On July 20, 2005, Canada became the
fourth country in the world, and the
first country outside Europe, to legalize
same –sex marriage nationwide with
the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act
which provided a gender-neutral
marriage definition. Court decisions,
starting in 2003, had already legalized
same-sex marriage in eight out of ten
2
provinces and one of three territories,
whose residents comprised about 90%
of Canada's population. Before passage
of the Act, more than 3,000 same-sex
couples had already married in those
areas. Most legal benefits commonly
associated with marriage had been
extended to cohabiting same-sex
couples since 1999.
3
The Civil Marriage Act was introduced
by Prime Minister Paul Martin’s Liberal
minority government in the Canadian
House of Commons on February 1,
2005 as Bill C-38. It was passed by the
House of Commons on June 28, 2005,
by the Senate on July 19, 2005, and it
received Royal Assent the following
day. On December 7, 2006, the House
of Commons effectively reaffirmed the
4
legislation by a vote of 175 to 123,
defeating a motion of the Conservative
minority government to examine the
matter again. This was the third vote
supporting same-sex marriage taken
by three Parliaments under three Prime
Ministers in three different years.
5
6
Susan Ursel is a lawyer working in the
areas of labour and human rights.
Susan has been involved in the lesbian
and gay community for many years, as
a lawyer and an activist. In 1994, she
was the Lobby Coordinator for the
Campaign for Equal Families, working
for passage of Ontario's Bill 167, the
first same-sex relationship recognition
legislation to be introduced in a
7
Canadian legislature. She was a founder
and is a director of the Foundation for
Equal Families which continues this
work, most recently with its legal
challenge to Federal legislation which
discriminates
against
same-sex
partners. This effort has culminated in
the introduction Bill C-23, the Federal
response to ending discrimination
against our relationships.
8
9
Svend Robinson
Svend Robinson is a Canadian former
politician. He was a Member of
Parliament in the Canadian House of
Commons from 1979 to 2004,
representing the suburban Vancouverarea constituency of Burnaby for the
New Democratic Party.
10
11
Richard Vincent "Rick" Mercer is a
Canadian
comedian,
television
personality and political satirist.
Mercer's
partner
since
1990
is
television
producer
Gerald
Lunz.
Although the romantic relationship
came first, Lunz is also Mercer's longtime
partner
in
business,
who
discovered him, fostered his career,
12
and is currently the executive producer
of The Rick Mercer Report. He regards
his personal life as private, and says
little about it in public beyond
acknowledging that he is gay; in a 2011
interview on CBC Radio One’s The
Current, he clarified that he doesn't
specifically mention his sexuality on
Rick Mercer Report because it's just
"not what the show is about.
13
Other GBLT people of Distinction:
Kathryn Wynn, Gerrard Ennis
14
RACIALLY VISIBLE
15
16
Viola Davis Desmond (July 6, 1914 –
February 7, 1965) was a Black Nova
Scotian who was granted a posthumous
pardon, the first to be granted in
Canada. The government of Nova Scotia
also apologized for convicting her for
tax evasion, when, in fact, she was
resisting a "whites only" discrimination
policy in a movie theatre in 1946.
Desmond's story was one of the most
17
publicized
incidents
of
racial
discrimination in Canadian history.
Desmond acted nine years before the
famed incident by civil-rights activist
Rosa Parks, with whom Desmond is
often compared.
18
19
David Suzuki, Co-Founder of the
David Suzuki Foundation, is an awardwinning scientist, environmentalist and
broadcaster. He is renowned for his
radio and television programs that
explain the complexities of the natural
sciences in a compelling, easily
understood way.
20
21
Baltej Singh Dhillon, He was born in
1966 in Malaysia and immigrated to
Canada with his family in 1982. After
graduating from high school, based on
his previous experiences, Dhillon
decided that he wanted to join the
RCMP. He went to a recruiting office
and met all the initial requirements.
The recruiting officer raised the delicate
issue of the turban. RCMP policy did not
22
allow it; however the issue went to
then-Commissioner of the RCMP,
Norman Inkster. Inkster sided with
Dhillon, and pressure was put on the
federal government to change the
policy.
Over 150,000 people signed petitions
to retain the traditional RCMP dress
code, and sympathetic legislators
23
presented the results to Parliament.
Conversely, Sikh leaders pointed out
that turbaned Sikhs served in the British
Army in two World Wars and now work
in many Canadian police forces.
