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Mark Steyn writes in the Western Standard that Canada is the only country in the Commonwealth that puts pictures of prime ministers on its currency.
It does strike me as crass. No offense to politicians, but if Canada is a nation worth the name, it ought to have something more to celebrate than politicians; every country necessarily has that. Shouldn’t we have pictures of significant contributors to Canadian culture instead, as most other countries do?
I’d like to see: Robert W. Service, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Gabrielle Roy, Stephen Leacock. Obverse should have reproductions of Kreighoff, Group of Seven, Emily Carr, Haida and Inuit art.
Some of these suggestions might sound corny, but I think that’s only because we tend to undervalue our own culture.
An unfortunate tendency that promoting our arts on our banknotes might help correct. Because it’s a tendency that threatens the existence of Canada as a country. As Keith Spicer lamented, we need more poetry about Canada.
In fact, we have it. But we too seldom hear it.
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4 comments:
...and American Presidents are on their currency. It is common to put the head of state on your currency. What is the big deal?
Besides, do you really want the top 5 "Greatest Canadians" on our money? The problem with picking cultural icons is that it is really hard to get consensus. Besides, nobody will appreciate Tommy Douglas on the 5 note.
It was Lenin.
And, while it is reasonably common to put a head of state on the currency, the Canadian prime minister is not the head of state.
Tommy Douglas would not qualify. He was a politician, not an artist.
As to who gets to choose, it could be a parliamentary committee, or the Senate, or the members of the Order of Canada. After all, who decides who goes on our money now? Why would a selection of artists be any more controversial than a selection of politicians?
Why not just our Heads of State, who graced our banknotes for centuries, and, thank God, still adorn our coins?
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!
You'll get no support for that here, Anonymous. Note the motto for this blog: "Catholic and Clear Grit."
As a Catholic, in a 50% Catholic country, I can feel little enthusiasm for a system that expressly bars Catholics as head of state.
As a Clear Grit, I cannot support anything that tends towards the establishment of religion. This is a battle we had to fight in this country. Next to the right to life, freedom of conscience is probably our most important civil right.
One of the odd consequences of our '82 constitution is that it is apparently almost impossible for Canada to dispense with the monarchy. It would be easier for Britain.
I don't care enough to be particularly upset about this--I have no ideological problem with monarchy per se, and if nothing else, perhaps she's good for tourism.
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