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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jul 31, 2007 8:46:45 GMT -5
Well gag me with a forklift! Back in the 70's you'd have though the guy was king. Kind of surprised to see some of the other names on that list though. Looks like a few made the list based on recent events. Trudeau 'Worst Canuck:' Poll
'Peg rocker Hannah No. 2: mag poll
By ROB NAY, SUN MEDIA
The Winnipeg Sun
The rose in the lapel is looking a little wilted.
Results are in from a new poll and the winner of the worst Canadian honour is former prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
"One person's hero is another person's villain," said Mark Reid, editor of The Beaver. The Winnipeg-published history magazine sponsored the online public poll, with results featured in its latest issue.
Trudeau won the distinction with about 2,400 votes, beating the runner-up, Winnipeg musician Chris Hannah of political punk rockers Propagandhi, by a couple hundred votes.
"I'm outraged and demand a recount," Hannah said with a laugh. "On a slightly more serious note, I think it's absurd that Henry Morgentaler is on the list. Being beside Morgentaler is in good company. As for the rest of the list, I'm not so sure."
BACKS FIRST NATIONS
Hannah requested that people vote for him based on his support for First Nations in their struggles with the Canadian government, along with his opposition to Canadian military actions and industrial farming.
"I don't believe in the concept of a nation," said Hannah.
In contrast to other polls that look at respected historical figures, Reid said The Beaver wanted to try something different with its "Worst Canadian" poll.
"Some people probably took it more tongue-in-cheek," he said. "But it's important to get people talking."
About 15,000 people responded to the poll, which was online for a couple of months starting in May. Also making the top 10 were Prime Minister Stephen Harper, media mogul Conrad Black and serial killer Clifford Olson.
The poll also asked people to explain why their chosen person was the worst Canadian. In the case of Trudeau, many people mentioned his use of the War Measures Act in 1970 along with the introduction of the National Energy Program in 1980, said Reid.
Ross McCormack, a history professor at the University of Winnipeg, said the poll results seem to suggest more western Canadians responded given Trudeau's popularity elsewhere in the country.
"The main lesson to be drawn from the poll is that Canada remains a thoroughly divided society," he said.
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Top 10
Ten worst Canadians of all time, as chosen in The Beaver's online poll:
1. Pierre Trudeau
2. Chris Hannah
3. Henry Morgentaler
4. Brian Mulroney
5. Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka
6. Stephen Harper
7. Celine Dion
8. Jean Chretien
9. Clifford Olson
10. Conrad Black
The link |
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Post by wpghabsfan on Jul 31, 2007 9:21:50 GMT -5
What? Trudeau beat out Bernardo and Homolka?!?!? Yikes, some people must really hate him...
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Post by BadCompany on Jul 31, 2007 9:34:13 GMT -5
Hehehe... Celine Dion is on a "Beaver" list... hehehe....
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Post by Cranky on Jul 31, 2007 22:50:42 GMT -5
Top 10
Ten worst Canadians of all time, as chosen in The Beaver's online poll:
1. Pierre Trudeau
2. Chris Hannah
3. Henry Morgentaler
4. Brian Mulroney
5. Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka
6. Stephen Harper
7. Celine Dion
8. Jean Chretien
9. Clifford Olson
10. Conrad Black The link [/i][/quote] This country is afflicted with muddled mind disease. *sigh* |
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Post by jkr on Aug 1, 2007 9:43:46 GMT -5
Pure idiocy. I know politicians are not well regarded but lumping them in with serial killers?  |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Aug 1, 2007 10:02:45 GMT -5
Pure idiocy. I know politicians are not well regarded but lumping them in with serial killers? Doesn't look like too much thought went into it. I mean, there's too many names from the recent past. Odd that Alvin Karpis isn't on the list. This guy was one of the most wanted criminals of his time. He was part of the Karpis/Barker gang at one point. It was because of Karpis that the FBI was able to bag a few other criminals as well. While being pursued by G-men, Karpis led them to John Dillinger among others. cheers. |
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Post by CentreHice on Aug 1, 2007 14:59:53 GMT -5
Pure idiocy. I know politicians are not well regarded but lumping them in with serial killers? Doesn't look like too much thought went into it. I mean, there's too many names from the recent past. Odd that Alvin Karpis isn't on the list. This guy was one of the most wanted criminals of his time. He was part of the Karpis/Barker gang at one point. It was because of Karpis that the FBI was able to bag a few other criminals as well. While being pursued by G-men, Karpis led them to John Dillinger among others. cheers. Karpis was born in Montreal, but moved to U.S. at a very young age...were any of his crimes committed in Canada? Besides, for Karpis to be on that list would mean that the people polled have a base of knowledge broader than what they see on Entertainment Tonight and Canadian Idol.  Really, how about sub-catergories like: 10 Most Despicable Criminals. 10 Worst Politicians. 10 Least Favourite Entertainers. etc. Having Celine Dion on a list with murderers is preposterous. Then again, most Canadians couldn't name 10 despicable Canadian criminals. They could name their 10 worst politicians but wouldn't be able to give a good reason. (I am in the second group for sure.) Most Canadians laughed at Rick Mercer's "Talking to Americans"....but if he were to survey Canadians in a similar manner, he would get the same kind of show. People forget that he edited out all the Americans who clued in that he was asking bogus questions. |
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Post by jkr on Aug 4, 2007 7:12:00 GMT -5
Doesn't look like too much thought went into it. I mean, there's too many names from the recent past. Odd that Alvin Karpis isn't on the list. This guy was one of the most wanted criminals of his time. He was part of the Karpis/Barker gang at one point. It was because of Karpis that the FBI was able to bag a few other criminals as well. While being pursued by G-men, Karpis led them to John Dillinger among others. cheers. Karpis was born in Montreal, but moved to U.S. at a very young age...were any of his crimes committed in Canada? Besides, for Karpis to be on that list would mean that the people polled have a base of knowledge broader than what they see on Entertainment Tonight and Canadian Idol. Really, how about sub-catergories like: 10 Most Despicable Criminals. 10 Worst Politicians. 10 Least Favourite Entertainers. etc. Having Celine Dion on a list with murderers is preposterous. Then again, most Canadians couldn't name 10 despicable Canadian criminals. They could name their 10 worst politicians but wouldn't be able to give a good reason. (I am in the second group for sure.) Most Canadians laughed at Rick Mercer's "Talking to Americans"....but if he were to survey Canadians in a similar manner, he would get the same kind of show. People forget that he edited out all the Americans who clued in that he was asking bogus questions. You're right CH. Prior to the last election my wife was talking to co-workers about their voting preferences. SOme of them didn't even know who Stephen Harper was. These weren't teens & twenty somethings, these were people in their thirties. |
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Post by duster on Aug 4, 2007 14:13:47 GMT -5
I think this is a list of worst Canadians based on portrayal by the media. When someone thinks Olson, Homolka, Bernado are better persons than Trudeau, well, I'm not sure what to think. I met Trudeau when I was in my early teens and didn't fear for my life in any way or form. Quite the opposite in fact.
