Wheels of Fortune

First issue of the year—again—and an auspicious one personally, as 2009 marks a full decade for me here at Monday. (Time, apparently, melts away quicker than snow in a grey January rain.) Last year in this space, I whipped off a handful of generic predictions for 2008; some of the more obvious ones were depressingly accurate (“Ferry fares will continue to rise, but the ferries themselves will still run late and frequently break down”—although that could’ve been written almost anytime during the past 30 years), while others came surprisingly true (“Policing—and civil reaction to it—will be one of the hot-button issues of the year”).

There were a couple I would’ve like to have been proven wrong on—“City Hall will try their darnedest to live up to their pledge to help Victoria’s homeless, but little will change in the short-term for those living on the street” and “The provincial Liberals will continue to dump money where it’s not needed and less where it should really be going”—and at least one I totally flubbed (“There will be all sorts of ballyhoo about a federal election, which may or may not happen”). This time around, however, let’s skip the obvious choices and go for some specifics.

• A young, charismatic Canadian political leader will emerge and begin building a following that will lead to a future federal election victory.

• Revelations of cocaine dealing and money laundering will shake the foundations of at least one of our Western Communities.

• The BC Liberals will surf to election victory on a wave of economic fear, system manipulation and Olympic hot air.

• The straw that breaks Harper’s back will be the war in Afghanistan, not the economy.

• Worldwide food shortages will dramatically increase, leading to food riots in India, Africa and China.

• Polar ice will melt even faster than anticipated and unrivalled weather mayhem will dominate the globe.

• The United States will face its most serious domestic crisis since the Great Depression.

• Island water consumption and depletion will be one the top stories of the year.

• New mayor Dean Fortin will make a major announcement that will change the way life is lived in Victoria.

• The gulf between the disgustingly rich and unnecessarily poor will get even wider, leading to widespread poverty protests.

• The popularity of local urban farming will soar as people wake up to the food realities of the 21st century.

• An international spiritual leader will take to the world stage to inspire hope with a message of positive change.

• With peak oil less than 20 years away, governments will begin promoting incentives for voluntary fuel-rationing.

• A serious tremor will shake Vancouver Island and damage a Victoria landmark.

• Monday Magazine, now in its 34th year of publication, will survive the current economic downturn just fine. M