Canadian Who's Who 1996

John D. Blackwell is co-ordinator of information services, Arthur A.
Wishart Library, Algoma University College, Sault Ste. Marie.

Twenty years ago, Eric Nicol wrote (presumably with apologies to his
compatriots and William Shakespeare), “[S]ome are born great, some
achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them, and some
remained in Canada.” Well, Nicol, who stayed in Canada and
nevertheless achieved considerable distinction, has for many years had
his own substantial entry in this venerable annual compilation of the
Canadian establishment.

Biographical sketches of some 15,000 persons appear in the 31st volume
of Canadian Who’s Who. Unlike Who’s Who in Canada, it levies “no
charge, nor is there any obligation whatsoever, for the inclusion of a
biography. ... Biographees are chosen on merit alone.” Selection
criteria are understandably vague in view of the wide representation of
Canadian achievement: individuals are included “because of the
positions they hold in Canadian society, or because of the contribution
they have made to life in Canada.” Each potential biographee is
invited to complete a standard questionnaire, but the editorial staff is
unable to verify all information submitted. As a result, entries vary
greatly in completeness, usefulness, and possibly even accuracy.
Although Canadian Who’s Who is the most comprehensive biographical
compendium of contemporary Canadians, its coverage appears somewhat
imbalanced. Academics, for instance, are overrepresented and women
underrepresented. (The recent revival and expansion of Who’s Who of
Canadian Women, however, has done much to redress the traditionally
inadequate coverage of Canadian women in general.)

In his engaging new book The National Album: Collective Biography and
the Formation of the Canadian Middle Class, Robert Lanning shows how
late–19th-century biographical dictionaries helped define and
perpetuate the values of the middle class. The phenomenon remains just
as strong a century later. If the now-unwieldy Canadian Who’s Who
keeps growing at its current rate, it may have to become a two-volume
work by the beginning of the new millennium. Perhaps it will simply
evolve into CD-ROM format.

In any case, Canadian Who’s Who has long been, and promises to
remain, the reference source par excellence on distinguished men and
women in all walks of Canadian life.