Who is/was the greatest Canadian?
- Thread starter K. Ash
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I don‘t think polls like this are a waste of time at all;
Anything that can be done to draw attention to the *little* important figures, the lesser known great Canadians, is a good thing in moderate doses even if it is impossible to choose any one specific figure.
As for Harper, I think that quote often gets taken out of context. I‘ll admit when I heard him supposedly calling us easties "Backwards defeatists" I was upset, but if you dig a little deeper he was referring to the governments mistakes, not the actual people.
Like I said, it‘s impossible to find a "great canadian" that isn‘t going to have negative traits.
Anything that can be done to draw attention to the *little* important figures, the lesser known great Canadians, is a good thing in moderate doses even if it is impossible to choose any one specific figure.
As for Harper, I think that quote often gets taken out of context. I‘ll admit when I heard him supposedly calling us easties "Backwards defeatists" I was upset, but if you dig a little deeper he was referring to the governments mistakes, not the actual people.
Like I said, it‘s impossible to find a "great canadian" that isn‘t going to have negative traits.
I don‘t think that we could possibly pick a single person as the Greatest Canadian. More realistically, there should be a list of the Greatest Canadians.
Anyway, here are two picks from me:
Anyway, here are two picks from me:
- Veterans, closely followed by all other CF members (those who actually fought and sacrificed and those willing to sacrifice, but perhaps have not had the unfortunate opporunity to do so)
- Gary McPherson, recently made a member of the Order of Canada, inspiration to many
M
MG34
Guest
TRUDEAU!! RIEL!! My goodness folks you had best get into the history books.
Riel was a criminal and hanged for it despite what the new revised history books may refelect there is no way this guy can be considered great unless you want to rank Greatest Canadian Tratiors.
Trudeau: Not too many Canadian leaders have conspired to do as much damage to the Canadian Forces as Trudeau and his cronies acomplished.That in itself should boot him off the list.
Riel was a criminal and hanged for it despite what the new revised history books may refelect there is no way this guy can be considered great unless you want to rank Greatest Canadian Tratiors.
Trudeau: Not too many Canadian leaders have conspired to do as much damage to the Canadian Forces as Trudeau and his cronies acomplished.That in itself should boot him off the list.
Michael Dorosh
Army.ca Veteran
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I cast my vote at CBC for the Unknown Soldier.
Michael Dorosh
Army.ca Veteran
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LOL!!!
You mean the Constitution that doesn‘t guarantee anyone the right to private property? Great piece of legislation, that.
M
m monty
Guest
This is an interesting exercise on the part of the CBC.. AND the "winning" name will have a TV show done about them !
Now in all seriousness, it‘s not possible to choose the "greatest" Canadian- the CBC hasn‘t defined what that means. This is in fact simply a "popularity" contest.
Still, if all military types got together and voted for one name, then a soldier might win, and boy would that surprise the heck out of the CBC, and might give a wake up jolt to the rest of the country too !
(you do actually have to make the effort to vote though and not just talk about who your choice is)-
Some votes have gone for the "unknown soldier" .. It‘s a noble choice, but it is also outside the rules and it WILL be rejected.
There are any number of valid choices..endless debate could be made about who the most deserving is.. but by then the "survey" will be over and Celine Dion or Gretzky will have won and we‘ll get another profile of Celine Dion‘s life, or Margaret Atwood, or Pierre Trudeau..or or ..
I choose Maj. D.V. Currie (Victoria Cross winner)-
Is he the GREATEST soldier? Absolutely impossible question - he‘s just one hero of so many..and again we could debate thisn endlessly and thats not the point.. The point is to get lotsa votes for a soldier to beat out politicians, pop stars, and millionaire "athletes".
Maj.DV Currie V.C. is a good choice and it would make for good TV ! A Canadian soldier ! - good promotion for the military and for the country-- a hero ! and, a soldier hero !
I say we all go the CBC site and the 1-800 phone number and vote for him. Again, endless arguments can be made for one soldier or another..this isn‘t about a factual determination of who‘s the "greatest", its about trying to get a soldier-any deserving soldier- up to the top of the list and getting a show done about him - and therefore by extension, an important period in Canada‘s history when our Canadian military helped save the world‘s bacon!
I say we all vote for Maj DV Currie
CBC website to vote.
http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/
Currie site
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/secondwar/citations/currie
Now in all seriousness, it‘s not possible to choose the "greatest" Canadian- the CBC hasn‘t defined what that means. This is in fact simply a "popularity" contest.
Still, if all military types got together and voted for one name, then a soldier might win, and boy would that surprise the heck out of the CBC, and might give a wake up jolt to the rest of the country too !
(you do actually have to make the effort to vote though and not just talk about who your choice is)-
Some votes have gone for the "unknown soldier" .. It‘s a noble choice, but it is also outside the rules and it WILL be rejected.
There are any number of valid choices..endless debate could be made about who the most deserving is.. but by then the "survey" will be over and Celine Dion or Gretzky will have won and we‘ll get another profile of Celine Dion‘s life, or Margaret Atwood, or Pierre Trudeau..or or ..
