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VIDEO: Nathan Cirillo, Patrice Vincent named Canada's Newsmaker of the Year

The two slain soldiers – both killed in October – finished ahead of Kevin Vickers and disgraced radio host Jian Ghomeshi in the survey.
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Cpl. Nathan Cirillo (left) and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent were killed two days apart in October


Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, two soldiers who were attacked and killed in separate events just two days apart, have been named Canada's Newsmaker of the Year.

"It's very sad but very deserved," said Vincent's sister Louise. "First it was a family death and after that we realized that his death was not only ours."

Vincent (53 years old) was run down in a parking lot and killed in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec on October 20.

On October 22, Cirillo (24) was gunned down while manning his post at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa, at the foot of Parliament Hill.

The Canadian Press said Vincent and Cirillo accounted for 23 of the 85 total votes cast for its award, which is selected by surveying editors and news directors around the country.

Kevin Vickers – the sergeant-at-arms in the House of Commons who delivered the fatal shot to Cirillo's killer, Michael Zehaf Bibeau – finished second with 13 votes. (Bibeau also received consideration for the award.)

Former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi was third. Ghomeshi is facing charges of sexual assault and allegations of physical assault from several women, has said he will plead not guilty.

"I hate to say it but it's true," said the Vancouver Sun's Adrienne Tanner, on Ghomeshi's candidacy for the award. "Not only was he a Canadian icon brought down after years of people protecting him, but he raised the larger issue of sexual harassment in the workplace, a story that unfortunately still resonates in the highest echelons of business and politics."

Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford was named Canada's Newsmaker of the Year in 2013.