Hard to believe another year has flown by again. But it definitely wasn’t a boring year by any stretch. The drama started from the Whitehouse from the very beginning of the year. The Russian investigations, fake news, and a constant barrage of representatives being walked to the door with a musical chairs of new personnel. The late year declaration of Jerusalem being the recognized head of Israel was just the latest in foundation shaking moves which have left people from both sides of the table wondering why valuable leverage chips were tossed out so nonchalently.
The storms rippled far past Washington with mother nature creating her own havoc. There with a record number of tropical storms and destruction like the world hasn’t seen in recent times. It was a clear game of “see no evil” as the scientific community continued to speak to deaf ears in Washington about the easing of the Paris accord. And this in spite of clear evidence pointing to man’s direct impact on nature.
In Canada our political controversies paled by comparison, but we did not go unscathed. The teflon PM started to have issues sticking to him.
KIEV UKRAINE – Jul 11 2016: Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau during his official visit to Kiev Ukraine
Trudeau’s minister of defence was caught exaggerated or fabricating war stories and his minister of finance was late to the mark in declaring ownership of a French villa to the glaring eyes of the electorate and opposition. Compared to an election influenced by another country, we can still hold our heads high.
It was also the year of the woman. Finally. The firestorm started with Harvey Weinstein in Hollywood, followed by Kevin Spacey and a list even longer than the Trump Whitehouse employee of the month club. And as of this writing it doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.
The bricks and mortar businesses faced a lot of upheaval with the Amazon revolution. 
People began setting records for online shopping, leaving traditional stores to challenge their own creativity to keep customers coming back.
It was a year of notable names who left this planet. The Tragically Hips Gord Downey created a national moment on his passing with Canadians from coast to coast mourning his death.
Don Rickles at the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. 09-21-08
Music lost other notable names; Chuck Berry, Glen Campbell and Tom Petty. And the world also said goodbye to Mary Tyler Moore, Jerry Lewis, David Rockefeller, Dick Gregory, Sam Shepard, Don Rickles and Edith Windsor.
In entertainment the streaming giants gave notice to conventional television and the big screen that they were giants to contend with and weren’t going away anytime soon.
Netflix, Amazon and others have become a drain on A list talent and the eyeballs and wallets started following suit in a big way.
Where we go from here is anyone’s guess. But the public sentiment has never been more raw and volatile. One positive one can take away is that people throughout the world are following politics and social issues more than ever, if for no other reason than our own preservation.
In spite of the doom and gloom, we prefer to take on a positive outlook. Having said all that, all the best for the holidays and the happiest of years ahead.
