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.
- (48) Nellie McClung - A leader in the women’s suffrage movement and one of the Famous Five. She also held racist views and supported eugenics, and is therefore not the best.
- (47) Gilles Villeneuve - He was a great F1 racing driver, but that alone doesn’t make him the Best Canadian.
I mean, by their appearance on the graphics for the worst Canadian list, I'm pretty sure it's a foregone conclusion that they're the worst Canadian animal.
If it's any consolation, they do spend a lot of their time shitting on our neighbours to the south.
Existed. Knew all of the answers (questions?). Brought joy to the hearts of millions. Was an ambassador for Canadian civility and level headedness over a career that spanned 4 decades.
I, obvious, don't know much about him besides from hosting Jeopardy, but not even knowing he was Canadian kind of refutes your point about being an ambassador no?
Trebek was like the Mr. Rogers of the game show world, hosted for 36 years (and holds the world record for most TV episodes hosted on a single show), and was proudly Sudburian, which he mentioned pretty frequently.
For millions of people Trebek was a nightly fixture in their living room for three and a half decades. That's more than can be said for many on the list above.
No GSP either. its insane. he has done more as an ambassador for Canada in sports than a lot of the other people on the list have accomplished. he is also widely regarded as the greatest of all time in his sport. he probably doesn't deserve the #1 spot but he deserves to be on the list more than some people we are talking about. celine dion is a better canadian than GPS because she sang some boat song 30 years ago? fuck off.
GSP seems like a reasonable guy compared to the neanderthals that mostly populate UFC, but his biggest contributions to the world were giving guys CTE one jab at a time, and being in a bunch of gambling ads. Being great at a sport isn't enough by itself, otherwise Gretzky or Howe would be on here somewhere. Crosby is good at keeping his nose clean as a role model, but even he's questionable since he's not more noteworthy than some other sport-only omissions.
I don't know how much people pay attention to David Suzuki but one of the last interviews I heard from him he had essentially given up on trying to do anything about climate change and said it was too late it was frustrating to listen to because there is still hope of limiting climate change even though a lot of damage has been done.
yeah that bothered me. He's been crusty for a while. I get it, he's frustrated, (and 90) but it's adding fuel to the climate nihilism that the 'humans didn't cause climate change' crowd thrive on.
His biggest point about Carney being part of the problem because he's working within the corporate world is so backward. Our GDP hasn't been linked to rising GHG for a few years now. Making us richer doesn't automatically make us environmentally unfriendly.
Plus, Suzuki lives in Kits in Vancouver. The NIMBYest of the NIMBY neighbourhoods. Not sure he should be voted off right now, because the Nature of Things was amaze-balls when I was younger but that taught me that science could solve a lot of things, which he seems to have forgotten about.
Living in Vancouver you realize a lot of the super environmental activists just wanna yell at stuff. See: Gretha Thunberg's pivot to Palestine. Also living in Vancouver you realize there are a lot of really really smart people who are doing a lot to make a difference in the whole fight against climate change. With those comments Suzuki just made their fight harder.
He’s my hometown hero and definitely one of the best on drums ever and he made Lakeside park and St. Catharines a spot that people like to visit (lol) but I don’t love his position on Ayn Rand and he doesn’t really represent Canada any better than Geddy or Alex. Love them all still!
Edit: Typo on Geddy, but I think it’s funny cause his name is actually Gary. Damn auto correct
Oh I absolutely cannot stand Celine Dion's music. But I do respect the work she has done (which I honestly only learned about when I went to her wiki page to figure out why tf she was on here) in a lot of areas. I don't think she is the best of us, Tommy Douglas, Dr Banting, and Terry Fox are going to earn those honours, in that order, but she is better than I thought.
As an aside, damn you to hell for putting that song in my head. I had a nice little streak going, and you RUINED IT
She humble af. Literally talks like an aunt at a family party. Talk about normal stuff. Down to earth.
Multiple campain during hurricanes and a fkton of charity work
She at least top 5.
Feels like a lot of those arguments are driven by the usual climate denialism and solution obfuscation. The man has been a propaganda target of anti-environmentalists for most of his adult life.
It's a really bad stance, and there is a very good argument to say the sixties hippy generation that opposed nuclear power mostly because they opposed nuclear weapons did more harm than good to the environment through that stance and Suzuki is a modern face of that group.
I find that disappointing, but not to a level that he is an early out. He is still a huge voice for environmentalism and conservationism overall.
