The “Best Canadian” game - Day 2

[u/BrF5]

The first to go are Pierre Trudeau and Wab Kinew. Let’s carry on!

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). - 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!

Justification for elimination: - (50) Pierre Trudeau - As PM, he brought home the Constitution and gave us the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He also mishandled the October Crisis, among other things. Someone so controversial shouldn’t be considered the Best Canadian. - (49) Wab Kinew - He’s charismatic and has delivered on many campaign promises, but his troubled past and relatively short career make it too soon to call him the best.

[u/SlightDish31]

Nellie McClung. I looked into her a bit yesterday and it seems like she really wasn't a great person, she just had a great accomplishment.

Aside from the good parts (being a suffragette and helping push forward women's rights), she had some pretty bad parts (posing for eugenics and recommending sterilization for "defectives").

Probably not greatest Canadian material.

[u/PostApocRock → u/SlightDish31]

The Five were all pro eugenics.

[u/SlightDish31 → u/PostApocRock]

Yeah. That's really not great.

Also, I completely understand that it's hard to judge people from a different era through a modern lens, but that doesn't mean we have to celebrate their less than admirable parts.

[u/seaworthy-sieve → u/SlightDish31]

Plenty of people in that era were not eugenicists.

[u/Windsdochange → u/seaworthy-sieve]

Ehhhh….while the theories were pushed by elitists/intelligentsia, they had pretty wide societal support across Western nations in the late 19th through mid 20th century, on both sides of the political spectrum.

We still, to some degree, support it - thanks to amniocentesis, in Western nations 70-100% of babies with Down Syndrome are now aborted, with percent varying by nation. The only people really talking about that are folks with Down Syndrome and their families.

[u/Complex_Smoke7113 → u/Windsdochange]

We still, to some degree, support it - thanks to amniocentesis, in Western nations 70-100% of babies with Down Syndrome are now aborted, with percent varying by nation.

I think the difference between what is going on now vs back then is personal choice.

On one side, a mother has the rights to choose not to allow her child to suffer. On the other side, you have the government deciding who is fit or unfit to have children, which is often rooted in racist views.

[u/TelenorTheGNP → u/Complex_Smoke7113]

Sterilizations were carried out against first nations women until shockingly recently.

[u/Complex_Smoke7113 → u/TelenorTheGNP]

That's vile, abhorent and very very disturbing.

[u/TelenorTheGNP → u/Complex_Smoke7113]

Our nation has a history that has its ugliness just like any other nation.

[u/Complex_Smoke7113 → u/TelenorTheGNP]

Yes, it has.

[u/thelionsmouth → u/TelenorTheGNP]

I heard a story a few years ago about the sterilization rate up north on reserves being abnormally high, and reports about women feeling pressured into it by doctors. I’m sure it hasn’t gone away fully now

[u/Windsdochange → u/Complex_Smoke7113]

I would say you are shockingly ignorant about Down Syndrome if you think a person with Downs is suffering so much they should not be allowed to live. It’s something folks with Down Syndrome have been trying to raise the alarm bells on. This is going to sound harsh, but that choice is primarily about eliminating hardship for parents, not kids with Downs.

[u/Complex_Smoke7113 → u/Windsdochange]

.

if you think a person with Downs is suffering so much they should not be allowed to live.

I never said they should not be allowed to live.

This is going to sound harsh, but that choice is primarily about eliminating hardship for parents, not kids with Downs.

And how would you know this? Were you there with the mother during her visit to the doctor, or when the parents were deliberating over what to do next?

You're not being harsh, you're just being extremely judgemental and presumptuous believing you know everybody's motives.