This is the time of year when media outlets review the biggest news stories of the year.

Expect to hear a whole lot about Donald Trump, terrorist attacks in Paris and California, and the collapse of the Canadian dollar. In Vancouver, the focus will be on higher real-estate prices.

But it wasn't all bleak. Here are five stories that might cheer you up:

1. Aboriginal revival  In 2014, John Ralston Saul wrote a book called The Comeback, which outlined how indigenous people in Canada are making great strides forward in politics, the professions, arts and culture, business, and academia. This year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Canada's first indigenous justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, and the country's first indigenous fisheries minister, Hunter Tootoo. Numerous aboriginal musicians are attracting large audiences across the country in several genres. B.C.'s deputy provincial health officer is of First Nations ancestry. And Canada will finally hold an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.

2. Solar-power revolution  This was the year when the photovoltaics industry enjoyed exponential growth. In the first six months of 2015, solar power was responsible for 40 percent of new electricity generation in the United States. The growth of renewables, including wind power, is one factor behind greenhouse-gas emissions plateauing in 2014. It was the first time that this had occurred in a year of global economic growth.

3.  Papal Encyclical  In June, Pope Francis issued a detailed encyclical on climate change, which warned of serious consequences if the world didn't curb greenhouse-gas emissions. It helped build momentum leading up to the COP21 climate summit in Paris in late November and early December. For the first time, countries around the world reached an agreement to aim to keep the average global temperature only 1.5 °C above where it stood prior to the Industrial Revolution.

4. Recovery of coastal marine mammals  We've seen a stunning rise in the number of Pacific white-sided dolphins and even whales showing up in Howe Sound, English Bay, and other coastal water. Sea otters are back, too.

5. Bye bye Stephen Harper  Canada's 22nd prime minister has been consigned to the scrap heap of history. And that's good news for refugee claimants, indigenous people, climate scientists, and anyone who objected to his often mean-spirited legislation, which was repeatedly struck down by the courts.