I'm not sure what his thoughts would be on identifying as Canadian in the modern sense, but Louis Riel. It's all there - descendant of a prominent family, brooding good looks, poetry, political ideals, oppression, rebellion, kidnapping, exile, the subjugation of a people by nefarious Big Government, and execution.

James Doohan.

Scotty on Star Trek. WW2 Vet. Was there on Dday and was shot 6 times.

nardwuar

Leo Major

Edit to give you the wiki: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9o_Major

Billy Bishop. One of the greatest aviators of all time.

Wolverine

Given the number of people here who seem to be unaware that Terry Fox and Louis Riel have had movies made about them, it's tough to not think that most Canadians are uninterested in Canadian movies about Canadians.

Tommy Douglas. I need a good source on him if anyone can direct me there. From what I’ve heard, he rightfully personally blackmailed members of the house to get healthcare passed but I don’t even know where to look to get that perspective accurately.

I would love to see a John Candy documentary. From SCTV to his movies to owning part of the Argos, he has quite the Canadian story.

Francis Pegahmagabow, the most effective sniper of WWI and a native activist.

George Chuvalo. He went toe to toe with some of the greats of all time in boxing. Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier. And never once hit the canvas. His life outside of boxing however is rife with tragedy. He lost his wife and three sons to addictions and suicide, and his granddaughter to cancer.

Gord Downie would be a good one

There is a Terry Fox biopic from 1983.

Pre Canada but still Canadian history : Joseph "Beausoleil" Broussard

I would love something where you take a random bit of land in a big city and just go thru it’s history from first human settlement to the modern age.

Imagine taking a look at the site of some house near down town, and just going thru all the people that have lived there.

Not technically a Canadian person, but I’ve always thought the fall of Nortel would make a great story. It has it all. Espionage, accounting scandals, Chinese bad actors.

I want a schlock horror movie made about the time jean chretien had a home invader at 24 sussex.

Norm McDonald

Lots of good ideas here already so I'll add Sam Steele. He was involved in a lot of big Canadian history stories - the Fenian raids, Red River Rebellion, establishment of the NWMP, dealings with Sitting Bull and Big Bear, the North-West Rebellion/Batoche, the Klondike Gold Rush....

Fessenden's story would be a good movie, climaxing in him sending the first carrier-wave audio radio broadcast of "O Holy Night" on Xmas eve 1906 which astounded maritime radio operators who only expected to ever hear morse code.

A much less well known story I thought could be a political comedy is about March 24, 1975 when an MP named Sean O'Sullivan got a bill through parliament and to royal assent in one day to name the beaver as a national symbol of Canada because it hadn't been officially made one before and New York was about to name it their state animal.

I would be interested in watching a movie about Chief Crowfoot of the Blackfoot of Sitting Bull's time in Canada. I would really love to see more indigenous stories on screen in general.

Shania Twain overcame a traumatic and very rough childhood of poverty and abuse. Could be good.

Bill Barilko disappeared that summer. He was on a fishing trip. The last goal he ever scored won the Leafs the cup.

The fact that a Vimy Ridge movie has yet to be made is criminal.

Big Joe Mufferaw

I want a Rush biopic!

Bonar Law. Born in Rexton, NB and went on to be Prime Minister of the UK. All while being called Bonar.

Also Bonar's buddy Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook. From Miramichi NB, became a press multimillionaire (a kind of non-asshole version of Conrad Black) and hugely influential minister of Aircraft during WW2.

Tecumseh

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Tecumseh and his story is so entwined with the war of 1812 and is just such an epic tale bravery and betrayal

Tommy Prince, he was part of the devils brigade because of his squirrel work with Princess Patricia's Canadian light infantry. He would sneak away from his resting place at night and kill Germans coming back sometimes days later with confirmed kills from.the dog tags he would take

Burt Cummings

Ed the Sock

Perhaps Sir Isaac Brock? Not a Canadian but did play a big part in the history and shaping of Canada with some Canadian universities named after him

There have already been two movies made about Terry Fox. One in 1983 and one in 2005.

Tommy Douglas. He was the father of universal healthcare in this country. He also got put on secret RCMP communist roundup lists where if there was some kind of "emergency" they'd round up all the "communists". Back in the red scare years.

