Search for "New France"

Percy Faith, conductor, arranger, composer, pianist (born 7 April 1908 in Toronto, ON; died 9 February 1976 in Los Angeles, California).

Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe, née Gwillim, author and illustrator (baptized 22 September 1762 in Northamptonshire, England; died 17 March 1850 in Devon, England). Elizabeth was the wife of John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada. She was an author and illustrator, renowned for her detailed diary and pictures depicting life in early Upper Canada.

Tom Cochrane & Red Rider. Toronto rock band, active 1976-90. Formed by the guitarist Ken Greer and others, it was initially active in local clubs such as the El Mocambo. Tom Cochrane (singer, songwriter, guitarist, b Lynn Lake, Man, 14 May 1953; D MUS (Brandon) 2005) joined in 1977.

Andrew Suknaski, poet (born at Wood Mountain, SK 30 July 1942; died at Moose Jaw, SK 3 May 2012).

Perrault, Michel (Brunet). Composer, conductor, percussionist, teacher, b Montreal 20 Jul 1925. He first studied theory and timpani with Louis Decair at the McGill Conservatory 1941-3 and later enrolled at the CMM where he studied oboe 1943-4 with Réal Gagnier.

Surdin, Morris. Composer, arranger, conductor, b Toronto 8 May 1914, d there 19 Aug 1979. At six he began violin lessons with Louis Gesensway in Toronto, and soon the lessons were expanded to include counterpoint and harmony.

Ron (Ronald William) Collier. Composer, arranger, conductor, trombonist, teacher, b Coleman, near Lethbridge, Alta, 3 Jul 1930, d Toronto 22 Oct 2003. Ron Collier received his early training 1943-50 in Vancouver, where he played trombone in the Kitsilano Boys' Band.

Peggie (b Margaret) Sampson.

Mary Cynthia Walsh, actor, writer, producer, TV host, director (born 13 May 1952 in St John's, Nfld ).

Charlie Major, singer, songwriter (born 31 December 1954 in Aylmer, QC). Charlie Major is a journeyman singer-songwriter who achieved breakthrough success after years of hardscrabble persistence. His roots-rock tales of working-class life are cut from an aspirational blue-collar cloth similar to that of John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen. He has had 10 singles hit No. 1 on the Canadian country chart, including six from his debut album, The Other Side (1993), which was certified double platinum in Canada. He has won three Juno Awards for Country Male Vocalist of the Year and seven Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019.

Ella Cora Hind, journalist, agricultural authority, activist and suffragist (born 18 September 1861 in Toronto, ON; died 6 October 1942 in Winnipeg, MB). A pioneer throughout her life, Hind was an acclaimed grain expert, a champion of women’s rights and an advocate for the franchise.

At the urging of her adoptive parents, McLachlan rejected an initial offer from Vancouver-based Nettwerk Productions in 1985, but accepted a second one 2 years later and relocated to the West Coast.

Don (Donald) Garrard. Bass, born Vancouver 31 Jul 1929; died Johannesburg, South Africa, 21 Sept 2011.

Weisgarber, Elliot. Composer, clarinetist, ethnomusicologist, b Pittsfield, Mass, 5 Dec 1919, naturalized Canadian 1973, d Vancouver 31 Dec 2001; B MUS (ESM, Rochester) 1942, M MUS (ESM, Rochester) 1943.

(Mary) Frances James. Soprano, teacher, b Saint John, NB, 3 Feb 1903, d Victoria, BC, 22 Aug 1988. She spent her childhood in Halifax and Montreal and took her main formative studies on a four-year scholarship at the McGill Cons with Walter Clapperton.

D.O.A. Vancouver punk/rock band. The band was formed in 1978 by the singer, guitarist and songwriter Joey Keighley (also known professionally as Joey Shithead and Joey Keithley, born Burnaby, BC, 3 Jun 1956), previously of The Skulls.

Panych came to public attention for his two-hander (a play for two actors) Last Call: A Post-Nuclear Cabaret (1982), which he wrote and in which he starred. The show was revised for CBC television, bringing Panych to national attention.

​Guy Delisle, author of graphic fiction and non-fiction and animator (born 19 January 1966 in Québec City, Québec).

Martha Henry (nee Buhs), CC, OOnt, actor, director (born 17 February 1938 in Detroit, Michigan; died 21 October 2021 in Stratford, Ontario). Martha Henry was considered one of Canada's greatest actors. She had a long association with the Stratford Festival and with regional theatres across the country. She also won five Genie Awards and four Gemini Awards for her work in film and television. A Companion of the Order of Canada, she received the Toronto Drama Bench Award for Outstanding Contribution to Canadian Theatre, a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Order of Ontario, and honorary degrees from numerous Canadian universities.