Nine Game-Changers of 2010 So Far

Relative to other countries, Canada has withstood the economic turmoil and has so far enjoyed a drama-free 2010.

If we attempt to identify the biggest newsmakers so far this year, several things probably enter our collective consciousness: the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the WikiLeaks release, the earthquake in Haiti, turmoil in the global economy, escalating tensions with Iran and North Korea, the flotilla attack near the Gaza strip, and the G20 and G8 summits.

As these events assembled themselves in my own mind, something seemed amiss. I returned to the mandate of The Mark News: to be “a national movement to record Canadian ideas and propel the people behind them … a collection of thoughts and a tool for facilitating interdisciplinary dialogue and debate between outstanding Canadians.”

Given this stated intention, I could not help but notice a dearth of solely Canadian events that impacted the entire nation on a widespread and catastrophic basis comparable to those experienced by many other nations this year.

There are two reasons for this: the effects of globalization and interconnectedness, and Canada’s resilience.

The first reason needs no exegesis.

The second reason highlights a good news story. First, a couple of caveats. It must be said that it’s not as if 2010 for Canada has been uneventful. A free-floating cynicism among Canadians has sparked more than a few scandals in Parliament: Helena Guergis’ resignation, prorogation, the census debate, and the G20 and G8 summits. Many Canadians are still out of work as the unemployment rate sits at 7.9 per cent. Thirteen Canadians have died in Afghanistan, and many other chronic issues persist.

But relative to the rest of the world, if one measures by traditional quality-of-life indicators, these events are minor.

Five Canadian cities rank near the top of the.Mercer 2010 Quality of Living Survey. Canada has retained its triple-A credit rating, and the country’s real GDP, at 0 per cent, is faring relatively well in comparison with other countries. (Check out a great snapshot of Canadian statistics here).

Despite the ongoing financial downturn in the U.S. – our biggest trading partner and a country in which millions people remain unemployed – our unemployment rate has in fact fallen, and the United Nations Human Development Index, which measures factors such as life expectancy and standard of living, ranks Canada fourth out of 182 countries.

This reality is evidence of Canada’s peaceful nature and steady, if unspectacular, economic progress. Indeed, we are a country that maintains allegiance to its founding principle of “peace, order, and good government.” This capacity to withstand the economic turmoil is especially evident given the country’s deeply intertwined relationship with the United States, which continues to be beset by the tragedies of war, unemployment, and financial crisis.

So the biggest newsmaker in Canada in 2010 is at this point is the lack of dramatic news. Given the 24-hour news cycle, in which even the most minor news stories are hyped beyond recognition and taken out of context, this in itself is remarkable. This year for Canada is so far the story of a country that continues to thrive and in which citizens enjoy peace, freedom, and relative prosperity.