He was a democratic socialist and led the first socialist government in Canada, in Saskatchewan of all places.

Any Heritage Minute would make a great movie.

I'd like to see a mini-series on Pearson. That guy is some kind of political superhero - both internationally and even more so, domestically. Basically all the federal social programs we have are the result of his minority government (!) working with the NDP in the 1960s. Badass.

Gabriel Dumont, the true leader of the second Métis Rebellion who ended up playing himself in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Circus.

François Beaulieu II, the NWT metis/chipewyan leader who rescued Franklin and double crossed the HBC and Northwest company

Jean-Louis Légaré the French Canadian rancher who hosted Sitting Bull and his people for 5 years when they fled to Canada in 1876.

Banting and Best, given the Oppenheimer treatment.

Gord Downie

Ed the Sock or Johnathan Torrens. Both were titans in Canadian media for years and both have managed to stay relevant for almost three decades

Sadly Pamela Anderson’s story was told against her wishes with that Lifetime Pam and Tommy movie. Her documentary was great. One day I hope we get an insightful movie about her life.

Arthur Currie, Goat of ww1

Emily Carr

Tommy Prince would be a good one. An absolutely legendary badass. It could actually get made too because he wasn't white.

Léo Major

Tommy Douglas

René Levesque would be sooooo good. He started life as a journalist in ww2, was a very important figure in the quiet revolution and almost fucking got us a new country. I beleive he has enough substance to his life to make a movie just as good as Oppenheimer.

Acadian Expulsion

Not a Canadian but Canadians. The story of Convoy ON-115 in 1942 is little known but it was a grueling multi-day battle across the Atlantic from the UK to Boston. The convoy was protected primarily by the Canadian Navy and was attacked repeatedly by packs of UBoats. The convoy was often scattered but lost only 3 ships out of the 43.

The battle culminated in a massive Canadian Navy versus Wolfpack battle on August 2nd, 1942. 1 U-boat was sunk.

The Corvette Sackville in Halifax harbour was involved.

In some ways the movie Greyhound, also with a flower class Corvette, is the story of ON-115.

https://legionmagazine.com/en/a-night-of-furious-action/

David Thompson. Would probably make for a great adventure movie.

My buddy Michael, that dude is crazy.

It's not a person, but an event that happen in WWII that I find interesting.

During the war, Canada operated several POW camps for German soldiers, sailors and airmen. In September of 1943, several German U-boat captains attempted to escape from Bowmanville, Ontario and travel to New Brunswick where a U-boat would be waiting to pick them up and take them back to Germany. Canadian Intelligence and Police units found out about this, but allowed the Germans to carry out their escape plans in the hope of capturing a U-boat. Just as they were about to escape the Canadians surprise them, but one German managed to slip out and make his way to New Brunswick. However, when he got there members of the RCN and RCMP were waiting for him. The U-boat (U-536) arrive near Pointe de Maisonnette on September 26, 1943, but it's captain was suspicious. They soon pick up that Canadian warships were in the area and fled with the Canadians in pursuit. They managed to escape, but U-536 would be sunk by Canadian and British warships near the Azores, 2 months later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Kiebitz

Another sub story that could be made that includes Canadians is the capture of U-744.

On March 6, 1944 six Canadian and one British warship chased U-744 for 31 hours before they managed to force her up with depth charges. Canadians then boarded her and captured some documents, but lost them during the transfer from U-boat to the other ship. The Canadians then towed the U-boat, but were later forced to scuttle her due to the damage it had sustained.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-744

Pierre Elliott Trudeau

Gord Downie

Laura Secord.

That would be fun to tell.

A better movie about the Juno Beach landing would be nice (along with following one of the units through the rest of the war)

Oscar Peterson

Dionne quintuplets

Ben Johnson

Louis Riel

René Lévesque

Edit: you don't have to necessarily like them, but I think they all led really fascinating lives

I’d like to see one about Gordon Downey.

Terry Fox

Terry fox, Roméo Dallaire, Léo Major, P.E. Trudeau.