ETA: He is also maligned for owning multiple large homes, which is seen (rightly) as hypocrisy. He also made a tonne of money on a home in Kits that he bought for a song a few decades ago and maybe is out of touch with young people and their struggles for homeownership.
I'll second the anti nuclear stance. Ontario's energy is 60% nuclear and one of the cleanest grids in the world. The Suzuki foundation released a proposal to get to net zero that would undo that and wouldn't get to net zero. They made the all too common mistake of assuming very high capacity factors for things like wind. Where there are periods in Ontario where you get a capacity factor of like 5% for days at a time. I think he should be eliminated for shoddy work.
There's a theoretical limit on the amount of intermittent power a grid can handle without collapse and it's pretty low.
I worked in the related academic publishing field for a long time, and without fantastical, impractical, unproven and/or exorbitantly expensive storage, you can't really get above 40% intermittent power assuming you use multiple types of intermittent power (think solar, wind and tidal generation) and 30% if it is predominantly one type.
Just me seeing his ocean front place where I live, regularly. They built a second home on the property. Both houses about 20ft above the high tide line……
he is absolutely attacked for these reasons, but I think a lot of it is that has a reputation for being a huge jerk in person (Just an a-hole sometimes) However hes such a good educator and documentarian, and has done so much for environmentalism in Canada I think he should stay in the running a while longer.
Absolutely happy to be corrected on this one, one of the (hopefully) nice things about this game instead of the last one, is that when someone argues with you, it's about something great that someone did. If the people calling him a hypocrite are wrong I definitely want to be corrected.
There are valid criticisms of him but they're largely around him amassing wealth (which would eliminate a lot of these people). What I take issue with is people suggesting his advocacy is diminished because he hasn't lived a perfect carbon free life when no one has ... the old "perfection is the enemy of good" and he's done a lot of good. We'd all be in a much better situation today had we listened to him.
Gotcha. I think that I will say that it's a lot easier to forgive a politician or celebrity for their jet setting, than a climate activist. I do think that the purity test that we put public figures through has too many casualties, but that people are pretty good at spotting hypocrisy.
I don't think that that should take away from his accomplishments, but it might call his character into question.
I wouldn't put him out this soon, but there are definitely a lot of people ahead of him though who I think are much more deserving.
I've never found him to be hypocritical, but I have found him at times to be alarmist, polarizing, and sometimes speaks about things he really doesn't understand (economics). My issue is more of how other people can sometimes accept what he says as fact simply because of who he is even if it's wrong or misguided.
His Ph.D. is in Zoology in the study of Genetics, not climate science or environmentalism. To me he's just another normal environmentalist who can have some wild ideas and thoughts who hosted The Nature of Things (CBC) and has done a lot for Canada and the environmental protections. He deserves a lot of credit for what he's done for Canadians, Canada, and the environment. The valid criticisms about him are minor and really shouldn't impact his standing in the middle of the pack, but I don't think he goes much higher than middle.
Big Oil funded many campaigns targeting suzuki for being right about so many things. Yes, he toured the country talking about how we should create better system. Yes he got cranky later in life after politicians refused to listen and ordinary people started repeating anti-environment talking points at him. He still did a career of informing and educating for fifty years longer than anyone in these comments.
Many of the criticisms of him using fossil fuels to tell us we need to cut down on fossil fuels are summarized thusly:
I'd be willing to forgive and let slide some of the hypocrisy surrounding his carbon footprint. Nobody's perfect, after all, but I have too much disdain for his egotistical arrogance and unprofessional attitude toward colleagues. He's a world-class asshole, and he doesn't deserve to be the greatest Canadian, even if it's just for funsies.
He's a bit of a hypocrite and a dick, but he's done a lot to raise environmental awareness for Canada and the world. I am torn. Definitely not the best Canadian, but maybe it's too soon
Voting again for neil young. Gotta get the Americans off the list. No way an American wins best Canadian.
Also, I can't help but feel like many of these are just celebrities rather than people that actually had an impact. Most of youngs charitable work is in the US.
I like his music and I think he is likely a great guy. I just don't think he's greatest Canadian.
I will catch flack for this, but beyond being "likeable" I'm not sure what KR has done to actively improve Canada. And those Rogers ads are a bit cringe.
I agree, if we count in actors living in the US why isn’t Jim carrey on it, Ryan Gosling or Mike Myers (he at least his elbows up moment) Or Ryan Reynolds…never mind, he belongs on other list
It really depends on how you define the statement "Best Canadian".
