The Elite Eight
After a spirited first round of voting, we're ready to narrow the field to the final four. One of this blog's readers, who is clearly way more computer savvy than me, agreed to write up the html code for the poll. This will allow the poll to copy the voting format for the Canadian Blog awards, where you can vote once every day. This will be the format for the remainder of the contest - promise. (This was my original idea for the poll so that the momentum could be sustained over the full week of voting but due to my limited computer skills, I went with the double vote format instead)
Voting will close Tuesday at noon Mountain time and, once again, I'll post comments and blog entries about the PMs involved over the weekend since the point of this is to get people talking about Canadian History and our PMs.
Now, the second round matchups, with their first round winning percentage in brackets:
(1) King (89.5%)
(9) Diefenbaker (66.3%)
It's the all crazy clash! At least King kept his insanity private and didn't let it affect his job. After seeing the right mobilize in round 1, King has to be somewhat worried that he's in the only Liberal/Tory battle.
(2) Macdonald (92.0%)
(7) Mulroney (70.9%)
BlueGrit said it best: "Then we've got Macdonald in round 2 of his "get revenge on the people who killed my party" campaign"
(3) Trudeau (50.1%)
(11) Pearson (50.2%)
Do these two have anything left after bloody first round battles? It's PET versus the man who brought him to Ottawa.
(4) Laurier (75.8%)
(5) Chretien (75.7%)
Laurier ushered in the 20th Century and Chretien ushered it out. The Century may not have belonged to Canada, but it sure belonged to the Liberal Party.
BlueGrit has also posted a very good preview of the four matches that I encourage everyone to read. And now, the voting. Remember, you can vote once a day so vote early, and vote often. A seat in the Final Four is up for grabs!
posted by calgarygrit at
1:20 p.m.
35 Comments:
It's a relief to see Diefenbaker being so handily spanked by King.
By
Ryan Ringer, at 2:31 p.m.
CG...this exercise is very cool. Ignore the critics. They're just wannabes. Think we'll see the same thing begin to pop up on CPC blogs?
I wonder how democratic their structure will be?
Don
By
Anonymous, at 2:46 p.m.
I was planning on voting for Laurier (as any sane person would) but that picture of Chretien appealed to the authoritarian in me.
By
Anonymous, at 2:49 p.m.
Yeah seriously, that's the best picture of Chretien ever. I think my favourite version of it is the one I've got up on my site right now.
By
Ryan Ringer, at 3:14 p.m.
Great concept and perfect execution.
By
Jay Currie, at 3:48 p.m.
Come on! Chretien deserves more votes...
By
Anonymous, at 7:17 p.m.
Chrétien against Laurier? Man, that's cold. Even *Chrétien* would vote for Laurier. This won't be pretty.
By
Anonymous, at 8:24 p.m.
Trudeau and Pearson, neck-and-neck.
Best joke I told my wife when we were in Ottawa - "You know, they named Pearson after the airport."
And she thought about it for a minute before I started laughing.
By
Jim (Progressive Right), at 9:06 p.m.
I think even most Chretien Liberals will have to vote for Laurier on this one.
By
Michael Fox, at 9:12 p.m.
It's impossible not to feel sorry for Chretien. If he was up against Macdonald or Mulroney he would win hands down. Instead he is up against one of the best.
By
Anonymous, at 9:16 p.m.
Who's this 'Don' guy that keeps posting places under my name?
By
Don, at 10:26 a.m.
That would be Don in Winnipeg. You Ottawa snot.
Don
By
Anonymous, at 12:05 p.m.
"If (Chretien) was up against Macdonald or Mulroney he would win hands down."
Against Mulroney, it'd be close. I'd vote for Mulroney, given that he never had an idea Chretien didn't try to steal, but I'd understand why so many people would vote against him.
But Macdonald? The man who founded Canada? What are you smoking? Chretien did absolutely nothing -- at best -- for ten years, and is remembered for strangling a protestor. Macdonald, on the other hand, was in power for nearly two decades and arguably did more to shape this country than anyone since. Get your facts straight -- Chretien's only in the second round because of the weakness of so many other PMs, not because he did anything worthwhile on his own.
By
Anonymous, at 5:08 p.m.
May be a little late, given the way the voting is going, but predictions/reasons:
1. King vs. Diefenbaker
Both nuts but they did some good things. The Chief brought in the Human Rights Code and was one of the few Conservatives (Macdonald and Mulroney being the only others) to articulate a grander vision for Canada (or at least one that wasn't strictly tied to the UK). Like Borden, Canadians should learn a lot more about the Chief beyond his, let's be kind, eccentricities. But there is no contest here. King was there for the Great Depression and WWII. However you define "Greatest Prime Minister", a big part of that has to be rooted in the establishment of a sovereign nation. Macdonald will be hard to beat because of that, but same goes for King who did more in the 1936 Commonwealth conferences and during WWII than most of the other PMs did on the list. Vote/Prediction: King by a lot.
2. Macdonald vs. Mulroney
Time is increasingly kind to Mulroney and justly so. The FTA has created more jobs, generated more wealth that becomes available for more jobs or more social programs, and given us more say in cross-border trade matters (it's true: imagine fighting the US over softwood or any other trade issue without NAFTA). The GST was a necessary clean-up of an archaic commodities taxing system. He tried to and really did make it a priority to bring Quebec into the fold. None got him votes but he was a great leader because of them. By contrast, our historical distance from Macdonald allows us to gloss over his vicious partisanship and if you think the current Liberals or Mulroneys Conservatives were corrupt, my GAWD, but this drunkard was. So our history books gloss over a lot of bad stuff with Macdonald and our memories won't let us forget a lot of bad stuff about Mulroney. HOWEVER, the man founded the nation and his National Policy created the architecture of business and government partnerships that have defined the growth of the nation. Vote/Predition: Macdonald by a lot, but it should be closer.
