The Shortcomings in Ranking Canadian Greatness

Recently, Canadians, of which 140 000 actually participated, were engaged in a soulful debate in search of the greatest Canadian. The whole harmless affair was an exercise in navel-gazing nationalism and ended unresolved, leaving a big hole in our hearts just like a Tim Horton doughnut. While we should not read too much into the results, it nonetheless brought to the forefront some obvious realities about Canada.

Of course, any rankings of this sort are bound to be affected by the era we live in, and by what the issues of the day are. The results are further hampered by Canada's regional fragmented nature and its belief that it is under constant siege from both external and internal forces. In a way, Canada represents a paradox- a society that has no history in its memory but yet yearns for one in practice.

So how did we arrive at Tommy Douglas as the greatest Canadian? Well, for starters, it does have something to do with this group of huts' recent obsession regarding health care. If Canada was, ironically, a patient in its own system, we would be diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder.

Another possible reason is that Canadians have a shocking disinterest in their history, and this explains, in part, why there is a discrepancy in how they view themselves and how they actually project themselves on the world stage. How committed to our half-hearted nationalism are we? Take NFL and CFL football, as an example, when considering Canada's attachment to its cultural institutions. Ask yourself if the NFL expanded into, say, Toronto, what would happen to the Argonauts? Would they survive? Probably not. Torontonians would drop the Argos in a flat sec. The same would apply to all cities that have a CFL franchise.

Canadians, a rather strong and independent bunch though we are, also suffer from acute insecurity disorder. We never seem prepared when confronted with critical issues that defined an era and different generations. The most recent example was the new world order 9/11 ushered in. Here, Canadians revealed another unflattering trait so inconsistent with our experience - delusion.

Canadian leaders failed to grasp the enormity of 9/11 and haven't been able to define a distinct Canadian platform on the international stage. That is because we have been, among other things, busy engaging in infantile anti-American rhetoric -the leitmotif of Canadian discourse these days- instead of critically assessing new geo-politcal paradigms essential in projecting so-called core Canadian values- whatever they may be. During that time, Canadians were treated to a showcase of indifference and comical buffoonery by officials (save a pragmatic few), that would make the director of La Comedia dell'Arte proud.

So, given our volunteered weak knowledge of our heritage, it is not surprising that Canadians have a misplaced, if not outdated pride that is still anchored in moments like the War of 1812, Vimy Ridge and Expo 67. Indeed, we still hang on to a time when this country meant something to itself and the international stage during the Lester B. Pearson era. Sadly, we have utterly failed in upholding any traditions of Canadiana we created for posterity, however small.

Which brings me back to the list. In typical Canadian fashion, we failed to consider a Canadian who had global impact. Instead we opted to remain provincial in our outlook. His noble and compassionate intentions to pioneer Medicare here notwithstanding, Tommy Douglas did not introduce something that had any impact on the world stage. Indeed, Europe had universal public health care well before Canada. No matter, none of us seems to be able to pay for it anyway.

Now consider those who did have a global impact that were ranked far below Douglas: Sir Frederick Banting, Sir Sandford Fleming, Marshall McLuhan, Terry Fox, Wayne Gretzky, John Connon, Sir William Osler, Henry Woodward, Mack Sennett, Louis B. Mayer, Mary Pickford, and Shuster and Siegel, to name but a few. Can anyone really with a straight face, believe Tommy Douglas should come ahead of any these people?

In addition to this, some of the rankings were just plain bizarre. In what country on the planet would Rene Levesque, nationalist Quebec's spiritual resident Catalonian, dedicated to slicing the country in half, be ranked 69th? He came, by the way, way ahead of Sam Steele who was ranked a laughable 99th. Other gems include Louis Riel coming in 11th spot. For his part, Riel outranked the likes of Neil Young in 14th, Pierre Berton in 31st and Glenn Gould in a ridiculous 55th ranking. Pierre Elliott Trudeau, a pirouetting romantic leader who accelerated the erosion of our individual liberties, was rewarded with third spot ahead of Lester B. Pearson - arguably this country's greatest Prime Minister.

In any event, these names pale in comparison to, among others, Ed Belfour and Henry Morgentaller.

As usual, Canadians, with our once-a-year interest in our heritage, missed the mark and left us with yet another thing to debate about. As if we do not already have enough to deal with. Maybe it is time to set aside the pseudo-nationalist agenda in search of a Canada that has long gone. Maybe it is time to actually grow up and move on.

Who knows? Maybe along the way we will finally feel comfortable in our own skin for the right reasons. Only then, perhaps, will innocuous lists such as these be truly representative of our shared historical experience.