Bruce MacKinnon, editorial cartoonist for the Halifax Chronicle Herald, accepts a gold sequinned hat and the first ever award for journalist of the year at the 2015 National News Awards in Toronto, May 22, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Galit Rodan

Bruce MacKinnon, editorial cartoonist for the Halifax Chronicle Herald, accepts a gold sequinned hat and the first ever award for journalist of the year at the 2015 National News Awards in Toronto, May 22, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Galit Rodan

On a day the world’s media turned to Canada to report on a lone shooter in the nation’s capital, one journalist rose about all others with an exceptional piece of work that endures as a timeless portrait of loss and grief, encapsulating the national heartbreak.

Bruce MacKinnon’s powerful editorial cartoon of a Canadian veteran stepping down from the national war memorial to claim the fallen body of Corporal Nathan Cirillo captured not only the tragedy of his death but the ever evolving history of war from uniformed troops to modern day terrorists.

MacKinnon’s editorial cartoon exemplifies the very best in journalism. It is an inspiring work that resonates, and it has emerged as the most iconic, memorable image from what was arguably the story of the year. He helped us focus on the collective trauma in a simple and compassionate way, and without artifice or hatred. It was so very Canadian.