Top 10 Greatest Canadians

[maplesyrup]

CBC series reveals Top 10 in countdown to who is the Greatest Canadian

So the Top 10 are: NDP political legend T.C. Douglas, hockey star Wayne Gretzky, TV sports personality Don Cherry, founding prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald, one-legged runner Terry Fox, medical pioneer Dr. Frederick Banting, prime minister and Nobel peace prize winner Lester Pearson, telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell, TV science host and environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki and, former PM Pierre Trudeau.

All of a sudden Canadian's reasoning abilities have gone up substantially in my estimation. what a truly remarkable and impressive list, although i would have liked to see Louis Riel on the list as well. Oh well, some day, and maybe Matthew Coon Come.

Not quite sure what Don Cherry is doing there though

[caesar]

Don Cherry and Wayne Gretsky????? I love hockey but hardly consider them Great Canadians.

[Newfie Canadian]

I was truly amazed and delighted that The Unknown Soldier and Romeo Dallaire made the list at nubers 21 and 16 respectively. That was nice and deserved.

The guy I voted for was in the top ten, PM Lester B. Pearson.

Out of the ten I could vote for either of six or seven. I couldn't bring myself to vote for Gretzky or Cherry, and I didn't consider Bell a Canadian.

[maplesyrup]

Greatest Canadian list pared down

Truly an amazin' list, all 50 are listed here. CBC is going to have a hour-long show starting tonight, I gather a countdown to eventually picking a final winner. Do you trhink Trudeau will be the eventual winner or will it be the founder of Medicare, T C Douglas?

[kimmy]

I can't believe Rick Mercer made the list. Who would #51 have been; Ralph Benmergui?

-kimmy

[Newfie Canadian]

There are a few that made the list that surprised me.

Shania Twain (18), Avril Lavigne (40), Hal Anderson (34) for example.

I'm still betting on Pearson.

As Paul Gross said, he brought about the things that Canadians are known for: the Maple Leaf, Peacekeeping, Universal Healthcare (his government brought it in) and the Canada Pension Plan.

Oh, and he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the Suez Crisis.

[Black Dog]

This list is a joke. Of the top 50, only six were women. Three of those were singers. Four of the top 50 were professional hockey players, including Wayne Gretzky, who has lived in the United States for the past 15 years. Three others were comedians. Surely we could do better than that?

i would have liked to see Louis Riel on the list as well.

Lousi Riel made number 11. Furthermore, he shouldn't even have been on the list, as he wasn't a Canadian. He became an American citizen in 1883.

[maplesyrup]

Who is Hal Anderson and what kind of a show does he have?

[kimmy]

Who is Hal Anderson and what kind of a show does he have?

Meet Hal!

http://www.power97.com/jocks.php?p=hal

Join Hal Anderson Monday nights at the Big ‘A’, where two beautiful girls will compete for $97 cash. The winner will also advance to the finals where one lucky hottie will win a professional photo shoot and a trip to Chicago to hand-deliver her portfolio to Playboy!

Join Hal Anderson for BUDWEISER MESSY WRESTLING every Tuesday night at the original body slamming hot spot, Monty's Bar One, 2280 Pembina Hwy!

( http://www.power97.com/clubs.php )

One would hope that he has more to recommend him than hosting wet T-shirt contests and bikini Jello-wrestling events (although, that alone probably puts him among Winnipeg's cultural elite. )

-kimmy

[Guest eureka]

I could not be more in agreement, BlackDog. San Marino could produce a list of greater talents.

[Newfie Canadian]

It could have been worse. there are some legitimate names on that list. It's hard to argue the likes of Arthur Curry, Rick Hansen, Billy Bishop, Frederick Banting, Lester Pearson and Terry Fox. I think we should be proud of all these Canadians.

A couple people could be Agnes McPhail, Emily Murphy, Jean Sauvé, Emily Stowe and Lewis MacKenzie.

It did turn out to be of a poppularity contest than I had hoped, as evidenced by Twain, Myers, Dion, Lavigne and Gretzky, but you take the good with the bad.

[Slavik44]

I think we have some good names on the list, but Don Cherry? I love hockey and all but you have got to be kidding me same for gretzky great hockey player but really he hasn't done anything substantial outside of hockey, except tylenol comercials. Personaly I would like to see Banting win. But Lester B Pearson, was one of few Canadians to do something big for Canada on the international stage, and National stage, plus he has a hockey award named after him, Peacekeeping, Healthcare and Hockey, you can't get more Canadian then that

[daniel]

To narrow the list, I would exclude politicians because it's their job to do great things. You'd have to be a really pathetic politcal leader to screw up the country.

I would also rule out people who have their own personal agenda in mind. Sorry, Terry Fox. An honourable activity to did for a noble cause but if you hadn't had cancer?

Also ruling out other people who are paid to do their greatness. That would be Banting. A great discovery, which contributed to world progress as well as his condition that no one or company shall financially benefit from this discovery (something of an example forgotten by US Pharmaceuticals). Banting was paid for doing his research. Also, rules out professional sports personalities like Gretzky and Cherry - who they have made it to this list if they weren't paid for activity which they are great at?

I know who I want to vote for but I'm still willing to listen to the other arguments.

[Slavik44]

To narrow the list, I would exclude politicians because it's their job to do great things. You'd have to be a really pathetic politcal leader to screw up the country.

I would also rule out people who have their own personal agenda in mind. Sorry, Terry Fox. An honourable activity to did for a noble cause but if you hadn't had cancer?

