Search for "black history"

Basil H. Johnston, Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) author, linguist, and teacher (born 13 July 1929 on Wasauksing First Nation, ON; died 8 September 2015 in Wiarton, ON).

In 1940 Vallerand won the Schumann trophy at the Festival-concours de musique du Québec for his song "Les Roses à la mer," later performed by Jeanne Desjardins and Mary Henderson.

While they may not have had access to the battlefields, a number of Canadian women artists made their mark on the visual culture of the First World War by representing the home front. First among these were the women affiliated with the Canadian War Memorials Fund, Canada’s first official war art program. Founded in 1916, the stated goal of the Fund was to provide “suitable Memorials in the form of Tablets, Oil-Paintings, etc. […], to the Canadian Heroes and Heroines in the War.” Expatriates Florence Carlyle and Caroline Armington participated in the program while overseas. Artists Henrietta Mabel May, Dorothy Stevens, Frances Loringand Florence Wyle were commissioned by the Fund to visually document the war effort in Canada.

He began to formally study conducting with Reginald Stewart at the Toronto Conservatory of Music. In 1937 he completed the Bachelor degree in music at the University of Toronto where the Faculty consisted of the dean, Ernest MACMILLAN, and two lecturers, Leo SMITH and Healey WILLAN.

Anne Carson, CM, poet, essayist, classical scholar and professor (born 21 June 1950 in Toronto, ON).

Alphonse Desjardins, journalist, parliamentary reporter, founder of the Desjardins Group (born 5 November 1854 in Lévis, Québec; died 31 October 1920 in Lévis, Québec).

Patrick Huard, comedian, actor, writer, director, producer (born 2 January 1969 in Montreal, QC). Dynamic and charming, Patrick Huard is a multi-talented artist who has enjoyed great success in front of and behind the camera, as well as on stage and radio. One of Canada’s and Quebec’s biggest stars, he has appeared in some of the country’s highest-grossing films, including Les Boys (1997) and its two sequels; the record-breaking, Genie Award-winning comedy Bon Cop Bad Cop (2006), which he also co-wrote; his feature directorial debut, Les 3 p’tits cochons (2007); and Starbuck (2011). He has also starred in several successful Quebec TV series, including the hugely popular Taxi 0-22 (2007–10), which he also produced and directed. He has won numerous awards for his stand-up comedy and comedy writing, and has hosted several Juste pour rire galas, the Gala de l’ADISQ and the Soirée des Jutra (now Prix Iris), as well as several radio programs.

Ydessa Hendeles, CM, OOnt, art collector, curator, artist, philanthropist (born 27 December 1948 in Marburg, Germany). A winner of the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Ydessa Hendeles is best known as one of the world’s leading collectors of contemporary art and photography. The founder of the Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation in Toronto, she has curated more than 35 contemporary art exhibitions in Toronto and around the world.

Guillaume (William) Couture. Teacher, conductor, choirmaster, composer, organist, baritone, critic, b Montreal 23 Oct 1851, d there 15 Jan 1915. He studied solfège in primary school and at 13 became choirmaster at the church of Ste-Brigide in his native parish.

Deepa Mehta, OC, OOnt, director, producer, screenwriter (born 1 January 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 Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Order of Ontario and Queen’s Jubilee Medal. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for “challenging cultural traditions and bringing stories of oppression, injustice and violence to the fore.”

Mercy Anne Coles, diarist (born 1 February 1838 in Charlottetown, PE; died 11 February 1921 in Charlottetown, PE).

Xavier Dolan (born Xavier Dolan-Tadros), CM, actor, director, writer, producer, editor, costume designer (born 20 March 1989 in Montreal, QC). A precocious practitioner of auteurist art cinema, Xavier Dolan garnered international acclaim at age 20 for his debut feature, J’ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother, 2009). His next four award-winning films — Les amours imaginaires (Heartbeats, 2010), Laurence Anyways (2012), Tom à la ferme (Tom at the Farm, 2013) and Mommy (2014) — were completed by the time he was 25. His sixth movie, Juste la fin du monde (It’s Only the End of the World, 2016), won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and six Canadian Screen Awards. Dolan has also directed notable music videos for Adele and won a 2022 Juno Award for “Easy On Me.” He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2019.

Shania Twain (born Eilleen Regina Edwards), aka Eilleen Twain, OC, singer, songwriter, guitarist, (born 28 August 1965 in Windsor, ON).