Plante and Downie named newsmakers of the year for 2017
The Canadian Press names Hip singer top newsmaker for second straight year
Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie, who died in October of brain cancer, has for a second consecutive year been deemed “Newsmaker of the Year” in a survey of newsrooms across the country by The Canadian Press.
Meanwhile, French-language newsrooms that responded to The Canadian Press poll chose newly elected Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante for the distinction. Plante, virtually unknown before the Nov. 5 municipal election, was the choice of 62.5 per cent of those respondents after she defied conventional wisdom by beating incumbent Denis Coderre.
“With her positive attitude and determination, she exhibited a new way of electoral campaigning,” said Cogeco news director Patrick Bégin. “Since her victory, the leaders of the provincial parties are trying to apply her strategy to their campaigns.”
English Canada’s newsrooms found themselves taken up by the unfailing determination of Downie, who despite a grim prognosis continued to fight for First Nations rights even as his public appearances became rarer in 2017.
“Most Canadians aren’t really interested in politics, but Gord Downie seems to have touched a lot of hearts,” wrote the Ottawa Citizen’s Christina Spencer.
Few candidates are chosen as “Newsmaker of the Year” more than once. However, former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau made the cut 11 times, two times more than his predecessor in office, Lester B. Pearson. Athletes Terry Fox and Rick Hansen were each chosen twice.
Gord Downie appeared in public only a handful of times in 2017, but his calls for a more inclusive Canada resonated even in his absence.
Whether it was the poignant lyrics flowing through his recent albums or the heartfelt words he delivered in public, The Tragically Hip singer used every opportunity in his final months to speak out in support of Indigenous people in Canada.
Even after he died of brain cancer in October at age 53, Downie’s push for reconciliation continued to reverberate across the country.
His hope for a better Canada is one of the reasons editors and broadcasters say they selected him as Canada’s Newsmaker of the Year for the second straight time.
Downie collected 47 votes (53 per cent) in the annual Canadian Press survey of newsrooms across the country. The musician remains the only entertainer to receive the title in its 71-year history.
He’s also now among a few to be voted top newsmaker more than once. Others include former prime ministers Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau and activist athletes Terry Fox and Rick Hansen.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was second in this year’s poll with 11 votes (13 per cent), while new NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh finished third with 10 votes (11 per cent).
“Most Canadians don’t really care about politicians — but Gord Downie seems to have touched so many hearts,” wrote Christina Spencer, editor of the Ottawa Citizen’s editorial pages.
Even though Canadians knew it was coming, news that Downie had succumb to an incurable form of brain cancer on Oct. 17 left many stunned. He surprised doctors and fans alike with his boundless determination during the 2016 Hip tour. At the rousing last concert in Kingston, Ont., Downie offered hints of his next vision. Speaking to the audience, he expressed the urgency of drawing more attention to the inequities faced by Indigenous people. He called on the prime minister to lead by example.
Downie’s Secret Path multimedia project, which was completed before his cancer diagnosis, became the guidebook in his last year as he delicately recounted the tragic final hours of Chanie Wenjack.
For many Canadians, it was the first time hearing the story of the 12-year-old Ojibwa boy who died of starvation and exposure after escaping a residential school in 1966.
“His spirit touched Chanie Wenjack’s spirit,” said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde.
“Even though they never physically met each other, I think in a spiritual way they knew and really bonded together.”
Alvin Fiddler, the Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, worked closely with the Downie family over the past year and a half. He said it was impossible to predict how Secret Path would affect the wider conversation.
“None of us really could envision the impact,” he said. “To see it spread across the country was something ... pretty meaningful.”
Exploring the injustices inflicted upon Indigenous people in Canadian history led the singer on a personal journey of reflection, said his brother Mike Downie.
“Gord said several times that the only thing that mattered to him was getting Canadians to become aware of Indigenous lives, start to right the wrongs and move in the direction of reconciliation,” he said. “It was what he wanted to get done before his time was up.”
As the year stretched on, the reality of Gord Downie’s mortality was harder to ignore.
His appearances became increasingly rare.
He surprised Blue Rodeo concertgoers in February by walking on stage to sing Lost Together alongside Jim Cuddy and other close friends. The emotional moment would be Downie’s final public stage performance.
In June, he was appointed a member of the Order of Canada for his work in raising awareness of Indigenous issues.
On Canada Day weekend, Downie stood on a stage at Parliament Hill and encouraged a young crowd of We Day participants to ask questions about the history of residential schools. He emphasized that Indigenous children in some parts of Canada continue to travel great distances each day for school, likening it to “the pain, the torture and the death” in residential schools. He left the audience with an optimistic final thought as he looked to the next 150 years for the country.
“Yours is the first generation in the new and real Canada. I love you,” he said. “You and yours, the Indigenous, together will make this a true country now, one true to your word. The new 150 years, not the old one. The new one. Exciting and true.”
A few months later, he was gone.