2014 Year in Review: Canada

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      Our year-in-review special looks back at the wacky, weird, and wondrous stories of 2014.

      Don’t squeal, don’t reveal
      “Right out of something you would see during the Soviet era.”—Retired air force officer Sean Bruyea about a form that Canadian Forces were requiring wounded soldiers to sign agreeing not to criticize senior officers or to disclose their “views on any military subject” on social media or to news-media outlets. Col. Gerry Blais, the director of casualty support management, told MPs with the Commons defence committee that it was for the soldiers’ own good, especially those “suffering from mental-health issues”

      Cold case solved
      A modern-day Canadian Arctic search party looking for the lost ships of the famed and doomed 1846 Sir John Franklin Northwest Passage expedition retreated from menacing sea ice in September and found itself in Queen Maud Gulf and right over the wreck of the HMS Erebus, one of the two lost vessels.

      Glove compartments now obsolete
      After 56 years, the famous Canadian Tire money went digital, joining hundreds of other corporate customer-loyalty programs. As of October 28, the visage of frugal, tam-wearing mascot Sandy McTire was no longer being handed over to paying customers in the form of paper coupons. The estimated $100 million in outstanding paper money still in circulation can still be converted into online points.

      Booby prize
      A Montreal woman who found that a Google Street View camera took her picture while she was bent over on her front steps, partially exposing one breast, launched a small-claims lawsuit against the Internet giant and won $2,250. She claimed that even though her face was concealed, her home address, car licence plate, and breast were not blurred and that led to some humiliating exchanges with colleagues.

      That and a broken shoelace
      “It’s the worst news that could ever happen.”—A tearful unidentified woman to CTV News after Doug Ford, brother to former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, lost his mayoral bid to opponent John Tory

      Questions period
      After Conservative MP Mike Wallace filed a written question in the House of Commons that revealed the cost of answering another written question from a Liberal MP was $117,188 in staff time, NDP MP Mathieu Ravignat filed another question to find out how much Wallace’s question cost the government. The answer: $6,500.76.

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