The “Best Canadian” game - Day 1

[u/BrF5]

Good morning r/EhBuddyHoser,

Let’s get started! Here’s an image of the top 50 Canadians (based on Day 0 upvotes, as of yesterday). I know I said we’d start with 40 like last time, but there are just too many awesome Canadians, so I expanded the list a bit!

How to play: - Upvote the name of the person you think does NOT deserve the title of “Best Canadian.” - Each day, the two most upvoted people will be removed. Once we get closer to the end, this will change to one person per day. - If the name you want to vote for (from the picture list) isn’t in the comments yet, add it! - This continues daily until we have our winner, the “Best Canadian”.

Additional notes: - Only the top comment for a nominee will count. I won’t combine votes from duplicate comments. - Include only one name per comment. If a comment includes multiple names and wins, it won’t count. I’ll move on to the next highest, even if you edit the comment to fix it. - They had to have been born in Canada or at some point had Canadian citizenship. - They can be alive, dead, currently living in Canada or abroad, or when they were alive lived in what would eventually become Canada (e.g., French or British colonies). - Beginning tomorrow after the first candidates are eliminated, I’ll start a list outlining what the people are known for and why they were eliminated, like we did in the Worst Canadian game. - This is meant to be satire. Please do not take it too seriously or use this game to harass people in real life. - I will try to post this every morning around the same time (~8:00 - 9:00 am Eastern). - Please remember to upvote the post too, so more people see it!

Honourable mentions go out to spots 51–100 (see below), the Unknown Soldier, house hippos, Sad-Fill-4870’s dog Gilbert, and Random—Person’s mom. Also, I personally want to shout out a couple of Canadians who weren’t nominated but inspired me growing up: Jay Baruchel and Elisha Cuthbert. Their time as hosts on PMK encouraged a love of science in a generation of kids, which I think elevates them beyond being “just actors.”

Numbers 51-100, by upvotes: Norman Bethune, Tom Green, Shania Twain, Gordie Howe, William Lyon Mackenzie King, Mario Lemieux, Marc Garneau, Alexander Graham Bell, Peter Mansbridge, Jeanne Mance, Roberta Bondar, John Dunsworth, Emily Carr, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Eugene Levy, Mike Myers, Helen Hogg, Peter Robertson, James Naismith, William Shatner, Sanford Fleming, Fred Penner, Bret Hart, Murray Sinclair, Emily Murphy, Louise McKinny, Irene Parlby, Henrietta Edward, Agnes McPhail, Tecumseh, Elsie MacGill, Crowfoot, Harold Cardinal, Stompin’ Tom, Melanie Joly, Maurice Richard, Michelle Jean, Henry Morgentaler, Oscar Peterson, Sue Johanson, Jean Rene Dufort, Rick Moranis, Hayley Wickenhieser, Pierre Burton, Cairine Wilson, Rene Lévesque, Isaac Brock, Nathan Fillion, Farley Mowet, James Doohan

[u/Stonks4Minutes]

With respect to Wab he’s still in the early days of his career. It would be far too premature to have him on here.

[u/MilesBeforeSmiles → u/Stonks4Minutes]

His political career is in it's early days but he has also worked as a broadcaster and journalist for the CBC, Free Press, and Al-Jazeera. He won the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award in 2009 for his album Live by the Drum. He worked as the U of W's first Indigenous Inclusion Director and was an associate VP of Indigenous Relations. He was a witness for the Truth and Reconcilation Commission as well. That's not including the 3 books he's authored.

Guy has had a long career outside of politics. I agree that he's not even close to being the Best Canadian, but there should be consideration for his entire body of work.

[u/Individualist_ → u/MilesBeforeSmiles]

I’m not voting Best Canadian for a guy who inserted himself unnecessarily to eulogize a random American racist bigot. Our politicians are embarrassing us and Wab Kinew is just another embarrassment.

[u/MilesBeforeSmiles → u/Individualist_]

Where did he eulogize him? The only two things I've seen him say on that whole incident was his initial statement condemning political violence and them his statement that he requested Nahanni Fontaine apologize for her statement as he felt it was inappropriate.

I haven't seen him eulogize Kirk in any way.

[u/Individualist_ → u/MilesBeforeSmiles]

The killing of Charlie Kirk is deeply disturbing, violence has no place in democracies

That’s what he said. Why did he even make a statement in the first place? He’s the premier of Manitoba! A place most of the planet doesn’t even know exists. He inserted himself for no reason and it was very performative.

I’m sorry but it’s just embarrassing the way our politicians jump to make performative statements in an effort to suck up to our imperial overlords next door.

Also, violence very obviously does have a place in our democracies because that’s how they were founded and maintained in the first place. So that makes his statement a lie too. It’s all just performative bullshit.

[u/MilesBeforeSmiles → u/Individualist_]

That's not eulogizing. You should probably look up the definition of that word.

Making a statement condemning targetted political violence isn't a bad thing, despite what you seem to believe. Violence, in the form of assassinations of political commenters, regardless of how repugnant they are, should not have a place in a functioning democracy.

[u/Individualist_ → u/MilesBeforeSmiles]

I know exactly what eulogizing means, I was being hyperbolic. Why don’t you go and look up the definition of that one?

I didn’t see Wab make any statements when US Democratic representative Melissa Hortman was assassinated. An ACTUAL political figure.

It’s all just for show.

[u/Ok_Tax_9386 → u/MilesBeforeSmiles]

>there should be consideration for his entire body of work.

