Browse "Communities & Sociology"

Alexander MacMillan. Presbyterian minister, hymnologist, b Edinburgh 19 Oct 1864, d Toronto 5 Mar 1961; honorary DD (Presbyterian College, Montreal) 1919, honorary D MUS (Toronto) 1943.

Alexandra Luke, painter (born 14 May 1901 in Montréal, QC; died 1 June 1967 in Oshawa, ON). Alexandra Luke was one of two female founding members of the Ontario-based group of abstract artists known as Painters Eleven.

Alexandre-Antonin Taché, missionary, Roman Catholic priest, archbishop (b at Rivière-du-Loup, Qué 23 July 1823; d at St-Boniface, Man 22 June 1894).

Alexandre Bilodeau, freestyle skier (born 8 September 1987 in Montreal, QC). Alexandre Bilodeau’s gold medal in moguls at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver made him the first Canadian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal on home soil. At the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, he became the first male Canadian athlete to successfully defend his Olympic gold medal; as well as the first freestyle skier to win consecutive Olympic gold medals. He finished his career with three world championships in dual moguls and 19 World Cup medals. He then became an accountant and a national spokesperson for people with disabilities. He has been inducted into the Québec Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Alexandre Da Costa. Violinist, born Montreal 30 Oct 1979; MA and premier prix violin (Conservatoire de Musique du Québec à Montréal [CMM]) 1998, BA piano performance (Montréal) 1998, Concert Diploma Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia (Madrid) 2001, post graduate diploma Universitat fur Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (Vienna) 2004.

Alfonso Gagliano, politician (born 1942 in Italy; died 12 December 2020). Alfonso Gagliano was the Member of Parliament for the Montreal neighbourhood of Saint-Leonard from 1984 until 2002. Following the 1997 election, he served as Minister of Public Works and Government Services in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. He was also chair of the electoral commission of the Liberal Party in Quebec. Gagliano resigned from cabinet and the House of Commons to accept a position as ambassador to Denmark. He was fired by Prime Minister Paul Martin in 2004 for his role in the sponsorship scandal.

Alfred Schmitz Shadd, educator, physician, farmer, politician, pharmacist, editor, civic leader (born 1870 in Raleigh Township, Kent County, ON; died 1915 in Winnipeg, MB).

The Algonquin are Indigenous peoples that have traditionally occupied parts of western Quebec and Ontario, centring on the Ottawa River and its tributaries. Algonquin should not be confused with Algonquian, which refers to a larger linguistic and cultural group, including First Nations such as Innu and Cree. In the 2016 census, 40,880 people identified as having Algonquin ancestry.

Ali Pourfarrokh, choreographer and ballet director (b at Kermanshah, Iran 27 Nov 1938). As artistic director of the Alberta Ballet Company from 1988 to 1998, he played a major role in giving the troupe a fresh image.

Alice Amelia Chown, feminist, suffragist, pacifist, socialist, writer (b at Kingston, Canada West 3 Feb 1866; d at Toronto 2 Mar 1949). She was educated at Queen's University. In 1912 she was a founding member of the Toronto Equal Franchise League.

Alikomiak (also spelled Alekámiaq) and Tatimagana, Inuit hunters from the central Arctic, were the first Inuit to be condemned and executed for murder under Canadian law on 1 February 1924. The trials of Alikomiak and Tatimagana have been described as demonstrations of federal authority over the Inuit as well as of Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic.

Sapp is widely regarded as one of Canada's foremost Indigenous painters. Sapp's success as a painter in the realist tradition (associated more with European art) made him a pioneer of the new Indigenous arts.

In Canada, “allophone” is a term that describes a person who has a first language that is not English or French. According to the 2021 census, over 9 million Canadians had a mother tongue other than English or French (see Immigrant Languages in Canada; Indigenous Languages in Canada).

Almighty Voice (or Kitchi-manito-waya, meaning “Voice of the Great Spirit,” also known as Jean-Baptiste), Cree, outlaw (born around 1875 near Duck Lake, SK; died 30 May 1897 at Batoche, SK).

Alphonse-Télesphore Lépine, printer, politician and union activist (born 15 May 1855 in Quebec City, QC; died 19 August 1943 in Montreal, QC). Elected in a by-election in the riding of Montreal East in 1888, he became the first working-class independent member of parliament in the House of Commons. In the House, he promoted a program inspired by the Knights of Labor’s declaration of principles. Throughout Lépine’s political career, his supporters did not hesitate to capitalize on his working-class background and were quick to describe him as a true “self-made man” who owed his success to his love of work.