I sort of hate people right now. No, no, not all people. Just the stupid people. I was really interested in this Greatest Canadian dealie and was following it's progress. Not because I actually think we can decide who the "greatest Canadian" is, but just to get an idea of people's impressions. I honestly had no idea people in this country were so ignorant about their own country and their country's achievements. Go to the link, look at all the candidates, look at the order of the final standings of the top ten, look at the list of the top one hundred. Don't there seem to be any inconsistencies in people's choices? First of all, how does one define "the Greatest Canadian"? What does that honestly even mean? I actually think I personally know several dozen people who have accomplished more, and done more to serve their country than many of the people on that list. A couple of examples. Don Cherry is number seven. I guess if I try really hard, I could understand why people would admire his uncomplicated, unfettered "everyman" style of patriotism, but if you're really a hockey fan, how can you possibly think he's any better than Wayne Gretzky (#9)? Who are these people who think that Pierre Trudeau (#3) is a Greater Canadian than Sir Frederick Banting (#4) or Alexander Graham Bell (#10)? Looking on the list of the top 100, I'm not even sure why Rene Levesque is there at all, since he didn't want to be Canadian at all, never mind great. For most of these choices, it seems to be a case of the blind leading the blind, or the idiot leading... anyways..
But I was pleased that most people made a decent choice in Tommy Douglas as over-all Greatest Canadian. I don't think he envisioned Healthcare turning into the mess it seems to be today, but I admire a lot of his ideals, favour him especially because of his faith, and was fascinated by his speaking skills. I saw video of him speaking, and have found very few public speakers so easy to listen to.
Anyways, enough out of me. And please, if the CBC ever does this again, if you didn't vote for someone this time, do so, and if you did, think more carefully about your choice. Our country needs heroes, but not ones like Shania Twain (#18).