Part 3: How Did the Michelin Man Do? - A follow-up to Blog No.19
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Part 1: Seven Wonders of Canada - Blog 18 (my nomination)
Part 2: Seven Wonders of Canada - Can I Not Count to Three? - Blog 19
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The Nominations are in, and there have been over 20,000 suggestions made for extraordinary places and things for all across Canada and even France.
Out of these many nominations, the list has been reduced to 52 by four judges.
The final step remains for On-Line Voting to select the SEVEN WONDERS OF CANADA.
(http://www.cbc.ca/sevenwonders)
I have listed the 52 Nominations to illustrate a few thoughts on this matter.
The Short List of 52 Nominations
Newfoundland/Labrador
Nonosabasut Rock
L'Anse Amour - Village of 7
Gros Morne National Park
Nova Scotia
Cabot Trail
Pier 21 - Halifax
New Brunswick
Bay of Fundy
Hartland Covered Bridge
Prince Edward Island
Singing Sands Beach
Confederation Bridge
Quebec
Manicouagan Crater
Old Quebec City
Percé Rock
Saguenay Fjord
Montreal Bagel
Museum of Civilization (Ottawa)
Ontario
CN Tower
Manitoulin Island
Mum's House in Scarborough
Niagara Falls
Rideau Canal
Saugeen Shores Sunsets
Sleeping Giant
Library of Parliament
Manitoba
Grand Beach, Lake Winnipeg
Narcisse Snake Dens
Manitoba Legislative Building
Saskatchewan
Cypress Hills
Crooked Trees
Prairie Skies
Alberta
The Rockies ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Drumheller (Royal Tyrell Museum)
Vegreville Egg
British Columbia
Haida Gwaii - Queen Charlotte Islands
Number 5 Road
Spiral Tunnels ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
The Rockies
Wreck Beach
Cathedral Grove
Yukon
Dawson City
Dempster Highway
North-West Territories
Nahanni National Park
Tuktoyaktuk Pingos
Nunavut
Rankin Inlet Inuksuk
Mt. Thor - Auyuittug National Park
Northern Canada
Porcupine Caribou Herd
The Northern :Lights
North-West Passage
The Igloo
The Ice Roads
Dempster Highway ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Canada
The Canoe
The Stanley Cup
The Trans-Canada Highway
France
Vimy Memorial
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In Blog No. 19, I stated:
"It would be incredibly surprising for me, if the SEVEN WONDERS OF CANADA would not be a part of the complete list of "Three Star" destinations" (as listed in the Michelin Green Guide)
To put this to a test, I have indicated whether or not a nomination received a THREE-STAR rating in the Michelin Green Guide by putting it in BOLD and Italics
The results are not good.
There are only NINE of the NOMINATIONS which receive a THREE-STAR rating. ("Rockies" was repeated since they are listed in two provinces)
They are:
Old Quebec City
Percé Rock
Saguenay Fjord
Museum of Civilization (Ottawa)
CN Tower
Niagara Falls
The Rockies ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Drumheller (Royal Tyrell Museum)
Nahanni National Park
Also, of interest are the places which did get a THREE-STAR rating in the Michelin Guide, but which were omitted from the NOMINATIONS short list of 52.
They are:
Nova Scotia
Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site
Quebec
Percé- The Coast
The Charlevoix Coast along the St. Lawrence River
Saguenay Fjord
Montréal
Old Montréal
Olympic Park
Ontario
Ottawa
National Gallery of Canada
Canadian Aviation Museum
Upper Canada Village (Morrisburg
Toronto zoo
Royal Ontario Museum
Ontario Science Center
Sudbury: Science Center
Manitoba
Manitoba Museum (Winnipeg)
Alberta
Alberta Badlands
Dinosaur Provincial Park
Rocky Mountains
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This is somewhat of a grey area, since the Rocky Mountains as a whole were nominated:
Micheline only includes certain parts of the Rockies:
Rocky Mountain Parks
Banff National Parks
Lake Louise and Area
Moraine Lake
Icefields Parkway
Emerald Lake
Peyto Lake
Athabasca Glacier
Jasper National Park
Maligne Valley
Maligne Lake
Maligne Lake Boat Trip
British Columbia
Vancouver
Stanley Park
UBC Museum of Anthropology
Vancouver Island
Victoria
Royal British Columbia Museum
Butchart Gardens
Pacific Rim National Reserve
I don't mean to pretend that the Micheline Green Guide is the be-all and end-all of travel guides but they do have a long and distinguished record in these matters.
