Eight Vancouver Island residents are among 135 additions to the Order of Canada announced Wednesday.
The honours list was topped by Manitoba’s Murray Sinclair, the noted Indigenous advocate and former senator who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into Canada’s residential school history.
The only other person named as companions to the order — the highest level —was Life of Pi novelist Yann Martel, who was recognized for both literary and philanthropic contributions. For years, the author and his wife, novelist Alice Kuipers, have helped Indigenous people and at-risk mothers and babies in Saskatchewan. The couple have donated a house rent-free in Saskatoon to a series of refugee families from Syria, Sudan and Eritrea.
Also listed as either officers or members of the order were:
• North Saanich’s Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, who in 2006 was named B.C.’s first Representative for Children and Youth. Her appointment spoke of her ongoing commitment to improving the child welfare system and supports for Indigenous people.
• University of Victoria professor emeritus Verena Tunnicliffe for her contributions to ocean sciences and for pioneering scientific exploration of the deep sea.
• Victoria’s Janis Dunning and Jacques Lemay, for contributions to arts and young artists.
• David Zussman, chair of UVic’s board of governors, for his contributions to public service management and policymaking, as a scholar, public servant and sought-after advisor.
• Former Vancouver Island University president Ralph Nilson of Nanaimo for that role and for his student advocacy and commitment to the process of reconciliation
• Lily Siewsan Chow of Victoria, for preserving and promoting the history of early Chinese immigrants to Canada and their contributions to the country’s social and economic development.
• Sidney’s Donald Chisholm McKenzie, for his expertise in sports medicine and for his seminal research on the effectiveness of exercise as an intervention for breast cancer patients.
Others Canadians named to the order included Dr. Mehran Anvari, an innovator in robotic surgery, and cybercartographer D.R. Fraser Taylor, who revolutionized the way maps are drawn and used.
It also includes Judy Cameron, the first woman pilot for Air Canada and the country’s first female captain of both a Boeing 767 and 777.
In the 1970s, Cameron rode a motorbike across B.C. to get to flight school, becoming its first woman graduate. The pilot said receiving the Order of Canada “is the greatest honour of my life.”
Sprinter Bruny Surin, who helped secure a gold medal for the men’s relay team at the 1996 Olympics, runs onto the list alongside retired justice Hugh Fraser, a fellow sprinter who represented Canada at the 1976 summer Olympics.
Among the many Indigenous recipients is Deborah Chatsis, the first member of a First Nation to serve as an ambassador for Canada. Chatsis, who served as ambassador to Vietnam and Guatemala, as well as high commissioner to Belize, is a member of Ahtahkakoop First Nation.
Diane Sowden, who for almost two decades has campaigned against the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children, is among those honoured for helping fellow Canadians. She began her campaign after her 13-year-old daughter was “sold” for a drug debt and exploited on the streets of Vancouver.
The 2021 list of additions and promotions to the order is the first to be announced by Mary Simon, who became governor general in July.
In a statement, Simon said the list of inductees represents examples of Canadians who have made outstanding contributions to the well-being of communities, “whether it be social, environmental, scientific, economic, cultural or related to mental and physical health.”
Simon will host next year’s investiture ceremonies for the nominees at Rideau Hall, her official residence in Ottawa, bestowing recipients with the insignia of the order: a white enamel snowflake of six points with a stylized maple leaf at its centre.
More than 7,500 people have been invested into the Order of Canada since it was first established in 1967.
— With files from the Times Colonist