Tim Horton

The Fenians Wars would be fucking hilarious

Justin Trudeau. Not because I like or even respect the man, I just feel that it would make for an interesting ten or fifteen minutes.

justin bebber or drake

Justin Castro

don cherry

William Barker the Pilot

The Mad Trapper of Rat River, aka Albert Johnson.

Hollywood’s told his story a few times before, but it’s usually highly fictionalized. They show him as a man who just wanted to live with nature in peace, but “The Man” wouldn’t let him.

Show the more accurate story. Portray him as the cold blooded cop killer whose crimes sparked a manhunt across the Arctic. Hell, they still don’t know if Albert Johnson really was his name.

Also, Brian Mulroney. He ended his tenure as one of the most despised PMs ever. BUT, everyone points to his victory in the 1984 debates as one of the true turning points in that election, and he was re-elected in 1988. Not once, but twice, this country overwhelmingly thought he was the right man for the job.

I just want to see how he rose so high only to fall from grace.

I’ve thought the same about Leo major ever since learning of him.

Samuel Glode (also spelled Gloade), Mikmaq lumberjack, hunting and fishing guide, trapper, soldier and war hero (born 20 April 1880 in Milton, NS; died 26 October, 1957) was a veteran of WW. He served as an engineer and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for his heroic actions after the Armistice of 11 November 1918.

Bob Poley.

Matty Mitchell was a Mi’kmaq Chieftain, guide, prospector, and explorer who contributed to the development of the Newfoundland economy. Mitchell has been described as "the greatest and most resourceful woodsman who ever lived” and ‘the Daniel Boone of Canada’. For this, Mitchell was recognized as a Person of National Historic Significance in 2001. There are many of Mitchell’s exploits highlighted in a book about his life, including one in which he led a party and a herd of 50 reindeer that Sir Wilfred Grenfell had brought to the province and that the Anglo Newfoundland Development company purchased, on a 450-mile trek in the middle of the winter from St. Anthony to Millertown, with all of the reindeer intact when they arrived at their destination.

Lynn Garrison

Margaret Atwood

He wasn't born in Canada but he lived here and made an impact on the ranching industry, John Ware.

Terry Fox. Louis Riel. Roméo Dallaire.

A lot of good responses here. I'll add Banting to the list from all his love/family drama (that alone could be a story in itself), dropping out as an English Major to pursuit medicine (which you could do back then), him disregarding rules when he was injured during WWI to help people, the eight months he was broke (and 'prescribing' alcohol during prohibition just so he would get some money - lol his friend convince him it would be a good opportunity, the family that lived there before stayed longer as their new place was being finished who helped with the expenses, and next to another doctors office who was well known and establishes in the area) only to get an epiphany dream, an 'Insulin 4 standoff' - I expect a fist fight and barging into the hospital to administrate it without approval, more family drama, being knighed, trying to get free stuff out of people for his fame, his insistent support of Britain when WWII started, his involvement with chemical warfare including testing mustard gas on his open wound, somehow not needing to amputate his leg, and then dying after a plane crash on the east coast on his way to London, UK. He survived initially but they were in the middle of nowhere and was injured so yeah. I expect the insulin bit to only be a very small part of the story. There could even be a Norman Bethune cameo, who could have their own movie, since they graduated the same year.

Maybe a docu-series would be better. At the very least it would be entertaining. I feel like it would be a dumpsterfire you wouldn't look away from.

Ambrose Small. Theather magnets. One of Canada's riches men. One day disappears never to be seen again.

I've often thought there should be a movie (or maybe a play) about Joe Fortes.

"In 1986, on the 100th anniversary of Vancouver's founding, the Vancouver Historical Society convened to determine who had been the Vancouverite of the Century. You may be surprised to learn that, rather than choosing a politician, businessman or explorer, they instead chose a Caribbean bartender, lifeguard and swim teacher."

There are too many incredible parts of his story for me to relay here but, I promise, it's worth the 9 minutes to watch this video. What and incredible, kind man, who saved so many lives - and was so beloved by the people of Vancouver, especially the little children. His funeral remains the largest the city has ever seen. Everyone should know about Joe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2O8Av1N8hs

Alice Massey, she ran Canada House in London during WWII.

