By Mathew Katz

Canadians must really, really hate their political leaders. At least that’s what a recent online poll conducted by The Beaver is saying. The Canadian history magazine asked readers who they believe to be the worst Canadian. 15,000 votes later, the results are in. On the list are four prime ministers—Chrétien ranked seventh, Harper got sixth, Mulroney got fourth, and the master of flair, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, received the most votes. Trudeau managed to beat out punk-rocker Chris Hannah, even though Hannah waged a campaign to get to the top of the list.
It’s a wonder that more political leaders aren’t on the list, but we suppose that rape, child-killing, fraud, and having a Vegas show are crimes that should probably be up there with introducing a sales tax, showing off golf balls at a federal hearing, introducing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and being conservative.
The magazine also consulted some historians to come up with their own list, which included some more genuinely horrible historical figures such as Nazis and torturers, but even they couldn’t help but add a few political leaders, including this Dominion’s glorious drunken founder, John Alexander Macdonald.
Some of the names on the list deserve to be there, but it’s a little anglocentric. We’re still kind of wondering why Maurice Duplessis isn’t on the list. Then again, it’s also missing Rosie DiManno.
Photo by designwallah from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.