No, I know who wrote Anne of Green Gables , but I do not think Lucy Maud Montgomery day would have the same shall we say caché as Anne of Green Gables. I point out that while in Japan they have Anne of Green Gables on their school programs, nowhere in Canada have I ever heard of a school or university teaching it. Yet this book, published in 1908, has run through more copies and more languages than just about any book of fiction in the world. It is known worldwide.
My colleagues from Prince Edward Island tell me that approximately 700,000 tourists come to the Island every year and about 40,000 of those are Japanese. They come to see the farm where Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables , lived and to see the house that was described in the novels.
I suggest we avoid falling into difficult political traps when we want to recognize a fine Canadian who is recognized worldwide. Perhaps we should look to the young lady of The Lake of Shining Waters . It is appropriate that we as Canadians recognize a person who is recognized in the world's imagination.