3. Trudeau/Pearson
Tough one. Both deservedly into the second round and maybe the third, but I don't think either should be in the final. Pearson started the redefinition of the Liberal Party as centre-left, and Trudeau brought it even further. Pearson: a dithering, no-majority, technocrat who caved to the NDP demands to stay in power. Trudeau: an arrogant, my-way-or-the-highway snob of a socialist who couldn't care less about certain parts of the nation or certain of its traditions. My barometer for this competition, as set out above, though, is to compare what they did for the sovereignty of the nation, how they defined or redefined it. Pearson gave us important policies - welfare, medicare - and symbols - the flag, the national anthem, but Trudeau gave us the legal foundation of modern Canada and, really, nothing else matters for me in this competition. Don't like the way it's been interpreted so think that's a detriment? Would you say the same to Thomas Jefferson? Plus, he was tough with those (separatists) who would try to tear the country up, especially separatist terrorists. So between these two, Trudeau. Vote/Prediction: Trudeau but he generates too many negative memories so my prediction is Pearson.
4. Laurier/Chretien
I would say that Chretien is actually underrated as a politician. Over his career he held many portfolios and served the country well, including as Attorney General when the Charter came in. But after 11 years in power, he doesn't leave much of a nation-building legacy and he almost lost the referendum. The Clarity Act was nice but it seems like the 1990s, especially the late 1990s with the economy booming, was a lost opportunity decade and he was in charge. Laurier is my prediction to go all the way: he spoke of a vision of a united, growing, independent Canada. He did in fact unite the country - French, English and previously ignored Western farmers - until the British war disrupted everything. He had foresight about where Canada's future lay - in North America - and advocated reciprocity (a sort of freer trade). Vote/Prediction: Laurier.
(And for the record, I started putting those thoughts together as soon as the first round opened up on Wednesday and the voting started coming in, but got busy with work.)
~TB
By
Ted Betts, at 6:18 p.m.
1. King all the way because he should win the contest. King made Canada an independent country, held Canada together through WWII and a second conscription crisis, began the creation of our social safety net and retired with Canada as one of the strongest countries in the world.
2. Macdonald created Canada. He brought English and French together. He built a railroad that connected the West coast. He started our equalization program by giving money to the Maritimes. He was a true statesman who deserves praise for keeping all of British North America out of the United States.
3. Pearson brought us a flag, healthcare, international prominence, the bi-bi commission, Expo '67, and bicentennial celebrations. In a relatively short time as PM, he got a heck of a lot done.
4. Laurier cemented what Macdonald started. He made French-Canadians truly part of the nation. He built a second railroad to expand on what Macdonald started. He began the process of asserting an international role for Canada. He oversaw one of the greatest times of growth in Canadian history. He ensured that the conscription crisis in WWI was a political issue so that Quebecers had a political outlet for their frustration. He ensured that Canada's foundations remained strong.
By
Jason Cherniak, at 1:09 p.m.
Trudeau v Pearson has been the only race worth watching. After trailing all week the madman finally inches ahead. Can he hold on?
I'm hoping for a Trudeau win. He is the defining figure of modern Canadian politics. Without him Canada would be indistinguishable from its southern neighbor...
By
Anonymous, at 4:59 p.m.
It appears that the voting ended just as Trudeau was about to fall behind.
Dodgy.
By
Michael Fox, at 2:29 p.m.
Re: Toronto Tory's 'dodgy'.
Yup. Announcing a week in advance that voting would close at noon Mountain Time on Tuesday and then following through with said announcment is pretty dodgy.
There were, perhaps, some legitimate complaints regarding the process of round one. Clearly, however, everything has now been set in order.
Now we'll see how Trudeau fairs against a heavy-weight.
By
Matthew, at 3:01 p.m.
This conspiracy theory stuff is getting old. The fact that Trudeau beat Clark shouldn't be a surprise, and the fact that he beat Pearson fair and square... well... get over it?
By
Ryan Ringer, at 4:37 p.m.
Just as I was about to vote for Chretien, the poll closed. It must be a conspiracy. This site is dodgy...
;-)
By
Anonymous, at 4:51 p.m.
Apparently Liberals are far too dense to grasp a joke.
By
Michael Fox, at 5:50 p.m.
PS - Blue Grit - the eighties called. They'd like their hair back.
By
Michael Fox, at 5:52 p.m.
It's hard to know when humourless Tories are joking.
And Toronto Tory, PS: The 1800's called, they want their social views back.
By
Ryan Ringer, at 9:31 p.m.
Why don't you do a little background checking before you label anyone who disagree with you a so-con.
You're ignorant... and you're late for class. Hurry along now.
By
Michael Fox, at 12:58 p.m.
Geez, are all Tories constantly PMS-ing like this, or is it just a bi-product of the fact that you constantly lose?
By
Ryan Ringer, at 1:47 p.m.
No really, you're ignorant.
By
Michael Fox, at 4:45 p.m.
Hey, if that's what you need to say to make yourself feel better.
By
Ryan Ringer, at 5:25 p.m.
Actually, this is stupid. I never thought I'd end up in a pissing contest in the comments section of a BLOG for godssake - though I also didn't ever expect to have my physical appearance insulted in the same. This is just bizarre. o_O
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