What a year this has been. As 2023 comes shuddering to an end, there are striking parallels with the events of a century ago.
In 1923, the world was emerging from a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. The Spanish flu outbreak of 1918-1920 killed between 20 and 50 million people worldwide.
Those numbers include an estimated 50,000 Canadians and some 680,000 Americans.
In comparison, the COVID epidemic still underway has taken an even greater toll on this side of the Atlantic. Some 56,000 Canadians have died, along with 1.2 million Americans.
Of course, the population of both countries is far higher now, meaning the per capita death rate is less. Still, the raw figures are eerily similar.
Again, just as happened a century ago, governments today are struggling with challenges unknown in generations.
Then it was how to rebuild after a ruinous war.
Today it is how to cope with a whole series of relentless predicaments — unaffordable housing, homelessness, runaway drug deaths and the crisis in healthcare. It’s not going too far to say that our faith in the very substance of government has been weakened.
This can be seen in opinion polls. At the national level, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enjoys the support of just 27 per cent of Canadians, while half the country believes the House of Commons is “useless.”
Country-wide, only two premiers are above water — Manitoba’s newly elected Wab Kinew, and Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe. B.C.’s David Eby is at 46 per cent and declining, while Ontario’s Rob Ford and Quebec’s François Legault are mired in the low 30s.
Abroad, the dreadful events in Israel and Gaza have horrified the world. Medieval barbarism followed by a murderous urban war, with no clear end in sight.
At least the animal world offered cheers. In New Jersey an escaped pet pig called Albert Einswine led state troopers on a wild chase. As one of the officers noted, “They’re faster than you think.”
Squirrels happily chewed through outdoor Christmas lights in Vancouver, while in Oshawa a runaway kangaroo played Muhammad Ali with a police officer. The kangaroo won on points.
And a bear in Earls Cove broke into a car and drank 69 cans of pop, stopping only at the diet soda.
We can only hope 2024 has more to offer. Certainly, politics will come to the fore. Elections are a certainty in B.C. and south of the border, and though the next federal election isn’t legally due till 2025, many observers expect one to be called this fall.
If that happens, perhaps the most immediate question is whether Trudeau will run again, given his low standing in the polls.
According to the Ipsos polling company, seven in 10 Canadians think Trudeau should step down before the next election, though most don’t believe he will.
Here in B.C., Eby’s NDP appear well placed to hold onto the reins, in part because of a resurgence of the provincial Conservatives, coupled with a struggling BC United party, threatens to split the right-of-centre vote.
On a lighter note, Conde Nast Traveller, a lifestyle travel magazine, has named Victoria the world’s best small city. We would carry that a little further.
Vancouver Island is surely one of the world’s most attractive places to visit and to live in.
Yes, our weather can be a little ropey at times. And the ferries can be uncertain.
But we have so much to be thankful for, especially when we look around the world and see the challenges that others face.
So with that thought in mind, we wish our readers the best of everything, and a happy new year.
