Late leader of the federal New Democratic Party who became, due to late-in-the game (and utterly unpredicted) success in the 2011 Federal election and some self-designed post-humus PR moves, the only revered federal politician since Pierre Trudeau. After a carefully righteous but not-always successful career in Toronto civic politics, he blended in better in Ottawa what with his questionable fashion choices (see ties, orange) and his relentless commitment to making every moment of his life a media opportunity.  Until the end, making an impact on the federal scene  proved difficult. Early on, he bungled the hiring and subsequent firing of his anti-seal hunt executive assistant and, more surprisingly, the all important and generally hilarious Press Gallery Dinner. Instead of being a wet-dream come true for this media whore, he was badly outplayed by Canadian comedic geniuses like Stephen Harper and Peter Mackay. That said, he was nearly always close to the right place, even if it wasn’t always the right time and he rarely got past the cliches. Sure, not many political animals get that far these days. But what if the payoff is an ocean of sentimentality, a political movement drowning in it, and a song written in your honour by children’s singer/songwriter Raffi Cavoukian, who also perpetrated “Baby Beluga”?