Whether or not his new movie, “She’s Out of My League,” is any good, this week’s Canadian of the Week honors go to Jay Baruchel.

The Ottawa native who grew up in Canada gets the chance to head up his own comedy after a few rounds of playing in the supporting cast in recent hits like “Knocked Up,” “Tropic Thunder” and “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.” He starred in the short-lived Judd Apatow TV comedy “Undeclared.”

Baruchel is a proud Canadian who has a tattoo of a red maple leaf on his chest. It was featured in “Knocked Up,” in which he played the friend of a Vancouver native who was living in the U.S. illegally.

*** Become a Facebook fan of Canadian of the Week! ***

The trailer (below) for “She’s Out of My League” looks like it follows the general recent rom-com trend. It has the look and feel of an Apatow film, but Apatow is nowhere to be found in the credits.

In the movie, Baruchel plays a shlubby airport security guy who finds a beautiful girl’s cell phone and she goes out with him to thank him. His friends can’t believe it and comedy ensues.

I’m reserving judgment until hearing more and seeing what the buzz is like, but it sounds like a fun weekend comedy.

*** Follow Canadian of the Week on Twitter! ***

Check out the trailer and see what you think. And good luck, Jay!

All-American gal Brooklyn Decker may be getting the spotlight for nabbing the coveted cover shot on this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, but Zoe Duchesne is representing Canada quite nicely inside the magazine’s pages. It’s her first time appearing in the iconic issue.

The French-Canadian lingerie model is among the dozen, or so, ladies who seem to be mostly removing their aquatic attire in photo shoots that took place on four different continents, including Whistler, B.C., which represented North America.

*** Follow Canadian of the Week on Twitter! ***

Zoe was photographed by Raphael Mazzucco in San Pedro de Atacama, Atacama, Chile.

The Montreal native was discovered in a local beauty contest, SI reports, and has since appeared in ads for Annabelle, Bobbi Brown, Chanel, French Connection, Guess and Kenzie. She’s also landed on the covers of Flare, Zinc, and Elle.

*** Become a Facebook fan of Canadian of the Week! ***

OK, OK. Enough with all these words. Check out this video from SI.com of Zoe’s photo shoot and what she had to say about the experience.

Swimsuit 2010:
Models |
Video |
Olympic Stars |
Dancing With The Stars |
Bodypainting: Soccer WAGS

See more from the 2010 Swimsuit Issue at SI.com.

Maybe not quite everything is better in Canada.

Bad hotels are bound to be found anywhere, and TripAdvisor.com’s new 2010 Dirtiest Hotels list tells you exactly where. The site put together a Dirtiest Hotels list for the fifth year, but it’s the first time that it included a Top 10 (er, Bottom 10) specifically for Canada, and two of the worst places — according to TripAdvisor user ratings — are located at Niagara Falls.

The popular tourist site is home to the worst spot on the list, a motel which customers have called “the worst of the worst,” and an “embarrassing dump.” One user reported “Blood in the bedding, spatter across the walls, carpet saturated with black filth, empty beer bottles piled outside the door, discarded rotting furniture at the bottom of the stairs, disgusting odour.”

To see the complete list of TripAdvisor’s Dirtiest Hotels in Canada, click here.

A new report says that Vancouver is the least affordable city in the world, when measuring median housing sale prices to median household incomes, according to an article from The Canadian Press.

The report, released by Demographia International, a group that wants to encourage major cities to allow more housing to be built on the fringes of cities, said other Canadian cities — notably Toronto and Montreal — are also highly unaffordable.

*** Become a Facebook fan of Canadian of the Week! ***

But Brent Gilmour, acting CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute, said the report is too simple and doesn’t account for all kinds of other factors, including shorter commute times, less need for cars by people who live in the city, and other elements of city planning that make city neighborhoods better options.

*** Follow Canadian of the Week on Twitter! ***

Rarely does a day pass when I don’t kick myself (metaphorically and sometimes literally) for not having indulged in some poutine during a semi-recent long weekend in Montreal. I’d read all about it and nothing sounded more glorious to me than a mound of fries topped with cheese curds and gravy.

