warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
We took away his Canadian citizenship after he started torturing people on 24.
The great CFC chain letter part 2: around the world in 800 days!
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Donald Sutherland is respected, but not revered. Tommy Douglas is worthy of being considered "Canadian royalty," except that he himself would not have agreed. But yes, he absolutely deserved the "Greatest Canadian" title. If not for his work, I and many other people in my situation probably would not be alive.
You want "royalty"? How about Wayne Gretzky? Kurt Browning & Elvis Stojko? Some other famous athletes?
Politicians... who's more "royal" right now than the Trudeau family (both Justin and his half-sister's mother, Deborah Coyne, are running for Liberal leader)?
Actors... Leslie Nielsen, when he was alive, and Gordon Pinsent. Political satirists - who more now than Rick Mercer and Ron James? Newscasters - Peter Mansbridge is at THE top. And Adrienne Clarkson actually did end up as GG.
Astronauts - Marc Garneau, Roberta Bondar, Chris Hadfield (currently in charge of the International Space Station)...
BTW, I no longer consider Celine Dion a real Canadian, so don't anyone even presume to put her on the list. She's so wrapped up in her American concerts, she won't even come back to Canada for important milestone cultural events.
madviking
north american scum
Oh the problems Canadians face...
LucyDuke
staring at the clock
I don't recognize any of the names I didn't bold.
I'm impressed that you recognize the name of Chris Hadfield. Marc Garneau was Canada's first astronaut. I don't recall what year his first shuttle mission was, but we were very proud of him. He's a politician these days, a Liberal MP, and was running in the current leadership election for that party (he dropped out and threw his support to Justin Trudeau).
Roberta Bondar was Canada's first female astronaut, and we were very proud of her, too.
The best-known movie I can think of that Donald Sutherland was in that I've seen is the original M*A*S*H. He's been in a wide variety of movies and is highly respected.
Gordon Pinsent has been in Canadian movies, TV shows, and on stage. I first saw him in the old children's show The Forest Rangers, he spent over a decade on the Red Green Show, and I will never forget his eerie performance on The Beachcombers as the Hexman. He's a legend in the Canadian entertainment industry.
Kurt Browning was the first figure skater to land a quadruple jump in amateur competition. Elvis Stojko was the first figure skater to land a quadruple jump combo in amateur competition. I read one time that the Queen was doing a walkabout somewhere, and Kurt Browning happened to be there as well. The royal aides noticed all the young people clustering around him and figured that he must be somebody famous, so asked him if he would be willing to meet the Queen.
He would, and did. 
Pierre Eliot Trudeau is simultaneously the most loved and the most hated Canadian Prime Minister in living memory (I sincerely doubt anyone can truthfully claim to love Brian Mulroney; he and Stephen Harper are currently vying for the title of Worst and Most Hated Prime Minister In Canadian History). He was Prime Minister for 14 years (there was a 9-month break in which the Conservatives ran the country, but they lost a non-confidence vote which triggered the election that swept Trudeau back into power in 1980). Justin is his eldest son, who has been an MP for several years and who is now running for party leader. Deborah Coyne and Pierre Trudeau are the parents of a girl who is Justin's biological half-sister, but not step-sister, since her parents never married. Many years after Pierre Trudeau's death, people in this half of the country are STILL complaining about him...
Rick Mercer and Ron James are political satirists, who have weekly TV shows where they joke, satirize, talk about Canadian culture and politics. Mercer is famous for his Rant, and he also did the "Talking To Americans" show where he went around the US and asked people questions about Canada - to see how much they know about our country (it's hilarious).
Peter Mansbridge is the anchor of the CBC news. He worked his way up over the decades, and turned down offers to work in the U.S. I remember the morning of September 11, 2001 when I was watching everything happen live and talking on the phone to a friend. At that point it wasn't clear if there had been a terrible accident or if it was deliberate. I told my friend, "If it's more than an accident, they'll haul Peter Mansbridge out of bed and get him in to take over anchoring" - which is what happened. He's one of those immensely trustworthy newsmen, he has a calming effect on people, but he's not afraid to poke fun at himself on shows like Royal Canadian Air Farce or Rick Mercer.
Adrienne Clarkson was a CBC newswoman who eventually was chosen to be Governor-General (representing the Queen).
Royalty requires multiple generations. Kiefer isn't a great Canadian, just a distinguished Canadian from a famous family.
