The Greatest Canadian
 

is anyone going to put forth a nomination - I can't even think who I would choose...


The Greatest Canadian

Re: The Greatest Canadian
 

Isn't this an oxymoron? :p

I'd place bets on Trudeau winning on sheer popularity.

But, no, I haven't put forth a nomination and I probably won't.

And besides, Trudeau was a Turtle! (YBYSAIA!) ;) :) :D

http://www.cinema.com/image_lib/5700_005_thumb.jpg

It's all aboot the greatest Canadian ehh?

I don't know who I would nominate. But it certainly wouldn't be Trudeau. Although I totally agree with Kappaloo.

I am suprised there is even debate--The Greatest Canadian is the on who is refered to as "The Great One"

Wayne Gretzky

Case Closed

I wouldn't have a clue.

My top five would prolly be:
(in no particular order)

Roch Carrier
David Suzuki
Roberta Bondar
Ernie Coombs
oh and can't forget Louis Cyr :) Canada's Strongman!

Agreed!

Myself, I would chose Nellie McClung / The Famous Five, who back in Oct 1930 challenged a Canadian Supreme Court ruling that said that under the law, women were not persons, therefore could not be appointed as Senators.

On Oct 29, 1930, the Privy Council in London (Canada would only have final authority on rulings after the Staute of Westminister in 1931) ruled that indeed, women were persons under the law.

As you can probably tell, I did my final year paper for Canadian history on this particular subject!

Unfortunately, my #1 choice isn't quite Canadian - Alexander Graham Bell was born in Scotland but spent years in Nova Scotia and Ontario, where he developed the telephone. Without the phone, there would be no faxes, no email, and no Internet - imagine how different things would be!

Just my $0.02 cents ....
Shala

Emily Murphy (who is part of the "Famous Five") went to my high school back in the 1880s!!!!!

oh and what about Agnes MacPhail


and Jennie Trout!


lol - I'm a fan of the Heritage Minutes and own the video! :p


But then again, these women are probably more heroic to women than men, and I wonder if men would find them as important to our history :confused:

Unfortunately, you're probably right about that :(

p.s. I LOOOOVE the Heritage Minute mini-movies too!

Was the before or after you went there?

Just Kidding!

Since RA Cooper apparantely isn't in the running, I'll have to go with LaBatts.

celine dion....hands down.

;)

You deserve 361 lashings for that one.

Greatest Canadian?

John Candy.

Kitso
KS 361

ahhhhhh..... :eek: :eek:

lol....sorry, y'all....couldn't resist.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Greatest Canadian is...




TOMMY C. DOUGLAS







I'm actually very happy he won. But it was a close call. Terry Fox was an amazing man. Although my actual votes went to Frederick Banting.

Who watched it? What do you think?

Pamela Anderson , although she recently got her U.S. citizenship.

I'm happy that Tommy Douglas won... but my vote was for split between Lester B. Pearson and Sir John A. Macdonald...

ah but she kept her Canadian as well - now a dual citizen ...

Tommy Douglas certainly had an impact - mind you, I was split between Douglas, Terry Fox and Trudeau ...

Here's Tommy's bio - Canada's "Father of Medicare" as well as the first premier of a socialist party in North America.

(On a side note - Tommy's grandson is none other than Kiefer Sutherland (Shirley Douglas, Tommy's daughter, married Donald Sutherland)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Douglas

I gave two votes one for Banting and one for Pearson.
I was one of those ppl who hadn't heard ever anything about Tommy Douglas.

Tonight is another behind the scenes look at making "the greatest Canadian".

Bobby Orr
 

Bobby Orr

my top 10 picks, in no particular order:
Joshua Jackson
Edge
Gregory Smith
Keanu Reeves
Willie Hernandez
Steve Moore
Peter North
Vincent Lecavalier
Test
Devon Sawa


But watch it goes to someone stupid and pointless like the Star Wars Kid, Peter Jennings, John Candy, or the Crash Test Dummies.

Props to all if it goes to Red Green.
Nuke Canada if it goes to Tom Green or Paul Schaffer.

As already mentioned - Tommy Douglas is the greatest Canadian.

My Mom theorizes that all of the Trade Unions got together and voted for Tommy Douglas, given that he is the Father of the CCF cum NDP. I saw Tommy Douglas' grandson (Keifer Sutherland) at The Vagina Monologus (sidebar...he was in the audience watching his Mom, who was the lead).

I was kind of choked that Terry Fox didn't get it but c'est la vie.

Not sure what Wayne Gretzky and Don Cherry were doing in there to begin with...sure they're entertaining and all that but what have they really contributed in the grand scheme or things?

Now that Trudeau is dead, why is everyone slobbering over how great he was? Didn't he pretty much screw over Alberta with the PETRO-CANADA fiasco?

I don't think Trudeau is worthy of the greatest Canadian title, but maybe that's because I wasn't around for Trudeau-Mania. And that's my theory, there are far too many people left in this country that were Trudeau groupies and that's how he made the list.

well since this contest was voted on by the people, it was expected to be a bit of a popularity contest, wasn't it?

I took a look at the top 100 yesterday to count the women on it (19) and people may joke but Celine(around #30) and Pamela Anderson (#51) were on it, and Shania Twain was the highest female at #18. The 2nd highest female was Nellie McClung at 23 - I think she was the one that made women human since before that we weren't in the eyes of the law.

Not to mention, in general there were a lot of singers/actors on the list.

I think the debates at the end helped make it less of a popularity contest and more of a meaningful choice because there really are so many who haven't heard of Tommy Douglas, like me.

did he play Chong in the Cheech & Chong movies?

Oh, he tried (PETRO), but frankly, I like Trudeau because he felt VERY storngly about protecting and ensuring individual rights with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and having Canada be able to control its own destiny with expatriating the BNA Act out of Great Britain and back to Canada.

That and I love his quote "The state has no business in the bedrooms of the country".

Oh, and the time he came out West and flipped the bird - hilarious! Can you imagine GWB doing that (but he WAS funny about being "waved by all 5 fingers" during his visit to Ottawa).

On a funny note - I remember some assignment we had about making up an acronym in Grade 7 - my girlfriend used Petro-Canada:

"Pierre Elliott Trudeau Rips Off Canada" :cool:

Do you have anything intelligent to say?

Maybe something funny?

Or is it the fact that you can't read?

The Barenaked Ladies made a comment on the greatest Canadian and Celine Dion..basicaly saying oh yeah Celine Dion is the greatest Canadian who has moved to Las Vegas and is paying soo much money *sarcasticaly* into the important social programs of Canada..and she ahs made great contributions..i mean where would Canada be without the New Air Canada song?

I thought it was funny and true.

Tommy Douglas is the greatest Canadian. He had the vision and everyone borrowed it.

But Tommy did borrow his vision for socialized medicine from England.

okay okay lol if we are being "technical" just kidding..i just meant that he was the most original-he presented these ideas to Canadians first and then everyone else copied them.

Jim Carrey---nuff said.