Dull is not an adjective that fits the political scene in 2010. Prorogation, the Afghan detainee scandal, and G8/G20 summit excesses kept things lively in Ottawa while the HST controversy dominated everything in BC politics and eventually dethroned Gordon Campbell in November. Taking a look back at the Political Scene columns from the year provides a useful reminder of what took place.

This time last year we were on the eve of Parliament’s prorogation. The storm of protest that erupted took many by surprise, most particularly, the Harper Conservatives. In last February’s column I analyzed the repercussions:

“Rumours abounded in Ottawa in early December that Parliament would be prorogued. Polls had told the government Canadians didn’t care. Polls in early January conducted by Angus Reid showed a different attitude. From January 6th to 13th support for prorogation was stagnant at 19% while opposition grew from 53% to 61%. By mid January support for the Harper Conservative government was in free fall. Their comfortable lead established this fall had crash landed to a dead heat with the Liberals. Ouch!”

That the Conservatives were trying to avoid the Afghan detainee controversy was evident for all to see despite their many assertions that the prorogation was needed so the government could “recalibrate” their plans for the economy.

In the meantime the Afghan prisoner issue continued to boil on the front burner as pages and pages of blacked out documents fuelled MP’s anger and came as close as anything did this year to forcing an election. If they weren’t given the documents uncensored then the opposition was going to move that the government was in contempt of parliament which would have caused an election. The Conservatives tried to calm things down by appointing Judge Frank Iacobucci to review the documents and advise the Justice Minister on whether they should be given to the Parliamentary Committee. That didn’t help at all, so faced with a ruling by the Speaker of the House March 27th that MPs had the right to see unedited documents, the Conservatives got down to serious negotiations. On May 14th they announced an agreement had been reached on a process to review the documents and the issue disappeared from the radar.

Had they taken the approach that they had to work with the other parties in the House, the whole Afghan detainee issue and the proroguing of Parliament could have been avoided. The questionable wisdom behind the Conservatives’ strategy of fighting with the opposition in the minority parliament, rather than working with them lay behind my question in the April Word: “Why does Stephen Harper weave such a tangled web?”

The Conservatives’ G8/G20 summit spending spree was not only ridiculous but it also set a record for the most expensive security bill for any summit in the last three years. The July column contained the following description:

“The week of June 7th stands out for the daily offering of bizarre revelations about the Conservative government’s G8/G20 expenditures. The $1.9 billion cost for summit security lead the gasp-making news but nothing woke Canadians up to what was happening better than the fake lake being built at the summits’ Toronto media centre situated in the CNE grounds next to Lake Ontario.”

In the end the security cost was under budget at $679 million but that amount is wildly out of line with other countries summit security spending. Perhaps the best comparison is the cost for security at the 2009 Pittsburgh summit which came in at $98 million. More than the out-of-line cost the security had other aspects of excess. There were human rights violations and police integrity was damaged as many protestors and innocent bystanders were subject to arrest and dubious treatment while looters wrecked property unchecked. Of the 1105 people arrested, 300 were charged and estimates are that approximately 50 to 70 of those charges will be prosecuted.

In BC the HST was the single political preoccupation especially once the petition drive began rolling through the 85 constituencies in the province with amazing ease. Gordon Campbell finally admitted in June that he may have a problem on his hands:

“In the Comox Valley where it took only two weeks to get 10% of the electorate to sign the petition, the total is now over 21%. These stats no doubt make rookie MLAs like Don McRae nervous. Even veteran BC Liberals are showing signs of stress and this week the Premier himself admitted that the only thing more unpopular than the HST in BC was likely himself.”

By mid October Campbell’s approval rating had plummeted to 9%, the lowest ever recorded by a BC premier. However, he appeared determined to carry on and to prove to British Columbians that the HST was a good idea. October 25th he shuffled his cabinet and October 27th he made a televised speech to announce new tax cuts and tried to explain the rationale for the HST decision. Then, six days later, he changed course and quit. He stated that he had become a lightening rod for the public’s anger and unless he left, the Liberals would not be able to govern. His decision was a wise one to save face as he jumped on his terms rather than be pushed out by an increasingly unhappy caucus.

Whew, what a year! You can expect the same or an even more rapid pace and greater drama in early 2011. The Liberals will chose a new leader by the end of February, the NDP caucus in Victoria will be navigating their own pocket of turbulence, recall campaigns will be underway in a number of places including here in the Comox Valley, and, Stephen Harper may call an election in an attempt to get a majority mandate to implement the austerity measures that will be necessary to keep his promise to transform this year’s $56 billion deficit into a surplus by 2015. Stay tuned.

Jane E. Burton is a freelance writer who operates her company Memorable Lines from her home in Fanny Bay. For more information on the services offered please visit her website at www.memorablelines.com.