CBC series reveals Top 10 in countdown to who is the Greatest Canadian
TORONTO (CP) – It’s gone from 140,000 to 50 to 10. And five weeks from now, the name of The Greatest Canadian will be unveiled during the wrap-up of the CBC-TV series of the same name, which debuted Sunday night.
In the opening episode, host Wendy Mesley announced the top 10 contenders for the title, after whittling down the list from 50, those figures who got the most votes of the 140,000 submitted by the public in a contest held last spring.
So the Top 10 are: NDP political legend T.C. Douglas, hockey star Wayne Gretzky, TV sports personality Don Cherry, founding prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald, one-legged runner Terry Fox, medical pioneer Dr. Frederick Banting, prime minister and Nobel peace prize winner Lester Pearson, telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell, TV science host and environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki and, former PM Pierre Trudeau.
“Prime Minister if you’re watching, congratulations!” Mesley said coyly. “You’ve shaken hands with several people on the list.”
Not surprisingly, the 40 runners-up represent an eclectic and sometimes curious list, including Rick Mercer, John Candy, Avril Lavigne, Bret (Hitman) Hart, Tecumseh, Laura Secord, Mike Myers, Stompin’ Tom Connors, Louis Riel and even The Unknown Soldier.
Beginning Monday night and continuing twice weekly until Nov. 28, CBC will telecast hour-long specials in which current celebrities have been assigned to advocate their assigned contender. Up first Monday night, for example, MuchMusic personality George Stroumboulopoulos will make the case for Tommy Douglas, the prairie politician often described as the father of Canadian medicare. Stroumboulopoulos calls Douglas “a real rebel and a rebel WITH a cause.”
On Monday, Nov. 29, the winner will be announced in a final special.
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