John Moore, host of CFRB’s afternoon talk show in Toronto, called me recently to ask if I knew that Art Linkletter was Canadian. A quick Google and Yikes, John was correct again. Art Linkletter was indeed born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and he will most certainly be added to our list of deserving future inductees. We thank John for bringing it to our attention.

It’s like that here now. Every day we receive hundreds of nominations, mostly on our website (www.canadaswalkoffame.com). There are days, as we get closer to selection time, when we receive many thousands, each making a passionate plea for their favourite Canadian. Sometimes, people come by the office and drop off boxes of information or original documents on Canadians that have excelled on the global stage.

In 1996, when I first suggested the idea of the Walk of Fame to Bill Ballard, we did not see it as much more than a loosely formed imitation of an American idea. Dusty Cohl, co-founder of the Toronto Film Festival, kept suggesting to us that it would become much more than that. Dusty predicted that, given the numbers of celebrated Canadians and the magnitude of their achievements, the public interest would be much greater than we anticipated. Dusty was right, but then we have never known him to be anything other than correct.

Dusty was probably the second person that I talked to about the idea of starting CWOF, Bill Ballard being the first. In 1994, Bill was leading a group to establish a designated entertainment district in Toronto. I was one of the people helping him establish The Toronto Entertainment District Association (TEDA). I presented an idea to TEDA to start a Walk of Fame that would honour accomplished Torontonians. TEDA didn’t adopt the idea, and in 1996 I left to start what became Canada’s Walk of Fame.

The fourth person to get involved was Gary Slaight. We needed to have a significant media partner. I knew Gary a little from the “No Place Like Toronto” campaign that he and Standard Radio supported in 1991. Gary and Standard have been a part of CWOF since the very first event in 1998. The original group that worked on the\ first event included Bill Ballard, Pamela Capriotti, Dusty Cohl, Charles Cutts, Paul Markle, John Morand, Dianne Schwalm, Brian Sewell, Gary Slaight, Joanne Smale, Helga Stephenson, and Jim De Gasperis.

We had little money, no research, and no media plan, just a still unformed idea that Canadians should honour their own. I recall Norman Jewison saying that it is only a mature nation that can honour its own and only a confident people that can stand up and take a bow. I now believe that somehow Dusty knew that we are maturing as a country and that we could now confidently begin taking our place.

Things have changed since 1998, of course. We now have solid partnerships that support our initiative and, in a recent national survey, it was confirmed that CWOF is the # 1 Canadian awards/recognition event with a national approval rating of over 93 per cent amongst Canadians over 18. More important, the opportunities presented to CWOF to develop and grow programs that will educate and inspire are unparalleled. And that is the future of our organization.

We began 2006 with the national competition to redesign the CWOF streetscape. We received numerous proposals and intriguing possibilities. After a lengthy review, the jury has selected a winning design that we will announce later this month.

In partnership with the Mary Pickford Institute, we will be announcing the second annual Young Filmmakers Competition. Speaking of Mary Pickford, we were also proud to support Tracy Power’s play about the legendary actress, Living Shadows. It toured Canada in fringe festivals and won a number of awards. CWOF will continue to develop programs to assist young playwrights.

In 2007, we intend to also launch a musical competition to assist and inspire young musicians. We also hope to publish our first book, with the working title “108 Great Canadians,” and, with a little luck, manage a festival of Canadian films.

Down the road, we will be looking at a Museum of Canadian Achievement as well as a touring exhibit.

These are all very exciting and ambitious projects, but the hard part is already done. The content is already there — some of the world’s most celebrated people who also happen to be Canadian.