Happy Birthday. That's an Order.

June 29, 2007 5:04 PM

The Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour, is forty years old this year. Some of its Members, Officers, and Companions include people like John Kenneth Galbraith, Dan Aykroyd, Leonard Cohen, Margaret Atwood, Jean Chrétien, Northrop Frye, Pierre Trudeau, Bryan Adams, Roberta Bondar, Bruce Cockburn, Wayne Gretzky, Mary Pratt, David Cronenberg, and current Governor General Michaëlle Jean, who is not only haute, but hawt.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium (33 comments total)

Looking at your list, I was struck by the wish that somehow something could happen to Bryan Adams to erase him from it. Then I realized the answer was right there! I don't know what the content would be, but Mr. Adams should star in an experimental art piece written by Atwood and Directed by Cronenberg. How gratifying would that be? I'm sure Gretsky could get in on it somehow.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 5:12 PM on June 29, 2007

Insert GGILF joke here.
posted by bicyclefish at 5:24 PM on June 29, 2007 [2 favorites]

Meh, what's wrong with Bryan Adams? He's no Dylan, but he can still write a pretty darn good pop song.
Wouldn't mind seeing Chretien and Baron Black of Crossharbour booted, though.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 5:39 PM on June 29, 2007

Baron Black of Crossharbour

Didn't they open for Rush in 1983?
posted by eriko at 5:48 PM on June 29, 2007

Mary Pratt is married to my father. She couldn't find her Order of Canada pin the last time I asked her about it.
posted by Captaintripps at 6:09 PM on June 29, 2007

meh
posted by acro at 6:11 PM on June 29, 2007

Insert complaint about our seperatist GG here.
posted by Kickstart70 at 6:11 PM on June 29, 2007

Canadians seem to continually compose lists of famous Canadians. Particularly musicians (no Joni Mitchel) and comedians.

What about Stanford Tuck! The greatest Canadian that ever lived!
posted by mattoxic at 6:16 PM on June 29, 2007

all the members of Rush have received the order as well. i think that makes up for Bryan Adams.
posted by spish at 6:17 PM on June 29, 2007

Captaintripps, tell Mary her pin is in the eviscerated chickens, on the Coke cooler, if she hasn't eaten it/them yet.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 6:24 PM on June 29, 2007

I am glad to know that there are others who find the GG attractive.
posted by Deep Dish at 6:29 PM on June 29, 2007

Yes, the GG is very attractive, but come on - did you really need to make that one of the links in your post? So much for having respect for the office of the Queen's representative- all we need is a couple of Beavis and Butthead like comments in here, and the slippery slope downhill begins...
posted by rmm at 7:02 PM on June 29, 2007

Until all the members of Men Without Hats receive their CC, justice will not be done.
posted by brain cloud at 7:23 PM on June 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'd always thought the Order of Canada was a Double Double.
posted by Flashman at 7:24 PM on June 29, 2007

Alvy Ampersand: It's Lord Black, not Baron. And his membership might be a moot point in the near future.
posted by Dasein at 8:01 PM on June 29, 2007

all we need is a couple of Beavis and Butthead like comments in here, and the slippery slope downhill begins...

British comedy has a long tradition of lampooning the queen, and you have to admit it is hard not to wink at and make fun of the an institution as weak and ineffective as the Canadian monarchy. Her hotness aside, the GG is a lot more interesting and relevant than most of the boring political hacks that came before her - she has style and guts as did Gov Clarkson.

As for the B&B comments - I live in the West and we just spent the last few weeks hearing about the barmaid in Calgary who Prince Harry asked to display her tits. We later heard the British press paid 28K for this tale, but I a lowly, unshaved, worker have struck a blow to the dignity of the monarchy by talking about how attractive the GG is.

Fact of the matter is, if you gave me a choice of snapping a photo of the queen on the can or the GG, I would naturally choose the Queen. I could retire on selling a photo of her majesty's royal ass.
posted by Deep Dish at 8:05 PM on June 29, 2007

Insert complaint about our seperatist GG here.

