For starters, there was the question of whose portrait would appear on the front. Both the Minister of Finance and I agreed that it was long past time for a bank note to feature an iconic Canadian woman. That has been a goal of mine since I became Governor.
But with so many excellent choices, we took a new approach to involve Canadians directly in the decision-making process. And boy, did Canadians get involved. We received over 26,000 nominations from coast to coast to coast. A great national conversation took place—in schools, in the press, and in social media—about the important contributions so many iconic women have made to our history.