The Greatest Canadian

Did You Know?

• The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Alexander Graham Bell were featured on the 100 Greatest Britons list.
• A two-hour spin-off series called The Greatest Canadian Invention aired in 2007 with Insulin as the winner.
• The eligibility criteria for nominees were broad, as outlined by the CBC.

Selection process

The selection of the Greatest Canadian involved a two-step voting process. The first phase, beginning on 5 April 2004, collected nominees through mail, phone, and internet polls. The bottom 40 of the 50 most popular individuals were revealed during the first episode in October. The top ten nominees were presented alphabetically to avoid bias. Over the next six weeks, ten Canadian celebrities advocated for each finalist in hour-long documentaries, and viewers could vote without any limit on the number of calls or restriction to Canadian residents.

Top 50

More than 10,000 names were submitted, and the top 100 were posted online with short biographies, but only the top 50 were featured on television. At least three nominees—Harold A. Rogers, Hal Anderson, and Mary Maxwell—gained entry through active mass-mailing campaigns by their followers, a fact acknowledged by the CBC. Critics noted that the top 50 included only six women and three nonwhites, low French Canadian participation, and many modern pop culture figures such as Bret Hart, Mike Myers, John Candy, Jim Carrey, and Avril Lavigne. Don Cherry's inclusion in the top 10 upset many Canadians, as it displaced figures like Louis Riel and Jean Vanier.