Talk:Lists of Canadians

Eclecticology, do you really feel Winnie the Pooh is "Famous Canadian"? This isn't really a huge deal to me, but it seems stretching it a bit of to include fictional characters. Dze27

We are not talking about the fictional character, who is British but the actual bear that inspired him, who came from Canada. --rmhermen

OK, but the link points to the fictional character. Perhaps a separate page is required. Dze27

The bear is a naturalized American, I think--a long-time resident of New York City. Vicki Rosenzweig

-- No, he was in the London Zoo.

- There is certainly a fair argument that can be made for a separate page, but that may not have the same impact as explaining Milne's influences. The original Winnipeg the Bear from White River, Ont. did, nevertheless, acquire his fame vicariously through the success of Milne's character. When I initiated the article I was hoping for a peculiarly smug Canadian touch to it. I was primarily interested in Canadians who did well outside of Canada, but whose Canadian origins might not be known to our southern readers. Those persons whose fame was solely domestic would be less interesting for my purposes. But then the topic needn't be limited to individual humans. Animals (Winnie), groups (Bare Naked Ladies) and inventions (plastic garbage bags) are all fit subjects. Eclecticology

NPOV, remember?

Conrad Black has renounced his Canadian citizenship (and good riddance to him) in order to get his lordship. Shall we remove him from this list? - user:Montrealais

Poor Conrad! Perhaps it is better if you user:Montrealais write a good article on him..... DW

Poor Conrad??! *grinds teeth!* Someone else can article this asshole - I couldn't be NPOV. - mtlais

What makes a person Canadian? Matthew Perry was born in Massachusetts, though he was raised in Ottawa. -- Zoe

How often do they say "eh"? --AW

I would call Matthew Perry an American. .... DW

Canadians never use the word eh, that is just a myth, eh!

See eh. -mtlais

I removed the names of authors leaving the link to all Canadian authors because this is a famous list, not a personal preference list. If people keep adding their favorites etc., then this page will be unmanageable.

I returned the list of famous authors since they follow the same criteria as any other category on this page. If you have a beef with someone in particular... --rmhermen

And I removed it (again). "Spyder Robinson or William Gibson is/are not a famous Canadian author(s). If he stays then the list will be out of control. Also, if he stays then in other categories it too will start getting personal favorites instead of the famous. And no, it does not follow the criteria as others on this page. ... DW

then as I said before take out the contriversial ones but do not take out the entire list as there are certainly famous Canadian authors. I am putting the list back in minus the two you complain about. Do not take out the entire list agtain. --rmhermen

Thank you rmhermen, for putting back the list. Hopefully no one else will add their personal choices and create a monstrosity. I have done 80% of this page so hate to see it ruined. NOTE: someone added Alexander Graham Bell, a person Canadians are pleased to call their own. However, he came to Canada as a young man, having already been educated and having worked on "telephone" devices in England. Question: if he is "Canadian" by virtue of living in Canada, then are 90% of the Canadian born actors/singers/hockey players etc. who all made their reputations & fortunes in the United States then removed from the famous Canadian list and pasted as Americans - Canadian born?

Hmmm. terms like "out of control" and "personal choices" seem to me to be emotional arguments from a very non-neutral point of view. Let's stick with facts and definitions. We don't seem to disagree on the facts, so let's work on the definitions.

If someone could define what "Canadian" means I'll be happy to stop adding people (Yes I did it!) who have done all their famous work while living in Canada such as Spider Robinson (Canadian since 1970) and William Gibson (Canadian since mid-70's). I'm not promoting personal choices, just looking for a decision on what is "Canadian". Do you need to be born in Canada, or does immigrating count? Does having immigrated somewhere and stayed 30 years change one's nationality? (In most countries you can change citizenship after 5 or 10 years). Don't Americans who take another citizenship lose their American one?

Does Isaac Asimov count as a Famous American author? He wasn't born there, he was born in Russia.

I don't want to ruin anyone's list, or depart from the NPOV, that's why I mentioned the immigrants with their birthplaces. It would be simpler to just define at the top of the page what you mean by "Canadian" and we can all agree to add only those people.

I personally would argue for people like Robinson -- he not only has lived in Canada throughout his writing career, he often tends to write from a Canadian point of view and with Canadian settings. But I'll stand by the majority consensus if we can actually define one.

User:Steverapaport

Good questions. I would say that anyone who permanantly immigrates or especially naturalizes, should be counted as a member of their new country. I have no problem with, for example, Asimov being listed as a "Famous American" and as a "Famous Russian", especially when a short note on his life in each article could explain where he was born and worked.

More debatable may be how to decide if someone is "famous". --rmhermen

For famous, how's this: If they already *had* a link in the Wikipedia, I can assume that someone else has heard of them...

Gibson was already in the Wiki, with 1972 listed as the date of his immigration to Canada, and 1984 as his first book. So he's famous, and debatably (by now, after 30 years), Canadian. I don't want to step on any toes by doing it myself, but would it be okay for the guy who took Gibson and Robinson out to put them back in now, humbly, please?--User:Steverapaport

Wish I could help with a clear set of rules for making someone "Canadian". Canadians are all proud of Paul Anka, and numerous others who were born in Canada yet who in fact have lived in the USA most of their adult life (some are now US citizens) and are famous for the opportunity America gave them to accomplish whatever in their field. Tough choices. Needs more thought. --- Also for "Steverapaport", I took them out from the Famous Canadians" page because this list should be limited to only those few who would be recognized internationally. (Keep in mind, we want people from every corner of the world to learn about Canada, the US etc.) If Gibson & Robinson should become classified as Canadsiasn writers, then they should be only on the list of "novelists" not this main CAnadian page. .... DW

"VOTED MOST FAMOUS CANADIAN OF THE 20TH CENTURY: Terry Fox"

Can anybody give a quick note on who did this poll? I don't find any useful info with a quick Google search. Thanks.