Observations of a News Junkie

The Canadian Press announced what their polled editors believe are the top news stories of the year. Here they are:

1. Liberals and NDP form a coalition to topple the Conservative government
2. The stock market meltdown and economic downturn
3. The Greyhound bus beheading
4. Maple Leaf’s listeriosis outbreak
5. Gas prices
6. Stephen Harper’s apology for the residential schools
7. Feet washing up on B.C. shores
8. The changing of have/have not provinces
9. CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada theme song controversy
10. The Maxime Bernier and Julie Couillard affair

I would agree with the list – definitely the coalition should be number one. 
Prime Minister Harper was recently named the Newsmaker of the Year, something I also concur with.

Canadian politics were extremely interesting, controversial and outrageous this year, and each time I got over my surprise with the latest developments, I couldn’t help but love living in the capital in the middle of it all.

Environment Canada released 2008’s top 10 weather-related news stories today. Here’s the list:

1. Wettest summer in eastern Canada
2. The continuing thaw in the Arctic
3. A nearly record-breaking long winter
4. Crazy amounts of flooding in New Brunswick
5. For the first time since 1971, the entire country had a white Christmas
6. In Saskatchewan, hail fell every day in July
7. The March 8 storm, when Ottawa got about 52 cm of snow
8. Hurricanes … one brought 104 mm of rain to Saint John in one day
9. Temperatures dropped to -60C with the wind chill in January
10. Prince Edward Island got 32 hours straight of freezing rain