Great Canadian Faceoff

We called on ordinary Canadians with famous faces to send us their photos

Alex Ballingall
<p>The winner: Cathy Mansley (R) of Halifax and Shania Twain.</p>

Cathy Mansley of Halifax and Shania Twain

Inspired by an item in our Capital Diary column last April, which featured a New Brunswick in­surance company employee who is often being mistaken for Tory MP John Baird, we decided a contest was in order. We received dozens of reader submissions in Maclean’s first-ever Great Canadian Faceoff. But the one who caused the most double takes was Cathy Mansley from Halifax. The 44-year-old RCMP officer’s striking resemblance to Shania Twain has been noted over the years by everyone from store cashiers to close friends, who, she says, “tease me and ask me to sing.”

Other notables include Jake Lawrence from Calgary, who, according to his mother Lynda, has been swarmed by screaming girls who think he’s Justin Bieber. And Vancouver’s Tracey Sarah Carter was once stopped by a group of merchants in France who were convinced she was Céline Dion. She’s always a good sport about it. In fact, the French teacher says she can do a “mean impression” of the singer.