Our annual ranking of the people whose smarts, connections and clout are changing the city as we know it
Drake
MUSICIAN
1 In the aftermath of the tabloid-riddled fever dream that was 2014, Toronto was desperately in need of a rebrand. “The 6ix,” Drake’s pet name for the city, was weird and edgy and gave grammarians fits—but it stuck. And it marked the start of Drake’s dominant 2015. Today, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, Drake is Toronto. As his star has risen, he has reshaped our civic mythology, telling a new story about Toronto—one in which the city is cool, progressive and diverse enough to have produced a half-black, half-Jewish emo-rap superstar. That narrative is fast becoming the foundation of a new civic identity—a Toronto defined less by the traditional power brokers and more by the teens and 20-somethings growing up around its edges. Bit by bit, he’s physically transforming the city, too. Late last year, he set up a permanent storefront on Dundas West to peddle his clothing line. Sher Club, his exclusive retreat at the ACC, is a hush-hush destination for ballers of all types. OVO Fest, his annual two-day hip-hop festival, sold out in a day and drew guest appearances from Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. Drake has even branched out into restaurants: his lounge Fring’s, a joint venture with Susur Lee and sons, had a stealth launch in September.
Of course, at the heart of Drake’s power is his artistic ability, and on that score he’s never been stronger. His new mixtape, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and in August it became the first 2015 album to sell a million copies. And when Philly rapper Meek Mill accused Drake of using ghostwriters on his songs, Drake, instead of engaging in a Twitter war, made a beeline for the studio and hit back with two devastating tracks, bolstering his artistic bona fides. It’s no coincidence that this is the year the man once known as Aubrey Graham finally dispensed with all the modesty and declared himself a “6 God.” As if to prove it, at the end of September, he became the fourth performer in history to rack up 100 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, putting him in a league with the king himself, Elvis Presley. Seems like the right kind of company to us.
John Tory has taken the first steps toward defining his legacy
It’s been a rocky year for the premier
Cope is the head of Canada’s largest telecommunications company
Butts is now the most powerful non-elected person on Parliament Hill
Laurence is now entering year three of his attempted turnaround of Rogers
Black is the regional head of a global corporate scofflaw
Keesmaat is Toronto’s defiant, outspoken chief planner
Tanenbaum is the city’s most powerful sports figure
Klein is one of the world’s leading critics of capitalism
Telford led Justin Trudeau’s ground campaign
Bautista’s three-run homer elevated him from star slugger to cult hero
Brown is the second most powerful person in Queen’s Park
Handling and Bailey rep the most important movie marketplace not named Cannes
Lennox has domain over Bell’s original and in-house television productions
Ruffolo commands one of Bay Street’s largest private venture capital firms
Kouvalis is the ultimate guy behind the guy
This was the year The Weeknd achieved monster commercial success
Shanahan is the man responsible for returning the most hallowed franchise in hockey to greatness
Livingston suddenly finds himself in the upper echelons of the mobile start-up world
Omidvar is one of the city’s staunchest champions of diversity
Thomson is the public face, however reluctantly, of his family’s $30.7-billion fortune
Saunders heads up the country’s largest municipal police force
Weston has redefined grocery shopping for the 21st century
Khabouth is Toronto’s leading club and restaurant mogul
Hoskins has his hands full with Ontario’s $50-billion health ministry
Hockey is responsible for the bulk of TD Canada Trust’s net income
Donaldson helped lead the Jays to the post-season for the first time in 22 years
Remedios deals with Bieber, the Weeknd and Drake
Maslany is the most buzzed-about Canadian actor since Gosling
Ishaq altered the course of the 2015 federal election
At age 75, Atwood is more relevant than ever
Rose is Toronto’s restaurant oracle
Henein runs the hottest criminal defence firm in Toronto
Taylor’s cheerful prints have appeared on the likes of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Michelle Obama
The king of Queen West has taken his quirky brand of Canadiana on the road
Stewart is winning the battle to convince networks that Twitter is a reinforcement to—not a distraction from—their programming
Freeland may have the most impressive resumé in Canadian politics
Powerful people start quaking when Kevin Donovan’s name pops up on their call display
Rafi turned the city’s Pan Am cynicism into pride
The head of the Slaight Family Foundation followed up on a generous 2014
Cochrane is easily the most powerful person in the Canadian book publishing industry
Galloway’s voice is the first thing 392,000 Torontonians hear every morning
Taylor is Canada’s first female bank chair
Mizrahi has dominion over what is arguably Toronto’s most significant undeveloped piece of land
The GTA’s residential construction titan is headed downtown
Canada finally has another sprinter worth getting excited about
Pride’s fresh-faced francophone executive director has the diplomatic skills and savoir-faire for the gig
Deluce closes out the year with no shortage of headaches
Kain put the National Ballet back on stable financial footing
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/culture/toronto-50-most-influential-2015-drake/&title=Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #1, Drake&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drake-toronto-most-influential-01-2000x1200.jpg&description=Drake
MUSICIAN
1 In the aftermath of the tabloid-riddled fever dream that was 2014, Toronto was desperately in need of a rebrand. “The 6ix,” Drake’s pet name for the city, was weird and edgy and gave grammarians fits—but it stuck. And it marked the start of Drake’s dominant 2015. Today, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, Drake is Toronto. As his star has risen, he has reshaped our civic mythology, telling a new story about Toronto—one in which the city is cool, progressive and diverse enough to have produced a half-black, half-Jewish emo-rap superstar. That narrative is fast becoming the foundation of a new civic identity—a Toronto defined less by the traditional power brokers and more by the teens and 20-somethings growing up around its edges. Bit by bit, he’s physically transforming the city, too. Late last year, he set up a permanent storefront on Dundas West to peddle his clothing line. Sher Club, his exclusive retreat at the ACC, is a hush-hush destination for ballers of all types. OVO Fest, his annual two-day hip-hop festival, sold out in a day and drew guest appearances from Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. Drake has even branched out into restaurants: his lounge Fring’s, a joint venture with Susur Lee and sons, had a stealth launch in September.
Of course, at the heart of Drake’s power is his artistic ability, and on that score he’s never been stronger. His new mixtape, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and in August it became the first 2015 album to sell a million copies. And when Philly rapper Meek Mill accused Drake of using ghostwriters on his songs, Drake, instead of engaging in a Twitter war, made a beeline for the studio and hit back with two devastating tracks, bolstering his artistic bona fides. It’s no coincidence that this is the year the man once known as Aubrey Graham finally dispensed with all the modesty and declared himself a “6 God.” As if to prove it, at the end of September, he became the fourth performer in history to rack up 100 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, putting him in a league with the king himself, Elvis Presley. Seems like the right kind of company to us.
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How is Councillor Norm Kelly not on this list?
Patrick Brown? Karen Kain? Robert Deluce? and you wonder why your subscriptions have nose dived. TorLife has only been amusing for its real estate tid bits on line, otherwise you are so out of touch with the average 30-55 year old that its truely tragic.
Seriously, where’s Norm?
So glad Adam Vaughan is not on here and nor is Olivia Chow.
Where’s Bill Morneau?
Check out Drake in his younger days at a Toronto fashion show: https://youtu.be/B1MW9aXeE-o
What happened to Peter Pisters? Healthcare matters, folks!
My sphere of influence is vastly different than TL’s
clown. that creates the worst music and sound ever. freak’n painfull.