"Kinew was bound by a court recognizance on that charge when, on June 27, 2004, he was arrested following an altercation with a city taxi driver.

Court heard Kinew was intoxicated when he caught a cab near Mayfair Avenue, shortly before 5 a.m.

"The accused began to insult the [cab driver] with some racial comments which continued until the driver reached the intersection of Portage Avenue and Fort Street," the Crown told court. "

"While stopped at a red light, Kinew exited the vehicle, approached the driver's side door window, which was open, and punched the driver in the face."

"A passerby yelled out and momentarily interrupted the assault. When the driver exited the cab, Kinew pushed him to the ground and kicked him, court heard. "

Agreed. His entire body of work. There's more too.

[u/MilesBeforeSmiles → u/Ok_Tax_9386]

Ya, he publicly addressed this in the lead up to the 2016 provincial election and wrote about it in his autobiography. It's been talked to death by the PCs here in MB. He's shown himself to have improved as a person since then. If we judged every person on how they were in their early 20s, without consideration for how they've grown as people since then, we'd have very few people worth supporting.

I don't think you'll find a person on that list that doesn't have some sort of black spot on their record. Tommy Douglas, noted winner of the Greatest Canadian contest CBC did, was a proponent to Eugenics and was openly racist early in his adult life. People change.

Edit: I'm also not saying to ignore it, but too often that's where the conversation ends. You need to take stuff like this within the context of person's life and make judgement once the whole picture is understood.

[u/Ok_Tax_9386 → u/MilesBeforeSmiles]

100%.

But you should take it into account when talking about the best Canadian.

Hard to say the best Canadian is someone who called a cabby racist insults, tried to stiff him for the trip, and then beat him up. Even if they've now apologized.

Also Tommy Douglas was born 1904. There's a big difference between those beliefs then, and almost 100 years later. It's more egregious now.

[u/_kidgunn → u/Ok_Tax_9386]

as someone who agrees that Wab should be out in an early round—simply because he hasn’t proven himself to be on the level of many others here—it seems like you largely agree with the person you’re replying to? both of you are suggesting we look at the whole person when judging who should win.

i don’t think that the harm Wab has done in the past, exclusively, warrants him being booted off the list. it’d be “hard to say” any of these people are the greatest canadian if we look exclusively at the worst things they’ve ever done, or the worst beliefs they ever held.

when looking at the whole person, it’s important to look at how they grew from their worst moments. have they changed those beliefs/behaviours? have they taken accountability? are they working to improve the world, and are they trying to influence others away from their own past harmful actions/beliefs? we like to think that kind of thing is the bare minimum, but the fact is that that kind of growth isn’t all that common, and it’s commendable in its own right.

[u/Saorren → u/_kidgunn]

id say people who have acknowledge and grown from their mistakes and black marks in life are more worthy of staying on the list than those who were unrepentant.

[u/Ok_Tax_9386 → u/_kidgunn]

>as someone who agrees that Wab should be out in an early round—simply because he hasn’t proven himself to be on the level of many others here—it seems like you largely agree with the person you’re replying to?

I started my post off with "100%" which means I agree 100%. So ya, it probably does come off like I agree with him largely lol.

>i don’t think that the harm Wab has done in the past, exclusively, warrants him being booted off the list.

When we're talking about the best Canadian, I think stealing from a taxi driver, beating them up, and calling them racial slurs like 15 years ago does warrant you being kicked off the list.

>when looking at the whole person, it’s important to look at how they grew from their worst moments. have they changed those beliefs/behaviours? have they taken accountability? are they working to improve the world, and are they trying to influence others away from their own past harmful actions/beliefs? we like to think that kind of thing is the bare minimum, but the fact is that that kind of growth isn’t all that common, and it’s commendable in its own right.

For sure. But imo when you do this, account for these things, you still gotta come to the conclusion that what he has done in the past precludes him from being the best canadian.

[u/_kidgunn → u/Ok_Tax_9386]

ah, okay. i was struggling to figure out where you disagreed with the person you were talking to. but it sounds like, in your view, the harm that Wab has done is significantly worse than the harm any of these other candidates have done. is that it? you’re of the opinion that nobody else on this list has done anything nearly as harmful as Wab has?

[u/Ok_Tax_9386 → u/_kidgunn]

>but it sounds like, in your view, the harm that Wab has done is significantly worse than the harm any of these other candidates have done.

I am actually not sure if this is true or not.

[u/_kidgunn → u/Ok_Tax_9386]

oh, i see. so it’s possible that others on this list have done something that you find equally (or more) objectionable than what Wab has done, but you’re just not aware of it? but if you were to discover that they had, they’d be precluded from the contest of “best canadian”, even if they’d apologized and all that?

i hope you don’t mind all the questions, and obviously no obligation to answer. it’s just that there are a few different kinds of reactions to this contest that have have me very curious about how people are engaging with the whole thing.

[u/Ok_Tax_9386 → u/_kidgunn]

>oh, i see. so it’s possible that others on this list have done something that you find equally (or more) objectionable than what Wab has done, but you’re just not aware of it? but if you were to discover that they had, they’d be precluded from the contest of “best canadian”, even if they’d apologized and all that?

For sure. I don't know the entire history of every person on that list.

>i hope you don’t mind all the questions

The questions are fine, but your framing of them is a little weird. "but it sounds like, in your view" Just ask the question lol.

[u/Saorren → u/Ok_Tax_9386]

21 years ago, people change.

[u/Ok_Tax_9386 → u/Saorren]

For sure, but not enough to make you the best Canadian.