Now that we’ve had our turkey, loafed around the house for couple days watching cheesy holiday specials, and laughed with friends and family, we are finally ready to cast a friendly eye over 2008.

In that spirit, here are our toasts, in no particular order, to the wonderful people whose hard work, charm, and in some cases outright stubbornness, have brightened our year and made Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and the world a better place.

So, raise your glasses to:

*Barack Obama, for both his historic win and the classy manner in which it was executed.

*Rachel Notley, NDP MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona, for fighting to make backlogged reports from Child and Youth Services public.

*Bob Boutilier, the manager of transportation for the City of Edmonton, for finally saying no to building more roads.

*Stéphane Dion and Jack Layton for finally finding the hutzpa to sign a coalition agreement. We hope it sets a precedent for future co-operation between all parities.

*Senior ministers and bureaucrats in the finance and treasury departments of the Alberta government for setting the price of oil at $82 per barrel in the province’s 2008 budget. When oil was sitting around $140 per barrel, it seemed like a political move to ensure huge surpluses that could be spent willy-nilly. Now that oil sits around $30 per barrel, and the province is looking at a ‘technical deficit,’ we must tip our hat to better financial planners.

*The whistle-blower who called the provincial government about the deaths of 500 ducks on a Syncrude tailings pond.

*Greenpeace, Pembina Institute and many other environmental groups for keeping up the pressure on oil companies though protests and research. Without solid groups doing the groundwork ahead of time, news coverage of events like the duck deaths would be a flash in the pan.

*Jim Gurnett, of the Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, Wallis Kendal of iHuman, Father Jim Holland of Sacred Heart – Church of the First Peoples, and the many other Edmontonians who have devoted themselves to improving the lives of others.

*St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse for keeping a cool head about regional planning.

*Premier Ed Stelmach for eliminating health-care premiums. We’ve given him a pretty hard time all year, but this move deserves a nod of recognition.

*Kevin Taft, for his years of hard work as the leader of the official Opposition. He got a lump of coal last week for trying to make the rodeo Alberta’s official sport, but we can’t let one action overshadow years of service.