Why is Kiefer even being mentioned? Sure, he's cute and looks just like his father, and is the star of a popular show (never saw it)... but he doesn't have a fraction of the experience and respect that people have toward Leslie Nielsen or Gordon Pinsent. If it's multi-family members you're looking for, Leslie Nielsen's brother Erik was a Member of Parliament, and the #2 guy after Brian Mulroney. It must have made him very unhappy (don't recall if he was already dead) when his seat was taken not only by a woman, but an NDP WOMAN - who led that party for several years. And Gordon Pinsent's daughter, Leah, is a successful actress.
As for the Trudeau family... well, there's Pierre, Justin, Margaret, Alexandre/Sacha is an independent photojournalist who has traveled to some fairly dangerous places to make documentaries and reports from the Middle East... makes me wonder what Michel, the youngest, might have accomplished if he hadn't died in the avalanche all those years ago.
As for the Trudeau family... well, there's Pierre, Justin, Margaret, Alexandre/Sacha is an independent photojournalist who has traveled to some fairly dangerous places to make documentaries and reports from the Middle East... makes me wonder what Michel, the youngest, might have accomplished if he hadn't died in the avalanche all those years ago.
Southern New Zealand gets pretty cold during the winter, but snow at ground level isn't that common, as far as I can tell. However, because there are lots of mountains, there's lots of snow up them. In fact winter sports are one of the major industries of the South Island.
I was in Wanaka for six months, which is basically a ski resort. It gets pretty warm there during the summer, but even then you can still see snow on the mountain peaks across the lake - it's permanent all-year-round snow.
That's because they were mostly filmed in the North Island, near Auckland, which has a warm, temperate climate where snow is almost unheard of.
The scenery alone makes the Lord of the Rings films worth watching. They were filmed all over New Zealand, in both islands, and they do give you some idea of the sheer diversity in climate there, including a lot of snow-capped mountains. (Although they don't feature two of what I thought the most striking micro-climates I saw - the tiny but extraordinarily dry desert around Alexandra, and the frost-covered frozen rainforest of Fiordland.)
Oh, you want snow! Go live in BC then, close to the Rockies, or on the other side in Alberta
Unthinkable! My plan was to avoid the lack of snow by alternating hemispheres. I want perpetual winter, not perpetual summer. (I've experienced perpetual summer, living in the tropics. Not my idea of fun.)
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
How about the north pole then?
As for famous Canadians, I'm surprised you don't know who Donald Sutherland is Lucy!
There are a lot more famous Canadians though, like say.. Alanis Morissette, Peter North, Jim Carrey, Neil Young, Bryan Adams, Keanu Reeves, Nelly Furtado, Shania Twain, Pamela Anderson, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Chong, Dave Foley, Michael J Fox, Brendan Fraser, Phil Hartman, Eugene Levy, William Shatner, James Cameron, Paul Anka..
We pretty much run Hollywood
As for famous Canadians, I'm surprised you don't know who Donald Sutherland is Lucy!
There are a lot more famous Canadians though, like say.. Alanis Morissette, Peter North, Jim Carrey, Neil Young, Bryan Adams, Keanu Reeves, Nelly Furtado, Shania Twain, Pamela Anderson, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Chong, Dave Foley, Michael J Fox, Brendan Fraser, Phil Hartman, Eugene Levy, William Shatner, James Cameron, Paul Anka..
We pretty much run Hollywood
At the rate everything's melting up there, he'd need a houseboat to live on and security against indigenous wildlife and passing Russian and American trespassers. We're also in an ongoing dispute with Denmark over that little island near Greenland...
We don't want Denmark! All we want is our island that's out in the middle of nowhere, yet is the subject of a years-long dispute.You can take Denmark
At least it's not likely to cause another war with Spain (the Turbot War).
Can't believe nobody's yet mentioned Gordon Lightfoot or David Cross... 
Gordon Lightfoot was part of the syllabus in my Grade 7 music class in junior high. It pleased my grandmother greatly when I learned to play some of his songs (she loved Early Morning Rain).
I also meant to add Farley Mowat - one of my favorite authors. He's the one who convinced me that I just might fit in with 1960's Newfoundland. Scary thought, that.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
David Cross Canadian? He was born in Atlanta, wasn't he?
madviking
north american scum
Moshe Safdie!
A movie was made of his novel Never Cry Wolf.
Authors... Margaret Atwood and Pierre Berton!
BTW, if you're into Egyptian historical fiction, Pauline Gedge is EXCELLENT!
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