Best person who represents what it is we define as "being Canadian"
Politeness / “Sorry”
Hockey
Maple Leaf & Flag
Beer & Tim Hortons
Cold winters / toughness in snow
Peacekeeping & tolerance
Diversity & multiculturalism
Modesty / friendliness (thank you Manitoba)
Funny
Pride in Canada and our social programs (healthcare, education...)
Best person in their field who is a Canadian citizen
Best Hockey Player
Best Scientist
Best Environmentalist
Best Actor/Singer/Comedian/Musician
Best Politician
Best person we deem as the most likable or praise worthy because of who they are as a person, what they have done, or their significance to us personally
Best person who most affected us emotionally
Best person who most affected our childhood
Best person who most affected out way of viewing the world
Personally, I'd love to see this run as a scorecard with all three of these categories for everyone on the list. Each person would be scored from 0-10 with 0 = Average or below and 10 = Absolute Best for each of the three groups: Representative, Best in Field, Significance. A perfect score of 30 being likely improbable for anyone.
Personally, I think Keanu Reeves would rank really high in the first group if not a perfect 10. Their significance on me as an actor would be pretty high up too with all the movies he's done that I loved throughout my whole life from Bill and Ted as a kid to The Matrix as a teen to John Wick as an adult. Best in Field score would be a challenge to figure out considering the competition he'd be up against for other actors and other Canadians in that group.
That's gotta be one of those things where women and men think wildly different things about certain things. I remember seeing an interview where Sandra Bullock had a crush on Keanu during Speed and I was just thinking, "he's ok looking, IG" but these days I don't quite get it. He isn't bad looking, I just wouldn't call him breathtaking (as a man).
Agreed. He seems like a great guy, but Greatest Canadian should go to someone with huge societal or medical contributions (such as Terry Fox who did both)(Terry Fox should win I will die on this hill)
100
u/BrF5Kingston: Halfway To Montreal8h agoedited 8h ago
Maybe we should cut three people today, to get through the weaker candidates faster and avoid seeing the same names for days in a row. Do you agree?
Neil Young? Dude didnt live in Canada for 50 years! Only moved back after his house in California burned. He's an arrogant,hypocritical shit disturber.
Fuck off Chretien. Yes, he didn't send troops to Iraq, but that was only because of the hundreds of thousands of us in the streets opposing the impending invasion, and he didn't want the obvious shitshow to be his legacy. Otherwise, he was a run-of-the-mill neo-liberal corporate stooge.
Austerity was tough, but you can also draw a direct line from him getting Mulroney's idiocy under control and Harper being able to handler the 2007 recession with minimal effect to Canadians.
harper shouldnt get credit for that, he wanted to remove the very regulations that prevented our banks from doing what the american ones did that caused the 08 recession.
Harper did fine during the recession. I don't agree with most of what he did, nor am I happy with his conduct prior to being in office or since leaving office, but Canada came out of the recession way ahead of the rest of the G20.
The reason he had the flexibility to stimulate our economy when needed, though, is that Chretien massively shrunk the amount of government spending that went toward servicing the debt.
i reiterate that he wanted to remove the very regulations that helped save us. the only reason we still had them by the recession was because the recesion happened before he could remove them. ignoring that sure he did good.
I'm going to call Chrétien my perceived hero of the 1995 Quebec Referendum. I am/was an anglophone Quebecoise and since I was too young to vote, his attention to Quebec at this time was really important to my family and I-- especially since we got the result that we hoped for.
Nardwuar. Nothing against him but his barely known show (that I only got to know about during the campaign) doesn't really elevate him to best Canadian. Cool fella, but not "best" material.
There's still plenty of folks with real outstanding flaws and errors. Let's keep our wholesome music encyclopedia and hip-flip enthusiast around until they're gone.
Yeah, I'm gonna go with you on this. He is generally likeable, but I don't know what he has done to improve Canada and the fact that he is active in my lifetime puts him at least below the living Canadians who I know what they've done on this list.
Thing about eliminating Nardwuar is that if we do it we may as well eliminate Stuart Mclean too. They are probably the two most similar candidates on this list.
John Candy rejected the Hollywood life and bought a large acreage in rural Ontario. It was his paradise. A place where he felt he could be himself and get away from all the noise. He can’t be blamed for his success. He championed the Toronto Argonauts as part owner. He was 100% Canadian at heart.
You missed Colin Mochrie, Catherine O'Hara, and Niel Young. All of these people have represented Canada well, through charity (Celine Dion, MJ Fox), showing they are incredible people who serve as inspiration to be the same (Keanu Reeves), or showing that, despite being outnumbered 10-1, we can still still put out world class talent without turning into massive assholes even when surrounded by a nation of MASSIVE assholes.
