The most influential hashtaggers of 2015

The Anti-Troll

Stephanie Guthrie, @amirightfolks

In 2012, Guthrie launched the first criminal lawsuit against an alleged Twitter troll. A verdict is expected in the new year. She plays a central role at advocacy organization Women in Toronto Politics, which has the hashtag #WiTOpoli. Her TEDxToronto talk on e-harassment has been viewed 44,000 times.  

The King

Norm Kelly, @norm

Our tweeter-in-chief also happens to be a city councillor. He tweets on average 6.6 times per day. In 2015, he sparked #deadraccoonTO, told Drake-dissing rapper Meek Mill he wasn’t welcome here, photoshopped an image of himself with a man bun and called out Drake for high-fiving Raptor-killer Paul Pierce (“Yo, Drake. What the hell is this?”).  

The Kitchen Crusader

Jen Agg, @theblackhoof

When pastry chef Kate Burnham sued her former colleagues for sexual harassment, Agg, the Black Hoof owner and super-tweeter with 11,400 followers, unleashed a firehose of 140-character support. She also organized a Kitchen Bitches conference on poisonous industry culture, convinced top chefs to speak and wrote a NYT op-ed.  

The Demagogue

Desmond Cole, @DesmondCole

Police carding was the year’s buzziest issue, and Desmond Cole was its public face. He wrote a Toronto Life cover story about it, and landed a radio show on Newstalk 1010 and a column in the Toronto Star. He met with the mayor, persuading Tory to reverse his position on carding. And now changes in provincial legislation are in the offing.  

More of Toronto's Most Influential People

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #1, Drake

Today, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, Drake is Toronto

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #2, John Tory

John Tory has taken the first steps toward defining his legacy

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #3, Kathleen Wynne

It's been a rocky year for the premier

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #4, George Cope

Cope is the head of Canada’s largest telecommunications company

City

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

Butts is now the most powerful non-elected person on Parliament Hill

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #6, Guy Laurence

Laurence is now entering year three of his attempted turnaround of Rogers

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #7, Ian Black

Black is the regional head of a global corporate scofflaw

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #8, Jennifer Keesmaat

Keesmaat is Toronto's defiant, outspoken chief planner

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #9, Larry Tanenbaum

Tanenbaum is the city’s most powerful sports figure

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #10, Naomi Klein

Klein is one of the world's leading critics of capitalism

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #11, Katie Telford

Telford led Justin Trudeau's ground campaign

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Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #12, José Bautista

Bautista's three-run homer elevated him from star slugger to cult hero

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #13, Patrick Brown

Brown is the second most powerful ­person in Queen’s Park

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

Handling and Bailey rep the most important movie marketplace not named Cannes

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #15, Randy Lennox

Lennox has domain over Bell's original and in-house tele­vision productions

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #16, John Ruffolo

Ruffolo commands one of Bay Street’s largest private venture capital firms

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #17, Nick Kouvalis

Kouvalis is the ultimate guy behind the guy

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

This was the year The Weeknd achieved monster commercial success

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #19, Brendan Shanahan

­Shanahan is the man responsible for returning the most hallowed franchise in hockey to greatness

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #20, Ted Livingston

Livingston suddenly finds himself in the upper echelons of the mobile start-up world

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #21, Ratna Omidvar

Omidvar is one of the city’s staunchest champions of diversity

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #22, David Thomson

Thomson is the public face, however reluctantly, of his family’s $30.7-billion fortune

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #23, Mark Saunders

Saunders heads up the country’s largest municipal police force

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #24, Galen Weston

Weston has ­redefined grocery shopping for the 21st century

Food & Drink

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #25, Charles Khabouth

Khabouth is Toronto’s leading club and restaurant mogul

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #26, Eric Hoskins

Hoskins has his hands full with Ontario's $50-billion health ministry

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #27, Tim Hockey

Hockey is responsible for the bulk of TD Canada Trust's net income

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #28, Josh Donaldson

Donaldson helped lead the Jays to the post-season for the first time in 22 years

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #29, Jeff Remedios

Remedios deals with Bieber, the Weeknd and Drake

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #30, Tatiana Maslany

Maslany is the most buzzed-about Canadian actor since Gosling

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #31, Zunera Ishaq

Ishaq altered the course of the 2015 federal election

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #32, Margaret Atwood

At age 75, Atwood is more ­relevant than ever

Food & Drink

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #33, Anthony Rose

Rose is Toronto’s restaurant oracle

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #34, Marie Henein

Henein runs the hottest criminal defence firm in Toronto

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #35, Tanya Taylor

Taylor’s cheerful prints have appeared on the likes of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Michelle Obama

Food & Drink

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #36, Jeff Stober

The king of Queen West has taken his quirky brand of Canadiana on the road

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #37, Kirstine Stewart

Stewart is winning the battle to convince networks that Twitter is a reinforcement to—not a distraction from—their programming

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #38, Chrystia Freeland

Freeland may have the most impressive resumé in Canadian politics

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #39, Kevin Donovan

Powerful people start quaking when Kevin Donovan’s name pops up on their call display

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #40, Saäd Rafi

Rafi turned the city's Pan Am cynicism into pride

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #41, Gary Slaight

The head of the Slaight Family Foundation followed up on a generous 2014

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #42, Kristin Cochrane

Cochrane is easily the most powerful person in the Canadian book publishing industry

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #43, Matt Galloway

Galloway's voice is the first thing 392,000 Torontonians hear every morning

City

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

Taylor is Canada's first female bank chair

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #45, Sam Mizrahi

Mizrahi has dominion over what is arguably ­Toronto’s most significant undeveloped piece of land

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #46, Peter Gilgan

The GTA’s residential construction titan is headed downtown

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #47, Andre De Grasse

Canada finally has another sprinter worth getting excited about

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #48, Mathieu Chantelois

Pride’s fresh-faced franco­phone executive director has the diplomatic skills and savoir-faire for the gig

City

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #49, Robert Deluce

Deluce closes out the year with no shortage of headaches

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

Kain put the National Ballet back on stable financial footing