Interviewed by Takara Small

Another year has come and gone, along with the first decade of the 21st century.

We want to celebrate by sharing with you comments from bloggers who have contributed to CBCNews.ca throughout 2009.

We scoured the CBC online community to find two contributors who have taken the time to voice their opinions about a multitude of subjects and asked for their feedback on the events that shaped 2009 and the decade.

Here's a mini biography on one of our contributors, Ian Kasper:

I am a 21-year-old University of Waterloo student pursuing a bachelor degree in mathematics.

I was born and raised in Carp, Ont., and UW's renowned co-op program has taken me to Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa to work for prominent companies such as Scotiabank, General Dynamics Canada and Bell Canada.

My passions include music and law. After earning a mathematics degree, I hope to attend law school, intending to focus on criminal law.

My favourite quote is one regularly attributed to Voltaire but many believe to originate from Evelyn Beatrice Hall: "I may disagree with what you say, but I'll defend, to the death, your right to say it.

Here's what Ian Kasper had to say:

Q: What would you consider to be the biggest news story of the year/decade?

"[The biggest story of the decade was] the Sept. 11 attacks. That captivated the entire world and will continue to do so for a long time. For a lot of people, that was a time when people looked back and realized that the U.S. really isn't invincible."

"It was an important story because although I was really young (in Grade 8 and only 12 or 13) you never expect something like that to happen in your lifetime. You walk around like you're on top of the world because you're going to high school next year.

"I saw the impact it had on everyone around me. I watched as my teachers went pale and friends went silent. It was the first time you saw widespread terrorism and saw it so close to home."

"That is [most] definitely the No.1 story.

"I think the Dziekanski incident was an important one because it polarized opinions about law enforcement across the country. Ever since the inquiry went forward, there have been questions from the public concerning police conduct and the conversation often falls back to that [one event]."

Q: Who would you consider to be the biggest newsmaker of the year/decade?

Year: "Stephen Harper: The fact that he has been able to divide Canadians so quickly over his government's actions and the fact he has taken steps that we haven't seen in a while. I won't say which party I belong to, but he is a person who is quick to make people choose sides and I think that is what has captured the attention of the media and everyone [else]."

Decade: "For sheer coverage, I would say Obama. No matter where you look, you see Obama mania. Everyone is captivated by him and needs to know what he's doing, what he's thinking every minute of every day."

Q: What would you say is the most interesting or strangest trend of the year/decade?

Decade: "I think the most interesting trend is how people have made environmental issues so important. Environmental concerns have always been around, but it wasn't a ballot issue until recently.

"It's turned into this massive issue over the decade. Everyone wants to be green now."

Year: "The obsession with phone touchpads (chuckle). It started with the iPhone and spread to the Palm Pri with Bell Mobility and BlackBerry with RIM. Everyone's doing it.

"I think it's a fad and that eventually we're all going to find something new and shiny to play with and the touch obsession will disappear."

Q: If you could use one word to describe the past decade what would that word be?

"Turbulent. And I use that specific word because of Canada's [current] political situation and how everything is being continually challenged. It started off with the [Liberal, NDP, Green] coalition, which was pretty much denounced by a lot of Canadians, and then the recession.
"And [even though] the economy is starting to recover, forecasts can change at anytime. In my opinion, everything still seems to be up in the air."

Q: What moment of the year/decade was your favourite?

Year: "The end of the Ottawa bus strike. I'm from that region and I had to live out in the boonies with my parents to get to work while I was still paying for rent for my apartment downtown.

Decade: "When our men's hockey team won gold at the Olympics because -- and I don't want to overshadow our women's hockey team because they're great too -- but men's hockey is kind of our national sport and when they won everyone rallied together and forgot their differences."

Q: What news story or event of the past decade had the biggest impact on your life?

"Sept 11. It's an event that no one in his or her lifetime will ever forget. After that day, everyone just went into panic mode and everything changed.

[Another event that has had a huge impact on my life was] the coalition and proroguing of Parliament. It was Canada's first real constitutional crisis. It may not have captured a lot of attention around the world, but we're not used to seeing such an upheaval, especially of this magnitude. It was exciting, daring and set a precedent."

Q: How do you think the next decade will differ from this one?

"I think the political landscape won't be the same in the next decade. I think going forward -- at least for the first bit -- Canada will be in the same state of uneasiness we are now and environmental concerns will remain prominent."

Q: Weirdest event (pop culture moment)?

"Celebrity deaths: I was surprised how may people could sit crying and moaning over Michael Jackson, but that's just my view because I'm not that interested in entertainment."