Greatest Joke
I just logged myself in and voted for Don Cherry to become the "Greatest Canadian." The CBC has been running this farce for a little while, with the goal of declaring our 'greatest Canadian.' The process, of course, is purely democratic--any jackass can go ahead and vote.
And, boy, did this vote ever attract jackasses, making it an overwhelming joke. Why is it a joke? Well, for one, people like Avril Lavigne made the top 50, while the Group of Seven didn't manage to get in the top 100. Only one businessman managed to get on the list, while we've had a long and storied tradition of entrepreneurship (think Hudson's Bay Company and the Eaton family, amongst others). Meanwhile, some Winnipeg deejay convinced his fans to vote for him, and they turned up en masse, qualifying him for a top 50 spot. Yup, just a random radio deejay. Good on him, I say--expose the farce.
Bloggers have lost their heads over this. My old stomping ground's blog, The Shotgun, has gone ahead and asked bloggers to vote for Cherry. So that's what I did. Who's going to win? It's a toss up between Pierre Trudeau, former Prime Minister and the hearthrob of Canada's left elite, or the outright socialist Tommy Douglas, who is credited with making socialized medicine the law of my land.
While Don Cherry is far from our greatest, it's hard to see why the Toronto Star excoriated him as badly as they did. The Sun's Warmington stood up for Cherry, but didn't make very many good arguments for why Cherry should even be in the top 50, let alone top ten.
But I say we all go vote for Don Cherry anyways. The top ten list is embarrassing (except, Terry Fox really does belong on any top ten list like that, with all the others it isn't as clear as all that). The CBC would be eating crow for a long time if Cherry were to come out on top. That seems to be the best reason to vote for him.
And, boy, did this vote ever attract jackasses, making it an overwhelming joke. Why is it a joke? Well, for one, people like Avril Lavigne made the top 50, while the Group of Seven didn't manage to get in the top 100. Only one businessman managed to get on the list, while we've had a long and storied tradition of entrepreneurship (think Hudson's Bay Company and the Eaton family, amongst others). Meanwhile, some Winnipeg deejay convinced his fans to vote for him, and they turned up en masse, qualifying him for a top 50 spot. Yup, just a random radio deejay. Good on him, I say--expose the farce.
Bloggers have lost their heads over this. My old stomping ground's blog, The Shotgun, has gone ahead and asked bloggers to vote for Cherry. So that's what I did. Who's going to win? It's a toss up between Pierre Trudeau, former Prime Minister and the hearthrob of Canada's left elite, or the outright socialist Tommy Douglas, who is credited with making socialized medicine the law of my land.
While Don Cherry is far from our greatest, it's hard to see why the Toronto Star excoriated him as badly as they did. The Sun's Warmington stood up for Cherry, but didn't make very many good arguments for why Cherry should even be in the top 50, let alone top ten.
But I say we all go vote for Don Cherry anyways. The top ten list is embarrassing (except, Terry Fox really does belong on any top ten list like that, with all the others it isn't as clear as all that). The CBC would be eating crow for a long time if Cherry were to come out on top. That seems to be the best reason to vote for him.
posted by P. M. Jaworski at 7:49 p.m.
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