C’est fini in Quebec, and we have our 10 champions as the “Best Premier” from their respective provinces. In order of length of service and, therefore, seeding:

Nova Scotia: Angus MacDonald (1)
Alberta: Peter Lougheed (2)
PEI: Alex Campbell (3)
New Brunswick: Louis Robichaud (4)
Ontario: John Robarts (5)
Saskatchewan: Grant Devine (6)
Manitoba: Ed Schreyer (7)
Newfoundland: Clyde Wells (8)
Quebec: Jean Lesage (9)
British Columbia: Dave Barrett (10)

Now, obviously enough there was a bit of ballot box stuffing on behalf of all the political parties. And since this contest shouldn’t be taken any more seriously than a reality TV show, I’m not above and beyond modifying the rules in mid-stream. So, to get a field of 16 for bracketing, I’m inviting the six runners up with the highest vote totals (minus Gary Doer who is ineligible as a sitting Premier) to take the bottom six seeds for the main event. So, Ernest Manning, Oliver Mowatt, Joey Smallwood, WAC Bennett, Tommy Douglas, and Rene Levesque – come on down, you’re the bottom six seeds on the Best Premier contest! All were titans in their own provinces and their presence will certainly strengthen the field. That gives us the following bracket, for those playing along with their workplace pool:

I’ll start quarter final voting later today.