On March 16, 1990, the federal Solicitor
General, Pierre Cadieux, announced in
the House of Commons that the policy
was theretofore
24
amended to permit Sikhs to wear the
turban while on active duty in the
RCMP.
25
ABORIGINAL
26
27
Shannen Koostachin was born in
Attawapiskat First Nation on James Bay
coast, Ontario to Andrew Koostachin
and Jenny Nakogee. She attended J.R.
Nakogee elementary school, which had
been housed in makeshift portables
since 2000, when it was condemned
and closed due to a decades-old fuel
leak. By 2007, the federal government
had backed away from a third
28
commitment to building a new school
for Attawapiskat. Shannen spoke out
about
the
experiences
of
her
community
in
newspapers,
at
conferences, and on the steps of
Parliament Hill in 2008. At the age of
14, in 2009 she was nominated for the
International Children’s Peace Prize.
29
30
Roberta Jamieson, In 1982, Jamieson
became the first non-parliamentarian
to be appointed an ex-officio member
of a House of Commons Committee,
the Special Task Force on Indian SelfGovernment that in 1983 produced a
final report known by the name of its
chair, “The Penner Report”, supported
by all political parties, which stands to
this day as a viable framework for
31
Native self-government in Canada. She
was also chair of the legal group
advising the Assembly of First Nations
during the First Ministers’ Conferences
after the patriation of the Constitution.
32
33
Buffy
Sainte-Marie,
OC
(born
February 20, 1941) is a CanadianAmerican
Cree
singer-songwriter,
musician, composer, visual artist,
educator, pacifist, and social activist.
Throughout her career in all of these
areas, her work has focused on issues
of Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Her singing and writing repertoire also
includes subjects of love, war, religion,
and mysticism.
34
She founded the Cradleboard Teaching
Project, an educational curriculum
devoted to better understanding Native
Americans. She has won recognition
and many awards and honours for both
her music and her work in education
and social activism.
She was born Beverly Sainte-Marie in
1941 on the Piapot Cree First Nations
Reserve in the Qu’Appelle Valley,
35
Saskatchewan,
Canada.
She
was
orphaned and later adopted, growing
up in Wakefield, Massachusetts with
parents Albert and Winifred SainteMarie, who were related to her
biological parents. She attended the
University of Massachusetts Amherst,
earning degrees (BA 1963 and PhD
1983) in teaching and Oriental
philosophy and graduating in the top
ten of her class.
36
37
Albert Dumont, “South Wind”, is a
Poet, Storyteller, Speaker, and an
Algonquin Traditional Teacher. He was
born and raised in traditional Algonquin
territory (Kitigan Zibi). He has been
walking
the
“Red
Road”
since
commencing his sobriety in 1989.
Albert is currently a Spiritual Advisor
for Aboriginal offenders of J Unit at
Millhaven Institution. He has served
38
with the Ottawa Native Concerns
Committee since 1993 and also served
with the Ottawa and District Injured
Workers Group for six years (he is a
survivor of construction accident). He
was awarded the Public Service Alliance
of Canada – National Capital Region
(PSAC NCR) 2010 Human Rights
Recognition Award.
39
Other Aboriginal Peoples of distinction:
Leonard Marchant, Louis Reil, Ethel
Blondin-Andrew, Justin Rain, Alex
Meraz, Adam Beach
40
WOMEN
41
42
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell
(born March 10, 1947), PC CC OBC QC,
is a Canadian politician, lawyer,
university professor, diplomat, and
writer. She served as the 19th Prime
Minister of Canada, from June 25, 1993
to November 4, 1993. Campbell was
the first, and to date, the only female
Prime Minister of Canada, the first baby
43
boomer to hold that office, and the only
Prime Minister born in British Columbia.
44
45
BETTY BANNON Betty was elected
National President of the Union of
Taxation Employees in July 1999 and
was re-elected to the same position in
July 2002, July 2005 and July 2008. She
was the first woman to hold that
position. Betty first became a union
activist in 1972. She has held numerous
positions in both the Belleville and
Toronto Locals until she was elected
46
Regional Vice-President for Central
Ontario (Toronto) in 1981. Betty was
later elected to the position of 2nd
National Vice-President, then 1st
National Vice-President, which she held
from 1989 to 1999. Betty was the
longest serving member of the UTE
Executive.
