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    Editor’s Picks: Our favourite long reads of 2016

    One Syrian family’s incredible journey. Our most-read parenting story ever. Donald Trump. Read our favourite longreads of 2016.

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    What a year. From stories of defying death in order to start a new life in Canada, to the most unexpected presidential campaign of all time, to the remarkable behind-the-scenes process of raising pandas in Canada, here’s a look back at the year that was. Click your way through our favourite longreads of 2016.

    Saving Family no. 417

    Amal Alkhalaf, 41, shows the telephone which she's been using to contact people in Canada who have been arranging her family's resettlement there, in the tiny apartment in which she lives with her three children, and her sister-in-law and her children, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, (Photograph by Sam Tarling)
    Amal Alkhalaf, 41, shows the telephone which she’s been using to contact people in Canada who have been arranging her family’s resettlement. (Photograph by Sam Tarling)

    The journey of one Syrian mother, her three children—and the complete strangers who made it their mission to bring them to Canada.

    The other residential school runaways

    Jones Road, the winding route to Grassy Narrows, Ontario, with the Lount Lake Road turn on the left. (Photograph by Nick Iwanyshyn)
    Jones Road, the winding route to Grassy Narrows, Ontario, with the Lount Lake Road turn on the left. (Photograph by Nick Iwanyshyn)

    Two boys escaping a residential school followed tragically in the footsteps of Chanie Wenjack. Their story was forgotten. Until now.

    It takes a village

    Giant panda cubs at the Toronto zoo. (TORONTO ZOO)
    Giant panda cubs at the Toronto zoo. (TORONTO ZOO)

    Sure, they’re incredibly cute. But unseen by photo-happy visitors was the intricate, exhausting effort required to get the pandas Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue to the Toronto Zoo. Inside the zoo’s heroic, expensive—often downright bizarre—effort to raise twin panda babies.

    Why I’m voting for Donald Trump

    From left to right, Susan Bates, Royce Barnes, Sabrina Kim, Maya Brudnay, and Arthur Robertson, are all supporters of Donald Turmp. (Photographs by Michelle Frankfurter, Ricky Rhodes, and Josh Ritchie)
    From left to right, Susan Bates, Royce Barnes, Sabrina Kim, Maya Brudnay, and Arthur Robertson, are all supporters of Donald Turmp. (Photographs by Michelle Frankfurter, Ricky Rhodes, and Josh Ritchie)

    Maclean’s asked ordinary Americans to explain why they planned on voting for Donald Trump on Nov. 8.

    The great escape from the Fort Mac fire

    May 9, 2016: For many, the harrowing trip out of the burning town involved getting very close to the fire in Fort McMurray. (Jason Edmondson)
    May 9, 2016: For many, the harrowing trip out of the burning town involved getting very close to the fire in Fort McMurray. (Jason Edmondson)

    From the first puffs of smoke to the harrowing evacuation, this is the story of how the Fort McMurray fire happened, the heroic battle to fight back the flames and what it all means for the devastated city.

    What Jian Ghomeshi did

    Former Canadian radio host Jian Ghomeshi with his attorney Marie. Jenna Marie Wakani/Reuters
    Former Canadian radio host Jian Ghomeshi with his attorney Marie. (Jenna Marie Wakani/Reuters)

    How a trial that was supposed to flip the script on sexual violence only made things worse.

    The collapse of parenting: Why it’s time for parents to grow up

    Young girl shouting. (Stuart McClymont/Getty Images)
    (Stuart McClymont/Getty Images)

    If anyone can be called the boss in modern, anti-hierarchical parenthood, it’s the children. This was the most-read story in the history of Macleans.ca.

    Canada’s stories

    CANADA%27S STORIES_HUB IMAGE

    A massive multimedia project to celebrate the lives of Canadians who have witnessed history—and those making it now. Incredible stories of triumph, tragedy and unwavering patriotism.

    The sinking of Leviathan II

    The capsized whale watching boat Leviathan II, off the coast of Tofino, B.C., on October 27, 2015. (Photograph by Adam Chilton)
    The capsized whale watching boat Leviathan II, off the coast of Tofino, B.C., on October 27, 2015. (Photograph by Adam Chilton)

    The Leviathan II whale-watching ship capsized in October, killing six. For the first time, the survivors and rescuers recounted how the tragedy unfolded.

    Disaster in B Major

    Eleanor McCain in her living room in 2015. (KEITH BEATY/Toronto Star)
    Eleanor McCain in her living room in 2015. (KEITH BEATY/Toronto Star)

    French-fry heiress Eleanor McCain, culture czar Jeff Melanson, and a deep dive into the divorce that exposed scandal at the top of the Canadian arts world.

    La Loche: A small town’s grief. A nation’s shame.

    A fire burns in the cemetery in La Loche, SK to thaw the ground to prepare for the burial of the two brothers shot and killed last Friday. After three days of burning, volunteers will use shovels to dig the graves. (Photograph by Chris Bolin)
    A fire burns in the cemetery in La Loche, SK to thaw the ground to prepare for the burial of the two brothers shot and killed. (Photograph by Chris Bolin)

    A troubled teen in La Loche, Sask. shot and killed teen brothers, two educators, and injured seven others before being arrested. Here’s how it happened and what it says about Canada’s shocking neglect of First Nations in the North.

    How Kellie Leitch touched off a culture war

    MAC39_LEITCHVALUES_CAROUSEL03

    Are you Canadian enough? What Kellie Leitch’s plan to screen immigrants says about the country—and the leadership hopeful who suggested it.

    The rise of Donald Trump

    Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally in the Lakawanna College Student Union November 7, 2016 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. With less than 24 hours until Election Day in the United States, Trump and his opponent, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, are campaigning in key battleground states that each must win to take the White House. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
    Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally in the Lakawanna College Student Union November 7, 2016 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

    The 10 moments that came to define the most ridiculous, unexpected and divisive political campaign in U.S. history.

    tags:Editor's Pickslongreads