Toronto Life – December 2018

photographs: mendes, dubas, shanahan by

getty images;

horwath by

erin leydon

70 toronto life December 2018

the kinder, gentler Justin Bieber is

now eclipsing his forerunner. His self-titled

2018 album shot to the top of the Billboard 200

chart and earned him Billboard’s inaugural Artist

of the Year award, the same honour he picked up

at the MMVAs. He’s now a certified A-lister: he

graced the cover of Variety’s Young Hollywood

issue, attended his first Met Ball, scored an invite to

Taylor Swift’s American Music Awards after-party

(with a trophy in hand), made cameos on The Voice

and Ellen, landed on Justin Trudeau’s summer

playlist, rocked the Jingle Ball tour with Cardi B,

received an adoring write-up in the Time 100 from

his hero John Mayer and performed for the Queen.

Dave Grohl called Mendes a “bad motherfucker”—

a compliment in Foo speak. Oh, and did we men-

tion he’s only 20 years old? up^ next: Starring in an

Ivan Reitman movie musical called Summer of Love.

for the 60 per cent of voters who didn’t

support Doug Ford, Andrea Horwath, the

Steeltown-raised, scrapyard-tough opposition

leader, is their best hope. After spending her

entire Queen’s Park career in third place,

Horwath returned from the political wilder-

ness to capture nearly 2 million votes, 40 seats

and official opposition status. She has put her

enhanced power and elevated profile to good

use. In July, she condemned Ford’s ham-fisted

attempt to repeal the sex-ed curriculum, and

when Ford introduced the bill to gut the size of

city council, Horwath orchestrated a protest so

loud and disruptive that the sergeant-at-arms

had to escort her from the legislature. friends in

high places: Blues rocker Tom Wilson from

Blackie and the Rodeo Kings.

what’s more stressful than leading the

Leafs when they’re terrible? Doing it when

they’re good. That privilege falls to Shanahan

and Dubas, his 32-year-old rookie GM, who

have given a few million hockey obsessives rea-

son to live again. This summer, with the team

looking like a Stanley Cup maybe, they signed

John Tavares to a gigantic seven-year, $77-million

(U.S.) contract, giving the team three all-star

snipers. They’re changing the organization in

other ways, too: Dubas hired Hayley Wicken-

heiser, former captain of Team Canada, as assis-

tant director of player development, and after

instituting a “name-blind” hiring policy,

brought on Noelle Needham, a former player

from Minnesota State, as a scout. up next: Flair.

Dubas’s predecessor, Lou Lamoriello, was

known for his cultural straitjacket approach—

no beards, no flash and no interviews beyond

the daily beat reporter hits—but Dubas believes

that a player performs best when he can express

himself. Hence, a GQ spread featuring Auston

Matthews in September, and Mitch Marner

rocking a camouflage suit with leopard-print

shoes during the pre-season.

13

Andrea Horwath

Leader of the

officiaL opposition

14

Kyle Dubas

& Brendan Shanahan

GeneraL ManaGer & president,

toronto MapLe Leafs

12

The fif

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mendes

Pop star

INFLUENTIALS_SEND.indd 70 18-10-31 10:37 AM