The year 2023

DAN CEARNS The Standard

This year, 2023, has definitely been a year of surprising developments in terms of the news.

One of the most shocking developments was the end of Metroland’s involvement in the print media business. This change has left gaps and media deserts all across Ontario. The Standard has been working tirelessly, since then, to fill as many gaps as we can and are progressively expanding to more local communities. It’s always sad when you read about hundreds of employees being laid off. I think what made this news so surprising is, not many people expected a media superpower like Metroland to suddenly exit the print news industry.

Now of course, this is not the only piece of surprising news to happen this year.

This summer, air quality alerts had to be issued because of wildfires in Canada.

In March, it was announced, former Conservative Party of Canada leader and Durham MP, Erin O’Toole was leaving politics, resigning as the Member of Parliament. Mr. O’Toole was a staple of federal politics in the area for 11 years. I watched as he went from local MP to running in the 2017 leadership campaign, his first leadership race to when he officially took over the Conservative Party of Canada leadership. Currently, a by-election has yet to be called, and I’ll be fascinated to see how this race shapes out.

Internationally, Israel and Hamas have added to the number of ongoing wars across the world, which also still includes Russia and Ukraine.

In a more positive news item, the Toronto Maple Leafs won their first playoff series in 19 years, in April, when they defeated and eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning. Unfortunately, Leafs fans didn’t have long to celebrate this win. The team was swiftly eliminated in five games by the Florida Panthers, in the second round. Additionally, their General Manager was let go from the organization, shortly after that. However, a playoff series win is still progress, and hopefully the team can carry that momentum into the 2024 playoffs.

Then, there was recent news about a kangaroo getting loose in Oshawa and eventually being captured by Durham police a few days later.

It’s certainly been an eventful year, and one of the more memorable ones in my eight years working here at The Standard.