moon_custafer (
moon_custafer) wrote2004-10-19 12:49 am
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Canadians
The CBC finishes up its Greatest Canadian contest this week with a documentary on each of the ten finalists and a deciding vote by the country. I can't help notice that all the finalists are men - I mean, I certainly wouldn't vote for someone just because she had the same number of x chromosomes as myself, but there's got to be a few Canadian women worth mentioning - L. M. Montgomery, anyone?
I can't really fault any of the candidates they did pick, though - except perhaps Don Cherry - he's colourful, but is anyone really going to remember him in a couple of generations? I certainly don't think he's in the same league as Banting or Pearson. Also, I'm puzzled by Sook-Yin Lee's reference to Terry Fox as "the only great Canadian known internationally." It seems to me most of our greats left an international legacy - Pearson, the peacemaker; Bell, who made long-distance communications possible; Banting, discoverer of insulin; Béthune (not on the list) is revered in China; Montgomery would probably be the first famous Canadian to spring to the mind of a Japanese citizen. We export greatness.
I can't really fault any of the candidates they did pick, though - except perhaps Don Cherry - he's colourful, but is anyone really going to remember him in a couple of generations? I certainly don't think he's in the same league as Banting or Pearson. Also, I'm puzzled by Sook-Yin Lee's reference to Terry Fox as "the only great Canadian known internationally." It seems to me most of our greats left an international legacy - Pearson, the peacemaker; Bell, who made long-distance communications possible; Banting, discoverer of insulin; Béthune (not on the list) is revered in China; Montgomery would probably be the first famous Canadian to spring to the mind of a Japanese citizen. We export greatness.
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Does Spinoza count for the Netherlands? He was born there.
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