BUT WHAT REALLY IS SHOCKING IS THEY OMITTED RIGOBERTA MENCHU

Kim Campbell: One of the world's great leaders? (Richard Foot, Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 10/04/04)

Former prime minister Kim Campbell, best known for her brief and unspectacular tenure in high office, has been named by the National Geographic Society as one of history's 50 "most important" political leaders.

Campbell's name appears on a list of influential leaders in a new reference book -- the Almanac of World History, recently published by the society -- alongside such historical giants as Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill.

Campbell's inclusion on the list has historians in this country shaking their heads.

"It's ridiculous," says Michael Bliss, an author and historian at the University of Toronto.

But the American editor of the Almanac says Campbell belongs in the pantheon of historical greats for the simple reason she was Canada's first female prime minister.

"Given that there have not been that many females who have led nations, we chose to include her," says Jane Sunderland, a project manager at the Washington D.C.-based society, who says she "stands by the choice" of the book's authors.

James Marsh, editor-in-chief of The Canadian Encyclopedia, has a different view.

"I don't think Kim Campbell should even make a list of great Canadian leaders," he says. "She was the first and only (female) prime minister of Canada -- and that's stretching her accomplishments to the limit."...

As for Campbell, the Almanac says nothing about her legacy except that she is a woman.

Those of you who neglected to do postgraduate work in Canadian Studies (without which no classical education is complete) may not know Ms. Campbell was so embarrassing even ardent feminists were happy to forget her. Chosen leader in a Jesse Ventura-like freak, she called an early election, during which she canoodled openly and defiantly with a Russian “bizinessman” of dubious provenance. She led the Conservatives to an obliteration that proved permanent and has resided in the U.S. ever since. Her one memorable quote was that an election “is no time to discuss serious issues”.