'Tis the season to look upon the year to come.
Given the bizarre character of this past year, I hope you will forgive me for wishing 2017 is a much quieter affair. It would be great if the world took a year off and rested. Of course, that will never happen.
For Canadians, 2017 will be a bit of a milestone. We are 150 years old and as we like to celebrate round numbers, we will likely be fully vested in our sesquicentennial. After all, Canadians like to party and a major birthday is as good reason to do so.
From a historical perspective, 150 years is not a long time. Many institutions have been around for much longer such as Oxford University and the Roman Catholic Church. Many countries are much older, such as China which dates back 3,800 years. But there are also many countries much younger than ours. As countries go, we are something of a middle child.
We were born of a peaceful movement rather than revolution. The governments of the province of Canada (both west and east), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia realized the mutual benefits to trade and military protection which would be gained by forming a union. So they politely asked the Queen if she would create a new country and with her assent, the Dominion of Canada was came into being.
Of course, it took another 115 years before we really came into our own with the repatriation of the constitution but that is a story for another time. And we still haven't settled all of the issues with the First Nations people who occupied this country for thousands of years prior to 1867. Perhaps 2017 really will be the year of reconciliation as some hope it might be.
It also marks the 100th anniversary of the introduction of federal income tax introduced by the Conservatives in 1917 as a temporary measure necessitated by our involvement in the First World War.
Specifically, the conscription of 100,000 Canadian men into the army put a strain on the government's finances. War bonds and other mechanisms of sustaining our efforts were no longer going to cover the costs.
The government chose to impose the costs directly on Canadian workers through a progressive scheme of taxation.
Many pundits over the years have commented on the temporary nature of the initial income tax act but it is yet to be repealed. Indeed, it wasn't long before all of the provinces followed suit and personal income tax became an integral part of our lives. It has been said only two things are certain in life - death and taxes - but personal income taxes are a relatively recent certainty.
In any case, Canadians have two birthdays to celebrate this year and all the more reason to party as a country.
But what does 2017 have in store?
No one really knows. Prognosticating about the future is a bit of a fool's game. About the only thing anyone can say with certain is neither the Canucks nor the Maple Leafs will win the Stanley Cup this year.
That said it is always fun to speculate at this time of year. There are some things which will likely come to pass in the months ahead. For example, the federal government seems to be determined to pass some form of legislation which will legalize marijuana. A number of states south of the border have already done so and it would seem time for Canada to catch up.
Legalizing would also be a great cash grab as the sale would be subject to federal taxes in much the same way as tobacco and liquor are taxed. Further, the decrease in the amount of time and energy spent by police forces pursuing individuals involved in the marijuana trade would substantially alter the structure of law enforcement.
However, there are significant health issues which will arise out of the use of marijuana. Like cigarettes, smoking marijuana leads to lung cancer. It has been estimated that a single joint has the same carcinogenic load as a package of filtered cigarettes. The reason is two-fold as joints don't have filters and the smokers tend to hold the smoke in their lungs longer.
Down the road, the decision to legalize may end up costing more in health care dollars than it raises in taxes.
Another surety for 2017 is our provincial election. We go to the polls in early May and it looks like Premier Christy Clark with her B.C. Liberals will enjoy another victory. Canadians tend to vote governments out rather than in and our present provincial government hasn't really done enough to earn the ire of the electorate.
Many other events will take the stage in 2017 but with our birthday celebration going on, we will hopefully have a great year!
