A public health researcher, a disability sports advocate and several trailblazing women who achieved firsts in their fields are among the 61 people being honoured with New Year’s appointments to the Order of Canada.
The list also includes a billionaire developer and philanthropist, a rock singer and a former First Nation chief and community builder.
Gov. Gen. Julie Payette announced the new appointments to one of Canada’s highest civilian honours today. The order recognizes “people whose service shapes our society, whose innovations ignite our imaginations and whose compassion unites our communities,” according to a statement from the Office of the Secretary of the Governor General.
While most of the people on this year’s list aren’t household names (last year’s list included Oscar-winning director James Cameron, Nobel laureate Donna Strickland and former prime minister Stephen Harper), they’re all highly accomplished in their fields.
Robert Steadward is a now-retired sports scientist who was instrumental in the creation of the modern Paralympic Games and served for 12 years as the founding president of the International Paralympic Committee. He joins Cameron, Strickland and Harper as a companion of the order. Steadward was promoted to the highest of the order’s three levels after being appointed an officer in 1998.
“When I got this little email that I’m supposed to call someone in the [Governor General’s] office, gosh, I felt like I was at school again being called to the principal’s office,” Steadward said from his home in Edmonton.
“Your heart races, your mind starts to wander and you just try to think what, why, when and where and all of that. So it really was a very special moment in time for me.”
Robert Steadward, a longtime advocate for disability sports and the founding president of the International Paralympic Committee, was appointed as a companion to the Order of Canada. (Submitted by Robert Steadward)
Payette’s office says Steadward is being honoured for his “lifelong dedication to propelling the Paralympic movement forward on a global scale.”
In the early 1980s, he helped develop a proposal to centralize the governance of disability sport at the international level. When the International Paralympic Committee was created, he was elected its first president.
“I get a thrill of telling people what individuals living with disabilities have been able to do to change the world, to change sport or to change the world through sport … the unbelievable achievements that these young athletes have made,” said Steadward.
Trailblazing women
Louise Mailhot, a former lawyer and judge who sat on the Superior Court of Quebec and became the first female judge to serve on Quebec’s Court of Appeal in 1987, is one of several women pioneers being appointed as members of the order — the order’s entry level.
“They phoned me about three weeks ago. I was very surprised, very taken by surprise of course, but very happy,” said Mailhot from Montreal.
In addition to practicing employment and public law and serving as a judge, Mailhot was co-editor of multiple legal reviews, authored a book on the appellate process and helped develop a training program for drafting Canadian judges.
Louise Mailhot, a former lawyer and judge in Quebec, is being recognized for her contributions to the judicial profession and for her advocacy for gender equality. (Submitted by Louise Mailhot)
She is being honoured for her contributions to the legal profession, her advocacy for gender equality and her promotion of women in the field.
“It’s sort of a recognition of this long period of fighting,” said Mailhot. “When I would go to the practice court, the other lawyers were saying, ‘You’re the secretary of which cabinet? Of which senior lawyer?’ They never thought that I was a lawyer myself.”
Another trailblazer, Toronto engineer Gina Cody, has been appointed as a member of the order. Cody immigrated to Canada in 1979 at the age of 22 when her family fled the Iranian Revolution.
She was the first woman to be awarded a PhD in building engineering at Concordia University in Montreal and went on to found a successful consulting firm, CCI Group, that was named one of Canada’s most profitable woman-owned companies by Profit magazine in 2010.
The faculty of engineering at Concordia now bears her name. The Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science is the first in Canada — and one of the first in the world — to be named after a woman.
Cody said she hopes her appointment inspires more women to enter the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics — especially as economies undergo a “fourth industrial revolution” characterized by automation and smart technology.
“That’s the message I want to send out — that parents encourage their girls and young children to get into the STEM programs,” said Cody.
Growing recognition of Indigenous peoples
Legal scholar John Borrows, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria’s law school, said it was a “jaw-dropping moment” when found out he was being appointed an officer of the order — the second-highest level.
“There was no inkling that that was going to happen,” said Borrows.
