The Greatest Canadian

[Ladskater]

A really cool show on the CBC - The Greatest Canadian - 50 famous Canadians were voted on by fellow Canadians. Now the hard part will be choosing the Greatest Canadian from the top ten list:

10. Frederick Banting - The Scientist who gave the world Insulin (my vote)
09. Alexander Graham Bell - The Inventor who gave the world the telephone
08. Don Cherry - "Mr. Hockey"
07. Tommy Douglas - The Politician who gave Canada its Medicare system. One of the Greatest Canadians of them all.
06 Terry Fox - Truly a marvelous young man and hero. He will always be remembered as a Great Canadian. Died from Cancer while running across Canada to raise money and awareness for the Cancer Society.
05. Wyane Gretsky - "The Great One" - need I say more?
04. Sir John A, MacDonald - Our first Prime Minister
03. Lester B. Pearson - Our Fourteenth Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
02. Dr. David Suzuki - A Scientist and humanitarian.
01. Pierre Trudeau - One of our Greatest Prime Ministers.

It's going to be a tough choice.

Oops, did I say Baning? I meant Banting, I was tired when I wrote this.

 

[Tonichelle]

no Kurt, or Brian, or Toller or any skaters???

 

[Ladskater]

no Kurt, or Brian, or Toller or any skaters???

No figure skaters. Hockey players of course - three of them. I thought Barbara Ann Scott would make the list for sure. I should have voted for her.

 

[iluvtodd]

Can I be an "honorary" Canadian & choose Gordon Lightfoot & Brian Orser as my two top choices? I wish they were on this list. :boohoo:

 

[Mathman]

What I thought was funny about the show was that a lot of the people on the top 50 list weren't Canadians. Like Alexander Graham Bell, for instance.

But Jim Carey and Mike Meyers were right up there in the top twenty.

MM

 

[Kara Bear]

hmmm, I thought Alexander Graham Bell was Canadian and from Cape Breton
????

 

[milanessa]

He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and moved to Quebec with his family in his early twenties. Soon after he moved to the US and acquired US citizenship in 1882. He always loved Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, though and moved there later in life. That's also where he died. I'd say Alexander Graham Bell is one of the greatest 50 men of the modern age no matter his nationality.

gerry

 

[Antilles]

I can't believe two sports figures made the top ten. At least there weren't any entertainers. I love athletes and entertainers, but they don't really belong on a greatest list that includes people like Terry Fox and Banting. These people did so much for their country and the world. Can you really compare insulin to some hockey record?

 

[GoldenLady]

I can't believe two sports figures made the top ten. At least there weren't any entertainers. I love athletes and entertainers, but they don't really belong on a greatest list that includes people like Terry Fox and Banting. These people did so much for their country and the world. Can you really compare insulin to some hockey record?

ITA, Antilles. You summed up my thoughts exactly. .

 

[John King]

The Greatest Canadian,eh?

What?No Neil Peart(drummer/lrycist for Rush)?

 

[mike79]

Tommy Douglas deserves to win this, hands down. Although the health care system has serious problems with it these days, it's the one institution that Canadians seem to truly associate with being a Canadian.

Don Cherry in the top 10 is just plain ridiculous.

Banning and Terry Fox are the other 2 that really stand out as being great.

Not at all surprised about Gretzky being up there.

 

[Ladskater]

Tommy Douglas deserves to win this, hands down. Although the health care system has serious problems with it these days, it's the one institution that Canadians seem to truly associate with being a Canadian.

Don Cherry in the top 10 is just plain ridiculous.

Banning and Terry Fox are the other 2 that really stand out as being great.

Not at all surprised about Gretzky being up there.

For me the Greatest Canadians are:

Sir John A. MacDonald - Our first Prime Minister - without whom their would be no Canada as we know it.

Frederick Banting - The man who gave Diabetics longevity.

Tommy Douglas - As you stated. We are forever grateful for his great contributions.

Terry Fox - He inspired a whole nation with his courage.

Pierre Trudeau - One of the most intelligent and colourful Prime Ministers ever.

Wayne Gretsky - True, he is a hockey player, but at the same time he is a symbol of success in our greatest sport, hockey and a true ambassador of the game as well as Canada.

I agree Don Cherry should not be in the top ten.

 

[Ladskater]

What I thought was funny about the show was that a lot of the people on the top 50 list weren't Canadians. Like Alexander Graham Bell, for instance.

But Jim Carey and Mike Meyers were right up there in the top twenty.

MM

Shows you how diversified and open Canada really is. Pretty much anyone who "hangs their hat here" is a Canadian!!!

Jim Carey and Mike Meyers are both Canadians, but live and work in the States. Although Myeres keeps his Canadian status and "Canadianism."

 

[Ladskater]

I was also surprised at how few Canadian Women made the list. Only six!!! Surely, we have more great Canadian Women out there!

I don't think Avril Lavigne belongs on this list. Now Ann Murray,and Joni Mitchell do!!! Also, Nancy Green (the tiger) should have definitely been on the list!

 

[Antilles]

Jim Carrey didn't give up his Canadian citizenship when he became an American.

I'd vote for Terry Fox. He was just an ordinary guy, who managed to inspire the country, and whose legacy still lives on all these years later. He has done so much for cancer awareness and raising money for research. Unlike some of the other great poeple on the list, he didn't have power to help him reach his goals. He created his own power, while facing a very scary future. A hero if ever there was one.

 

[LutzGurl]

I really wanted Kurt to be in there!!, Oh well

 

[Ladskater]

So did I!! I figured if they could put three or four hockey players on the list why not a figure skater or two? What about Barbara Ann Scott (Canada's Sweetheart) or Toller Cranston - one of Canada's greatest figure skaters!

 

[cygnus]

I really wanted Kurt to be in there!!, Oh well

Kurt does place in the top 100, though., at #84. I think Barbara Ann Scott should be in there somewhere, but oh well.

 

[Ladskater]

Kurt does place in the top 100, though., at #84. I think Barbara Ann Scott should be in there somewhere, but oh well.

I did not see the whole list. There were only six women in total! We must really be male dominated here in Canada! Who knew?

 

[TRAxel]

I voted for Sir Frederick Banting.... to this day, what he did is still saving lives.