Canadian journalists pick political winners and losers of 2016

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It was Vladimir Lenin who said that sometimes there are decades when nothing happens — and there are weeks where decades happen.

It seems 2016 is packed with a few of the latter.

To look back at what made news in 2016 in Canada and around the world, The Current convened four distinguished journalists.

• Rosemary Barton, host of CBC's Power and Politics.
• Susan Delacourt, political columnist with the Toronto Star and Ipolitics and author of Shopping for Votes.
• Nalah Ayed, CBC foreign correspondent
• Daniel Dale, Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star.

The giant story of 2016: The election of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump

"I think the year will be defined largely by how much Canada sees itself in opposition or as adversarial to the kind of politics that Donald Trump brought in," Delacourt tells The Current's guest host Piya Chattopadhyay. 

"There are concerns geopolitically if Trump positions himself one way on, for instance, China, as he seems to be doing, what does Canada do?" says Barton. " Do we then become completely offside with our biggest trading partner?"

Barton says that one thing helping Prime Minister Justin Trudeau deal with the new president is former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who knows Donald Trump and has been speaking with him to inform the Canadian government of his views.

Related: Power & Politics: Top 5 newsmakers of 2016

"Far right leaders are hoping with his inauguration to replicate his victory on this side of the Atlantic," says Ayed. And because it is an election year, there is anxiety among European leaders about the rise of far right parties and what it means for NATO and transatlantic relations.

"All they have to go on is what he said on the campaign trail and a bunch of tweets."

Dale, who covered the Trump campaign for the Toronto Star, asks what he says is the biggest question going forward. 

"How stable is a world led by Donald Trump? This is a reckless, often erratic, very unpredictable man."

Dale says that as far as Canada and Trump are concerned, there's a good chance the incoming U.S. president will like Prime Minister Trudeau, despite their ideological differences.

"He likes performers. He likes men that he perceives as good looking."

Winner of 2016

On the international stage, Ayed sees Russian President Vladimir Putin as 2016's winner with an incoming U.S. president who likes him. He's watching as NATO is transforming with different leaders leaving, and has the upper hand for the moment in Syria.

"He's now in a much stronger position than he was just two or three years ago. I imagine he would say the same as well." 

Loser of 2016 

Dale nominates former Democratic politician Anthony Weiner as loser of the year. He says there may be a direct line from Anthony Weiner to Donald Trump winning the election because in the last 10 days of the campaign, a controversial FBI investigation led to finding out about his alleged sexting with a teenage girl. 

"Anthony Weiner may go down in history as a consequential figure. He's a loser."

Canadian story that got under reported

Ayed says the story that got the short shrift this year in Canadian media is the assisted dying legislation. 

While the bill was talked about "an awful lot" through the process of making sure the parameters around the bill were right, now it's fallen off the radar.

"We have heard virtually nothing about how it has been implemented and how that has unfolded."

Hope for 2017

Delacourt hopes for a new year where the media rallies and doesn't fall deeper into despair.

"I'm hoping my industry continues to survive."
 

Listen to the full segment at the top of this web post.

This segment was produced by The Current's Howard Goldenthal.