will complicate a U.S rapprochement with Iran by the incoming Biden administration.
30
The Atlantic hurricane season officially ends following a record 30 storms that many scientists attribute to climate change and a warming ocean.
30
The Liberal federal government says it's on track for a $381 billion deficit, much of it spent on propping up Canadians and their economic circumstances during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
DECEMBER
7
In possibly the largest acquisition from a single musical artist, folk-rock legend Bob Dylan sells the rights to his entire catalogue of work to Universal Music Publishing Group. No price is given but it's estimated the tunes are worth $300 million.
8
A 90-year-old woman in Britain becomes the first person to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of medical trials.
8
With COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths mounting, the province announces tougher social distancing restrictions to last four weeks and through the holiday season.
9
Health Canada approves the use of the Pfizer-biontech COVID-19 vaccine to pave the way for mass inoculations in 2021.
11
A climate change strategy is unveiled by the federal Liberal government that includes hikes to the carbon tax that's to reach $170 a tonne by 2030.
20
Ottawa halts all flights to Canada from the U.K. to stop the arrival of a new strain of the novel coronavirus detected in Britain.
20
It's announced that Calgary Stampede CEO Warren Connell has died. He'd been with the organization for nearly four decades and its CEO since 2015.
25
Albertans and those in many other places spend Christmas Day apart from loved ones in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19.
27
Well known Albertan and arts promoter Jeanne Lougheed, the wife of the late premier Peter Lougheed, dies at age 92.
28
Canada surpasses 15,000 COVID-19 deaths with Alberta exceeding 1,000 fatalities. The new variant of the virus is found in an Alberta case.
29
The province announces Senator Elaine Mccoy, who devoted decades to public service, has died.