47
48
Nycole Turmel is a long-time trade
unionist and served as president of the
Public Service Alliance of Canada from
2000 to 2006. Turmel became Fourth
Executive Vice-President of the PSAC in
1991, serving until 1994, when she
became First Executive Vice-President.
In that role, which she continued in
until 1997, Turmel was responsible for
women's equality issues within the
49
union. Turmel was elected president of
the PSAC on May 5, 2000, becoming
the first woman to ever assume this
role in the 34-year history of the PSAC.
In 2003, she was re-elected for a
second
three-year
term,
which
concluded in 2006.
50
51
Roberta Bondar, OC O.Ont FRCP(C)
FRSC; (born December 4, 1945) is
Canada’s first female astronaut and the
first neurologist in space. Following
more than a decade as NASA's head of
space medicine, Bondar became a
consultant and speaker in the business,
scientific, and medical communities.
She began astronaut training in 1984,
and in 1992 was designated Payload
52
Specialist for the first International
Microgravity Laboratory Mission (IML1). Bondar flew on the NASA Space
Shuttle Discovery during Mission STS42, January 22–30, 1992, during which
she performed experiments in the
Spacelab.
53
Bondar has received many honours
including the Order of Canada, the
Order of Ontario, the NASA Space
Medal, over 22 honorary degrees and
induction into the Canadian Medical
Hall of Fame.
54
Other noted Women of distinction:
Laura Secord, Clara Hughes and Agnes
Macphail
55
PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES
56
57
Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox (July
28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a
Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and
cancer research activist. In 1980, with
one leg having been amputated, he
embarked on a cross-Canada run to
raise money and awareness for cancer
research although the spread of his
cancer eventually forced him to end his
quest after 143 days and 5,373
58
Kilometers (3,339 mi), and ultimately
cost him his life; his efforts resulted in
a lasting, worldwide legacy. The annual
Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has
grown
to
involve
millions
of
participants in over 60 countries and is
now the world's largest one-day
fundraiser for cancer research; over
$500 million has been raised in his
name.
59
60
Richard Marvin Hansen, (born 26
August
1957)
is
a
Canadian
Paralympian and an activist for people
with spinal cord injuries. Following a
pickup truck accident at the age of 15,
Hansen sustained a spinal cord injury
that paralyzed him from the waist
down. Hansen is most famous for his
Man in Motion World Tour. He was one
of the final torchbearers in the 2010
61
Winter Olympics He was profiled and
spoke during the opening ceremony for
the 2010 Winter Paralympics.
62
63
Michael J. Fox, (born Michael Andrew
Fox; June 9, 1961) is a Canadian
American actor, author, producer,
activist and voice-over artist. Fox was
diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in
1991, and disclosed his condition to
the public in 1999. He semi-retired
from acting in 2000 as the symptoms
of his disease became more severe. He
64
has since become an activist for
research toward finding a cure. This led
him to create the Michael J. Fox
Foundation.
65
66
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey (born
January 17, 1962) is a Canadian
American
actor,
comedian,
and
producer. Carrey has received four
Golden Globe Award nominations,
winning two. Known for his highly
energetic slapstick performances, he
has been described as one of the
biggest movie stars in Hollywood .
67
Carrey has ADHD; he has also stated
that he has battled depression. To deal
with his depression, Carrey took
Prozac, eventually deciding to get off
medications. He has stated that he no
longer takes medications or stimulants
of any kind, not even coffee.
68
69
Margaret Trudeau
Margaret Joan Sinclair Trudeau Kemper
(born September 10, 1948) is the
former wife of Pierre Trudeau, the 15th
Prime Minister of Canada. She is an
author, actress, photographer and
former television talk show hostess.
She is the mother of Justin, Alexandre
and Michel Trudeau. On May 5, 2006,
Margaret announced that she had been
70
suffering from bipolar disorder. Since
then, she has advocated the reduced
stigma of mental illness — bipolar
disorder in particular.
She wrote
Changing My Mind, a book about her
personal experience having bipolar
disorder.
71
Other noted people identified as a
Person with a Disability:
Albert Einstein, Prince Charles, Justin
Timberlake, Ernest Hemingway, F Scott
Fitzgerald, Bill Gates, Ted Turner,
Malcolm Forbes, Alexander Graham
Bell, David Onley, Mozart, Helen Keller
72