Online Poll: Trudeau voted worst Canadian

Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau has ranked as the worst Canadian according to an online poll, beating out notorious killers Paul Bernardo, Karla Homolka and Clifford Olsen.

Nearly 15,000 votes were cast in the poll, conducted by The Beaver, a history magazine. Chris Hannah of the punk rock group Propagandhi, who had waged a campaign to top the list, came in a close second.

"A result that perhaps speaks about the perils of online polling as it does about the love-hate relationship Canadians have had with this paradoxical prime minister, who could wear a flower in his lapel while giving critics the finger," The Beaver said on its website, acknowledging it was an "unscientific poll."

When we asked our readers to weigh in with their choice for the Worst Canadian in history, we didn’t expect Trudeau to top the list.

But top it he did, beating out an obscure punk rocker by a couple hundred votes—a result that perhaps speaks as much about the perils of online polling as it does about the love-hate relationship Canadians have had with this paradoxical prime minister, who could wear a flower in his lapel while giving critics the finger.

To balance this admittedly unscientific survey, we also polled a panel of experts—ten of Canada’s most renowned historians and writers of popular history—to come up with an alternative list, one that’s arguably more measured and takes into consideration the full breadth and scope of Canadian history.

Trudeau didn’t make the cut on the alternative list—but many of you did vote for at least some of the experts’ choices. In fact, the response was overwhelming, with almost 15,000 votes cast. And since the goal of the poll was to spark a broader discussion of Canada’s history—including debate over the many contentious characters that have, for good or for ill, shaped our nation—we consider the exercise a resounding success.