the greatest canadian, is it the most hyped canadian? That reservation aside, would dr. Norman Bethune be a contender? Weren't they be boys some woman and how about long past figures such as Nellie Mcclung,and diverse anti alcohol advocates?

The Expos have had several Canadian players, including Maple Ridge's Larry Walker with a soupcon of Rheal Courmier, Denis Boucher and Claude Raymond, who was formidable in English and formidable in French.

A swing and a miss.

The Swiss have chocolate and the Swatch too! And don't forget the Swiss pikemen, they were REAL good at killing people. Me thinks Canada and Switzerland are not as "boring" as they seem.

Suzuki as a left-wing version of Cherry, Burgess? That's a bit of a stretch.

My list: Therese Casgrain, Bobbie Rosenfeld, Faith Fenton, Armine Gosling, Margaret Atwood, Emily Carr, David Suzuki, Terry Fox, Nancy Greene and Chantal Petitclerc (wheelchair racing; yes Burgess, why was she, too, not added along with Fox, Fonyo and Hansen?) The current list compiled by CBC is an idiot joke- no woman made the top 10? I'm embarrassed to be Canadian.

As far as the Greatest Canadian is concerned it was open to any worthy Canadian to be nominated to the list by simply voting. My initial nomination sent to the competition was Sir. John A Macdonald. He went on to make the top fifty, then on to the top ten, picked by Canadians right across the country not the CBC staff. So, unfortunately no women made the top ten list, but could have if they had garnered enough votes.

I do agree that some of the candidates do not really warrant the title of Greatest Canadian, like say Gretzky or Fox and of course Cherry.

Actually, I think Terry Fox made the list not due to sympathy but rather his identifiable Canadian values and spirit such as being humble, unselfish and so courageous in such trying times as apposed to a obvious nation builder like Sir John A. Also there was a radio show back east that had organized a Vote Cherry campaign so take his nomination for what its worth.

I actually like this CBC competition as it has lots of people, young and old talking about our history in an age of ever increasing mind numbing American pop culture. Who would you rather have your kids ask about, Terry Fox, wee Tommy Douglas or Britney Spears?

Without Glenn Gould on the Best Canuck list, the whole exercise is a sham, a miserable testament to ineptitude. He is the finest artist we've ever produced, and the world noticed. Perhaps that's why he didn't make the cut.

I'm a bit surprised at the less than positive rating Terry Fox is getting in this piece and in the commentary. I can accept he was only a kid who never even finished his run across Canada. But even by that time every Canadian knew exactly what he was trying to do and under what circumstances. He certainly didn't do it for money, to boost his career or to get himself elected to anything. In fact, other than perhaps having a bit of a swollen head to go with his bad leg had he managed to finish his run, Terry's run was purely a work of love. His efforts captured not only the hearts of Canadians, but millions of people around the world, who know where he came from and the fact that he was giving, giving and giving right up to the end. To this day, mention of that young man's name still fills me with pride and, I feel, represents the best of what Canada has to offer to the rest of the world. Of all those in the top 100, I can't think of any who to this day can be called an ambassador for Canada like Terry is and will be well into the future. *** Fi, I appreciate your concern that the top 10 are all male and yes it does probably say something about our media and the way in which history (a male view) is most often presented. But I suspect women make up at least half of CBC's audience, so they either didn't participate as much, were caught in the male- dominated media and history viewpoints or simply preferred someone of the other gender.

I agree with your comments about Terry Fox, Allan. And yes, I totally agree that our media is biased and the history books- don't even get me started! Haha... as Kaybertoss says (good point) "it was open to any worthy Canadian to be nominated to the list". To be nominted one must be known, right? Therein lies the problem.

Ya know, it wasn't unitl I was well into my 20's I realized that when I learned about the French Revolution in grade 8 (I loved that history class!) the "Rights of Man and Citizen" we learned about were just that- rights for men, and that one of the women who fought for the "Rights of Women" (1791), Olympe de Gouges, was suspicioulsy absent from that history book. As a thirteen-year old I was innocently unaware of the discrepancies in the way his/herstory is told, and not until over a decade later, laptop on hand, am I able to discover the women out there who made a difference in the world, too :) It's very, very easy to become "caught in the male-dominated media and history viewpoints"; we live and breathe it- until we consciously step away from it and take on another perspective.

