Power & Politics: Top 5 political blunders of 2017
From an election gamble that didn't pay off to Trump's tweets, 2017 saw plenty of political pratfalls
CBC News Network's Power & Politics has combed through this year's archives to bring you some of the political highlights of 2017. Today, we turn our attention to the top political blunders of the year.
The Power Panel — Pomp and Circumstance's Amanda Alvaro, Summa Strategies' Tim Powers, Ian Capstick of MediaStyle and the Huffington Post's Althia Raj — helps the CBC's David Cochrane count down the top political blunders of 2017.
5. Trudeau's vacation
Sneaking in at the end of the year, this blunder was brought into the spotlight after the ethics commissioner ruled Trudeau was in violation of conflict of interest laws for a 2016 vacation to the Aga Khan's private island.
- CBC Investigates: Trudeau's Bahamas vacation cost over $215K — far more than initially disclosed
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2014 visit to Aga Khan's island was also by private helicopter, Trudeau says
Will this ruling follow the Prime Minister into the new year? And does this slip-up — coming on the heels of dogged questioning around Finance Minister Bill Morneau's personal finances this fall — indicate an issue with ethics for the Liberal government?
4. Theresa May's election gamble
Theresa May's decision to call a snap election in the United Kingdom last June brought the kind of results no prime minister wants to see — their parliamentary majority turned into a weakened minority. So how did the U.K. Prime Minister read the political tea leaves so wrong, what does it mean for Brexit, and can she survive as the leader of the Tories?
3. Phoenix falling
There was no good news this year for thousands of government employees battling with underpayments, overpayments or no payments at all due to the Phoenix payroll system's ongoing problems.
Canada's spending watchdog had more bad news in his fall audit, predicting that it will take several years and more than $540 million to fix the troubled system.
The ongoing bureaucratic nightmare has spiralled into a massive political problem as the overall cost to build and fix the program edges towards $1 billion. Will Carla Qualtrough, the government's third minister to try and tackle Phoenix, succeed in sorting it out?
2. Trump's tweets
The U.S. President's late-night Twitter habit made the list for top political blunders this year, often landing Trump in hot water — and even, potentially, implicating him in the obstruction of justice.
Which of his tweets had the biggest political impact? How much stock should foreign leaders put in Trump's Twitter account? The Power Panel scrolls through a very busy feed for the highlights.
1. Liberals' tax rollout...and rollback
The Liberal government rolled out its proposed changes to the tax system with fanfare — and then quickly rolled it back, after the plan received blistering criticism from small businesses and professionals across the country.
- Morneau's tax proposals still need work despite changes, critics insist
- Analysis: 'We did it the way we intended to': Morneau weathers tax storm of his own making
So why didn't the government foresee the blowback? And will their misstep in the rollout follow them into 2018?