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Kaetlyn Osmond, figure skater (born 5 December 1995 in Marystown, NL). Figure skater Kaetlyn Osmond has competed at two Olympic Winter Games, winning bronze in women’s figure skating (2018) and gold (2018) and silver (2014) in the team event. In 2018, she won gold at the World Figure Skating Championships, becoming the first Canadian women’s world champion in 45 years. She has also been Canadian champion (2013, 2014, 2017), has won gold medals at several international events, including Skate Canada International and the Nebelhorn Trophy.

Meagan Duhamel, figure skater (born 8 December 1985 in Sudbury, ON) and Eric Radford, figure skater (born 27 January 1985 in Winnipeg, MB). Figure skaters Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford have been competing together in pairs competitions since 2010. Known for their technical excellence, they have won two world championships (2015, 2016) and three Olympic medals: bronze in the pairs competition (2018) and a gold (2018) and silver medal (2014) in the team event. They have also won gold medals at nine other international competitions. They were Canadian champions from 2012 to 2018, the longest consecutive streak for Canadian pairs.

Mark Arendz, Paralympian, biathlon and cross-country skiing (born 3 March 1990 in Charlottetown, PEI). Arendz has won eight medals at the Paralympic Winter Games in biathlon and cross-country skiing, including a gold medal in the men’s 15 km standing biathlon at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang. He has also won eight medals at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Nordic Skiing World Championships and has had great success on the IPC World Cup circuit, including winning the 2013 World Cup Crystal Globe in para-biathlon.

Peter William Jepson-Young, MD, AIDS activist, television diarist (born 8 June 1957 in New Westminster, British Columbia; died 15 November 1992 in Vancouver, British Columbia). Peter Jepson-Young was a medical doctor who presented the Dr. Peter Diaries, short weekly segments on CBC television that shared his experience with AIDS, in order to educate people about the disease and give hope to others. Diagnosed in 1986, he was regarded as one of the longest-surviving victims of the disease at the time of his death in 1992. Shortly before he died, he established the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation, which later opened the Dr. Peter Centre, a residential care and day health centre for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Lanny King McDonald, hockey player (right wing), hockey executive, humanitarian (born 16 February 1953 in Hanna, Alberta). Known for his talent, dedication and generosity — and his moustache — Lanny McDonald has thrilled hockey fans in Toronto, Calgary and across Canada since he first started playing in the National Hockey League. He began his NHL career in the 1970s with the Toronto Maple Leafs, playing alongside such stars as captain Darryl Sittler. However, McDonald is probably best remembered as captain of the Calgary Flames, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 1989. He is also known for his charitable activity, particularly his lengthy involvement with the Special Olympics. He has received many honours, including the NHL’s King Clancy Memorial Trophy (1988) in recognition of his leadership and his humanitarian contributions. He is also a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame (1992), the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame (1993) and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (2017).

Herbert Clifford (Herb) Belcourt, CM, entrepreneur, philanthropist (born 6 July 1931 in Lac Ste. Anne, AB; died 5 July 2017 in Sherwood Park, AB). Belcourt was a celebrated Métis philanthropist and businessman recognized for starting several successful businesses in Edmonton and Sherwood Park, including Belcourt Construction, which became one of the largest power line companies in Alberta. Belcourt was also a philanthropist who gave back to the Métis community of Alberta through affordable housing and education bursaries.

Louis-Joseph-Paul-Napoléon Bruchési, Roman Catholic priest and Archbishop of Montréal from 1897 to 1939 (born 29 October 1855 in Montréal, Québec; died 20 September 1939 in Montréal). Paul Bruchési actively supported the Church’s involvement in education, health and welfare, and helped secure the establishment of many of the city’s leading institutions in these fields. He was also engaged in many public issues of the day, often taking a congenial approach with politicians and fellow prelates. In 1919, he began to suffer from a mysterious illness which by 1921, left him largely debilitated until his death in 1939.

Wabanakwut Kinew, hip hop artist, broadcaster, university administrator, author, politician (born 31 December 1981 in Kenora, ON). An Ojibwa activist and public intellectual, Wab Kinew began his career as a musician and rapper with the hip hop group Dead Indians. He gained national attention through his radio and television journalism for the CBC, including 8th Fire, a television series on Indigenous issues. Kinew’s 2015 memoir, The Reason You Walk, was a national bestseller and finalist for the RBC Taylor Prize. Kinew was elected to the Manitoba legislature in 2016, despite controversial tweets and rap lyrics that dogged his campaign. Similarly, revelations of stayed domestic assault charges from 2003 threatened to derail his bid to become leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party, though he was named leader in September 2017.

