URL:
<http://gna.org/patch/?1753>
Summary: Canadian ruleset new leaders
Project: Freeciv
Submitted by: gnomegarten
Submitted on: Tuesday 07/20/2010 at 01:16
Category: rulesets
Priority: 5 - Normal
Status: None
Privacy: Public
Assigned to: None
Originator Email:
Open/Closed: Open
Discussion Lock: Any
Planned Release:
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Details:
I submitted this to the wishlist a while ago. I just checked back and saw a
request to post it here.
Not sure about formatting, so here's what I posted there:
This is a small thing, but I find it irksome in the new civclient, despite
the fact that overall I'm quite impressed.
The list of available leaders is really not representative of Canadian
history, politics or gender.
To give you an idea of what I mean, here's the list:
Kim Campbell
- the only woman on the list, the first female Prime Minister of Canada, and
one of the shortest serving. She was chosen to replace Brian Mulroney, and
was massively defeated in the subsequent election.
Conservative.
Brian Mulroney
- Campbell's immediate predecessor, a leader who's massive unpopularity very
nearly destroyed the Conservatives. He did negotiate the Canada US Free Trade
Agreement, but beyond that his historical contributions are pretty
questionable. He has recently been implicated in a corruption scandal.
Conservative.
William Lyon McKenzie King
- The longest serving Prime Minister in the history of the British
Commonwealth. Canada's Prime Minister during WWII. Noted anti-semite. There's
lots to say good and bad about McKenzie King, but he certainly was significant
to Canadian history.
Liberal.
John Diefenbaker
- Prime Minister during the late 50's and early 60's. Introduced the Canadian
Bill of Rights. Cancelled the AVRO Arrow project (a sore point to Canadians as
we very briefly were developing what would have been the most advanced jet
fighter in the world).
Conservative.
John A. MacDonald
- First Prime Minister of Canada. One of the Founders of Confederation.
Legendary drinker. Depicted on the 10 dollar bill.
Conservative.
Pierre Trudeau
- Prime Minister from the late 60's to the late 70's, and again for the first
half of the 80's. Patriated and formalized the Constitution. Wrote the Charter
of Rights. Dealt with terrorists in Quebec during the October Crisis of 1970
(some say too harshly). His wife left him for the Rolling Stones. Considered
the father of Canadian multiculturalism.
Liberal.
The problem with this list is that it's got only one woman, too many
Conservatives, and a few who's historical contributions are questionable at
best. (I'm not looking at this ideologically, I just think that there's a
bias here).
There are several others who would be better choices for the list, including
non Prime Ministers.
A few obvious choices:
Lester B. Pearson
- Prime Minister in the mid 60's. Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 as a
diplomat for defusing the Suez Crisis. Father of the modern concept of
Peacekeeping. Introduced official bilingualism.
Liberal.
Tommy Douglas
- First leader of the New Democrats, and the father of medicare in Canada. A
Canadian TV series voting competition selected him as the Greatest Canadian.
Laura Secord
- Heroine of the War of 1812. Overheard plans of an American attack on the
Province of Canada, and drove her cows 30 km to warn the British generals.
(seriously, this actually happened)
Nellie McClung
- Pioneering activist who successfully won the right to vote for women.
I realize that this is in many ways a small matter, but looking at the list
for other nations, particularly the Americans, the Canadian list does not
seem up to snuff.
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