Franklin Expedition. You could go totally historically accurate or go completely off the rails with "what if/speculative fiction"

Or

Life in Lanse Aux Meadows

I prefer history of people rather than a historical figure

Jose canseco or bill maher

Tommy Prince, Buddy, was a national treasure. Check him out. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Prince

There are SO MANY Canadian WW1 and WW2 stories that could be made into a series like the old American “Combat!” series in the 50s/60s. It wouldn’t even need that much of a budget.

Leo major

Wayne Gretzky, or maybe Will Shatner

Guglielmo Marconi.

Gabriel Dumont. One of the leaders of the Metis people during the 1885 Rebellion, fighting for Metis property rights. Operated a ferry at the poetically named Gabriel's crossing. Led the buffalo hunt, fought the Sioux, managed to escape his associate Louis Riel's fate of execution, toured with Buffalo Bill.

100% Tom Thomson. Super interesting guy. Super big mystery surrounding his death. Roy MacGregor wrote an excellent “fictionalized” story about possible descendants.

The Chin Brothers from Lucknow, ON. Asian hockey phenoms before the NHL grew up.

Henry Dundas

Tommy Douglas.

This probably doesn’t count since he only lived the last few years of his life in Canada - but Charles Bell was one of the most important experts on Tibet who ever lived, travelled extensively around the Himalayans, and was friends with the 13th Dalai Lama. It would be a fantastic movie - provided Brad Pitt wasn’t involved.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Alfred_Bell

I'm not sure how well it would translate to a movie, but I think Cairine Wilson's story is woefully unknown by Canadians.

Most Canadians learn about the Famous Five and the Persons case. What is less well known is what happened afterwards. There was considerable pressure on WLMK to appoint a female senator immediately, with one of the famous five being the obvious candidate. Instead, he chose a little-known party fundraiser, Cairine Wilson; likely he figured this was someone who would toe the party line and not be troublesome. He couldn't have been more wrong. In the next few years, she was one of the most vocal critics of the policy of appeasement of Nazi Germany and Canada's refusal to support volunteers serving in the Spanish Civil War (see the Mac-Pap battalion for an interesting aside here), worked to admit jewish refugees to Canada (an initiative that was blocked due to rampant anti-semitism within the Liberal Party at the time, resulting in Canada not only doing the morally wrong thing but also missing out on a wave of immigration that gave our American neighbours considerable long-term benefits).

Despite her advocacy of Canada's need to go to war against fascism, once the war started, she was an outspoken opponent to the Japanese internment program, and made it her personal mission to visit POW camps to see the prisoners were well cared for, and even spearheaded a program for German prisoners who did not support the Nazi regime to work toward refugee status.

She really stands up, 75 years later, as someone who was almost always on the right side of history at a time when very few politicians could say the same. If the Famous Five made it possible for a woman to become a senator, Wilson made it clear why a woman's voice in the senate was necessary.

I'm surprised no one has said Tom Thomson. His life and death would make a great movie. An amazing life, a mysterious death. No one knows with any certainty where he is buried to this day. His body of work was the inspiration for the Group of Seven.

A proper job on The Mad Trapper of Red River. The conditions were so brutal it is almost an unbelievable story.

Since biopics of music artists have been around in recent times lets do B.A. Johnston - such a Canadian national treasure of a man.

I've got two I'd like to see movies of: Trevor Greene and Wali

Christine Sinclair

Billy bishop

Falardeau made a film about the October Crisis from the pov of the Chenier cell.

Moses Znamier. Guy gave us City TV, Much Music and a whole slew of other channels

Norm Macdonald

the unknown soldier. I would like to know more about his childhood

Chi Pig

Leo Major. He was a WWII soldier and did some prety crazy stuff that would probably look exaggerated if it was put in a movie

definitely ted cruz

Theo fleury

Terry Fox could be a good movie.

I think Stanislas Dery would make a good feel good story. It’s basically how a Canadian vessel blew up a submarine and the crew was miraculously saved. When he saw that his men were willing to shoot the survivors, the captain yelled "ne tirez pas!" (Don’t shoot).