Also ruling out other people who are paid to do their greatness. That would be Banting. A great discovery, which contributed to world progress as well as his condition that no one or company shall financially benefit from this discovery (something of an example forgotten by US Pharmaceuticals). Banting was paid for doing his research. Also, rules out professional sports personalities like Gretzky and Cherry - who they have made it to this list if they weren't paid for activity which they are great at?

I know who I want to vote for but I'm still willing to listen to the other arguments.

LMAO

that was so pathetic it was funny

[Newfie Canadian]

You'd have to be a really pathetic politcal leader to screw up the country.

But what if you not only didn't screw up your country, but you also made a significant contribution on the world stage, as my man Pearson did. He did great things inside Canada, and all of them with a minority government, but put Canada in a signifacant role in the world through the UN. He helped solve the Suez Crisis and set the stage for keeping Canada out of Vietnam.

He wasn't just a politician; he was a diplomat and statesman.

[seabee]

Don Cherry, a nominee? Québec's separation just got a big boost.

[Stoker]

Emily Carr should have made the list.......I'm surprised that Gordon Lightfoot was not in the top twenty atleast

All in all, I thought it was abit skewed.......but thats democracy for yeah

[August1991]

This list is a joke. Of the top 50, only six were women. Three of those were singers. Four of the top 50 were professional hockey players, including Wayne Gretzky, who has lived in the United States for the past 15 years. Three others were comedians. Surely we could do better than that?

Of the top ten, all are men, seven dead white guys and eight WASPs.

This is a big joke on the CBC. The tip off is Cherry. I'll bet either he wins or the CBC is forced to rig the vote.

Don Cherry! The CBC! You gotta admit that some Canadians have a sense of humour...

[caesar]

To narrow the list, I would exclude politicians because it's their job to do great things. You'd have to be a really pathetic politcal leader to screw up the country.

Then we have had a lot of really pathetic leaders and many other wannabee leaders who have messed up very well.

I think their only job is to secure a great future and pension for themselves.

I do approve of Pearson and Trudeau.

[Newfie Canadian]

The list says a few things.

1) It was partly a popularity contest as evidenced by the selection of recent songsters, hockey players and a radio host.

2) A couple of selections were the worl of groups, like the founder of the Kinsmen and May Maxwell.

3) Shamefully, there are a lot of people out there that know very little about the history of this country.

[August1991]

Yes, Newf, it shows that many Canadians don't listen to CBC Radio or CBC TV:

Table 10 shows CBC/Radio-Canada audience share data for 1999 through 2003.  These data show that the CBC’s Radio One service has consistently enjoyed an average listening share of about 9% since fall 2000.

English CBC TV share in English Canada has fallen from 10.0% in 1997 to 7.2% in 2002. (See Table 13 in the link.)

Senate Report

The story?

Some management idiot at the English CBC invented this crazy scheme of "Great Canadians". Alot of English Canadians (about 90%) don't listen to the CBC but enough of them 1) dislike the CBC and 2) heard of this scheme. They voted. Don Cherry makes it into the Top 10.

CBC management believes it is the BBC. Well, the BBC doesn't have an English language competitor off its shores. (Don't get me onto Radio-Luxembourg, TV5, Euro-News or Deutsche-Welle...)

[Slavik44]

This list is a joke. Of the top 50, only six were women. Three of those were singers. Four of the top 50 were professional hockey players, including Wayne Gretzky, who has lived in the United States for the past 15 years. Three others were comedians. Surely we could do better than that?

Of the top ten, all are men, seven dead white guys and eight WASPs.

This is a big joke on the CBC. The tip off is Cherry. I'll bet either he wins or the CBC is forced to rig the vote.

Don Cherry! The CBC! You gotta admit that some Canadians have a sense of humour...

would you like us to call the U.N ballot inspectors out of Afgahnistan and into Canada?

[caesar]

Our list of great Canadians may contain some questionable candidates but not as bad as this list from South Africa

Racists among 'Greats'

South Africa's official broadcaster has been forced to scrap its Great South Africans series after viewers chose white supremacists, convicted fraudsters and cheating sportsmen for the top 100 places.

[Slavik44]

Yes, Newf, it shows that many Canadians don't listen to CBC Radio or CBC TV:

Table 10 shows CBC/Radio-Canada audience share data for 1999 through 2003.  These data show that the CBC’s Radio One service has consistently enjoyed an average listening share of about 9% since fall 2000.

English CBC TV share in English Canada has fallen from 10.0% in 1997 to 7.2% in 2002. (See Table 13 in the link.)

Senate Report

The story?

Some management idiot at the English CBC invented this crazy scheme of "Great Canadians". Alot of English Canadians (about 90%) don't listen to the CBC but enough of them 1) dislike the CBC and 2) heard of this scheme. They voted. Don Cherry makes it into the Top 10.

CBC management believes it is the BBC. Well, the BBC doesn't have an English language competitor off its shores. (Don't get me onto Radio-Luxembourg, TV5, Euro-News or Deutsche-Welle...)

At one point you critisize CBC for not having high viewership, and the next point you critisize CBC for attempting to make a show people will actually watch Damnit with you it is screwed one way screwed the other, this was not considered to be a hsitorically accurate determinate of who is the greatest Canadian. It is simply a fun contest where Canadians can take some pride in their country and some pride in some great people of this country. You can get back to your Pro-American Canada hating attitude in a few weeks don't worry, these offensive patriotic people will get off the T.V soon and you can get back to your sulking, un-impeded.

[August1991]

You can get back to your Pro-American Canada hating attitude in a few weeks don't worry, these offensive patriotic people will get off the T.V soon and you can get back to your sulking, un-impeded.

Slavik44, I would never dream of calling into question your attachment to Canada. For me, I simply have no other place to live but this place. I have tried.