Underrated and overrated

Welcome 2007. This past year in Ontario has been brutal: Aboriginal stand-offs, terrorism arrests, 70 murders in Toronto, federal cuts (affecting every province) to social programs, no movement on social assistance programs by the province, and MPP salary hikes to finish it all off.

Here's hoping that 2007 will bring much better things to us.

By far this past year, the most underrated story has been the environment. Yes, there was lots of reporting on federal environmental politics. Harper's Clean Air Act was a bust and The Weather Makers was a bestselling book, but what about McGuinty?


John Bonnar, our online contributor extraordinaire, brings us video from Santa and his elves taking a lump of coal to our provincial Liberals.

Appropriately, the gift symbolizes McGuinty's failure to shut down coal-fired energy plants in the province. Once upon a time, he promised to eliminate coal power by this year. 2007. Now he says he's not sure when it will happen.

There has been little political pressure on this front. Therefore, the most underrated story of the year.

Most overrated: 17 arrested terrorism suspects in Toronto.

I'm glad that the media reported on this. Arresting a group of young Muslim Canadians is a big deal. But the way that this case was reported on makes it overrated.

There was no real evidence to comment on. The courts enforced a publication ban immediately after the suspects were arrested. And yet the media continued digging into the lives of these men and boys, took pictures of the women in their families showing up to court in burquas, and basically convicted them in the media.

And so, GOODBYE 2006. Please bring a more peaceful, friendly 2007.

- Jenn Watt