Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #25, Patrick Brown

Patrick Brown

PC Party Leader

25The door is wide open for Brown to take back the legislature. He didn’t help his cause by flip-flopping on same-sex marriage and the sex-ed curriculum, but his disavowal of social conservatism may make him more palatable to middle-of-the-road voters. He scored points on Liberal spending programs, including the $12 million they paid to launch a $225-million hydro program to help low-income families.

Friends in high places:

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Toronto's Most Influential People of 2016

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #1, Justin Trudeau

The PM is Toronto's most influential person (even though, yes, he doesn't live here)

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #2, Drake

The 6 god

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #3, John Tory

The mayor

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #4, Kathleen Wynne

The premier

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #5, Gerald Butts

Ottawa's most powerful unelected man

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #6, Bill Morneau

The minister of finance

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #7, George Cope

The telecom titan

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #8, Katie Telford

The prime minister's right-hand woman

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #9, Jennifer Keesmaat

The chief planner

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #10, Masai Ujiri

The guy who brought Toronto basketball back from the brink

Life

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #11, Ratna Omidvar

The activist senator

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #12, David Thomson

Canada's richest man

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #13, Tracey Cook

The rule-maker

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #14, Cameron Bailey and Piers Handling

The film festival gatekeepers

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #15, Marie Henein

The power attorney

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #16, Larry Tanenbaum

The multi-sport magnate

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #17, Deb Matthews

Queen's Park's second-in-command

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #18, The Weeknd

The megastar crooner

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #19, Josh Donaldson

The Blue Jays' bringer of rain

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #20, Doug Murphy

The mass-media insurgent

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #21, Charles Khabouth

The nightlife impresario

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #22, Eric Hoskins

The man in charge of wrangling Ontario's doctors

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #23, Gord Downie

The multi-talented troubadour

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #24, Mark Shapiro

The business mind behind the Blue Jays

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #26, Kevin O’Leary

The TV star who might (or might not) be PM material

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #27, John Zerucelli

Justin Trudeau's image-maker

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #28, Ted Livingston

Waterloo's billion-dollar man

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #29, Tatiana Maslany

The Emmy recipient

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #30, Ian Black

Toronto's ride-hailing king

Life

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #31, Sandy Hudson and Janaya Khan

The Black Lives Matter Toronto organizers

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #32, Rachel McAdams

The rising Hollywood star

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #33, Heather Reisman

The Indigo overlord

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #34, Cory Joseph, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan

Toronto basketball's biggest stars

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #35, Karen Kain

The boss of the ballet

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #36, Stephan Jost

The new Art Gallery of Ontario honcho

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #37, Joshua Basseches

The ROM's Renaissance man

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #38, Michael Katchen

A budding finance mogul

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #39, Kristin Cochrane

The city's publishing powerhouse

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #40, John Ruffolo

Canada's tech kingmaker

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #41, Mitzie Hunter

Ontario's new minister of education

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #42, Sarah Polley

Toronto's most promising young filmmaker

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #43, Iain Klugman

The tech-incubator guru

Life

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #44, Maureen Taylor

The assisted dying advocate

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #45, Mary Ann Turcke

Bell Media's new overlord

Food & Drink

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #46, Mohamad Fakih

The entrepreneur

Culture

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #47, Matt Galloway

The CBC's MVP

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #48, Penny Oleksiak

The world champion

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #49, Carolyn Bennett

The minister of Indigenous and northern affairs

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #50, Michael Ford

The heir to the Ford dynasty