Wednesday, August 08, 2007

The Search for Canada's Best Premier - Quarter Finals

C'est fini in Quebec, and we have our 10 champions as the "Best Premier" from their respective provinces. In order of length of service and, therefore, seeding:

Nova Scotia: Angus MacDonald (1)
Alberta: Peter Lougheed (2)
PEI: Alex Campbell (3)
New Brunswick: Louis Robichaud (4)
Ontario: John Robarts (5)
Saskatchewan: Grant Devine (6)
Manitoba: Ed Schreyer (7)
Newfoundland: Clyde Wells (8)
Quebec: Jean Lesage (9)
British Columbia: Dave Barrett (10)

Now, obviously enough there was a bit of ballot box stuffing on behalf of all the political parties. And since this contest shouldn’t be taken any more seriously than a reality TV show, I’m not above and beyond modifying the rules in mid-stream. So, to get a field of 16 for bracketing, I’m inviting the six runners up with the highest vote totals (minus Gary Doer who is ineligible as a sitting Premier) to take the bottom six seeds for the main event. So, Ernest Manning, Oliver Mowatt, Joey Smallwood, WAC Bennett, Tommy Douglas, and Rene Levesque - come on down, you’re the bottom six seeds on the Best Premier contest! All were titans in their own provinces and their presence will certainly strengthen the field. That gives us the following bracket, for those playing along with their workplace pool:






I'll start quarter final voting later today.

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5 Comments:

  • Smart move Dan on adding the 6 runners up. Having even a reality tv-esq Best Premier race without those 6 in there would just be silly.

    By Blogger Prairie Fire, at 3:07 p.m.  

  • Dave Barrett's fans must be crying in their beer with the inclusion of WAC Bennett (who, btw, has taken an early lead against Alec Campbell, helped along by my vote). I'll bet a nickel (I'm a cheap Scotsman) that Bennett finishes higher than Barrett.

    By Blogger Brian in Calgary, at 9:58 p.m.  

  • There is some kind of cruel irony for the SDA crowd that the match for Mr. Devine ended up being Mr. Manning.

    By Blogger Matthew Naylor, at 9:16 a.m.  

  • CG has given an outlet for the SDA crowd to vote for by adding Ernest Manning into the mix.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:09 p.m.  

  • I’m inviting the six runners up with the highest vote totals (minus Gary Doer who is ineligible as a sitting Premier) to take the bottom six seeds for the main event.

    I'm really glad you did this, as I was disappointed none of the ten original winners were ones that I particularly liked. The Ontario result especially bugged me, as I would've been perfectly happy with either Harris or Mowatt winning the whole contest, only to have some guy I'd never heard of swoop in at the last minute and beat them both. Now I've got three Premiers to root for (Manning, Mowatt, Bennett).

    By Blogger The Invisible Hand, at 9:19 p.m.  

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