The immigration of Laotian nationals to Canada is relatively recent, having begun in earnest in the late 1970s. After the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam in March 1973, mainland Southeast Asia (former Indochina) was left at the mercy of revolutionary forces in the region. In 1975, at the end of a 20-year-long civil war, communist revolutionaries of the Pathet Lao (Lao State) movement took power, abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Living conditions deteriorated in Laos, as they did in Vietnam and Cambodia. Former civil and military officials were sent to labour camps and their families were denied access to employment and education. These difficult economic conditions, combined with an increasingly forceful communist regime and violations of human rights, sparked a mass migration in the region. Like Vietnamese, Laotians left their country in makeshift vessels, facing perilous conditions on the Mekong River and then the China Sea. This is the origin of the name often used to refer to these migrants: “boat people.” From 1979 to 1982, Canada welcomed nearly 8,000 Laotians. Approximately 20 per cent were of Chinese origin. Supported by the federal government and private sponsor groups, they resettled in various parts of Canada. Today, however, the Laotian population is concentrated in Québec and Ontario. In the 2016 Census of Canada, 24,590 people reported being of Laotian origin.

Arlene Dickinson, entrepreneur, business executive, television personality (born 8 October 1956 in Germiston, South Africa). Dickinson is best known as a star of CBC’s Dragons’ Den and as the CEO of Venture Communications Ltd., one of Canada’s largest independent marketing agencies. With a reported net worth of $80 million, Dickinson is one of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs. Her success has been recognized by several honours and awards, such as the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Manzo Nagano, businessman (born 26 November 1853 in Kuchinotsu [Minamishimabara], Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan; died May 1924 in Kuchinotsu [Minamishimabara], Nagasaki Prefecture). Manzo Nagano is the first known Japanese immigrant to Canada. In March 1877, at age 24, he left Japan for the West aboard a British steamer, arriving in May in British Columbia. He eventually settled in Victoria, where he ran a number of businesses. He returned to Japan in failing health in 1923, and died the following year.

Michael “Pinball” Clemons, O Ont, football player, coach, motivational speaker (born 15 January 1965 in Dunedin, Florida). Michael Clemons is one of the most accomplished athletes in Canadian Football League (CFL) history and the first African American to coach in the Grey Cup. Known to many simply as “Pinball,” he is a CFL Hall of Famer and four-time Grey Cup winner with the Toronto Argonauts, earning three championships as a player (1991, 1996, 1997) and one as a head coach (2004). He is the all-time leader in total combined yards in CFL history (25,438). Clemons, a naturalized Canadian citizen, moved into an executive role in the Argonauts’ front office after retiring from coaching. He is involved with a number of charities, including the Pinball Clemons Foundation.

Douglas Gibson, editor, publisher, writer, raconteur (b at Kilmarnock, Scotland 4 Dec 1943). Douglas Gibson was born and raised in Scotland, where he earned an MA at the University of St. Andrews.

There are six cultural areas contained in what is now Canada, unrestricted by international boundaries. The Plateau cultural area consists of the high plateau between the British Columbia coastal mountains and the Rocky Mountains, and extends south to include parts of Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. At lower elevations it is comprised of grasslands and subarctic forests. The Plateau peoples include, among others, the Secwepemc, Stl’atl’imc, Ktunaxa, and Tsilqot’in.

Ka Nin Chan, composer, teacher (b at Hong Kong 3 Dec 1949, naturalized Canadian 1971). Chan moved with his family to Vancouver in 1965 and later studied composition at the University of British Columbia with Jean COULTHARD while pursuing a degree in electrical engineering.

Gabriel Charpentier, composer, poet, artistic adviser (b at Richmond, Qué 13 Sept 1925). He studied piano with Jean PAPINEAU-COUTURE, the Benedictine monks in Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, and in France with Norbert Dufourcq, Annette Dieudonné and Nadia Boulanger.

Neil Chotem, pianist, composer, conductor, teacher (b at Saskatoon 9 Sept 1920; d at Greenfield Park, Que 21 Feb 2008.). After the start of a promising career as a piano soloist was interrupted by WWII, Neil Chotem forged a new career in Montréal as performer, conductor and composer.