Ethel Blondin-Andrew was the first Indigenous female Member of Parliament ever elected in Canada in 1988.Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press
Canada’s first Indigenous female Member of Parliament Ethel Blondin-Andrew and Nunavut’s first MP, Nancy Karetak-Lindell, are among 85 Canadians appointed to the Order of Canada, considered the country’s highest civilian honour.
The list announced on Wednesday by Governor-General Mary Simon also included dozens of performers, athletes, experts and leaders who have “contributed to a better Canada.”
Ms. Blondin-Andrew of Norman Wells, NWT, was first elected as an MP in 1988 for the district of Western Arctic in the Northwest Territories, going on to become the minister of state for northern development under former Prime Minister Paul Martin. She is being honoured for her “long-standing advocacy of northern and Indigenous people, languages and culture.”
Ms. Karetak-Lindell, of Arviat, Nunavut, was elected as an MP for Nunavut – then known as the riding of Nunatsiaq – in 1997. She was appointed for her “commitment to bringing northern and Inuit voices to Parliament.”
Emmy-nominated film and television star Sandra Oh.Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
“I come from a family that was taught to help others and to do it with care and love and respect, without looking to be recognized for it. So to think that people feel that I have deserved to be given this Order of Canada is a real honour,” Ms. Karetak-Lindell said on Wednesday from Arviat. “And of course, being Inuk, it means that much more with the Governor-General of today being an Inuk, too.”
Others appointees included elders Rosemary and Reg Crowshoe of Calgary, who were recognized for their contributions to preserving Blackfoot culture and to reconciliation, as well as elders Imelda and David Perley of Tobique First Nation, N.B., for their contributions to “the academic and cultural landscapes of their province.”
This year’s list also featured notable performers and directors, including Emmy-nominated film and television star Sandra Oh, from Ottawa, best known for her roles in Killing Eve and Grey’s Anatomy, as well as film director and screenwriter François Girard of Montreal.
A large number of sports icons were also appointed to the Order, including trailblazing athletes such as Angela James of Richmond Hill, Ont., a Hockey Hall of Famer known as one of the first superstars of women’s hockey. Olympic track champion Donovan Bailey, from Oakville, Ont., and Stacey Allaster, of Welland, Ont., the first female tournament director of the U.S. Open, were also among the new appointees.
Hockey Hall of Famer Angela James.Randy Quan/The Globe and Mail
Recipients will be presented with their insignia at a later date in Ottawa, depending on their availability. Rideau Hall hosts an average of four investiture ceremonies a year. Honorees get a silver insignia shaped like a six-pointed snowflake with a red annulus in the middle and a royal crown above. It also features a stylized maple leaf with the order’s motto: desiderantes meliorem patriam, which means, “They desire a better country.”
The Order of Canada was formed in 1967. It recognizes “extraordinary contributions to the nation,” according to the Governor-General’s website. To date, more than 7,600 people from varying sectors of society have been appointed.
Here is the full list of the 85 new appointments:
Companions
Stacey Ann Allaster, of Welland, Ont.
Frank Joseph Hayden, of Oakville, Ont.
Peter Howard Russell, of Toronto
Donald Joseph Savoie, of Moncton, N.B.
Officers
Naomi Sara Azrieli, of Toronto
Donovan Bailey, of Oakville, Ont.
Ethel Dorothy Blondin-Andrew, of Norman Wells, NWT
Robert Charles Davidson, of White Rock, B.C.
Paul Joseph Dubord, of Vancouver
Aled Morgan Edwards, of Toronto
Donald Arthur Enarson (deceased), of White Rock, B.C.
François Girard, of Montreal
Ian Stewart Hodkinson, of Kingston
Angela Diane James, of Richmond Hill, Ont.
David Thomas Lynch, of Edmonton
Sandra Oh, of Ottawa
Alberto Pérez-Gómez, of Montreal
David Waltner-Toews, of Kitchener, Ont.
Members
Frances Abele, of Ottawa
Ajay K. Agrawal, of Toronto
Louis-Philippe J. Léo Albert, of Fredericton
R. Jamie Anderson, of Toronto
Suzanne Aubry, of Montreal
Hereditary Chief Stephen Joseph Augustine, of Elsipogtog First Nation, N.B.
Granger Richard Avery, of Port McNeill, B.C.
Michel Beaulac, of Montreal
André Blanchet, of Montreal
Marilyn C. Bodogh, of St. Catharines, Ont.
Jacques Bourgault, of Montreal
Bernard Brault, of Longueuil, Que.
Marilyn Caroline Brooks-Coles, of Toronto
Marion R. Buller, of Vancouver
James Thomas Byrnes, of Vancouver
Geneviève Cadieux, of Montreal
James Lloyd Cassels, of Victoria, B.C.
Euclide Patrice Chiasson, of Dieppe, N.B.
William Foster Clark, of London, Ont.
Zane Cohen, of Toronto
Ethel Côté, of Rivière-Rouge, Que.
Elders Reg Crowshoe and Rosemary Crowshoe, of Calgary
Sheldon John Currie, of Antigonish, N.S.
Reginald Lester Davidson, of Masset, B.C.
Dorothy Ina Elgiva Dobbie, of Winnipeg
Eliahu Tzion Fathi, of Ottawa
Madeleine Féquière, of Hampstead, Que.
Staff Sergeant Gary Eugene Goulet (retired), of Edmonton, Alta.
Michael Terry Harris, of Lunenburg, N.S.
Paul Earl Heinbecker, of Ottawa
Deborra Jane Hope, of Vancouver
Sister Margaret Mary Hughes, of Saskatoon
Moira Fleming Hutchinson, of Toronto
Gérard Jean, of Winnipeg, Man.
Adam Kahane, of Montreal
Nancy Uqquujuq Karetak-Lindell, of Arviat, Nunavut
Eva-Marie Kröller, of Vancouver
Gary Avrom Levy, of Thornhill, Ont.
Alexander Mair, of Toronto, Ont.
Guy Matte, of Ottawa, Ont.
Milton McClaren, of Kelowna, B.C.
Roderick James McKay, of Calgary
Ben Mink, of Vancouver
Donald James Mowat, of Toronto
Robert Donald Munro, of St. Catharines, Ont.
Sister Bernadette Mary O’Reilly, of Saskatoon
Donna Ouchterlony, of Toronto
Fred Pellerin, of Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, Que.
Elders David Gerard Perley and Imelda Mary Perley, of Tobique First Nation, N.B.
G. Ross Peters, of St. John’s, N.L.
Sandra Pitblado, of Toronto
Guy Jacques Pratte, of Ottawa
Parminder S. Raina, of Hamilton
Joel Solomon Reitman, of Toronto
David Nicholas Rush, of Winnipeg, Man.
Anne Helen Russel, of Victoria, B.C.
Suzanne Sauvage, of Montreal
Martin T. Schechter, of Vancouver
Jacques Jean Meor Shore, of Ottawa
Ronald Julien Tremblay, of Edmonton
Guylaine Tremblay, of Montreal
Michelle Valberg, of Gloucester, Ont.
Germaine Therese Warkentin, of Toronto
James Malcolm West, of Montreal
Michael West, of Winnipeg, Man.
Margie Wolfe, of Toronto
Lorraine M. Wright, of Calgary
Robert Stewart Wyatt, of Edmonton
Jan Zwicky, of Heriot Bay, B.C.
With a report from The Canadian Press.
Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.