We will soon bid adieu to 2020 and I’m sure most of us will also say “good riddance.” I suspect for most people this past year will go down as the worst in our lifetimes. And you would have to go back to the years of the Second World War to find times that were as bad for so many people worldwide.
We soon get to turn our backs on 2020 and look forward, with hope, to a better 2021. So, what can we expect from this new year in terms of politics? There is much to keep an eye on as the year unfolds.
On Jan. 5, the U.S. state of Georgia holds two federal Senate run-off elections the outcome of which will determine which party, Republicans or Democrats, controls the United States Senate. Currently the Republicans have the majority in the Senate but if both Georgia seats go to the Democrats the two parties will be tied 50-50 in this upper house.
If this scenario comes to pass, Senate rules stipulate that the Vice President, who chairs meetings of the Senate, gets to cast the deciding vote. Come Jan. 20, that Vice President will be Kamala Harris, giving Democrats control in the Senate and ensuring that new U.S. President Joe Biden will be able to get his legislative agenda through the American Congress.
But if the Republicans take just one of the two Georgia seats, they will retain control of the Senate 51-49, giving Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell the ability to thwart most all of Biden’s policy proposals. No wonder both parties are so fixated on these Senate races.
The next big date is Jan. 20, when Biden and Harris will be sworn-in as the next president and vice-president, respectively, of the United States. This day will bring an end to the presidency of Donald Trump.
But it will not mean that Trump and Trumpism is gone from American politics. Look to see Trump give his own inaugural address on the 20th, claiming to be the “real” president of the United States, while also announcing his run for the White House in 2024. And look to see his base supporters cheering him on. American politics will continue its slow descent into tribalism in 2021.
Much of the winter of 2021 will be given over to continuing news of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing rollout of vaccines. Here’s hoping these inoculations work as expected and life can get back to a new normal by the summer/fall of 2021.
If the vaccine roll-out in Canada is proceeding smoothly and effectively during this coming spring, and if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals are still riding high in the polls, look to see this government introduce a very progressive budget in the early spring followed by an election for late spring or early summer.
If all goes well for Trudeau, he will win back the majority government he lost in 2019. If he can’t do this, his days as Liberal leader will be numbered.
As we enter the fall, attention will shift to Europe and federal elections scheduled for Germany in September. Angela Merkel has been a very successful chancellor of Germany since 2005 but she is retiring this coming year.
The question now becomes whether her moderate conservative Christian Democratic Unionist party can retain power under a new, as-yet-to-be-determined leader, or whether the centre-left Social Democrats can head a minority government with the Greens.
Finally, in November, Barbados celebrates its 55th anniversary of independence from Great Britain. By this time the Barbadian government is hoping to have amended its constitution, disestablishing Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state, and turning Barbados into a republic. Monarchists and Republicans throughout the Commonwealth will be watching how all of this plays out.
Dr. David Johnson, Ph.D., teaches political science at Cape Breton University. He can be reached at
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
