Anyway, it occurs to me that since this is an international board, there are likely figures in your country you admire for their contributions in shaping culture, the arts, politics, humanitarian efforts or what have you.. I thought it might be fun for us to list those individuals we particularly admire.
I may think of more later, but for the moment, here goes, in equal order of importance:
(note: I am using wiki links, I know that Wikipedia can be questionable at times, but in this case it's convenient for providing a quick synopsis)
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Bethune"]Dr. Norman Bethune[/url] (physician and humanitarian)
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Morgentaler"]Dr. Henry Morgentaler[/url] (prominent activist for the pro-choice movement)
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_McLachlan"]Sarah Mclachlan[/url] (singer and song writer)
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cohen"]Leonard Cohen[/url] (singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist)
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Atwood"]Margaret Atwood[/url] (author, poet, critic, essayist, feminist and social campaigner)
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Layton"]Irving Layton[/url] (poet)
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Richler"]Mordecai Richler[/url] (author, screenwriter and essayist)
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Fox"]Terry Fox[/url] (humanitarian, athlete, and cancer research activist)
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Trudeau"]Pierre Elliott Trudeau[/url] (former Prime Minister)