I choose Maj. D.V. Currie (Victoria Cross winner)-
Is he the GREATEST soldier? Absolutely impossible question - he‘s just one hero of so many..and again we could debate thisn endlessly and thats not the point.. The point is to get lotsa votes for a soldier to beat out politicians, pop stars, and millionaire "athletes".
Maj.DV Currie V.C. is a good choice and it would make for good TV ! A Canadian soldier ! - good promotion for the military and for the country-- a hero ! and, a soldier hero !
I say we all go the CBC site and the 1-800 phone number and vote for him. Again, endless arguments can be made for one soldier or another..this isn‘t about a factual determination of who‘s the "greatest", its about trying to get a soldier-any deserving soldier- up to the top of the list and getting a show done about him - and therefore by extension, an important period in Canada‘s history when our Canadian military helped save the world‘s bacon!
I say we all vote for Maj DV Currie
CBC website to vote.
http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/
Currie site
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/secondwar/citations/currie
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Is it just me, or does anyone else find it strange that noone has yet mentioned the greatest General of World War One, Sir Arthur Currie?
He exemplified traits in the trenches that others never seemed to fully grasp: He had compassion for his men, was a keen organizer, and posessed a ruthless ability for planning and orchestrating a perfect assault.
He broke the mold of the standard commander hurling riflemen at the enemy, and his role in Canada‘s 100 Day‘s cannot be ignored. I really hope that he finishes up there on the list, would seem quite an injustice otherwise.
He exemplified traits in the trenches that others never seemed to fully grasp: He had compassion for his men, was a keen organizer, and posessed a ruthless ability for planning and orchestrating a perfect assault.
He broke the mold of the standard commander hurling riflemen at the enemy, and his role in Canada‘s 100 Day‘s cannot be ignored. I really hope that he finishes up there on the list, would seem quite an injustice otherwise.
L
lazydiva
Guest
Well, my vote would have to be "any Canadian soldier" because they often sacrifice much and get little in return.
Simply saying "the unknown soldier" implies that you have to be dead to be great, which I don‘t believe is so. Besides, if Time Magazine can claim "The American Soldier" as person of the year, then why can‘t the greatest Canadian be any Cdn soldier?
Just my $0.02 worth...
Simply saying "the unknown soldier" implies that you have to be dead to be great, which I don‘t believe is so. Besides, if Time Magazine can claim "The American Soldier" as person of the year, then why can‘t the greatest Canadian be any Cdn soldier?
Just my $0.02 worth...
P
PTE Gruending
Guest
Please don‘t let it be Louis Riel, please don‘t let it be Louis Riel, please don‘t let it be Louis Riel....
Michael Dorosh
Army.ca Veteran
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Sir Arthur Currie was also went overseas to escape personal debt and was bailed out by his fellow officers. Given the closeness of the CBC and the Liberal Party, I am sure his embezzlement would make him a prime candidate for the honour, but then again, I am sure the Liberals would do anything to distance themselves from this type of "hero" with an election coming up.
I think Currie was indeed the greatest soldier this country has produced. As for the greatest Canadian, I think his personal failings take him out of the running.
I see marc is banging the drum again. There is no reason to believe that The Unknown Soldier would be rejected if he received more votes than the others; marc is not in a position to say conclusively that this would happen. I am in no position to say conclusively that it would not.
The comment that you have to be dead to be great was kind of dumb. I would select the Unknown Soldier not because he is dead, but because he exemplifies what all Canadian soldiers have done while alive, and in his death he paid the ultimate sacrifice to do what he did. Unlike pops stars and hockey idols who do what they do for money and fame.
DV Currie is not a particularly good choice as he abhorred the spotlight, and rarely talked about the war. I can‘t imagine he would like seeing himself nominated as "greatest" though I don‘t disagree that he is worthy of recognition. The VC, and an armoury named after him, seem like two good ways of doing that.
I think Currie was indeed the greatest soldier this country has produced. As for the greatest Canadian, I think his personal failings take him out of the running.
I see marc is banging the drum again. There is no reason to believe that The Unknown Soldier would be rejected if he received more votes than the others; marc is not in a position to say conclusively that this would happen. I am in no position to say conclusively that it would not.
The comment that you have to be dead to be great was kind of dumb. I would select the Unknown Soldier not because he is dead, but because he exemplifies what all Canadian soldiers have done while alive, and in his death he paid the ultimate sacrifice to do what he did. Unlike pops stars and hockey idols who do what they do for money and fame.
DV Currie is not a particularly good choice as he abhorred the spotlight, and rarely talked about the war. I can‘t imagine he would like seeing himself nominated as "greatest" though I don‘t disagree that he is worthy of recognition. The VC, and an armoury named after him, seem like two good ways of doing that.
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Jean Chretien
For his undying effort (and your tax dollars) to keep Quebec in Canada.
For his undying effort (and your tax dollars) to keep Quebec in Canada.
W
WWPierre
Guest
Rick, I hope your tongue was firmly in your cheek when you wrote that!
Pierre
Pierre
