Two Sask. residents appointed to Order of Canada for community contributions

Two Saskatchewan residents have been appointed the Order of Canada, Governor General Mary Simon announced on Wednesday morning.

Saskatoon’s Wayne Brownlee and Maple Creek’s Michelle Good were two of the 80 recipients who received the honour this year.

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Wayne Brownlee is recognized for his leadership in Canadian business and philanthropy.

As Chief Financial Officer of PotashCorp, he guided its evolution into Nutrien, a global agricultural leader. He has also made lasting contributions to education, heritage and health care through his generous support and dedicated service to charitable and community organizations.

In 2022, Brownlee was one of eight people who received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.

In 2021, Brownlee and his wife, Ina Lou, joined town officials and business leaders to launch a $5M revitalization campaign for the town of Biggar on Tuesday. The couple, via the Brownlee Family Foundation, was matching any proceeds for the project up to $2.5 million to renovate and reinvigorate the town’s downtown business area.

In 2020, Brownlee’s family gave a $5M gift to the Thundering Ahead Campaign. The donation was key to Wanuskewin Heritage Park reaching its $40M capital campaign to revitalize the historic and sacred site with renewed trails, upgraded interpretive centre, enhanced cultural and educational programming.

Author Michelle Good, seated, signs books and greets guests at her talk at the North Battleford Library in March 2023. (battlefordsNOW file photo)

Michelle Good

Michelle Good is a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation who is known for her work as an activist, lawyer and storyteller.

A survivor of the Sixties Scoop and the intergenerational trauma of the residential school system, she has confronted laws that continue to hurt Indigenous communities and advocates reconciliation, truth and respect.

Good was previously awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction in 2020 for her debut novel, “Five Little Indians,” which deals with the impact on survivors of residential school abuse.

She was also previously honoured with Amazon Canada’s First Novel Award, and the 2021 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize.

The Saskatchewan Library Association selected “Five Little Indians” for its 2023 ‘One Book, One Province’ program.

She hoped her book helps people learn more about the residential school experience, the pain Indigenous people suffered there and continue to suffer.

List of Order of Canada appointees

The Governor General made 80 appointments to the Order of Canada, including six promotions within in the Order and one honorary appointment.

Companions

Rosalie Abella, Toronto
Simon Brault, Saint-Jean-de-Matha, Que. (promotion within the Order)
Raffi Cavoukian, Salt Spring Island, B.C. (promotion within the Order)
Shaf Keshavjee, Toronto, (promotion within the Order)
Michael James Moldaver, Ottawa
Lorne Tyrrell, Edmonton (promotion within the Order)

Officers

John Cameron Bell, Ottawa
Janice Charette, Ottawa
Bert Cecil Crowfoot, Edmonton
Adele Diamond, Vancouver
Janice J. Eng, Vancouver
Judy Illes, Vancouver (promotion within the Order)
Praveen Jain, Kingston, Ont.
Anne-Marie Mes-Masson, Montréal
J. Curtis Nickel, Sydenham, Ont.
Mandy Rennehan, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.
Federico Rosei, Quebec
Roseann Runte, Ottawa (promotion within the Order)
Chandrakant Padamshi Shah, Mississauga, Ont.
Donald Lawrence Triggs, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.
Marina Andrea Graefin von Keyserlingk, North Vancouver, B.C.

Members

A. Peter Annan, Mississauga, Ont.
Phyllis A. Arnold, Edmonton
Stephen Beckta, Ottawa
Elsabeth Black, Halifax
Mark S. Bonham, Toronto
Kim Ruth Brooks, Halifax
Wayne Richard Brownlee, Saskatoon
Rosanna Caira, Woodbridge, Ont.
Richard J. F. Chartier, Winnipeg
Terri Clark, London, Ont. and Nashville
 Penny Dorothy Collenette, Ottawa
Patrick George Croskerry, Halifax
Jane Laurine Darville, Toronto
Andre De Grasse, Markham, Ont.
Mark Dobbin, Portugal Cove–St. Philip’s, N.L.
Chris Dodd, Edmonton
Sheila Dawn Early, Surrey, B.C.
Mary Ann Edwards, St. Catharines, Ont.
Kathleen Fox, Gatineau, Que.
Michelle Frances Good, Maple Creek, Sask.
Elly Gotz, Toronto
Gerald W. Grandey, Denver, Col.
Reesa Greenberg, Ottawa
Hans-Jürgen Greif, Quebec City
James C. Hathaway, Vancouver
James William Hewitt, Dorval, Que.
Charles A. Hopkins, Toronto
Ian Ihor Orest Ihnatowycz, Toronto
Eddy Isaacs, Edmonton
Alfred Morris Kwinter, Toronto
Gillian Kydd, Roberts Creek, B.C.
Martha Langford, Montreal
Roger J. Lewis, Dartmouth, N.S.
William Joseph Logan, Toronto
Elizabeth MacLeod, Toronto
Allison Joan McGeer, Toronto
Irene Y. McNeill, Aurora, Ont.
Rassi Nashalik, Yellowknife
Muzammal Nawaz, Burlington, Ont.
Pamela Joan Newall, Toronto
Brenda Okorogba, Ottawa (honorary appointment)
Patricia O’Malley, Stratford, Ont.
Brendan John Paddick, Freeport, Bahamas and Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L.
Susan Phillips, Ottawa
Alamin Proton Rahman, St. John’s, N.L.
James Retallack, Toronto
Jean Robert, Quebec City
Whitney Michelle Rockley, Toronto
Leonard Schein, Vancouver
Walter John Schroeder and Maria Schroeder, Toronto
Cindy Schwartz, Montreal
Nardwuar the Human Serviette, Vancouver
Karl Tomm, Calgary
Ziya Tong, Toronto and Vancouver
Barry Truax, Vancouver
Michael Jon Villeneuve, Mountain, Ont.
Della Wilkinson, Ottawa
John Mark Willinsky, Vancouver and San Francisco

– with files from The Canadian Press, 650 CKOM and battlefordsNOW