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Deepa Mehta, OC, OOnt, director, producer, screenwriter (born 15 September 1950 in Amritsar, India). Deepa Mehta has received international acclaim for her moving and provocative films, which often explore issues of human rights and social injustice. She is perhaps best known for her epic “Elements trilogy” — Fire (1996), Earth(1998) and Water (2005). The latter was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Mehta has received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awardfor Lifetime Achievement, the Order of Ontario and Queen’s Jubilee Medal. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canadafor “challenging cultural traditions and bringing stories of oppression, injustice and violence to the fore.”

Marcel Sabourin, OC, actor, writer, screenwriter, lyricist, producer, director, teacher (born 25 March 1935 in Montreal, QC). An important figure in Quebec cinema and television, Marcel Sabourin has performed in more Quebec films than any other actor. He first came to prominence as Professor Mandibule in the Radio-Canada children’s TV programs Les Croquignoles (1963–67) and La Ribouldingue (1967–71). He is perhaps best known for his role as Abel Gagné in Jean-Pierre Lefebvre’s acclaimed Abel trilogy. Sabourin received the Jutra-Hommage lifetime achievement award at the Jutra Awards (now Prix Iris) in 1999. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2019.

Galina Zoë Garnett, actor, singer, songwriter, writer (born 17 July 1942 in Auckland, New Zealand). The multitalented Gale Garnett is perhaps best known for her 1964 folk music classic, “We’ll Sing in the Sunshine.” The Grammy Award-winning No. 1 hit sold more than three million copies and was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015. Garnett’s acting career, which has spanned stage, television and film from the early 1960s to the 2000s, includes roles in popular TV series and movies, and her novels and essays have established her as a respected writer.

David Takayoshi Suzuki, CC, OBC, geneticist, broadcaster, environmental activist (born 24 March 1936 in Vancouver, BC). A Japanese Canadian, David Suzuki was interned with his family during the Second World War. He later became one of Canada’s most popular scientists and media personalities. He is best known as the host (1979–2023) of the longest-running science show on television, CBC’s The Nature of Things, and for his work as an environmental activist. He has received ACTRA’s John Drainie Award for broadcasting excellence and the Canadian Screen Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award. A Companion of the Order of Canada, he has also received the Order of British Columbia and been inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Robert Gordon Robinson, OBC, broadcaster, television host (born 30 March 1937 in Comox, BC; died 1 April 2023). A legendary pioneer and an icon in Canadian broadcasting, Red Robinson was the first radio disc jockey in the country to regularly play rock ‘n’ roll records, and one of the first in North America. Considered by many to be “Canada’s Dick Clark,” he was a fixture on Vancouver’s radio and television scene for sixty years. Robinson has been inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame, the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He was honoured as a legendary DJ by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Order of British Columbia.

Before European settlement in Canada, Indigenous peoples spoke a wide variety of languages. As a means of assimilating Indigenous peoples, colonial policies like the Indian Act and residential schools forbade the speaking of Indigenous languages. These restrictions have led to the ongoing endangerment of Indigenous languages in Canada. Indigenous communities and various educational institutions have taken measures to prevent more language loss and to preserve Indigenous languages.

David Paul Cronenberg, CC, OOnt, FRSC, filmmaker (born 15 March 1943 in Toronto, ON). David Cronenberg is Canada’s most influential and internationally celebrated filmmaker. Dubbed the “Baron of Blood” and “the King of Venereal Horror,” he pioneered a commercial genre cinema in Canada with his at times controversial horror movies. His signature “body horror” films such as Shivers (1975), The Brood (1979), Scanners (1981), Videodrome (1983), The Fly (1986), Dead Ringers (1988), Naked Lunch (1991) and Crash (1996) have challenged audiences with provocative, even prophetic explorations of the relationship between sex, technology and violence. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada, a Chevalier of the Ordre des arts et lettres de France and a member of Canada’s Walk of Fame.He has won 10 Genie Awards and prizes at virtually every major international film festival, as well as lifetime achievement awards from the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards, the Canadian Screen Awards, the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival.

Louis Burt Mayer (born Eliezer Mayer), studio executive (born 12 July 1884 in Dymer, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]; died 29 October 1957 in Los Angeles, California). Louis B. Mayer was one of the first Hollywood movie moguls, and arguably the most powerful. After running a successful chain of movie theatres, Mayer founded his own production company in 1917. In 1924, it merged with two other companies to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Mayer served as head of MGM until 1951, presiding over the biggest and most prestigious studio of Hollywood’s golden age. He was also instrumental in creating the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which administers the Academy Awards.

Jack Leonard Warner (born John Eichelbaum), studio executive, producer (born 2 August 1892 in London, ON; d at Los Angeles, Ca 9 Sep 1978). The youngest of the four brothers behind the Warner Bros. movie studio, Jack Warner was involved in producing movies for more than half a century. As head of Warner Bros. for much of his career, he pioneered an assembly-line approach to film production. He received the Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1959 and a Best Picture Oscar in 1965 for My Fair Lady. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2004.

