Close X
Saturday, December 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

Author Joseph Boyden Among Canadians Appointed To The Order Of Canada

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 30 Dec, 2015 01:47 PM
    OTTAWA — Joseph Boyden, the award-winning author whose work vividly documents the complexity of Canada's indigenous history, is among the latest appointments to the Order of Canada in a year when aboriginal issues have dominated the national agenda.
     
    Boyden, whose novels include Three Day Road and The Orenda, joined 68 other people recognized Wednesday by the Governor General with one of the country's highest civilian honours.
     
    In its citation, Rideau Hall said Boyden was being recognized for his contributions to telling stories of "common heritage" and for his social engagement "notably in support of First Nations."
     
    The novelist, who also served as an honorary witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission studying Canada's painful residential school legacy, said he believes the arts are a powerful tool to help repair fractured relationships between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians.
     
    "I have come to realize that I think art is the way to allow Canadians to begin to understand in a way that is manageable at first for them to understand something of such huge pain," he said in an interview.
     
    "We can lecture all we want about the ongoing intergenerational trauma but those words sometimes don't sink in. 
     
    "I think stories, I think novels, I think film, I think dance, I think painting, all of this allows Canadians to absorb not just the pain and the anger but the beauty as well."
     
    Several other members of Canada's arts community were honoured Wednesday, including Noreen Taylor, who founded one of Canada's major literary prizes, Winnipeg painter and sculptor Ivan Eyre, Quebec musician Diane Dufresne and Antoni Cimolino, the artistic director of the Stratford Festival.
     
    Other recipients include former Prince Edward Island premier and senator Catherine Callbeck, former privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart and House of Commons clerk Audrey O’Brien.
     
    Nominations for the Order of Canada are reviewed by an independent council chaired by the chief justice of Canada. Individuals are appointed on merit  to recognize outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.
     
    Rideau Hall has been actively working to ensure its honours reach more Canadians. Earlier this year, Gov. Gen. David Johnston flagged two areas of particular concern for the Order of Canada: gender and regional representation.
     
    Spokesperson Emily Keogh said females make up 46 per cent of the latest appointees. A previous list released in July had 44 per cent of female appointments — a bump from the average of 31 per cent between 2010 and 2014, she noted, adding there is there is also "great diversity" among the recipients including filmmaker Atom Egoyan and author Rohinton Mistry.
     
    The honour still hasn't sunk in for Boyden.
     
    "It is something you hear about all your life as one of the great gifts given to Canadians of note," he said. 
     
    "I guess I have to now consider myself a Canadian of at least some little note."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Canada-Wide Warrants Issued For Man, Woman Sought In 'Extremely Violent' Murder In Moncton, N.B.

    Canada-Wide Warrants Issued For Man, Woman Sought In 'Extremely Violent' Murder In Moncton, N.B.
    Eighteen-year-old Tyler Noel and 20-year-old Marissa Shephard, both of the Moncton area, face charges of first-degree murder and arson in the Dec. 17 death of Baylee Wylie

    Canada-Wide Warrants Issued For Man, Woman Sought In 'Extremely Violent' Murder In Moncton, N.B.

    Greater Victoria Sees Eight Suspected Drug Overdose Deaths In One Week

    Greater Victoria Sees Eight Suspected Drug Overdose Deaths In One Week
    Coroner Barb McClintock says five men and three women have died of suspected overdoses in several communities, including Saanich, Langford and Sooke, between Dec. 20 and 26.

    Greater Victoria Sees Eight Suspected Drug Overdose Deaths In One Week

    Indian-Origin Politician Harjinder Singh Starts Own Political Party In UK After Fall Out With UKIP

    Indian-Origin Politician Harjinder Singh Starts Own Political Party In UK After Fall Out With UKIP
    Harjinder Singh, a former UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate for Birmingham's Perry Barr constituency, has set up the Open Borders Party as he disagrees vehemently with his former Eurosceptic party's immigration policy

    Indian-Origin Politician Harjinder Singh Starts Own Political Party In UK After Fall Out With UKIP

    Quebec 17-year-old Dead After Being Shot By Police Following Family Drama: Police

    Quebec 17-year-old Dead After Being Shot By Police Following Family Drama: Police
    Provincial police, who are handling the investigation, say local police were called to a residence where the teen had attacked an older male family member.

    Quebec 17-year-old Dead After Being Shot By Police Following Family Drama: Police

    Manitoba's First Openly Gay MLA Looks Back On Career, Struggle For Rights

    Manitoba's First Openly Gay MLA Looks Back On Career, Struggle For Rights
    WINNIPEG — The early 2000s were not that long ago, but seem like a different era to Jim Rondeau.

    Manitoba's First Openly Gay MLA Looks Back On Career, Struggle For Rights

    How A Trade Feud With Canada Built Hundreds Of Homes In Places Like New Orleans

    How A Trade Feud With Canada Built Hundreds Of Homes In Places Like New Orleans
    One little-known legacy of the now-expiring softwood lumber agreement: it spawned a massive, Canadian-funded humanitarian effort in the United States that people north of the border have never heard of.

    How A Trade Feud With Canada Built Hundreds Of Homes In Places Like New Orleans