Terry Fox and the Queen

What the hell does Terry Fox have to do with the Queen? Usually, not very much. But just recently, the Royal Canadian Mint announced that the pair will appear on opposite sides of the Canadian dollar in April. For the folks that don't know or have happened to forget, here's a summary of why these people will appear on Canadian currency.

Terry Fox was just another regular guy born in British Columbia. After losing his leg to cancer, he figured it would be a good idea to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He started in St Johns, Nfld and made it to Thunder Bay, Ontario before cancer killed him. And he did it all with a prosthetic leg. He kicks ass.

The Queen was born silver spoon in hand, demanding the respect of the half dozen or so countries that her family has a god given authority over. Her "life of duty" includes keeping the tabloids in business and bitching about her useless relatives. She hasn't ran her ass anywhere and doesn't walk anywhere without servants. In addition, the Royal's collection of jewels and miscellaneous valuables would pay for enough cancer research to really give it a run for its money.

So the real question remains, why does the Mint think the Queen should be given the honour of having her image opposite that of Terry Fox's? In fact, its a real mystery why Terry Fox doesn't replace the Queen on the Canadian dollar forever. If, for some stupid reason, (like keeping the Brits happy) we must have the Queen on a coin, give her the penny. Makes sense, as Terry Fox deserves 100 times the respect any royal fool does.

(Okay, the replies I've been getting are something along the lines of "well the Queen isn't so bad". Which is true; she hasn't killed your new puppy or raped your hamster or anything. But let's put it this way, if we don't place a better icon on the dollar, it will soon sport Prince Charles' head. Just terrific, eh?)