Fi, your last sentence has just sooo much truth in it in so many aspects of our lives today. It's the best advice I've seen posted on this site in a long while.

Terry Fox gets a lot of votes (especially from the young- CBC's info) because for the last 20-something years, every September schools all across Canada participate in Terry Fox runs. They show videos of his life, and discuss how his legacy could help someone each child knows so he's probably the best known of all the "nominees" to young people.

Nelja, I admit Terry Fox does benefit from being a relative newcomer on the top 10 list, who is still a fresh commodity in ways. He will also always remain the young man he was in the minds of everyone. So it isn't surprising that the young may have a preference (I am not young) for him. Frankly, with the exception of Don Cherry (who is also a current media darling to some), I think I could accept anyone on that final list.

My greatest Canadian is, hands down, movie director David Cronenberg. Unlike a lot of talented Canadians, he has never gone to work in the US (i.e. Hollywood). He somehow went from Canadian tax-credit horror/porn to critically acclaimed arthouse without losing his distinctive vision or his integrity. "Crash" won a special prize of audacity at Cannes.

Hunter Thompson wrote that "Canadians are afflicted with a dark and morbid curiosity", and Cronenberg is the leading exponent of that underexposed aspect of the Canadian psyche.

Ah yes... if only our country were as open and inviting as a Cronenberg movie, Just think, we could shut down our tourist booths and become North Korea at last.

Celebrity isn't greatness. Greatness is defined by the great Canadians who spent their working lives on things which benefit many other people long into the future: Banting, Lester Pearson, Trudeau, Suzuki, and my personal favourite: T.C. Douglas. Remembering them gave us a lot to celebrate. I also loved Salt Spring Island's contest to find The Greatest Islander. After one session, they realized that their island is so full of great people, they couldn't choose; so they switched to describing and celebrating the life's work of many great islanders. The lesson: why wait for the Obituary?

greatest Canadian? --gotta be Santa Claus, right?

He'd be second- Santa's wife would be #1!!

At this writing TC Douglas has been picked -- a reasonable choice I guess, given how crucial the welfare state has become to our understanding of ourselves. My own choice -- the radical '60s Finance Minister Walter Gordon -- probably couldn't have made the cut anyway as he very evidently failed to do accomplish his aim (returning control of the Canadian economy to Canadians). He was a brilliant failure though, and a great Canadian.

Good point about Walter Gordon.

Both Tommy Douglas and Norman Bethune lived their beliefs. What does that say about today's politicians and doctors...............?

A lot of very good comments. My choice was Tommy Douglas, but to me the top ten were all worthy with the exception of Cherry, who in my opinion should not make the top 1,000. The lack of women is certainly disturbing, but perhaps reflects our society. A homemaker, who perhaps has the most important job, is often referred to as 'just a housewife'. I am elderly, and the fact that our children are reasonably successful citizens is due largely to my wife who was 'just a housewife'.

Was Pamela Anderson nominated? I would have thought she would get tons of votes, sadly. It's no surprise women are invisible, history is written by and about the conquerers... I think Tommy Douglas is a good pick though. We wouldn't have universal health care and other progressive social safety programs without him. And, cleverly, the CBC has provoked Canadians into thinking and talking about special Canadians. We do rock!!!

When the early preview ads were running I recall many faces flashing across the screen. I thought there were several women among them such as Joni Mitchell and Margaret Atwood. At least it was noted during the finale that there were no artists in the running. This is also reflected on our currency. Many nations celebrate cultural figures and great thinkers on their paper bills. We've only now just put Bill Reid on our 20s?! And Keillor's right about Glenn Gould! I'm surprised Nellie McLung (sp?) wasn't mentioned by other posters here.

My hero is Terry Fox and I don't belive most people. He is a great guy and got up to $24.4 million for the cause of cancer

terry fox