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Therefore, I can't be disappointed that my nomination of the:
"The STEEPLY CUT BANKS OF THE NECHAKO AND FRASER RIVERS"
(see Blog No. 18)
was not in the top 52 nominations, when many "slam-dunks" in the above list did not even make the "short-list".
I also said in Blog 19:
"If the SEVEN WONDERS OF CANADA nomination will accomplish one thing, it will certainly increase the awareness of Canadians about the beautiful scenic wonders of this great land. We are all proud of our own geographical areas and what they have to offer. While we may not be able to compete with "the Stanley Parks and Icefields Parkways" of Canada, by virtue of these nominations, we have been given a platform to make our own views known.
So if an ulterior motive of this contest was to generate pride in the various regions of Canada and to delve into the souls of Canadians to reveal some of their attachments and passions - Mission Accomplished!
In looking over the NOMINATIONS the following certainly have raised "my awareness of Canada". The list is fairly lengthy despite the fact that I have traveled widely in Canada.
L'Anse Amour - Village of 7
Hartland Covered Bridge
Singing Sands Beach
Manicouagan Crater
Saugeen Shores Sunset
Sleeping Giant (near Thunder Bay)
Grand Beach, Lake Winnipeg
Manitoba Legislative Building
Crooked Trees - Saskatchewan
Prairie Skies
Vegreville Egg (Alberta)
Number 5 Road (near Vancouver)
Tuktoyaktuk Pingos
Mt. Thor-Auyuittug National Park
Porcupine Caribou Herd
I also wrote:
I am, however, puzzled by one thing and that is the following phrase from the website:
"that quirky little park at the end of your street".
I was wondering how the judges would handle this one and that was answered with the nomination of:
Mum's House in Scarborough
Another quote from Blog 19 was:
This statement (about the quirky little park) almost begs the establishment of some sub-categories like:
Seven Natural Wonders of Canada
Seven Man-Made Wonders of Canada
Seven "Unheralded" Natural Wonders of Canada
Seven "Unheralded" Man-Made Wonders of Canada.
I believe that the "unheralded part" has certainly been achieved in the above list of items which were cited as raising "my awareness" of Canada since I would think that there would be a fair number of Canadians who are not familiar with a few of the locations which I have listed.
I have seen some written comments as to how "brainless" this contest is. For example, John Doyle, columnist for the Globe and Mail, under a headline "Why would the national broadcaster waste its time on an inane contest?" calls the contest "an insult and its existence stands as an indictment of the CBC's current mania for brainless, smiley-face content". (May 7, 2007)
I could not disagree more.
On the contrary, I see it as a great exercise in conveying to Canadians the abundant beauty and diversity of this great country. What's wrong with a bit of feel-good content?
In an age of cynicism, I choose to be an optimist and look at the beautiful side of life and this contest embodies that.
I only wish the CBC would let the other shoe drop and publish the entire list to further expand one's knowledge of this great country. There is nothing like living in a region to appreciate its wonders and beauty (even if they are not on the "Short-List") that may not be evident to most Canadians living in other parts of this country.
The full story would be a great basis for a book with splendid photos, n'est-ce pas?
Although, I do hope someone doesn't make an addition to the proliferation of titles like:
200 Places in Canada That You Must See-Before You Die
I keep wondering, why would any author remind people of that!
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This is one of the SEVEN parts of the SEVEN WONDERS OF CANADA series.
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Blog No. 18
Part 1: Seven Wonders of Canada -The Steeply Cut Banks of the Nechako and Fraser Rivers
Blog No. 19
Part 2: Seven Wonders of Canada - Can I Not Count to Three?
Blog No. 20
Part 3: How Did the Michelin Man Do?
Blog No. 21
Part 4: Seven Wonders of Canada - Our Choices
Blog No. 24
Part 5: Seven Wonders of Canada: The Final Seven
Blog No. 25
Part 6: Seven Wonders of Canada: The One That Got Away
Coming soon
Part 7: Seven Wonders of Canada - One Man's Treasure is another Man's Junk
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