A fitting tribute to Canada’s seventh Prime Minister.  And the similarities to Star Trek’s Mr. Spock are extensive.

Where Laurier said (of English and French Canadians living together):

Two races share today the soil of Canada. These people had not always been friends. But I hasten to say it. There is no longer any family here but the human family. It matters not the language people speak, or the altars at which they kneel.

Mr. Spock said (in ‘City on the Edge of Forever’):

I am endeavoring, ma’am, to construct a mnemonic circuit using stone knives and bearskins.

So, you see, there are a lot of similarities.

Name: Michael J. Fox
Occupation: Actor, Author, Advocate
Date of Birth: June 9, 1961
Place of Birth: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, but he was raised in Burnaby, British Columbia

Notable Contributions to the world:

• Alex P. Keaton – Fox pretty much ruled the 80’s as the capitalist Republican teenager in the sitcom Family Ties, constantly frustrated by his hippie parents and clueless sisters.
• Marty McFly – Fox’s vest-wearing, skateboarding time-travelling character in the Back to the Future trilogy that made us forgive him for that Teen Wolf fiasco.
• His Stephanopoous-esque role as White House Chief of Staff to Jack Nicholson’s president in Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks.
• His leading role as the deputy Mayor of New York in the underappreciated Spin City
• After contracting Parkinson’s Disease, he bowed out of show business in 2000 and devoted his talents to the Michael J. Fox Foundation which is dedicated to “finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson’s today.”  To date, his Foundation has funded $176 million in research.

Little Known Facts:

• His first acting role was on on a CBC sitcom we’ve never heard of called Leo & Me.
• His actual middle name is Andrew, but there was already a SAG-registered character actor named Michael Fox, so he needed a different stage name.  Not wanting to become a Canadian stereotype with the moniker Michael ‘Eh?’ Fox, he went with a ‘J’ instead.
• Fox married Tracy Pollan in 1988, who played his girlfriend Ellen in Family Ties for one season, and some bit part in Bright Lights, Big City.

On Canada:

My name is Mike, and I’m a Canadian.  Not only was I born in Canada but I was raised in British Columbia. It’s true, I’ve lived in the States for over thirty years now, but I know I’ll always think of Team Canada as my home team.  And hey – if I’m having a bad hair day, I wear a touque.  If I’m extra hungry I put some back bacon in my poutine.  And if I’m watching the US and Canada play hockey, I’m sorry – I’m wearing a maple leaf on my sweater.

But it doesn’t really matter where you live or where you’re born, Canada is a big tent.  If you’re good at something, we will claim you.  Like you, the Olympic athletes – curlers and cross-countries, bobsledders and biathletes, skiers and skaters.  You’ve come to Vancouver, you’ve spent time among us.  You’ve competed on the world stage in Canada and that means you’re Canadians too.  Yes, Canada is my home and now it’s your home too.
- Michael J. Fox, Closing Ceremony, Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Why we love him:
Because when his trembling pushed him out of show business, he stayed relevant by directing his fame and celebrity to helping rid the world of a terrible central nervous condition.  And he still makes us laugh whenever he pops up on the screen.

From a promo for The Office, airing during the Vancouver games.  Lyrics as follows:

Well, Pam, there’s really only a few things you need to know about Canada:

There’s Newfoundland and Labrador,
Saskatchewan, Ontario,
Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba,
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Prince Edward Island’s very small,
but British Columbia tops them all!

[And that's where Vancouver is.]

But… before I finish up my story,
you should know the territories.

There are only three so I’ll be quick,
the Yukon, Northwest, and Nunavut.

If you want to have a ball,
there’s Saskatoon and Montreal.

And if you want to pack your sacks,
we’ll be going off the Halifax.

And if you’re looking for a wife,
be sure to visit Yellowknife.

NATURAL RESOURCES!

Perennial geraniums,
nickel–think uranium,
are filling up my cranium,
the exports that they boast.

Keep going? No? Ingrates.

In fact, if you’re looking for a wife, Yellowknife is probably not your best bet, with only 22, 365 women living there between the ages of 15 and 65, as of the 2006 census.   Source.

Rick Mercer interviews “Hurricane” Hazel McCallion – the longest serving Mayor in Canada, who has run the city of Mississauga since 1978.  Mississauga is Canada’s 6th largest municipality, and has no municipal debt – largely due to her stewardship.

Rick talks to McCallion while she plays hockey, works out at the gym, and plays a few frames of bowling.

Did we mention she’s 89 years old?  And running for her 12th term?

Was it worth it, Conrad?

From the New York Times - Justices to Hear Conrad Black Appeal. The US Supreme Court is hearing Lord Conrad “Boy, renouncing that Canadian citizenship doesn’t look so smug now” Black’s appeal.

Why then would the top US court hear the case? Apparently their appeal hinges on the definition of fraud and whether he actually obstructed justice. Isn’t there a freakin’ videotape of him carrying boxes of evidence out of his office building in 2005? After he was told by a judge to vacate his office? Yes, there was – here’s a screen grab from it.

Conrad Black - Caught in the act!

Word is that the case can turn on a controversial legal definition of “honest services” – a pet cause of arch-conservative Justice Antonin Scalia – who feels the term needs clearer definition.

Here’s Lord Black – pre-conviction – proclaiming his innocence, and lamenting being harassed and misunderstood, at ideaCity 2005.