According to the Canadian edition of Time magazine, the Ottawa man sent from New York to a Syrian prison on allegations of links to terrorism was this country's top newsmaker in 2004.

Syrian-born Maher Arar was detained while in a new York airport back in September 2002, on suspicion of involvement with the al Qaeda terror network.

He was then deported to Syria, where he was allegedly tortured before his release last year.

"If Arar is a terrorist, he is unlike any other. In contrast with other suspects dispatched to harsh justice, Arar didn't vanish into oblivion in his Middle East cell. Nor, after his release, did he recoil from public view," writes Time's Canadian Bureau Chief Steven Frank.

"Instead Arar, who has a modest home in Ottawa, has stepped into the spotlight, emerging as a vocal proponent of human rights in Canada, a symbol of how fear and injustice have permeated life in the West since 9/11."

The magazine says it was Arar's persistence that earned an inquiry into his deportation, and the distinction of Canadian Newsmaker of the Year.

And, Frank writes, Arar also took the gutsy step of launching a pair of lawsuits targeting some of the most powerful people in North America -- from former prime minister Jean Chretien to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

U.S. newsmaker

South of the border, Time magazine has chosen U.S. President George Bush as its person of the year.

According to the magazine's editors, Bush gets the nod for "reshaping the rules of politics to fit his 10-gallon-hat leadership style."

"For sharpening the debate until the choices bled, for reframing reality to match his design, for gambling his fortunes -- and ours -- on his faith in the power of leadership," the magazine writes, praising the president still glowing from his November re-election.

Noting the polarizing effect of his policies, Bush told the magazine he sometimes relishes criticism.

"I think the natural instinct for most people in the political world is that they want people to like them," Bush said. "On the other hand, I think sometimes I take kind of a delight in who the critics are."

This is the second time Bush has been given the magazine's annual distinction. He was last named Person of the Year in 2000, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court awarded him the presidency.

Time's Person of the Year edition hits newsstands in Canada and the U.S. on Monday.

The annual Canadian of the Year edition of Maclean's magazine also goes on sale Monday, featuring wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc, who won five gold medals at the Paralympic Games, as its top pick.