TORONTO — Two Canadians killed in cold blood on home soil for wearing a soldier's uniform have been selected the country's Newsmaker of the Year for 2014.
Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Hamilton's Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, whose senseless murders in October shook the country, were the top choice of editors and news directors surveyed by The Canadian Press.
"It's very sad, but very deserved," Vincent's sister Louise Vincent. "First it was a family death and after that we realized that his death was not only ours."
The two soldiers quickly became household names.
"Coming as it did only days after the killing of Patrice Vincent in Quebec, the tragic death of Cpl. Cirillo shocked and alarmed Canadians like few other events in Canada, and the subsequent outpouring of grief and sympathy made it the biggest story this year," said Spectator editor-in-chief Paul Berton.
Vincent, 53, described as a quiet, determined person who was always looking to help others, died Oct. 20 after a "radicalized" Martin Rouleau, 25, deliberately ran him down in a parking lot in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.
Two days later, with the country struggling to process Vincent's death, terror gripped the nation's capital when Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot Cirillo, 24, in the back before storming Parliament Hill and dying in a hail of bullets.
The photogenic, dog-loving reservist with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders had been quietly standing ceremonial guard with an unloaded weapon at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier when he was attacked without warning.
Once again, Canadians were dismayed and saddened at the prospect of a soldier killed on home soil — this time someone who might have looked like a "big tough man," but was, as a cousin said, "such a kid at heart." Photographs of Cirillo's dogs poking their heads from beneath the fence of the family home in Hamilton only added to the palpable grief.
"This is a very sad tragedy," said Ron Foxcroft, the honorary colonel of the Argylls. "The Argylls are doing everything to honour Cpl. Cirillo, while protecting the privacy of the family. We are making certain he will never be forgotten."
Cirillo's family refused to comment.
Even before his state-like funeral, Canadians learned of the valiant efforts to save and comfort the dying father of a five-year-old boy.
"You are so loved," Barbara Winters said she repeatedly told Cirillo while tending to him after he was shot.
In scenes not seen since the repatriation of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, thousands of Canadians lined the "Highway of Heroes" to show support for the two men.
"These two men did not ask to be in the news," said Fred Hutton, news director with VOCM radio in St. John's. "They were random victims who were thrust into the spotlight by deranged individuals who made us all question our own safety."
Michel Lorrain, general director with Cogeco nouvelles in Montreal, noted in his survey comments how rare it is in Canadian history for soldiers to be killed outside of a combat mission.
Their deaths, said Murray Guy, managing editor of the Times and Transcript in Moncton, N.B., symbolized Canada's "sudden loss of innocence in a world where we thought we were all detached from the dark threat of terror that has plagued so many seemingly so far away."
In all, Cirillo and Vincent picked up 23 of the 85 votes cast to be named 2014 Newsmaker.
In second spot with 13 votes apiece were Kevin Vickers, the sergeant-at-arms credited with stopping Zihaf-Bibeau, and disgraced CBC radio personality, Jian Ghomeshi.
Ghomeshi is accused of sexually or physically assaulting several women.
Some of those voting felt the scandal surrounding the ex "Q" host had a more profound and lasting impact than did the Parliament Hill horrors.
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