The Greatest
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Three cheers for Tommy Douglas, voted Greatest Canadian!
It was neck-and-neck there for a while between the father of social health care and Canada’s favourite cyborg, but for once in our nation’s history, the NDP came out on top. The runners-up, in order: Terry Fox, Trudeau, Banting, David Suzuki, Pearson, Don Cherry, Sir John A., Alexander Graham Bell, and Gretzky.
But let’s look at the full list, shall we?
Shania Twain ranked higher than Nellie McClung? (Nellie shoulda worn sluttier tops whilst winning The Vote.)
Céline Dion ranked higher than Gordon Lightfoot? (Dear Las Vegas—please keep her. We don’t want her back. I mean, we’re sorry about you guys losing Siegfried and Roy and all, but honestly, we’re washing our hands of this whole Dion thing...)
Brett ‘The Hitman’ Hart ranked higher than Wilfred Laurier? (I can see the sweaty mullet on our five dollar bill already.)
Avril Lavigne ranked higher than Leonard Cohen? (First we take Napanee... seriously, what the hell? _Here I stand; I’m Your Boi._ It doesn’t even rhyme!)
Pamela Anderson ranked higher than Marshall McLuhan? (Clearly the _mammaries_ are the message.)
And poor Mordecai Richler all the way down at #98. Where’s the _Jacob Two-Two_ love?
It looks like the Armchair Garbageman will be spending some time in the kitchen this week… sucker.
Scott says:
As usual, a lot of the choices made were made by people who either don’t know a damn thing about Canadian history or just can’t look back more than 2-3 years…
Good to see you give mention to ‘ol Marshall
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Ryan says:
Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos.
Acctually, I voted for Cohen.
patricia says:
I think these kind of contests suck ass, but I am pleased that Tommy won.
Megan says:
I voted for Tim Horton. He didn’t seem to make the list. Hmmm…
Dave says:
I supported Shatner! The man wrassled a GORN!!
scully says:
What? No Alex Trebek?
Fink says:
Re: “Brett ‘The Hitman’ Hart ranked higher than Wilfred Laurier? (I can see the sweaty mullet on our five dollar bill already.)”
I might remind everyone that Bret (one “t") “The Hitman” Hart is “the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be”.
What was Willy Laurier’s big catchphrase?
You would, however, have a legitimate beef with the fact that Avril Lavigne beat Laurier in the list. That ain’t right.
Robot Johnny says:
Fink, Willy once said, “The 19th century was the century of the United States. I think we can claim that it is Canada that shall fill the 20th century.”
I guess we’re trying for the 21st…
ktrueman says:
Jacob Two-Two rocks. And what about Pierre Berton who passed away today. He made a lot of Canadian history come alive.
Bill Door says:
Tommy Douglas isn’t actually that great of a choice. So, far the only reason I hear why he was great was because he introduce our Healthcare system. I used to work for it, and you would’t believe the amount of fraud that goes on. People don’t generally realize how badly its failing.
Johnny Knuckles says:
I voted for Tommy because Paps and Gram watched his variety show every week on the CBC. Thanks for the tunes, Tommy!