As the end of the year approaches, The Globe and Mail is preparing to name its 2010 Nation Builder - and we need your help.
Since 2002, this award has gone to someone credited with doing something remarkable during the year to make Canada better.
In most cases the recipient has been an individual, the first being philanthropist and BlackBerry pioneer Mike Lazaridis of Research In Motion and the most recent, humanitarian Jean Vanier in 2008. (Last year was a bit of a detour; we chose 10 to mark the end of the decade.)
The Nation Builder has also been shared - by two people in 2006 (former detainee Maher Arar and Sergeant Patrick Tower of the Canadian Armed Forces) and by three people in 2003 (the Ontario Supreme Court panel whose ruling cleared the way for same-sex marriage).
So who should it be now?
There are plenty of contenders. This has been a banner year for Canadians, most obviously because of the Winter Games in Vancouver with their global reach and Canada's record medal haul. (Who can forget the Sidney Crosby goal in overtime that ensured hockey gold?)
But the Olympians are far from the only nation builders who have been at work in 2010. Perhaps someone with a lower profile has done something that will prove to be even more profound and longer lasting as Canada's future unfolds.
As always, we seek your input to ensure that we make a well-informed decision. Please tell us who you think it should be and why. Our senior editors will take all suggestions into consideration when making the final selection.
To submit your nomination for The Globe's Nation Builder of 2010, and to see the first public nominations from our Globe Catalysts, visit this page or e-mail your nominations to nationbuilder@globeandmail.com.
Update: Thanks to our readers, we've received some great nominations so far. Just to clarify, you're welcome to vote for the nominees we've posted, but new nominations are encouraged.
Update: Nominations have closed, and The Globe and Mail will unveil its annual Nation Builder - the person we feel has done the most in 2010 to bring Canadians together and make the country a better place - in Friday's special holiday edition. Each day until then, the paper will feature a selection of the many contenders proposed by members of The Globe audience (online as well as in print) as having made a contribution to Canadian society worthy of the honour.