As we celebrate the 113^th birthday of celebrated humanitarian Lotta Hitschmanova today, Dr. Lotta’s fans will be pleased to know that her name still finds itself on the short list of 8 notable Canadians to appear on our new $5 banknote.

The pace of government can often seem incredibly slow, and yes, it has been over 2 years since the short list was created, after more than 600 nominees had been submitted by Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

I suspect it may be challenging for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to choose a single individual to appear on the banknote, and I have thus proposed a creative solution to the problem:

To select Terry Fox, Lotta Hitschmanova and Isapo-muxika (Crowfoot) to appear together on our next $5 banknote.

All three are iconic figures coming from different periods in Canadian history. Each carries a different aspect of the Canadian story (indigenous, refugee, settler); while grouped together, their collective life’s work offers the hope of a caring and reconciliatory spirit for generations to come.

Happy birthday Lotta!

David Rain