The first place we stopped in for a quick desperation snack, about 30 miles from the city as we approached from the south, didn’t seem like the kind of place you’d want to experiment with, so I skipped the poutine there. Once we were in town, every time I saw poutine I’d just eaten. It wasn’t until we were driving back home that I realized I’d missed out on one of the more alluring delicasies I’ve heard about in a while.

So, you can imagine my frustration when I saw poutine right in the middle of iVillage’s recent Top 10 list of Canadian foods one must try.

A note of thanks to Yvonne Jones, for the tip on this list.

*** Become a Facebook fan of Canadian of the Week! ***

The iVillage list is definitely worth checking out for photos and complete descriptions of these treats (for those unfamiliar), but what I’m looking for is some feedback from Canadians on what was left off the list (seen below), and/or recipes for how to make your favorites on this list.

In no particular order (I think), here’s their list:

Canada Day Cake: A basic sheet cake decorated like a Canadian flag to be eaten on Canada Day (July 1). Sounds simple enough.

Canadian Bacon: We already know and love Canadian bacon in the U.S., though it’s fun to know that in Canada, it’s just called bacon and our kind is the “different” one.

Tourtiere: A savory pie usually made with ground pork.

Nanaimo Bars: Non-baked, three-layer bars named after their B.C. city of origin. Base layer is usually crushed graham crackers with cocoa and coconut, middle layer is a sort of vanilla pudding, and it’s topped with a chocolate frosting. Sounds incredible.

Poutine: Alas, poutine.

Saskatoon Berries: About the size of blueberries, they grow wild in Western Canada

Spruce Beer: Sort of like Ginger Beer, but made with spruce roots and bark mixed with molasses.

Beaver Tails: Not the real animal tails. Sweet fried flatbreads that take toppings like cinnamon, and fruit compotes.

Salmon Candy: Yes, the real fish, sweetened with maple syrup, salt and smoked which sounds kinda gross, I have to say. Am I wrong?

Maple Leaf Cookies: A buttery sugar cookie made with maple syrup.

Alright, Canadians. In my quest to learn as much about the Great White North as possible, please comment below with thoughts on anything that’s missing from this list (recipes welcome!), and suggestions on how to make or obtain any of your faves.

*** Follow Canadian of the Week on Twitter! ***

Another day, another Quebecer topping a list.

Yesterday, we reported that Montreal’s Emmanuelle Chriqui took the top spot in AskMen.com’s 99 Most Desirable Women list.

Today, it’s Celine Dion of Charlemagne, Quebec, topping the L.A. Times’ “Ultimate 10″ list of top-earning musicians of the decade.

The Times theorized that Celine’s recipe for success was to hit it big, then “roll the dice, then stay put.”

*** Become a Facebook fan of Canadian of the Week! ***

After tearing up the charts and scoring huge with “My Heart Will Go On,” Celine closed the decade with a five-year regular show in Las Vegas, which was — pardon the obvious pun — where she really hit the jackpot.

All told, the Times estimated Celine made nearly $748 million over this millennium’s first 10 years, besting Kenny Chesney ($742 million) and Dave Matthews Band ($737.4 million).

*** Follow Canadian of the Week on Twitter! ***

The rest of the list:

The Beatles ($627.3 million)
U2 ($609.7 million)
Toby Keith ($591.9 million)
Bruce Springsteen ($588.3 million)
The Rolling Stones ($569.6 million)
Tim McGraw ($550.7 million)
Britney Spears ($494.3 million)

See how they did it at latimes.com.

After a week of voting, a handful of Canada’s largest and well-known cities are in danger of not even making it on the board in a new version of Monopoly Canada.

Hasbro, the company that makes the game, has opened a public vote to decide which cities will occupy the 22 spaces on the board that were originally named for streets and areas in Atlantic City, N.J. (a la, Boardwalk, Park Place, St. Charles Place, etc.).

With 65 cities in the running for 20 of the spaces, Winnipeg and Edmonton aren’t making the cut, and Toronto is barely hanging on in 20th place.

The final two spaces — the “low-rent” spots occupied by Mediterranean and Baltic avenues in the original game — will be decided by a separate wild-card vote based on nominations of any and all cities in Canada.

People can vote for three cities each day until the vote closes on Feb. 7, 2010. The city that receives the most votes will be placed on the highest rent property traditionally held by Boardwalk.