Borrows is being recognized for his scholarly work on Indigenous rights and legal traditions.
Hailing from the Chippewas of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario, Borrows is one of several people of Indigenous heritage on this year’s list.
“People are recognizing more strongly that Indigenous lives are part of our landscape,” he said. “That bodes well because we have lots of work to do to recognize treaties, Aboriginal title, Aboriginal rights, as well as the internal laws of Indigenous Peoples to deal with some of the challenges we’re facing within our communities.”
Legal scholar John Borrows (left) and Elder Carolyn King (right) are two of several appointees who are being recognized for their work on Indigenous issues and advancing the causes of Indigenous peoples. (Submitted by John Borrows/Submitted by Carolyn King)
Elder Carolyn King is another new officer of the Order of Canada. She is a community builder, educator and former chief of the Mississauga of the Credit First Nation in Ontario.
King has spent years working to improve the quality of life in her community through an economic development program for her First Nation and her deep involvement in community planning.
“There’s a lot of people, Indigenous people, who are doing a lot of good work in their communities and it just hasn’t been recognized as part of the system,” said King. “Going forward with more people being recognized, nominated and being recognized, I think is very important for our future.”
Public health during a pandemic
In a year which saw a pandemic disrupt the social and economic life of the entire planet, Dr. Vivek Goel’s appointment to the order is especially timely. A trained public health physician, Goel spent most of his career as a public health researcher and was the founding president of Public Health Ontario from 2008 to 2014.
“It obviously feels great, and particularly because part of the recognition is for my work in public health. And in the midst of a global pandemic, to be recognized for this, it’s wonderful to see,” said Goel.
Goel, now a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, has been involved in a number of research initiatives related to COVID-19 and has been widely quoted in the media.
Dr. Vivek Goel was named a member of the Order of Canada for his contributions to public health research and university administration. (Submitted by Vivek Goel)
Goel said the visibility of those who work in public health goes through a “boom-bust cycle” that makes them household names during a health crisis before they fade into the backdrop when the crisis passes.
“Just to be recognized for contributions in public health is really meaningful because, quite often, the people that work in public health are working in the background and are not recognized to the degree that, for example, front line health care workers are recognized for their contributions,” said Goel. “I don’t want to discount their contributions, but we tend to hear a lot more about front line health care workers than people working in public health.”
Ray Ivany, a former university administrator who now sits on the Bank of Canada’s Board of Directors, called it a “profound honour” to be named a member of the order.
“You go through your career doing the best that you can and you don’t think of things like an award … I was shocked,” said Ivany, who was president and vice-chancellor of Acadia University from 2009 to 2017.
Ray Ivany says it’s a ‘profound honour’ to join the Order of Canada. (CBC)
Ivany, who is being honoured for his “steadfast commitment to higher education and public service in Nova Scotia,” also served as the commissioner of the Nova Scotia Commission on Building Our New Economy.
“I’ve always believed that smart public policy can make a positive difference in people’s lives,” Ivany said.
The billionaire founder of Mattamy Homes, Peter Gilgan, was promoted to officer of the order. Gilgan is known for his philanthropy in the health care and education sectors: he made a $100 million donation to The Hospital for Sick Children last June and donated $3.3 million to St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto to increase its COVID-19 testing capacity.
“It’s a huge honour to join the ranks of such a revered group of Canadians,” said Gilgan. “It inspires one to carry on and do more.”
Peter Gilgan, founder of Mattamy Homes, received a promotion to companion of the Order of Canada in recognition of his contributions to health care, the well-being of children and community-building. (Submitted by Peter Gilgan )
Celebrated singer-songwriter Art Bergmann is being recognized for what the Governor General’s office calls his “indelible contributions to the Canadian punk music scene, and for his thought-provoking discourse on social, gender and racial inequalities.”
“It’s humbling. And I want to know who did this to me,” said Bergmann.
Bergmann made his mark on Vancouver’s punk scene in the 1970s and 1980s as a member of multiple bands, including the K-Tels, which was subsequently renamed the Young Canadians. He has since written songs and published albums as a solo artist and won a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album in 1996.