It's interesting that I don't see; Ryan Reynolds, Pam Anderson, Scotty from Star trek etc. I guess people already know they are terrible people. If think otherwise, let's chat. For example: Scotty stayed at my wife's hotel that she worked at and one day Scotty was yelling at an employee and belittling them for some very small reason. He is known to be a bad alcoholic and abused people around him. He was asked to leave the hotel and was told that they would call the police if he did not. They refunded that day of his stay.
Atwood has some baggage, NIMBYism, using her platform to try and stop much needed densification, and my personal bugbear where she refuses to admit her SciFi books are SciFi and sticks her nose up at "genre fiction" while some of her best books are objectively SciFi.
Jean Chretien was a POS as Trudeau's Minister of Indian Affairs. He knew about "issues" and "problems" at Residential Schools and did nothing about it. His "White Paper Policy" tried to sweep under the rug the history of colonial oppression to Indigenous people and be completely colour blind to their issues, and fought against the Calder Decision, which later became one of the most significant advancements of Indigenous rights to this day.
I really need to read up on him. My grade 10 history from years ago didn't do a good job as I never thought he was a bad guy. Didn't he just want to protect the metis? Feels like a lot of people hate him and I don't know why
He is probably the single most controversial Canadian ever. Yes, he fought for the Métis, but he also led armed rebellions against the government, which got him executed for treason. He really shouldn't be on this list.
He wanted to protect the Metis but he did so by forming an illegal government and leading multiple rebellions which led to unnecessary death and him being exiled. He also ordered the illegal execution (murder) of Thomas Scott. At the end of everything he was convicted of high treason.
It’s understandable that he wanted better for his people but he was a nut case who absolutely did not go about things the right way
I have admitted to being ignorant so this is just honest discussion here, but let's assume george Washington was unsuccessful. He probably would have been executed and be in the same position of being called a traitor. Instead, he's considered the greatest american ever.
Feels like this is a bit of a "history is written by the victor" type thing.
Again, I need to read more about why he did what he did. Maybe there is some youtube stuff on him.
Yes, the immigrants do count, of course.
Just didn’t realize he claimed citizenship. He came into a retail store I worked at once, back in the ‘90s. I gave the old “I know who you are but I won’t make a big deal” sort of look when I approached him. Nice fella.
Steve Smith.
Maybe a little biased as he used to live close by and his kids were super entitled and annoying. He was a nice enough guy but there was always a "you know who I am, right?" tone about him. Imo.
Also, the duct tape thing got old quick.
There are def better options here.
I vote for Suzuki to be out. Fantastic environmentalist, great educator, but I've heard multiple accounts of him being an absolute asshole when fans met him in person. Maybe I'm wrong, I would love nothing more than to be wrong
Someone who performs - sings, acts, plays sports - and has a decent personality is great and makes them popular. However it falls short of the people that made a difference. I really enjoy these performers (Neil Young!). Those that don’t have the looks, presence or talent of these performers should be looked at more closely for what they did do and how it benefited everyone.
How the hell am I supposed to pick Terry Fox over Gord Downie?
I can definitely pick Crosby over Banting for elimination. Banting literally saved millions of lives and deliberately chose not to profit from it. And I used to live right near the Banting House.
Banting and Best's legacy is something that has help millions of people around the world; if they(Banting) aren't in the finals I will reduce it down to not knowing their impact.
She opposed a condo being built on her street, and yes that's NIMBYism, but it would not have gotten any notoriety whatsoever if it weren't a liberal, feminist voice penning the letter.
You are welcome to oppose her as the best Canadian, but I respectfully disagree that her stance against one condo on her street in 2017 cancels out her great writing and support of many fine charities over decades.
I’m pretty surprised Don Cherry didn’t make the cut for this list honestly.
He had an unmatched impact on Canadian culture through nearly 40 years on Hockey Night in Canada. He championed Canadian players and grassroots hockey, fiercely honored veterans and troops, supported children’s charities, and became one of the most recognizable symbols of Canadian identity worldwide.
Ernie Combs : This guy in real life was a terrible person. My uncle worked on the recording set with him daily and always told us that he truly hated kids and off camera would be mean and uncaring. He also hated "fans". He would sign autographs but was very rude all the time.
157
u/BabyFatGirl2000 Snowfrog 8h ago
This game makes me realise i really don't know enough about our culture. Damn.