The wild card vote for the two low-rent spaces will take place from February 8, 2010 until February 21, 2010.

Canadian of the Week thinks that in addition to the great cities that will occupy the spaces on the board, some uniquely named bergs might qualify as game pieces to go along with what’s sure to include a hockey player, a maple leaf and a totem pole:

Medicine Hat
Red Deer
Wood Buffalo
Whitehorse
Yellowknife
Moose Jaw
White Rock

Here’s a look at the current leading cities and their percentages of the vote, as of midnight Wednesday:

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. 5.4

Calgary 4.7

Chatham-Kent, Ont. 3.7

Quebec City 3.4

Trois-Rivieres, Que. 2.9

St. John’s, N.L. 2,8

Kawartha Lakes, Ont. 2.7

Medicine Hat, Alta. 2.7

Montreal 2.6

Victoria 2.5

Windsor, Ont. 2.4

Shawinigan, Que. 2.3

Kelowna, B.C. 2.3

Sarnia, Ont. 2.3

North Bay, Ont. 2.1

Vancouver 2.1

Ottawa 2.1

Gastineau 2.0

London, Ont. 2.0

Toronto 2.0

Canadians came up big at Sunday night’s Golden Globe Awards, with director James Cameron taking home the top prizes as he won for Best Director and his film, “Avatar,” claimed the trophy for Best Motion Picture, Drama.

The Kapuskasing, Ontario, native who’s long lived in Los Angeles has had a heck of a year with the release of his long-awaited and highly anticipated adventure film to the far-off planet of Pandora. The film was Cameron’s first since a little thing called “Titanic” was released 12 years ago, and it seems the wait didn’t hamper the new film’s performance. In addition to claiming some major awards, it’s approaching $500 million gross revenue at the box office, according to boxofficemojo.com, putting it third place all time after “Titanic” ($600 million) and “The Dark Knight” ($533 million).

Elsewhere, screenwriter and director Jason Reitman took home a Best Screenplay award with co-writer Sheldon Turner for “Up in the Air,” which starred George Clooney. Reitman, of Montreal, also directed the film, but lost in that category to the aforementioned Cameron.

FInally, Calgary’s Cory Monteith was not nominated for an individual acting award, but his show “Glee” won the top prize for Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy, knocking off heavy hitters such as “30 Rock,” “The Office” and “Entourage,” and another highly touted newcomer, “Modern Family.”

See all the Golden Globe results here.

In case you missed it, the Order of Canada honorees were announced this week and Governor General Michaelle Jean included NHL legend Mario Lemieux of Montreal, film director Ivan Reitman of Toronto, and folk rocker Neil Young of Winnipeg among the 57 honorees for the year,

All three men were given the honor of Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors which recognizes “a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to community and service to the nation.”

We here at Canadian of the Week figure if they’re good enough for the Governor General, they’re good enough for us, and we’re therefore proud to bestow the additional honor of Canadian of the Week on all three of them.

Here are their citations from Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean:

Mario Lemieux
For his contributions as one of hockey’s most gifted players, as an inspirational role model and mentor, and for supporting charitable initiatives through the Mario Lemieux Foundation.

Ivan Reitman
For his contributions as a director and producer, and for his promotion of the Canadian film and television industries.

Neil Young
For his contributions as one of Canada’s greatest musical talents whose unique voice and iconic songs have influenced generations of musicians, and for his support of educational and charitable organizations.

See the full list of honorees here.

It was only a matter of time before The Shat was named Canadian of the Week.

The Montreal native has entertained us in some form or another for more than half a century, and in a revealing and fascinating interview with GQ this month, William Shatner opens our eyes to what makes Shatner SHATNER.

In the article, he opens up about giving in and joining the joke that had become of his career after years of trying to be taken seriously as an actor.

Unsuccessful at shedding the Capt. James T. Kirk aura, Shatner bought into it and embraced the Trekkies, and also developed his own aura in the form of an eccentric and dramatic spoken wordsmith who has taken on Priceline commercials and, more recently, Sarah Palin speeches.

And now, at age 78, Shatner is hotter than ever.

You’ll have to get your hands on a copy of GQ to read the full article, but to hear some audio excerpts of the interview, click here.

Photo: BIO