Bergman, who now lives with his wife in Rocky View County, Alta., is known for his sharply political, anti-establishment lyrics. He said he wants to divert any publicity generated by his appointment toward pressuring the federal government over its failure to provide adequate housing and clean water to First Nations.
Rock singer Art Bergmann is being honoured for his ‘indelible contributions to the Canadian punk music scene, and for his thought-provoking discourse on social, gender and racial inequalities.’ (Submitted by Art Bergmann)
“There’s a few things that have gone wrong in Canada … [and] me not having an award for my work is not one of them,” said Bergmann. “Honour the treaties, give the First Nations water and housing and thank you very much, Canada — a work in progress.”
Normally, the Office of the Governor-General holds four investiture ceremonies yearly, where about 40 appointees are presented with symbolic medals, said Rob McKinnon, a spokesperson for the office.
He said in-person ceremonies are on hold for the time being because of the pandemic. McKinnon said a virtual ceremony could still happen, but there will be no details until sometime in the New Year.
The Order of Canada
Gov. Gen. Julie Payette has appointed the following people, who were recommended for appointment by the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada:
Companions of the Order of Canada
Robert Daniel Steadward, C.C., A.O.E. (This is a promotion within the order)
Officers of the Order of Canada
John Borrows, O.C.
Helen M. Burt, O.C.
John Challis, O.C.
Elizabeth A. Edwards, O.C.
Peter E. Gilgan, O.C., O.Ont. (This is a promotion within the order)
OTTAWA, W.Va. – U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s promise launch a mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants has the Canadian government looking at its own border.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Friday the issue is one of two “points of focus” for a recently revived cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations.
Freeland said she has also been speaking to premiers about the issue this week.
“I do want Canadians to know it is one of our two central points of focus. Ministers are working hard on it, and we absolutely believe that it’s an issue that Canadians are concerned about, Canadians are right to be concerned about it,” Freeland said, after the committee met for the first time since Trump left office in 2021.
She did not provide any details of the plan ministers are working on.
Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc, whose portfolio includes responsibility for the Canada Border Services Agency, co-chairs the committee. Freeland said that highlights the importance of border security to Canada-U.S. relations.
There was a significant increase in the number of irregular border crossings between 2016 and 2023, which the RCMP attributed in part to the policies of the first Trump administration.
The national police service said it has been working through multiple scenarios in case there is a change in irregular migration after Trump takes office once again, and any response to a “sudden increase in irregular migration” will be co-ordinated with border security and immigration officials.
However, Syed Hussan with the Migrant Rights Network said he does not anticipate a massive influx of people coming into Canada, chalking the current discussion up to anti-migrant panic.
“I’m not saying there won’t be some exceptions, that people will continue to cross. But here’s the thing, if you look at the people crossing currently into the U.S. from the Mexico border, these are mostly people who are recrossing post-deportation. The reason for that is, is that people have families and communities and jobs. So it seems very unlikely that people are going to move here,” he said.
Since the Safe Third Country Agreement was modified last year, far fewer people are making refugee claims in Canada through irregular border crossings.
The agreement between Canada and the U.S. acknowledges that both countries are safe places for refugees, and stipulates that asylum seekers must make a refugee claim in the country where they first arrive.
The number of people claiming asylum in Canada after coming through an irregular border crossing from the U.S. peaked at 14,000 between January and March 2023.
At that time, the rule was changed to only allow for refugee claims at regular ports of entry, with some specific exemptions.
This closed a loophole that had seen tens of thousands of people enter Canada at Roxham Road in Quebec between 2017 and 2023.
In the first six months of 2024, fewer than 700 people made refugee claims at irregular crossings.
There are 34,000 people waiting to have their refugee claims processed in Canada, according to government data.
In the first 10 months of this year, U.S. border officials recorded nearly 200,000 encounters with people making irregular crossings from Canada. Around 27,000 encounters took place at the border during the first 10 months of 2021.
Hussan said the change to the Safe Third Country Agreement made it less likely people will risk potentially dangerous crossings into Canada.
