The Greatest Canadian.. Lester Pearson

With CBC doing a top 100 list of great Canadians it is distressing to see who some of the votes are for in the top ten. It can only be a shortcoming of our educational system that some of the world's greatest people are not afforded the great stature they should command.

I don't blame the Americans for claiming the telephone was invented by an American in Boston. They just don't know any better and their education system is better at creating myths than teaching facts. BTW for American readers the telephone was invented in a small town better known for Wayne Gretsky but that's another story.

Some people will say WW III was averted by none other than Lester B. Pearson. Since it did not happen we will never know. We do know however that Pearson was largely responsible for NATO, was the key force behind if not solely responsible for creating UN Peacekeeping, averted the Suez Crisis, got everybody out of the Korean War and was able to get Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin to get to an aggreement. In his spare time at home he gave us our great Canadian flag, the Canada Pension Plan and a Medicare system that was the envy of the world and the example Bill Clinton had hoped the US would emulate.

This is just a small sampling of what a great man did. It is also interesting to note that he was known worldwide as a "nice guy".

Did I mention the Nobel Peace Prize for that Korean War stuff? Get the picture?

Better get over to The Top Ten List at CBC and get your vote in before something goes horibly wrong here.