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Emma Donoghue, novelist, literary historian, teacher, playwright, radio and film scriptwriter (born 24 October 1969 in Dublin, Ireland). Winner of the 2010 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, Emma Donoghue has introduced a fresh, if often jarring, voice in modern fiction produced by women. One of Canada’s most important contemporary literary figures, she is perhaps best known for the novel Room (2010), which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and for the screenplay of its 2015 film adaptation, which earned Donoghue a Canadian Screen Award and an Independent Spirit Award, as well as BAFTA and Academy Award nominations.

Corby Clark Marinus Lund, singer, songwriter (born 1969 in Taber, AB).

Alternative rock band 54-40 rose from the Vancouver punk scene of the late 1970s to achieve mainstream success in Canada in the late 1980s and the 1990s. They have had four platinum albums and one gold album and have been nominated for eight Juno Awards. They are perhaps best known for the hit singles “I Go Blind,” “Baby Ran,” “One Day in Your Life,” “Nice to Luv You,” “She La,” “Ocean Pearl” and “Since When,” among others. The band has been inducted into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame. “I Go Blind” was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2021.

Dionne Brand, CM, FRSC, poet, writer, filmmaker, educator, activist (born 7 January 1953 in Guayaguayare, Trinidad). Dionne Brand is one of Canada’s most accomplished poets. She is known for her experimental poetry, which challenges assumptions of gender identity, sexuality and race. She has published books, contributed to anthologies, and directed and edited several documentaries for the National Film Board. She has also held various positions teaching literature, creative writing and women’s studies at universities across Canada and the United States. Winner of the Governor General’s Award and the Griffin Poetry Prize, and a former poet laureate of Toronto, Brand was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2017 for her contributions to Canadian literature.

Residential schools were government-sponsored religious schools that many Indigenous children were forced to attend. They were established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. Indigenous parents and children did not simply accept the residential-school system. Indigenous peoples fought against – and engaged with – the state, schools and other key players in the system. For the duration of the residential-school era, parents acted in the best interests of their children and communities. The children responded in ways that would allow them to survive.

Jacques Parizeau, GOQ, economist, professor, senior public servant, politician and premier of Québec (born 9 August 1930 in Montréal, QC; died 1 June 2015 in Montréal, QC).

Ann Southam. Composer, teacher, b Winnipeg 4 Feb 1937, d Toronto 25 Nov 2010; Licentiate Diploma (Toronto) 1963. Early on, Ann Southam was interested in visual arts, but she turned to composing at age 15 after attending a summer music camp at the Banff School (now The Banff Centre).

​Pierre Karl Péladeau (nicknamed PKP), Canadian entrepreneur and businessman who was instrumental in bringing about the rapid growth of Quebecor (born 16 October 1961 in Montréal, QC). He was the president and chief executive officer of Quebecor for 14 years, from 1999 to 2013. In the Québec provincial election held on 7 April 2014, Péladeau ran as a candidate for the Parti Québécois and won his riding. On 15 May 2015, he became the eighth leader in the history of this political party.

Sir Charles Tupper, prime minister, premier of Nova Scotia 1864–67, doctor (born 2 July 1821 in Amherst, NS; died 30 October 1915 in Bexleyheath, England). Charles Tupper led Nova Scotia into Confederation while he was premier. Over the course of his lengthy political career, he served as a federal Cabinet minister and diplomat, and briefly as prime minister of Canada — his 10-week term is the shortest in Canadian history. He was the last surviving Father of Confederation.

John King Gordon (b at Winnipeg 6 Dec 1900; d at Ottawa 24 Feb 1989), son of Charles GORDON (pen name Ralph Connor). After studying at the universities of Manitoba, Oxford and the Union Theological Seminary, Gordon taught at United Theological College in Montréal.

Thomas Gage, army officer (b in Eng 1719 or 1720; d at London, Eng 2 Apr 1787). He served during the SEVEN YEARS' WAR in North America from 1755 and was present during several of the operations preceding the CONQUEST in 1760.

Norris Roy Crump, railway executive (b at Revelstoke, BC 30 July 1904; d at Calgary 26 Dec 1989). Born into a railway family, Crump began with the CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY as a labourer in 1920, taking time off to study science at Purdue University.

David Douglas, botanist (b at Scone near Perth, Scotland 25 July 1799; d in Hawaii 12 July 1834). Douglas became an apprentice gardener at age 11; at 20 he moved to the Botanic Gardens, Glasgow, and at 23 became a collector for the Horticultural Society of London in North America.

Eden Colvile, governor of Rupert's Land (b 1819; d in Devonshire, Eng 2 Apr 1893), son of the deputy governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Thomas Kunito Shoyama, economist, public servant (b at Kamloops, BC 24 Sept 1916, d at Victoria, BC 22 Dec 2006).