Randy Ray - The Great Canadian Book of Lists

THE
GREAT
CANADIAN
BOOK
OF
LISTS

GREATEST SEXIEST STRANGEST BEST WORST HIGHEST LOWEST LARGEST

MARK KEARNEY
RANDY RAY

&

Copyright Mark Kearney and Randy Ray 1999

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of
review) without the prior permission of The Dundurn Group. Permission to
photocopy should be requested from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency.

Publisher: Anthony Hawke
Design: Scott Reid
Printer: Webcom Ltd.
Cover photos: Paul Gross photographed by Jeffrey Newbury
The Butchart Gardens photo courtesy of The Butchart Gardens

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Kearney, Mark, 1955
The great Canadian book of lists

ISBN 0-88882-213-8
1. Canada Miscellanea. I. Ray, Randy, 1952 . II. Title.
FC51.K42 1999 971.002 C99-932145-5 F1008.K42 1999

1 2 3 4 5 03 02 01 00 99

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing
program. We acknowledge the support of the Ontario Arts Council. We acknowledge
the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing
Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book.
The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any
references or credit in subsequent editions.

J. Kirk Howard, President

Printed and bound in Canada .Printed on recycled paper.

www.dundurn.com

Who Says Canadians are Dull?
Ten Unusual Facts about Canada in the Twentieth Century

Didnt You Used to Be...
Twelve Significant Name Changes in the Twentieth Century

Ladies First...
Firsts for Canadian Women: 1900 to 1950

When it comes to dedicating this book, we have our own list:

Janis.
Catherine.
All the Rays.
All the Kearneys.
The late Carol Ray who taught her sons the meaning of determination.
The late Kevin Stevenson (19521991), who would have enjoyed this book.
The Dock at Rays Rock, where many an idea has been spawned, and Watson the dog
whose desire for long walks led to moments of inspiration.

One of Prime Minister Wilfrid Lauriers most quotable quotations in the early 1900s was about the twentieth century belonging to Canada. His optimistic statement has reverberated across the country during the past one hundred years, and while it may be argued that if the century belonged to anyone it was probably to our good neighbours to the south, there is no doubt that the twentieth century saw Canada come into its own as a prosperous nation that has played an increasingly significant role in the world.

As we looked back at the twentieth century while putting together The Great Canadian Book of Lists, we wanted to do more than just create a shopping list of key achievements and events from the past one hundred years. We wanted to chronicle the century in a way that would give readers plenty of details and a clear sense of why each and every item in this book is important to what weve become as a people and how the country has been shaped as Canada heads into the new millennium. Youll also find several statistical snapshots throughout the book: these are designed to provide a better understanding of the various trends over different years and show how much the face of Canada has changed since Lauriers time. Youll notice that in comparing some statistics over the years the headings often differ. While it may seem like apples and oranges, weve kept it that way to give a better idea of how the gathering of information has changed over time, too. Weve also selected different years for certain lists to give you a flavour of what Canada was like at specific times. And look for this camera logo and the word Snapshot sprinkled randomly throughout the book for some quick, interesting information.

We dont pretend to be experts on every aspect of Canada in the twentieth century, so that is why we decided to draw on others knowledge to prepare many of the lists youll find in these pages. We also know that list books are supposed to be fun and entertaining, too; thats why we asked a handful of celebrities to provide their favourites from the past one hundred years and why we went off the beaten path somewhat to draw up lists you might not expect to find in a book such as this. For example, we have lists that look at various aspects of Canada that we take for granted from the point of view of two contributors who were born and raised in the United States but spent part of their lives here.

Weve done our best to provide a generous mix of the serious and the silly, the tragic and the heroic, and the entertaining and the enlightening. So youll find Canadas ten most romantic couples alongside the countrys worst disasters, our best beers, the worst television shows, biggest news events, and the countrys most accomplished athletes. In some cases the same people and events appear on different lists; thats an inevitable part of any list book that covers such a wide range of topics and strives to serve up a complete picture of an entire century. Weve numbered the items in each list, but that doesnt always indicate a specific order. When it does, we indicate it.

Perhaps most importantly we hope The Great Canadian Book of Lists will delight, surprise, educate, and intrigue you. We also expect that it will start more arguments than it settles. Even though our lists are the result of many months of research and interviews, coupled with input from hundreds of Canadians, young and old, from all corners of the country, theres bound to be disagreement. We know some of you will wonder what we or those who helped us prepare some of the lists were thinking when choosing one person over another, mentioning one event and not something else, or picking some accomplishment you might think is minor instead of one you believe is crucial. Such is the nature of list books thats what makes them fun and, dare we say, provocative.

Innovations and flops, successes and failures, comebacks and breakthroughs, record setters and trend setters: youll find them all in The Great Canadian Book of Lists. So turn the page and let the debate begin.

(in alphabetical order)

1. As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross.

2. Cats Eye by Margaret Atwood.

3. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje.

4. Famous Last Words by Timothy Findley.