Paul Flammond? Pal, Flame On!

Is he the greatest Canadian? Can there even be such a thing? It's too nebulous to discuss, but I will tell you one thing that came through loud and clear last night. Tommy Douglas is a symbol for something that most of us are starting to care about more than anything else. Good, universal health care that seems to have a future. If there's anything that has come to define us (other than hating americans) it's access to health care. I think the fact that most of us are actually scared to death that we might not be able to keep it was what put Tommy over the top. Let's face it: Terry Fox had that thing sewn up in the final analysis. As beloved as Trudeau was and is, he's also hated by some and in the end his accomplishments were political, not personal. Fox is the true inspirer, a singular hero that showed us all what we could be, not what he could be. When we see Terry Fox dip his foot and start to run, he's us, dipping our foot, starting out on any great adventure. It is impossible to remain unaffected, and by rights that makes him the very greatest for us all.

But Tommy Douglas won, because he both inspires and accomplishes, like a perfect melding of the two runners up. And because what he made has become what we are, a country that takes care of those that cannot take care of themselves. Is he the greatest canadian? I don't know, but I do know that for most of the people last night he was the greatest thing they could wish for.