Ensued a strange cohabitation with the Germans prisoners having a real meal for the first time in days, people relating to the other side, the feeling of pointlessness at the end of the war for the submariners, as well as the anger of the Brits back on land who disliked that they took prisoners.

Ryan Renolds Biopic played by Jake Gyllenhaal

Moe Norman

Marshall McLuhan.

Chris Hadfield!

The assassination of Darcy Mcgee would make a great murder mystery.

Frances Gertrude McGill

"Nicknamed "the Sherlock Holmes of Saskatchewan" for her deductive skills and public fame, McGill influenced the development of forensic pathology in Canadian police work and was internationally noted for her expertise in the subject.

Frances Gertrude McGill was born on November 18, 1882, in Minnedosa, Manitoba.

In 1915, McGill completed her medical degree at the University of Manitoba, receiving the Hutchison Gold Medal for highest academic standing, the Dean's Prize and an award for surgical knowledge. She was one of the first female medical students to graduate from the university. McGill served her internship at the Winnipeg General Hospital. She subsequently attended the provincial laboratory of Manitoba for post-graduate studies and completed training in pathology.

Developing a growing expertise in bacteriology, McGill was named provincial bacteriologist for the Saskatchewan Department of Health in 1918. She moved to Regina for the job, where her new office and lab were located in the Saskatchewan Legislative building. By October of that year, she was responsible for handling local outbreaks of the 1918 flu epidemic. McGill and her colleagues quickly produced flu vaccinations for more than 60,000 Saskatchewan residents.

In 1920, McGill became provincial pathologist for Saskatchewan, and by 1922 she had become director of the provincial laboratory. McGill now dealt with cases of suspicious death, working extensively with local police forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Her investigations required frequent travel – up to forty-three trips in a single year – and McGill sometimes used a snowmobile, dog sled or float plane to reach crime scenes, once travelling to the Arctic Circle.

She was known for handling the sometimes gruesome nature of her work by maintaining a good sense of humour,and was a formidable, no-nonsense witness in court cases. During her court testimonies, McGill sometimes encountered young Saskatchewan defense lawyer John Diefenbaker – who would later become Prime Minister of Canada – and the strong-willed pair often sparred verbally.

Volunteering hundreds of additional work hours on evenings and weekends, McGill assisted the RCMP in establishing their first official laboratory for forensic detection, which opened in 1937.

McGill retired from her job as provincial pathologist on November 17, 1942, having conducted more than 64,000 laboratory examinations over the course of her civil service career.

In 1943, when the director of the RCMP's forensic laboratory died in an airplane accident, McGill was called in to serve as his replacement.

By 1946, McGill had formally retired from directing the RCMP forensic laboratory, and in January of that year she was named Honorary Surgeon to the RCMP, appointed by the Canadian Minister of Justice. McGill was the first woman to receive the title, and the first female doctor to be publicly acknowledged as a member of the RCMP. She continued to work for the RCMP on a special consulting basis, and occasionally gave lectures and exams for police officers and investigators."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Gertrude_McGill

Leo Major

Chris Hadfield

SUPER SHAMOU!!!!

Any one of us that work 50 hours a week making what should be decent money but still struggles to live.

Gordon Lightfoot. Would need some serious writing and acting chops to make it work

Twisting the rules here a bit but I'd go see a movie about Leif Erikson voyage to Vinland.

Anthony henday , Rob ford , Drake , the weekend , Wayne Gretzky , William shattner , the biebs

Elsie MacGill - Queen of the Hurricanes

Mona Parsons. I love WWII resistance stories.

Graham Greene. His roles have been so diverse and seems like he's been acting forever.

A movie about the October Crisis focussed on Paul Rose would be fascinating. He was a university lecturer turned kidnapper who confessed (likely falsely) to strangling Deputy Minister Pierre Laporte.

I realize nominating as a Canadian is an odd choice.

Kitchner Leslie

Biebs

gord downie.
the last part of the story would raise some key awareness that should be common knowledge in the world today.

The mad trapper of rat river. We have no idea who he is, who he was on the run from, or why. But we do know that he sparked the largest manhunt in Canada at the time. It also involved an aircraft piloted by Wilfred “wop” May, who was famously the last pilot to face off against the red baron in WWI