Justin Bieber named top 2012 Canadian newsmaker

The ancient Mayans were just a few days off. In what will seem like the end of the world to some, Justin Bieber has been voted Canadian Newsmaker of the Year. The pint-sized pop star with the monster fan base beat out Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau, Luka Magnotta and others to earn the title, which comes on the heels of his critically acclaimed sophomore album.

The survey results, revealed Monday by Ipsos Reid exclusively for Postmedia News and Global Televsion, span tragedy, politics, crime, sports, entertainment and finance, collectively painting a portrait of the year that was. And fortunately for all persons acknowledged, the poll kicked off before the words Ikea monkey entered our vocabulary.

Bieber narrowly edged out Harper for the top spot, earning 17 per cent of Canadian support to the prime ministers 15. Third place, meanwhile, saw a three-way tie between the Shafia family honour-killing trials, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, and Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois, with each amassing 10 per cent of the vote.

Its a mixed bag because youre dealing with different parts of the country that have their own newsmaking machine and events, says John Wright, senior vice-president of Ipsos Reid.

In Quebec, for instance, Wright reports that Magnotta a porn actor accused of killing and dismembering a Chinese international student, then mailing his limbs to various locations was among the highest vote-getters because that province was ground zero for the case. And in B.C., there was overwhelming support for hometown girl Amanda Todd.

Magnotta was ultimately voted Canadian newsmaker of 2012 by eight per cent of those polled. And Todd, whose self-inflicted death made cyberbullying part of our national conversation, saw six per cent of the national vote.

Were very sensitive to this, says Wright, addressing the potential that the top newsmaker title glamorizes murder or suicide. But we very specifically asked people to talk about those who made the news In! 2010, number one by a large margin was a serial killer (Russell Williams).

Others on the list, each earning a vote-share of one to four per cent, include: departing Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney; soccer player Christine Sinclair, who led the Canadian team to a bronze finish at the 2012 Olympics; NDP leaderTom Mulcair; mysterious robocall perpetrator Pierre Poutine; Alberta Premier Alison Redford; and Bev Oda who retired from politics following controversy over her spending.

The Ipsos Reid survey of 1,021 adult Canadians was conducted online, on behalf of Postmedia News and Global Television, Dec. 7 to 12. Its considered accurate within 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Postmedia news