Politics

The history of CP's Newsmaker of the Year

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been named Newsmaker of the Year for 2015. Here's a list of past Newsmakers of the Year, as determined in the annual poll of newsrooms across the country by The Canadian Press.
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau waves to the crowd after his speech at Liberal election headquarters in Montreal, Que. on Monday, October 20, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

A list of Canada's Newsmakers of the Year, as determined in the annual poll of newsrooms across the country by The Canadian Press:

2015: Justin Trudeau, politician

2014: Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, slain soldiers

2013: Rob Ford, politician

2012: Luka Rocco Magnotta, killer

2011: Jack Layton, politician

2010: Russell Williams, sex killer

2009: Stephen Harper, politician

2008: Stephen Harper, politician

2007: The Mounties

2006: The Canadian Soldier

2005: John Gomery, Quebec judge

2004: Paul Martin, politician

2003: Paul Martin, politician

2002: Jean Chrétien, politician

2001: Stockwell Day, politician

2000: Pierre Trudeau, politician

1999: Pierre Trudeau, politician (named Canadian Newsmaker of the 20th Century)

1998: Jean Chrétien, politician

1997: Sheldon Kennedy, hockey player

1996: Donovan Bailey, sprinter

1995: Lucien Bouchard, politician

1994: Jacques Parizeau, politician

1993: Kim Campbell, politician

1992: The Constitution

1991: Brian Mulroney, politician

1990: Elijah Harper, politician

1989: Michael Wilson, politician

1988: Ben Johnson, sprinter

1987: Rick Hansen, cross-country wheelchair athlete

1986: Rick Hansen, cross-country wheelchair athlete

1985: Steve Fonyo, cross-country runner

1984: Brian Mulroney, politician

1983: Brian Mulroney, politician

1982: Wayne Gretzky, hockey player

1981: Terry Fox, cross-country runner

1980: Terry Fox, cross-country runner

1979: Joe Clark, politician

Pierre Trudeau and his wife, Margaret, leave Montreal's Notre Dame Basilica on Jan. 16, 1972 after the christening of their 22-day-old son Justin. The elder Trudeau dominated CP's annual newsmaker poll in the 1970s, unseated only by his rivals Rene Levesque, the premier of Quebec, and Joe Clark, who defeated him in the 1979 election. (Canadian Press)

1978: Pierre Trudeau, politician

1977: Rene Levesque, politician

1976: Rene Levesque, politician

1975: Pierre Trudeau, politician

1974: Pierre Trudeau, politician

1973: Pierre Trudeau, politician

1972: Pierre Trudeau, politician

1971: Pierre Trudeau, politician

1970: Pierre Trudeau, politician

1969: Pierre Trudeau, politician

1968: Pierre Trudeau, politician

1967: Lester Pearson, politician

1966: John Diefenbaker, politician

1965: Lucien Rivard, drug smuggler

1964: Lester Pearson, politician

1963: Lester Pearson, politician

1962: Real Caouette, politician

1961: James Coyne, Bank of Canada governor

1960: John Diefenbaker, politician

1959: John Diefenbaker, Joey Smallwood, politicians

1958: John Diefenbaker, politician

1957: John Diefenbaker, politician

1956: Lester Pearson, diplomat

Politicians and sports figures have dominated the CP poll most years. But in 1954, teenager Marilyn Bell completed a 51-kilometre swim across Lake Ontario, from Youngstown, N.Y., to Toronto, in 20 hours and 56 minutes, becoming a national sensation. (Canadian Press)

1955: Lester Pearson, diplomat

1954: Marilyn Bell, marathon swimmer

1953: Lester Pearson, diplomat

1952: Lester Pearson, diplomat

1951: Lester Pearson, diplomat

1950: Lester Pearson, diplomat

1949: Louis St. Laurent, politician

1948: Mackenzie King, politician

1947: Barbara Ann Scott, figure skater

1946: Igor Gouzenko, Soviet embassy cipher clerk