The Pollcast: Predicting the unpredictable in 2018

The CBCPollcast, hosted by CBC poll analyst ric Grenier, explores the world of electoralpolitics,political polls and the trends they reveal.

With elections in three provinces, municipal votes pending in some of Canada's largest cities and a crucial midterm election in the United States, 2018 will be a big year in Canadian and international politics.

But it wouldn't be politics without a few surprises. What are some of the unlikely but still plausible events and decisions that could occurin the coming year?

• Lessons from 2017's elections
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Patrick Brown's Progressive Conservatives appear to be in a good position to remove Ontario PremierKathleen Wynne, from office in June's election. But could Wynne pull off an upset and extend the life of her party's 15-year run, despite her rock-bottom approval ratings?

Might the New Democrats under Andrea Horwathinstead manage a repeat of the 1990 surprise that brought theirparty under Bob Rae into power?

Will the federal leader of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh, finally decide to run for a seat in the House of Commons? Might the Democrats not just edge out the Republicans for control of the House of Representatives in the November midterms but instead storm both chambers to take complete control of Congress?

And could Justin Trudeau's Liberals make a few difficult political decisions that could impact their re-election chances in 2019?

To explain why the unlikely could still happen in 2018, Pollcast host ric Grenier is joined by the CBC's Alison Crawford and Aaron Wherry.

Listen to the full discussion above or subscribe to the CBCPollcast and listen to past episodes.

Follow ric Grenier, Alison Crawford and Aaron Wherry on Twitter.