Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s former chief public health officer, has been appointed as an officer of the Order of Canada alongside B.C. Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry.Ashley Fraser/The Globe and Mail
Doctors Theresa Tam and Bonnie Henry, leaders at the national and provincial level in Canada’s efforts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, have both been appointed to the Order of Canada.
Dr. Tam completed her tenure as Canada’s chief public health officer this month, and Dr. Henry is still the British Columbia Provincial Health Officer. They have been appointed as officers of the order, one of the country’s highest honours.
Eighty-three individuals were appointed to the order on Monday, including Marc-André Blanchard, the former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations who is set to become Prime Minister Mark Carney’s chief of staff next month.
Mr. Blanchard, also a former executive vice-president for the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec investment fund, was appointed as a member of the order.
Marc-André Blanchard was appointed to the Order to honour his contributions to Canada's economic development, the citation states.Mike Sudoma/The Canadian Press
According to the citation, he is being honoured for his “outstanding contributions” to Canada and its economic development: “He has worked tirelessly to ensure that major Canadian organizations take their rightful place on the global stage.”
In a statement, Mr. Blanchard said he was humbled and honoured by the appointment.
“I feel incredibly fortunate not only to receive this recognition alongside so many inspiring Canadians, but also to have a career filled with purpose, opportunity, and the privilege of serving my country,” he said.
The order consists of a hierarchy of companions, officers and members. Officers and members can rise based on further achievements.
Governor-General Mary Simon made the appointments on April. 17, acting on the recommendations of an advisory council for the order.
For Dr. Tam, the order citation notes that her tenure between 2017 and 2025 was “characterized by her commitment to health equity and highlighted by her leadership role in the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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Dr. Henry is noted for using her expertise in public health and preventive medicine to safeguard the health of people in Canada and globally for decades.
“Notably, as provincial health officer, she led British Columbia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the citation says.
Dr. Henry is a former medical officer for the Royal Canadian Navy and associate medical health officer in Toronto, who worked in senior public-health positions in B.C. before being named Provincial Health Officer for the province in 2018.
“Having my name amongst this group of incredible Canadians is truly humbling,” Dr. Henry said in a statement.
“I have been privileged to have the opportunity to live and work in many parts of this great country and the world. To be recognized by my country for my life’s work in health and public health is a tremendous honour and I am very grateful.”
B.C. health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry was honoured for leading the province's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
David Jones, who led the establishment of Canada’s public-health agency as its first chief public health officer, was also named to the order, honoured for spending his career “supporting and safeguarding Canadians’ health.”
More than 8,200 people have been appointed to the order since it was created in 1967 to coincide with Canada’s centennial.
Among the others appointed this year are former federal cabinet minister John Manley promoted to being a companion of the order, and praised for bridging the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, promoting diversity and inclusiveness in leadership while engaging on public policy.
Officers include lawyer and author Maureen McTeer for her work on gender issues and health guidelines, as well as novelist Miriam Toews, whose 2018 book Women Talking was adapted into a 2022 Oscar-winning film by Canadian writer-director Sarah Polley.
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Saroj Saigal of Hamilton was named for her work in neonatology, as was virtuoso harmonica player, composer and author Mike Stevens of the Ontario village of Point Edward, noted for a 40-year career as an entertainer that has included performances at the Grand Old Opry in Nashville.
Canadian actor Tonya Williams is being honoured for her advocacy for greater access and inclusion of racialized people in film and media. Bruce Anderson of Ottawa is being cited for his career in opinion research and work co-founding scholarships and the Jaimie Anderson Parliamentary Internship.
Diplomats Alexandra Bugailiskis, a former ambassador to Syria, Cuba, Poland and Italy, currently chair of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, is being honoured alongside Donald Campbell, of Vancouver, a former ambassador to Korea and Japan who served as a deputy minister of foreign affairs and international trade among other posts.
Other honorees include Louise Halfe, also known by the Cree name Sky Dancer, a poet from Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta, for articulating the history and experiences of Indigenous peoples in both Cree and English; and J. Michael MacDonald, the former chief justice of Nova Scotia.
