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Ramón Pelinski. Musicologist, teacher, pianist, b Corpus, Misiones, Argentina, 31 Aug 1932; L PH (Córdoba) 1959, MA musicology (Munich) 1967, PH D musicology (Munich) 1969.

Pennycook, Bruce. Composer, teacher, saxophonist, b Toronto, 5 Oct 1949; B MUS composition (Toronto) 1973, M MUS composition, theory (Toronto) 1974, DMA musicology (Stanford) 1978. He began his musical training with clarinet and saxophone lessons.

(Marie Marguerite Aline) France Dion. Soprano, teacher, born Québec City 16 May 1929; died Boucherville 2 Jul 2011.

Jim Carrey has been compared to Jerry Lewis in his willingness - even eagerness - to embarrass himself and others and to enact a manic-depressive crisis of self-worth in hyperkinetic comic terms.

He began his musical education on piano around the age of 7 and switched to French horn by chance in his Toronto high school, where an influential music teacher was John Fautley.

In 1980 Kananginak Pootoogook was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts, and in 2010 he was the recipient of a National Aboriginal Achievement Award.

Shirley Firth, cross-country skier (born 31 December 1953 in Aklavik, NWT; died 30 April 2013 in Yellowknife, NWT) and Sharon Anne Firth, cross-country skier (born 31 December 1953 in Aklavik, NWT). Twin sisters Shirley and Sharon Firth, members of the Gwich’in First Nation, were among the first Aboriginal athletes to represent Canada at the Olympics, and were members of the first Canadian women’s cross-country ski team at the Olympics.

Kim Echlin, writer (born 1955 in Burlington, ON). Kim Echlin earned a doctorate in Ojibway storytelling from York University, after attending McGill University and the Sorbonne, Paris. Echlin has worked as a documentarian for CBC and served as fiction editor for the Ottawa Citizen.

Alix Ohlin, fiction writer (born 1972 in Montréal, QC).

Callum Keith Rennie, actor (born at Sunderland, England 14 Sept 1960). Callum Keith Rennie, one of Canada's most compelling actors, moved to Edmonton at the age of four.

Robyn Sarah, poet, short-story writer (born at New York, NY, 1949). Educated at McGill University and la Conservatoire de musique du Québec, Robyn Sarah began publishing poetry in the 1970s while she completed her graduate studies.

Nathan Berg. Bass-baritone, born Spalding, Saskatchewan 11 Jul 1968; Opera Studies Diploma (Guildhall School of Music and Drama, England) 1993.

Dennis Michael John “Doc” O’Keefe, teacher, municipal politician, mayor of St. John’s 2008–present (born 20 April 1944 in St. John’s, NL). A retired school teacher, and a city council member since 1997, O’Keefe is a consumer-and cruise ship industry-advocate known for his approachability, and his daily walks of the streets of St. John’s.

Leonard Joseph (Birch) Birchall, CM, O Ont, air force pilot, war hero, educator (born 6 July 1915 in St. Catharines, ON; died 10 September 2004 in Kingston, ON). During the Second World War, Birchall became known as the “Saviour of Ceylon” for alerting Allied forces of an approaching Japanese fleet. Captured after sending his message, he is also renowned for the courage and leadership he displayed while a prisoner of war.

The Huu-ay-aht First Nation, located along the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, numbers 730 registered members, as of September 2018. The Huu-ay-aht are a Nuu-chah-nulth nation and are self-governing under the Maa-nulth Treaty.

On 15 April 1947, Jackie Robinson played in his debut game with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first African American to play in the major leagues in the modern era. Prior to that point, professional baseball in the United States was segregated, with African Americans playing in the Negro leagues. When Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s colour barrier in 1947, he entered American history books. What many baseball fans may not realize, however, is that Robinson was embraced by Canadian fans one year earlier as a member of the Montreal Royals, a farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Phil Comeau, CM, ONB, film director, screenwriter and producer (born 1956 in Saulnierville, Nova Scotia). This Acadian director’s films have received over 55 awards in Canada and abroad. They address subjects such as youth, human relationships, art, history and Acadian identity. His film Le secret de Jérôme (1994) garnered some 15 awards and is regarded as the first independent Acadian feature film produced in Canada. Comeau’s 2016 documentary feature Zachary Richard, toujours batailleur/Zachary Richard, Cajun Heart received the La Vague Léonard-Forest Award and the Audience Choice Award at the FICFA international francophone film festival in Moncton, New Brunswick and the Director’s Choice Award - Documentary Feature at the Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Richard Wagamese, Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) novelist, journalist, mentor (born 4 October 1955 in northwestern ON; died 10 March 2017 in Kamloops, BC). A well-known Indigenous writer in Canada, Wagamese won several awards including the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize (2013) and the Writers’ Trust of Canada’s Matt Cohen Award (2015). His works speak about the historical and contemporary socio-economic issues affecting Indigenous communities in Canada. They also bring attention to issues regarding Indigenous identity, culture and truth and reconciliation. A beloved writer, Wagamese’s works have inspired many Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and writers alike.

The Dene comprise a far-reaching cultural and linguistic family, stretching from the Canadian North and Alaska to the American southwest. In Canada, the Dene, which means “the people” in their language, comprise a variety of First Nations, some of which include the Denesoline (Chipewyan), Tlicho (Dogrib) and Dinjii Zhuh (Gwich’in). The Dene are also known as Athabascan, Athabaskan, Athapascan or Athapaskan peoples. In the 2016 census, 27,430 people identified as having Dene ancestry.