Power & Politics: Top 5 political blunders of 2016
Katharine Starr | CBC News | Posted: December 28, 2016 10:00 AM | Last Updated: December 28, 2016
From 'Elbowgate' to underestimating Donald Trump, there were plenty of political pratfalls this year
All it takes is the fumble of a football or an unfortunately timed high-pitched scream to derail a political career. So what were the most cringeworthy moments of 2016?
CBC News Network's Power & Politics has combed through this year's archives to bring you some of the political highlights of 2016. Today, we turn our attention to the top political blunders of the year.
The Power Panel — Tim Powers and Lindsay Doyle of Summa Strategies, Ian Capstick of MediaStyle and the Huffington Post's Althia Raj — helps Rosemary Barton count down the political pratfalls.
5. Elbowgate
The prime minister elbowed his way into trouble during a testy vote in the House of Commons in May — and the classic, if overused, -gate suffix was immediately attached to the viral moment.
- Justin Trudeau's elbowing incident leaves House in an uproar
- PM's elbow meets MP's chest and a Twitter trend is born
So how serious was "Elbowgate"? Were the optics of the elbow incident bad enough to have a lasting impact on Trudeau's reputation, or was his public mea culpa in the House enough to make amends?
4. EU referendum
If David Cameron could do it all again, would he still call a referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union? Brexit cost the prime minister his job, and left the United Kingdom, well, divided.
- Vote to Leave puts Britain on uncertain course
- ANALYSIS | Brexit chaos leaves behind 'a leaderless state'
As the U.K. continues to wrestle with the implications of the vote, what impact will the decision to leave the EU have in the long term?
3. Electoral reform
The Liberals' campaign promise that the 2015 federal election would be the last under the first-past-the-post system has proven to be more of a political headache than they bargained for.
- How electoral reform is like the Stanley Cup finals
- A primer on the main alternatives to how we vote
- The Pollcast: Electoral reform, like math, is hard
Whether it was backlash over Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef's admonishment to the electoral reform committee or the opposition blasting the government's electoral reform survey as a "dating website designed by Fidel Castro," changing the way Canadians vote is not proving a simple matter.
2. Trudeau's Castro statement
Justin Trudeau's ode on the death of controversial Cuban president Fidel Castro had tongues wagging both at home and internationally.
- Trudeau faces backlash after Castro tribute
- ANALYSIS | On Castro, Justin Trudeau sounds like his father's son
Expressing "deep sorrow" to hear of Castro's death at age 90, Trudeau remembered the late president as a "legendary revolutionary and orator" and said Castro had been a good friend of his father's.
The backlash was immediate, and included people weighing in on social media using the hashtag #trudeaueulogies, as well as former U.S. Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio tweeting their criticism.
When asked point blank by the CBC's Catherine Cullen whether he believes Castro was a dictator, however, Trudeau was blunt: "Yes."
1. Pollsters and pundits
They said it was impossible, but they were wrong. The pollsters, pundits and prognosticators who said Donald Trump wouldn't make it to the White House are P&P's top political blunder of 2016.
- How Trump defied pundits and pollsters to win the White House
- ANALYSIS | Pollsters failed to spot Trump's support among white voters
So how did no one see Trump's victory coming? And what does the inability to accurately gauge Trump's support say about who or what pollsters, media and pundits rely on as information in political horse races?
Be sure to check in all week as Power & Politics counts down the Top 5 newsmakers and political blunders of 2016, plus issues and players to watch in the year ahead.