“Trying to make a life in Canada, it’s actually really difficult. It’s more difficult to be an undocumented person in Canada than the U.S. There’s actually more services in the U.S. currently, more access to jobs,” Hussan said.
Toronto-based immigration lawyer Robert Blanshay said he is receiving “tons and tons” of emails from Americans looking at possibly relocating to Canada since Trump won the election early Wednesday.
He estimates that about half are coming from members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“I spoke to a guy yesterday, he and his partner from Kansas City. And he said to me, ‘You know, things weren’t so hunky-dory here in Kansas City being gay to begin with. The entire political climate is just too scary for us,'” Blanshay said.
Blanshay said he advised the man he would likely not be eligible for express entry into Canada because he is at retirement age.
He also said many Americans contacted him to inquire about moving north of the border after Trump’s first electoral victory, but like last time, he does not anticipate many will actually follow through.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024
VANCOUVER – The British Columbia New Democrats have a majority government of 47 seats after a recount in the riding of Surrey-Guildford gave the party’s candidate 22 more votes than the provincial Conservatives.
Confirmation of victory for Premier David Eby’s party comes nearly three weeks after election night when no majority could be declared.
Garry Begg of the NDP had officially gone into the recount yesterday with a 27-vote lead, although British Columbia’s chief electoral officer had said on Tuesday there were 28 unreported votes and these had reduced the margin to 21.
There are ongoing recounts in Kelowna Centre and Prince George-Mackenzie, but these races are led by John Rustad’s B.C. Conservatives and the outcomes will not change the majority status for the New Democrats.
The Election Act says the deadline to appeal results after a judicial recount must be filed with the court within two days after they are declared, but Andrew Watson with Elections BC says that due to Remembrance Day on Monday, that period ends at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Eby has said his new cabinet will be announced on Nov. 18, with the 44 members of the Opposition caucus and two members from the B.C. Greens to be sworn in Nov. 12 and the New Democrat members of the legislature to be sworn in the next day.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
MONTREAL – The employers association at the Port of Montreal has issued the dockworkers’ union a “final, comprehensive offer,” threatening to lock out workers at 9 p.m. Sunday if a deal isn’t reached.
The Maritime Employers Association says its new offer includes a three per cent salary increase per year for four years and a 3.5 per cent increase for the two subsequent years. It says the offer would bring the total average compensation package of a longshore worker at the Port of Montreal to more than $200,000 per year at the end of the contract.
“The MEA agrees to this significant compensation increase in view of the availability required from its employees,” it wrote Thursday evening in a news release.
The association added that it is asking longshore workers to provide at least one hour’s notice when they will be absent from a shift — instead of one minute — to help reduce management issues “which have a major effect on daily operations.”
Syndicat des débardeurs du port de Montréal, which represents nearly 1,200 longshore workers, launched a partial unlimited strike on Oct. 31, which has paralyzed two terminals that represent 40 per cent of the port’s total container handling capacity.
A complete strike on overtime, affecting the whole port, began on Oct. 10.
The union has said it will accept the same increases that were granted to its counterparts in Halifax or Vancouver — 20 per cent over four years. It is also concerned with scheduling and work-life balance. Workers have been without a collective agreement since Dec. 31, 2023.
Only essential services and activities unrelated to longshoring will continue at the port after 9 p.m. Sunday in the event of a lockout, the employer said.
The ongoing dispute has had major impacts at Canada’s second-biggest port, which moves some $400 million in goods every day.
On Thursday, Montreal port authority CEO Julie Gascon reiterated her call for federal intervention to end the dispute, which has left all container handling capacity at international terminals at “a standstill.”
“I believe that the best agreements are negotiated at the table,” she said in a news release. “But let’s face it, there are no negotiations, and the government must act by offering both sides a path to true industrial peace.”
Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon issued a statement Thursday, prior to the lockout notice, in which he criticized the slow pace of talks at the ports in Montreal and British Columbia, where more than 700 unionized port workers have been locked out since Nov. 4.
“Both sets of talks are progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved,” he wrote on the X social media platform.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
