Famous People - Canada

Earlier this day I had been heading home from a neighboring city and did enlist my husbands help with this topic. I made notes on a paper of people he and I could think up that made up for the famous in Canada. I started a post this afternoon - and thought I saved it to draft, to find later this eve that no, it is NOT saved - so, here I am, starting anew.

In random order (I'm mixing up pollitical, artistic, sports etc) and naming some of Canadas famous from over time (many current... but some from the past):

• Wayne Gretzky - Known for his hockey fame, he became a full fledged professional in the NHL at age 17, and retired in 1999 to became Executive Director for the Canadian national men's hockey team during the 2002 Winter Olympics. He also became part owner of the Phoenix Coyotes in 2000 and following the 2004-05 NHL lockout became their head coach.
• Alexander Graham Bell - at age 23 he emigrated to CANADA and eventually became a naturalized citizen of the US - so, though we can take some 'credit' for housing him during his life, he was not one of our own, he came from Edinburgh, Scotland originally.
• Mike Weir - would by known to you if you had an interest in Golf. He was the Masters winner in the year 2003.
• Cliffard Olson - gets his notariety from a hiddeous criminal life. He was a murder and serial killer from Canadas west coast doing his worst crimes between November 1980 to July 1981.
• Neil Young - is a guitarist, songwriter & singer who grew up in Winipeg, Manitoba. His work is characterized by deeply personal lyrics, distinctive guitar work, and an almost instantly recognizable nasal tenor (and frequently alto) singing voice.
• Steve Nash - is a Sports personality that was the MVP in the NBA the last two years. He was born in South Africa, but his family relocated to Canada before he was 2 years old. He presently plays for the Phoenix Suns.
  
• Frederick Grant Banting - was born in Candada and his claim to fame is one of a life-prolonging measure that Diabetics are no doubt familliar with - he discovered insulin and how to extract it to make it useful in humans.
  
• many musicians came to mind today as hubby and I discussed Famous Canadians: Avril Lavigne, the Bare-naked Ladies, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Anne Murray, the Tragically Hip, Great Big Sea, Robbie Robertson "The Band" , and Joni Mitchell.
  
• Too we did consider some actors: Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, Mike Meyers, John Candy, and Dan Akroyd
• Politicians that have stuck out over time would be Ralph Klein, Pierre Trudeau, and Tommy Douglas who was the founder of the Canadian Medicare system.
  

It was quite pleasing to see that we could come up with such an extensive list of Canadians that we figured were 'famous'. I welcome other mentions in the comments of Canadian figures worthy of mention that I have missed.

Additionally:
Here are some web pages listing famous Canadians (to supplement the list that I have made up with my husbands help):

• http://www.canadians.ca/
• http://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/Canadians/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famous_Canadians
• http://proudcanadiankids.ca/famous_canadians.htm

-Posted by Desiree