the CBC doesn't have their list up - they apparently will post the top 100...
So many of the top 50 should not be on this list. avril lavigne? hockey
players? ridiculous...jim carrey? what makes him a great canadian? just
because he was born here? then i should be on the list too! LOL!!! celine
dion - omigod! they are "famous" than "great"....
quite shameful that those sorts made it but it is really more of a
popularity contest and the top 10 really reflect for the most part what a
true great person, regardless of being canadian is all about. kicking out
about 6 or 7 in the top 40 would have moved gord up to about 26-27. Gord's
tree hugging friend Dr. David Suzuki made the top 10.
Char
the list of top 50 is here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...Entertainment/
Greatest Canadian list pared down
By STEPHEN STRAUSS
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Popular culture roared ahead, women lagged behind, but in the end Canadians decided the top 10 greatest Canadians included exemplars in science, technology, sport, politics, and most notably the Nobel Prize competition.
Last night the CBC unveiled The Top Ten Greatest Canadians as part of a series to anoint the greatest Canadian on November 28.
In the opening episode, host Wendy Mesley announced the top 10 contenders for the title, after whittling down the list from 50, those figures who got the most votes of the 140,000 submitted by the public last spring.
The top ten are: Medicare's father T.C. Douglas, hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky, the ever popular cranky TV personality hockey commentator Don Cherry, Canada's first prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald, one-legged runner Terry Fox, Nobelist and insulin co-discoverer 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. If the top ten look like a group that most Canadians would nod their head in agreement, the 40 runners-up represented an eclectic and sometimes curious list whose appearance sometimes seemed to reflect the power of a motivated group vote. May Maxwell, the wife of the founder of the Ba'hai religion was number 44.
Beginning Monday night and continuing twice weekly until Nov. 28, CBC will telecast hour-long specials in which current celebrities have been tapped to advocate their assigned contender. Up first Monday night, for example, MuchMusic personality George Stroumboulopoulos will make the case for Tommy Douglas, the prairie politician and his championing of a national health system. On Monday, Nov. 29, the winner will be announced in a final special.
The list from the bottom:
50: TV comedian Rick Mercer
49: Prime Minister William Lyon McKenzie
48: First World War ace Billy Bishop
47: Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
46: Singer, poet Leonard Cohen
45: Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
44: May Maxwell
43 Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier
42: Time zone inventor Sir Sanford Fleming
41: Actor Comedian John Candy
40: Singer Avril Lavigne
39: Wrestler Brett Hart
38: Hockey player Mario Lemieux
37: Native warrior Tecumseh
36: Ernie Coombs and his TV character Mr. Dressup.
35: War of 1812 heroine and candy box face Laura Secord
34: Winnipeg radio host Hal Anderson
33: Singer Gordon Lightfoot
32: Actor and Parkinson's disease activist Michael J. Fox
31: Writer, broadcaster Pierre Berton
30: Wheelchair athlete and fundraiser Rick Hansen
29: Actor and comedian Jim Carrey
28: 1812 war hero Sir Isaac Brock
27: Singer Celine Dion
26: Doctor and revolutionary Norman Bethune
25: Suffragette Nellie McClung
24: First World War General Arthur Curry
23: Hockey player Maurice "The Rocket" Richard
22: Kinsmen founder Hal Rogers
21: The Unknown Soldier
20: Comedian and actor Mike Myers
19: Hockey player Bobby Orr
18: Singer Shania Twain
17: Former NDP leader and Africa AIDS advocate Stephen Lewis
16: Rwanda massacre chronicler General Romeo Dallaire
15: CBC radio host and writer Peter Gzowski
14: Singer Neil Young
13: Singer Stomping Tom Connors
12: Humanitarian Jean Vanier, founder of the L'Arche movement
11: Métis leader and martyr Louis RielWith a report from Canadian Press