Predicting the future will always be a risky business it seems. Twelve months ago, who would have been psychic enough to predict the following?
That the Premier of Manitoba would be dumb enough to raise taxes a second time, after promising in an election campaign that it simply wouldn’t happen.
That Stephen Harper’s days as Prime Minister might be numbered because some of his Senators got carried away with entitlements and his very own Chief of Staff had to be hung out to dry in an effort to get Mike Duffy to do the right thing and keep his mouth shut.
That Justin Trudeau would outshine Mr. Harper in public opinion polls, even though he frequently proves that he has much to learn before he’s ready to return to the fancy Ottawa house where he was born.
A year ago, who could have predicted that prairie farmers would survive horrid weather and manage to produce their biggest crop ever, and then have to watch as the grain handling system failed miserably in the effort to get it to market.
And speaking of railways, why did 47 people have to die in a beautiful little town in Quebec before we realized we were shipping more and more potential bombs of crude oil across the land in old tank cars that even Hunter Harrison knew were unsafe?
Who could possibly imagined that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers could finally move into their brand new stadium and still be the worst team in Canadian football, or that the Roughriders to the west of them would have a dream season and then watch so many key pieces disappear?
And what about squeaky clean teen sensations Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus who in less than a year, redefined what it means to trash their images completely.
For those who predict the future, it’s been a great year hasn’t it?
I’m Roger Currie