Ironically enough, the overwhelming majority of people I've met since moving West have no clear idea why Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act nor do they understand the intricacies of the NEP. Yet he is reviled for both, it would seem. I'm not saying I agreed with either policy, but I do understand why they were put into effect. One would think you'd understand why you revile someone before deciding you do.
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Post by princelh on Aug 4, 2007 16:45:17 GMT -5
I think this is a list of worst Canadians based on portrayal by the media. When someone thinks Olson, Homolka, Bernado are better persons than Trudeau, well, I'm not sure what to think. I met Trudeau when I was in my early teens and didn't fear for my life in any way or form. Quite the opposite in fact. Ironically enough, the overwhelming majority of people I've met since moving West have no clear idea why Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act nor do they understand the intricacies of the NEP. Yet he is reviled for both, it would seem. I'm not saying I agreed with either policy, but I do understand why they were put into effect. One would think you'd understand why you revile someone before deciding you do. Ask the Westerners who lost a lot of money and jobs with the National Energy Program. You can also add today's National Debt and our low currency, up to recently. |
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Post by duster on Aug 5, 2007 12:24:15 GMT -5
Couldn't resist could you?  You also mean Conservative Premier Peter Lougheed who immediately shut down any further oil sands and natural gas development for strictly political reasons to show his opposition to the NEP. This meant even more layoffs in the oil and gas fields. Combined with the NEP's Petroleum Gas Revenue Tax, it brought the early 1980s recession to Alberta and Calgary in particular. Furthermore, Lougheed refused to use the Heritage Fund to alleviate the situation somewhat, again for strictly political reasons. Yep, remember it well. There was two people dancing to that particular tune... I agree, Trudeau got the country into serious debt. He tried to implement a Keynesian approach during the 80's recession by trying to kick start the economy through massive Government spending financed by borrowing. It's debatable whether he succeeded. I should add that Mulroney didn't have that excuse. The early 80's recession was more or less over by the time he took power in the mid 80's. Yet, he kept borrowing. The National Debt and the annual budgetary deficits skyrocketed during the last Conservative government. As far as I understand it, a low valued currency compared to the U.S. dollar means cheaper exports in terms of raw materials and manufactured goods. The country depends mainly on exports and investment through the manipulation of interest rates, not just budgetary thrift, to generate a surplus. If anything, since we import less than we export, a high value currency vis a vis our major customer (i.e the U.S.) hurts the country eventually since our goods and services cost more. I still fail to see how any of this makes Trudeau worse than your average mass murderer in the eyes of Westerners, particularly in Manitoba... |
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Post by Skilly on Aug 7, 2007 11:50:13 GMT -5
No Louis Riel? .... it would be too much for today's generation to have a general knowledge of Canadian History. If Conrad Black is on the list than Alan Eagleson should be too. I am also kind of happy to see my great-uncle didn't make the list. I remember in my school years we had to right a paper on Donald Marshall .... well I wrote it with a little slant, since it was my relative that was eventually convicted of manslaughter for it. |
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Post by seventeen on Aug 7, 2007 23:22:29 GMT -5
Back in 1980 I was working in Fort St. John (oil country in BC) and the town was rocking, until Pierre, and I believe it was Allan McEachearn, brought in the NEP. A couple of years later, I was working our foreclosures and counted 23 ongoing files on my desk, in a town of 12,000 or so people, and we were just one bank. The NEP killed the Alberta economy and that of the BC Northeast. If you polled just Albertans, they'd have PET as #'s 1,2 and 3 on that list. Most Albertans are really good people and staunchly Canadian but they got screwed big time with that policy. It was equivalent to Harper telling Ontario that all their manufactured goods would now be priced at a certain price (below market value) and tough luck. Trudeau made a huge mistake, but it didn't hurt him because the west didn't have that many votes. Notice how many Liberals get elected federally in Alberta? The have long memories there.
I've always thought PET was staunchly Canadian, but his economic policies were really off the wall.
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Post by Skilly on Aug 8, 2007 10:45:11 GMT -5
It was equivalent to Harper telling Ontario that all their manufactured goods would now be priced at a certain price (below market value) and tough luck. Or Lester B. Pearson telling Newfoundland they had to sell their hydro to Quebec and then not show up to help negotiate a price (like he promised) .... no competition = very very very very low bargaining power. |
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Post by princelh on Aug 12, 2007 19:27:29 GMT -5
Trudeau's leagacy is more fiction and hype, than truth and honour.
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