Does anyone know if there's an effort underway to nominate Joe Flaherty for a star on Canada's Walk of Fame? SCTV as a whole has one already, but several individual members have their own stars, and I think it would mean a lot to his family if he received one.

I'm shocked he doesn't have one. 

I checked the nomination rules for Canada's Walk of Fame. There are six main categories -- it looks like, for a posthumous nomination, "Legends" would be the appropriate choice (rather than "Arts and Entertainment"). And Joe definitely is a legend!

https://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/the-walk-of-fame/nomination-selection-process

It looks like they want an essay-style writeup, with specific details though probably not super-long (since a committee will be reading it alongside other nominations). I've done similar submissions for other awards, and based on what I've seen, write-ups that follow the instructions tend to be received more favourably (unless you're some huge celebrity and they're impressed just to see your name).

There are four criteria:

• Have been either been born in Canada or spent their formative/creative years living in Canada;

• Have a minimum of 10 years’ experience in their field with an established body of work;

• Have had an impact on our Canadian culture on a national or international basis;

• Embody many of the characteristics that are the essence of the Canadian identity: socially responsible, diverse, peace-loving, harmonious, creative, confident, innovative.

I think Joe Flaherty fits all four of these.

1. He wasn't born in Canada, but a lot of his writing and performing was done here. I haven't made a detailed timeline yet, but he came to Toronto in the early 70s to help start the Second City group. Joe was in the meeting where the television show was proposed, and stayed for the whole run of SCTV (the Canadian Encyclopedia says he and Andrea Martin were the only cast members who appeared in every single episode).

He went back to the US to do some projects, but he seems to have come back to Canada pretty often. He got involved with the comedy program at Humber College (some online sources say in the late 1990s, which I haven't verified yet, but certainly he taught there for several years in the 2000s). It looks like he may have stayed in Toronto after that? He retired around 2018. I thought it was pretty moving, that he chose to remain in Canada even when he knew his health was deteriorating. He died in the city he'd first arrived in as a 30-something, more than five decades earlier.

2) The Walk of Fame is asking that nominees have worked for least a decade in their field. Counting the time Joe was doing theatre after he served in the USAF -- his entertainment career was more than half a century.

Partial lists of works:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0280886/https://www.secondcity.com/people/other/joe-flaherty/

3) Joe's most recognizable contribution was as one of the original SCTV cast. Some of his fellow performers have credited him with being the "anchor" or "motor" of the show. Without Joe, the show still would have happened and people like Eugene Levy, Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara, etc. likely would have had successful careers regardless ... but SCTV itself probably would have looked a lot different. Dave Thomas credits Joe with writing some of the show's most distinctive sketches.
https://www.cp24.com/news/sctv-star-comedian-joe-flaherty-dies-following-illness-daughter-says-1.6830391

When Joe's death was announced, many Canadians and some Americans expressed surprise that he wasn't born here, because his association with SCTV was so strong, and he'd been colleague and mentor to so many now-famous Canadians. Joe loved his adopted home, even cities like Toronto and Edmonton that have had their share of criticism.

4) Even though he was born south of the border, Joe displayed many of the characteristics that Canadians embrace and want to encourage in ourselves and others. He was an intelligent, hard-working, creative person who was confident yet still humble. Comedian Anthony Atamanuik (part-Canadian) remarked, "I wanted to be Joe Flaherty when I grew up." Since his death, many people who knew Joe or encountered him, have described him as generous and kind-hearted. He was very patient and open, when working with students -- and he made performing look so effortless that it was a surprise to hear that he sometimes struggled with anxiety. "Even when I did SCTV for a living, there were a lot of times I wanted to bail before curtain."
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/the-worrier-in-the-comic-mask/article1001345/

Joe was brave back then -- and he showed incredible courage in his final days, joking with his former SCTV colleagues.

I think it would make Joe's family very happy, if Canada recognized him on the Walk of Fame. Since his death, he's frequently been described as an honourary Canadian -- and this kind of award would be a way to thank him for his contribution to the cultural life of this country.

To be clear u/TapirTrouble : I applaud you for wanting to get a lasting national tribute to Joe Flaherty for his contribution to Canadian Comedy.

When Bruce McCall gets a CWOF slab of pavement with the “spat!” of a CWOF “star” on it, maybe the CWOF will go up in my estimation. Or when more writers get splats on the CWOF. And they should update the logo and make the slabs more solid and better looking. Then it would seem like a greater honour. Alternately: they could just have the celebrity’s signature in cast brass set into concrete. Something nice because Joe was really funny and deserved a nice marker.

The Canadian walk of fame is cheap and tawdry. All of the names are cracked and falling apart. Joe deserves his name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.