Freeland tops influence list
Foreign affairs minister heads Toronto Life 2017 list, NDP’s Singh also gets a nod
Toronto Life magazine has picked Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, as its most influential person of the year, for her efforts in “declaring Canada a leader in a world suddenly lacking a north star.”
Said the cover feature: “While the PM played amiable figurehead, Freeland handled the scrappy stuff: negotiating NAFTA and a landmark European trade deal; calling out the leaders of Russia, North Korea, Venezuela and Burma, and declaring Canada a leader in a world suddenly lacking a north star.”
Toronto Life also remarked that “Canada’s 150th year was, in a word, full.” Its list of notable figures includes municipal politicians, business luminaries, singers, literary stars and journalists.
Actor Meghan Markle, who is dating Britain’s Prince Harry, is tagged as a “future princess,” and ranks fourth in the magazine’s annual list of the most influential people.
“Not every woman can cause an international incident just by putting on a pair of ripped jeans, but that’s exactly what happened when Markle showed up with Prince Harry at the 2017 Invictus Games,” the magazine’s editors write.
“The appearance sparked indignation from royal etiquette experts, and fashion pundits fell all over each other to find out where the jeans were from (Mother denim, and yes, they are sold out).
“Such is the new normal for the 36-year-old Suits star. Toronto may be bidding cheerio to our favourite future royal sooner rather than later,” the magazine concluded.
No. 13 is Brendan Shanahan, president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The reason? He’s changed the mood of the city, at least the hockey-loving part of it.
“Shanahan inherited a club that embodied a losing culture: they stank on the ice, made bad trades, drafted poorly and aired petty recriminations in public. The ‘Shanaplan’ was simple: clean house, hire smart people (including universally revered coach Mike Babcock and GM Lou Lamoriello), develop talent (Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and others), and be honest with fans.
“That’s all it took — that, and Shanahan’s ability to shoulder the pressure. He’s given the city something it hasn’t known in more than 15 years: post-season optimism.” Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh comes in at 23 on the list. “For years, Singh was known mostly for his double-breasted suits and resplendent pagris. GQ featured him in February and BuzzFeed declared him ‘the most stylish politician in Canada by, like, a million kilometres.’
“This year, Singh became known for much more. The former defence lawyer went viral for his deft, love-laden neutralizing of a racist protester en route to winning the NDP leadership by a country mile. Stars like Seth Rogen and Ava DuVernay tweeted congrats,” the editors wrote.
Singh’s next challenge, according to the magazine? “Winning over Quebec, where a turban-wearing leader is a tough sell.”
Zoe Dodd, a health-care worker with the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, is on the list for her work on opioid prevention. She and her colleagues reversed 100 overdoses in August and led the way to the province’s $222-million commitment to rapid-access clinics, safe-injection sites and an opioid task force.
Toronto Star journalist Daniel Dale makes the list. Dale’s routine factchecking of U.S. President Donald Trump, which points out the falsehoods Trump utters, has made him “essential reading” in the era of fake news, according to the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman.
Trump blocked Dale from his twitter feed in October. But that hasn’t stopped the Washington bureau chief. At last count, Dale found Trump has made 865 false claims during his first 304 days in office, an average of close to three per day.
Other notables on the Toronto Life list chosen include Drake, Mayor John Tory, Premier Kathleen Wynne, Margaret Atwood, and poet and Instagram sensation Rupi Kaur.