Can you recognize famous Canadians?

We celebrate Canada Day on Wednesday. Diana Mehta writing for The Canadian Press on Monday may have created a stir in reporting on the Dominion Institute report that finds that Canadians have trouble identifying famous sons and daughters.

The founding Prime Minister Sir John A Macdonald could only be recognized by one in four Canadians even though his portrait is on the Canadian $10 bill.

Celine Dion, Wayne Gretzky, and humanitarian Terry Fox are much more recognized than our former politicians. Surprising is the fact that less than half of Canadians can recognize our currant Governor General Michaelle Jean.

I hadn’t given it much thought until I noticed that few people could recognize Louis Riel. He was best identified in Manitoba. I know that I have seen pictures of Riel. Today he is often considered another Father of Confederation, yet searching through my mind I can’t seem to dislodge an image of the man.

I have pictures of in my mind of Jean Chretien, Brian Mulroney, Pierre Trudeau, Joe Clarke, Kim Campbell, John Turner, John Diefenbaker, Mike Pearson, Mackenzie King, Louis St. Laurant, and Laurier. And I guess that because I like to follow politics, the faces of prime ministers and premiers in my generation are remembered.

Crossing over to sports celebrities, I would be hard pressed to identify more than one or two players in the NHL or NBA. I can recognize a few golfers who play the PGA. And my recognition of performing artists is very limited.

I started to realize that I am a middle of the road Canadian in recognizing famous sons and daughters. The faces I recognize are from my generation. Younger Canadians will have a different set of faces they will recognize. Others whose interests are sports or the arts will have a different set of faces they will recognize.

I wonder if we were to post the pictures of all the municipal and first nations chiefs, mayors, reeves and council members who are currently elected, how many could any district citizen be able to identify.

I realize that I have always had trouble putting names to faces. I know that I have met them before and that they know me, but connecting those two dots is sometimes painful.
On Wednesday, as we celebrate Canada Day, take some time to think about the people who have helped make Canada a great place to live. Take some time to give tribute to the volunteers and leaders of your communities who have made a difference in the towns across the district.
They too are community builders and nation builders and should continue to be recognized. Lets try and put faces to those individuals so that future generations can know and recognize them.
–Jim Cumming,
Publisher