Here is the full list of people named to the Order of Canada:
Companions of the Order of Canada:
W. Ford Doolittle - Halifax
John Paul Manley - Ottawa and Rideau Lakes, Ont.
Officers of the Order of Canada
Fabrice Pierre Brunet - Montreal
Tom Tak Kin Chau - Toronto
Alan Charles Evans - Montreal
Cheryl Forchuk - Brantford, Ont.
F. Stuart Foster - Toronto
Donald William Hayley - Peachland, B.C.
Bonnie J. Fraser Henry - Victoria
David Alexander Jones - Ottawa
Maureen Anne McTeer - Ottawa
John Theodore Nolan - Garden River, Ont.
Peter Leon Rosenbaum - Hamilton
Saroj Saigal - Hamilton
Adel S. Sedra - Waterloo, Ont.
Mike Stevens, Point Edward, Ont.
Theresa Tam - Ottawa
Miriam Toews - Toronto
David Norman Weisstub - Montreal
Tonya Williams - Toronto and Los Angeles
Karim Zaghib - Longueuil, Que.
Members of the Order of Canada
Bruce Alexander Anderson - Ottawa
Ronald Bisson - Ottawa
Marc-André Blanchard - Montreal
Earl Raphael Bogoch - Toronto
Jacques Bouchard - La Malbaie, Que.
Ronald Joseph Bourgeois - Halifax
Jackson Maurice Brodsky - Saskatoon
Brian Bronfman - Montreal
Freda Lang Browns - Montreal
Alexandra Bugailiskis - Oakville, Ont.
Roy Keith Byram - Marsh Lake, Yukon
Donald Wilfred Campbell - Vancouver
Michel Cardin - Riverview, N.B.
Brian Anthony Crane - Ottawa
Col. Michel William Drapeau - Orléans, Ont.
Marianne Dubuc - Montreal
Allison Audrey Eddy - Ottawa
Elizabeth Rollins Epperly - Kentville, N.S.
Kent Farndale - Port Perry, Ont.
Robert Thomas Foster - Edmonton
Albert David Friesen - Winnipeg
Élise Gravel - Montreal
Lorraine Greaves - Vancouver
Sky Dancer Louise Bernice Halfe - Saskatoon
Kenneth Wayne Hindmarsh - Toronto
Paul Hindo - Manotick, Ont.
Thomas Peter Caven Irving - West Vancouver, B.C.
Milton Israel - Toronto
Donald Albert James, Ruth Louise James - North Saanich, B.C.
Robert R. Janes - Canmore, Alta.
Milos J. Krajny, - Toronto
Nathan Leon Leipciger - Toronto
Barry Frederick Lorenzetti - Montreal
Stephen B. Lucas - North Vancouver, B.C.
J. Michael MacDonald - Halifax
Sylvain Martel - L’Île-Bizard, Que.
Claudette McGowan - Aurora, Ont.
Michael Kevin McMahon - Montreal
Ashleigh Bernard Molloy - Toronto
Kathy Mulder - Winnipeg
Glenn Kevin Murphy - Toronto
Jacques Parisien - Montreal
David F. Pelly - Ottawa
Susan Peterson d’Aquino - Ottawa
Vincenzo Pietropaolo - Toronto
Michel Rabagliati - Montreal
George Elliot Rodger - Halifax Regional Municipality
Sharon Diane Brown Ross - Halifax
Ebonnie Rowe - Toronto
Robert William Runciman - Brockville, Ont.
Roderick Raymond Senft - Vancouver
Mahesh Chandra Sharma - Montreal
Georges St-Pierre - Saint-Isidore, Que.
Chris G. Tambakis - Toronto
Claudette Tardif - Edmonton
Homer Chin-nan Tien - Toronto
Gilbert Donald Walsh - Peterborough, Ont.
Greg Wells - Winterton, N.L. and Los Angeles
Timothy Joseph Whelan - Hamilton
Stephen Adrian White - Moncton
Ruth Doreen Williams - Kamloops