Send us your top story—in a haiku Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. Dear Politics Insider readers, We've been through a lot together. 2020 was a slog. The news never stopped. But you stuck with Maclean's as our writers made sense of the chaos. You sent hundreds of emails with the subject line Politics Insider Feedback. You were kind, tough, smart—and a typo never escaped your collective eyes. Thank you for reading, and please keep writing. Before we say goodbye to this year of tremendous tumult, let's look back at everything that happened. Your newsletter correspondent has selected a standout story from every month of the year. At the bottom of this newsletter, we'll ask you to send us your story of the year. You can pick whatever you want, but you must explain why using a haiku. That's a three-line stanza—five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables. For example: 2020 sucked
Our democracy survived
Let's not screw this up We'll publish the best poem for everyone to see. Now, on to the recap. January was when the Iranian military shot down Ukrainian Airlines Flight PS752, which carried 55 Canadian citizens and 138 passengers with ties to Canada. As Canada mourned, Iranian investigators delayed the analysis of flight-data recorders for several months—while Canada was relegated to observer status. READ MORE: Flight 752: A family torn apart February was when Indigenous demonstrators across Canada set up rail blockades in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in B.C. On Feb. 6, members of the Bay of Quinte First Nation blocked the rails east of Belleville, Ont., snarling freight traffic and VIA passenger trains for weeks. READ MORE: This historic moment for a divided Wet'suwet'en is just one step in a long journey March was when most Canadians faced widespread lockdowns after the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic on March 11. Within days, the economy was tanking, school was cancelled and remote work became the rule, not the exception. READ MORE: Quarantine nation: Inside the lockdown that will change Canada forever April was when Gabriel Wortman murdered 22 Nova Scotians near Truro before he was shot and killed by Mounties outside a gas station. Only months later, amid serious questions about the RCMP's handling of the massacre, did the provincial and federal governments call a joint public inquiry. READ MORE: The falling tides in Portapique May was when the world reacted to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Floyd's death ignited a national debate on police brutality and systemic racism in Canada, and peaceful protests filled the streets in most major cities (including on Parliament Hill in Ottawa). READ MORE: Letters to America from Black Canadians June was when Canada lost its bid for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council, an embarrassing defeat to Norway and Ireland after the feds spent millions on an aggressive campaign. Canada had lost its last attempt at a seat in the Harper era, but suffered an even worse loss under Justin Trudeau. READ MORE: The UN Security Council rout: Canada's (at the) back! July was when the Liberals cancelled a $912-million student service grant program mired in controversy. Trudeau and his finance minister, Bill Morneau, both failed to recuse themselves despite well-known family connections to WE Charity, which had been hand-picked to administer the program. READ MORE: The rise and fall of WE August was when Erin O'Toole won the Tory leadership after a long night of ballot counting. O'Toole toppled frontrunner Peter MacKay and upstart darkhorse Leslyn Lewis on his way to a third-round victory. The Conservatives amassed the highest number of votes ever cast in a leadership contest. READ MORE: Erin O'Toole and the search for a new Canadian centre September was when the Liberals ended a 36-day parliamentary prorogation with a Speech from the Throne that set the agenda for the fall. Governor General Julie Payette, fighting allegations of harassment at Rideau Hall, presided over the ceremony that launched the Liberal "build back better" mantra. READ MORE: The Throne speech where everything and nothing was normal October was when political parties played a game of parliamentary chicken with an election in the balance. The Tories wanted to create an anti-corruption committee that would investigate the WE Charity scandal. The Liberals declared the motion a confidence matter. The NDP eventually sided with the Liberals. READ MORE: Justin Trudeau, wondering what he has to lose November was when Joe Biden beat Donald Trump. Biden won 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232—the very same score by which the president beat Hillary Clinton four years earlier, but reversed. Trump never conceded the election, falsely claiming widespread voter fraud. READ MORE: President Biden and a world of trouble December was when Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The feds announced almost 250,000 doses would be on Canadian soil before the end of the year. The news came as a massive relief to a pandemic-weary country, though case counts continued to rise in most regions. READ MORE: Why Canada's vaccine rollout won't be easy That's a story a month for an intense year. Now it's your turn. Email us your story of the year in the form of a haiku. We'll publish the best one next week. And keep the feedback coming. We read every single email and appreciate everyone who clicks subscribe. —Nick Taylor-Vaisey | 