Your burn might have more impact if you could spell 'separatist' correctly.

(But maybe I'm biased 'cause I used to eat lunch in the Montreal RadCan cafeteria in the presence of Ms. Jean. She was unfailingly charming.)

Wouldn't mind seeing Chretien and Baron Black of Crossharbour booted, though.

JC is a bastion of honour and intelligence compared to the current holder of his chair.

(I know, I know: Damned by faint praise.)
posted by docgonzo at 8:35 PM on June 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

Take off ya hoser.
posted by vronsky at 8:42 PM on June 29, 2007

Guh? I don't like Harper any more than you do, but what does a comparison between him and le petit thug par Shawinigan have to do with TOC?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:47 PM on June 29, 2007

all the members of Rush have received the order as well. i think that makes up for Bryan Adams.

no, it doesn't

gordon downey and the hip would make up for it
posted by pyramid termite at 8:56 PM on June 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'd always thought the Order of Canada was a Double Double.

I'd always thought the Order of Canada was an oxymoron.
posted by dhartung at 9:09 PM on June 29, 2007

i'd always thought the order of canada was back bacon, moosehead and a bucket of pontine
posted by pyramid termite at 10:08 PM on June 29, 2007

I don't think pontine means what you think it means.
Poutine, poontang, pontoons, or some combination of the three would work.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:59 PM on June 29, 2007

I love how you can get honors in Canada for making awesome movies where James Woods has a vagina on his stomach.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 3:03 AM on June 30, 2007 [1 favorite]

Yes, the GG is very attractive, but come on - did you really need to make that one of the links in your post?

It's important that attractive women be constantly made aware of the yearnings of internet losers. Otherwise they will start coming here and then the jocks will show up and start scheduling keggers. Then our collective delusion of coolness will start to have cracks just like the matrix as we are pushed to the periphery of the periphery. Adoration mixed with misogyny is our only defense.

Wouldn't mind seeing Chretien and Baron Black of Crossharbour booted, though.

Chretien kept Canada out of Iraq. No matter what else he did that alone merits the Order of Canada.
posted by srboisvert at 3:31 AM on June 30, 2007

I don't think pontine means what you think it means.

canadians can be zombies, too, you know
posted by pyramid termite at 5:21 AM on June 30, 2007

Also- Leonard Cohen. Can you imagine America offering an honor like this to someone whose best-known song is about getting head from Janis Joplin?
posted by 235w103 at 9:00 AM on June 30, 2007

I think it's pretty cool that they honoured Brent Hawkes this year. Can't imagine someone like him getting an award like this south of the border!
posted by sevenyearlurk at 1:26 PM on June 30, 2007

It should be noted those wikipedia lists are only of OC recipients who have wiki profiles. Where the hell's my granddad? What's the point of having an OC winner in your family if you can't shamelessly brag about him anonymously on an internet forum?!
posted by pcameron at 3:20 PM on June 30, 2007

>Chretien kept Canada out of Iraq. No matter what else he did that alone merits the Order of Canada.

I agree.
posted by philfromhavelock at 6:25 PM on June 30, 2007

I'd always thought the Order of Canada was a Double Double.
I am utterly ashamed of parroting a limp Air Farce joke here on Metafilter. I don't know what I was thinking. Sorry.
posted by Flashman at 9:17 AM on July 1, 2007

Happy 140th birthday, Canada.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:24 AM on July 1, 2007

Hello,

Hope you are well.
Actually this comment is not about Canada Day...instead I wanted to ask you about an older posting. The one about your neighbour having hacked at your tree. I'm a producer with cbc radio. I do a programme called Hidden City. One of the episodes we're working on is about the urban tree. I wondered if I could ask you about your experience and how you resolved it.
I thank you for your time.

Nick
posted by nicktrout2000 at 8:12 AM on July 23, 2007