Alanis Obomsawin, CC, GOQ, filmmaker, singer, artist, storyteller (born 31 August 1932 near Lebanon, New Hampshire). Alanis Obomsawin is one of Canada’s most distinguished documentary filmmakers. She began her career as a professional singer and storyteller before joining the National Film Board (NFB) in 1967. Her award-winning films address the struggles of Indigenous peoples in Canada from their perspective, giving prominence to voices that have long been marginalized. She is Companion of the Order of Canada and the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec, a Grand Officer of the Ordre national du Québec and a Commander of the Order of Montreal. She has received the Prix Albert-Tessier and the Canadian Screen Awards’ Humanitarian Award, as well as multiple Governor General’s Awards, lifetime achievement awards, and honorary degrees, among many other honours.

John Sopinka, Supreme Court justice, lawyer, social advocate, author, football player, violinist (born 19 March 1933 in Broderick, SK; died 24 November 1997 in Ottawa, ON). John Sopinka played in the Canadian Football League while studying law at the University of Toronto. As a prominent litigation attorney, he represented Ukrainian Canadians in national and international commissions and handled other influential cases. In 1988, he became the first Ukrainian Canadian appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Lawrence Rusby Cluderay, organist, choir conductor, critic (born 1 December 1907 in Leeds, England). FRCO, ARCM.

Rose Marie “Tantoo” Cardinal, CM, actor (born 20 Jul 1950 in Fort McMurray, AB). Cree and Métis actor Tantoo Cardinal has broken barriers for onscreen representation of Indigenous peoples. She has more than 120 film, television and theatre roles to her credit, including the films Dances With Wolves (1990), Black Robe (1991), Smoke Signals (1998) and Through Black Spruce (2018); as well as the TV series Street Legal (1987–94), Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993–95), North of 60 (1993–97), Moccasin Flats (2003-06) and Mohawk Girls (2010–17). She is known for her strong presence, the depth of her performances and her activism on behalf of the environment. A Member of the Order of Canada, she has won a Gemini Award, the Earle Grey Award for lifetime achievement in Canadian television, a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, and a National Aboriginal Achievement Award.

Canada’s Walk of Fame is a non-profit organization dedicated to honouring Canadians who have achieved excellence in the fields of arts and entertainment, science and technology, business, philanthropy, and athletics. Modelled after the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it stretches along 13 city blocks in Toronto’s Entertainment District. Each inductee’s name and signature are etched onto a plaque embedded on the sidewalk, along with a star resembling a maple leaf. Inductees are honoured at an annual, nationally broadcast gala in Toronto. More than 210 people have been inducted since the Walk was founded in 1998.

Pierre Grandmaison. Organist, teacher, composer, b Montreal 27 Jul 1949; B MUS (Montreal) 1970. Pierre Grandmaison has been the regular organist at the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal since 1973. Also an accomplished composer, Grandmaison received the Chevalier de l'Ordre des arts et lettres de France in 1985.

Robert Allen Curtola, CM, singer, songwriter (born 17 April 1943 in Port Arthur, ON; died 4 June 2016 in Edmonton, AB). Bobby Curtola emerged as a teen idol and dominated the Canadian pop chart in the 1960s. His string of hit singles, including “Fortune Teller” (1962), dominated the Canadian singles chart from 1960 to 1967 and sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. Curtola was one of the first Canadians to receive a multi-million-dollar contract to perform in Las Vegas. He also helped raise millions of dollars for charities as a host of various telethons. He was a Member of the Order of Canada, the RPM Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2019.

Gustavo Uriel da Roza II, OC, architect (born 24 February 1933 in Hong Kong; died 24 April 2022 in Surrey, BC). Da Roza completed his architectural training in Hong Kong and moved to Winnipeg, MB in 1960. (See also Architecture.) He taught at the University of Manitoba and became well-recognized for his architectural work, including the design of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Da Roza was of Chinese and Portuguese descent and was active among Winnipeg’s Portuguese community (see Portuguese Canadians).

Michel Côté, OC, actor, writer, comedian (born 25 June 1950 in Alma, QC; died 29 May 2023). One of Quebec’s best and most beloved actors, Michel Côté was perhaps best known for co-creating the acclaimed play Broue with Marc Messier and Marcel Gauthier. It ran from 1979 to 2007 and holds the Guinness World Record as the world’s longest-running stage play featuring the original cast. Côté was also known for such popular films as Cruising Bar (1989), C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005), De père en flic (2009) and Omertà (2012), and such TV series as Bye Bye (1979–2018), Du Tac au Tac (1976–82), La Petite Vie (1993–99) and the original Omertà series. He received the Prix Jutra-Hommage for lifetime achievement in 2013 and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2022.

Kenojuak Ashevak, C.C., O.N., artist (born 3 October 1927 in Ikerrasak camp, South Baffin Island, NWT; died 8 January 2013, Cape Dorset, NU). A Companion of the Order of Canada and winner of the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Ashevak is perhaps the best-known Inuit artist because of her famous print The Enchanted Owl (1960), which was featured on a Canada Post stamp. She was also the first woman to become involved with the newly established printmaking shop at Cape Dorset.