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Create AccountCamille Laurin once likened Bill 101, Quebec's landmark French language charter that he ushered into law, to shock therapy. It was a fitting analogy for Laurin, 76, a psychiatrist-turned-politician who died of cancer last week in Montreal.
Phyllis GOTLIEB is the first to agree she fits the classic profile of the SCIENCE FICTION writer. "Like quite a few of us - Robert Silverberg, Frederik Pohl, my friend Judy Merril," she rhymes off, "I was an only child.
Alexander Kennedy Isbister, Métis schoolmaster, explorer, lawyer (born June 1822 in Cumberland House, Rupert's Land, [now in SK]; died 28 May 1883 in London, England).
Peter Gzowski, CC, broadcaster, writer, editor (born 13 July 1934 in Toronto, ON; died 24 January 2002 in Toronto, ON).
Camille Henri Thériault, politician, businessman, premier of New Brunswick 1998-1999 (born 25 February 1955 in Baie-Sainte-Anne, NB). Thériault served in the Cabinet of Liberal Premier Frank McKenna before briefly taking a turn as premier himself. After politics, he was chair of the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board, and served as CEO of the Mouvement des caisses populaires acadiennes.
J. A. Berthold (Bert) Carrière, composer, conductor, teacher (born 27 February 1940 in Ottawa, ON), B MUS (Montreal) 1966, M MUS (Western) 1973. Berthold Carrière began piano studies at age 4, and played trombone at Ottawa Technical High School.
Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal was for many years one of Canada's most popular and internationally travelled troupes, performing 100 shows annually all over the world.
Isadore Borsuk (a.k.a. Bobby Breen), actor, singer (born 4 November 1928 in Montréal, QC; died 19 September 2016 in Pompano Beach, Florida). Boy soprano Bobby Breen was one of Hollywood’s most popular child stars of the 1930s. His cherubic appearance, angelic voice and innocent personality earned him a reputation as “the boy Shirley Temple.” After his Hollywood career ended at age 12, he spent his adult years performing in nightclubs, playing piano and running a talent agency. His cult status was secured when his picture was included on the cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).
Boyd McDonald. Pianist, fortepianist, composer, teacher, b Tuberose, Sask, 28 Sep 1932; ARCT 1951, LRSM 1953. In Saskatoon McDonald studied piano with Lyell Gustin and composition with Murray Adaskin.
Thomas “Tom” Henry Bull Symons, CC, OOnt, FRSC, FRGS, teacher, historian, university president, author (born 30 May 1929 in Toronto, ON; died 1 January 2021 in Peterborough, ON). Thomas Symons was founding president of Trent University (1961–72) and founding vice-president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada(1978–84). He is perhaps best known as chair of the Commission on Canadian Studies (1972–84).
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.
Henri Joseph Breault, medical doctor, anti-poisoning advocate (born 4 March 1909 in Tecumseh, ON; died 5 September 1983 in Exeter, ON). Breault is known for spearheading a national campaign to prevent accidental childhood poisonings. He advocated for the development of the Palm-N-Turn, a safety cap that drastically reduced child deaths due to poisoning in Canada and around the world.
Léa Pool, CM, filmmaker, director, documentarian, screenwriter, producer (born 8 September 1950 in Soglio, Switzerland). Through her introspective films, Pool offers an approach to female characters that is stripped of all stereotypes. Exploring themes of love, exile and uprootedness, she attempts to draw viewers into a reflection on their own condition, through their own individuality. Often compared with the films of Marguerite Duras, Pool’s films focus on intimate emotions and attract a multigenerational audience. The recipient of many awards in Canada and abroad, Léa Pool is the first female director to win Best Film at the Gala du cinéma québécois.
Pat Adachi was born and raised in Vancouver, the daughter of Japanese immigrants. She grew up in the heart of the city’s Little Tokyo neighbourhood, within walking distance of the local grounds where her father would take her on Sundays to watch her favourite baseball team, the Vancouver Asahi. Adachi and her family lived normal lives, until she and her community were uprooted in 1942, when the federal government ordered Japanese Canadians to internment camps in rural British Columbia (see Internment of Japanese Canadians).
In this interview, Adachi shares her story and relates the experiences of the 22,000 Japanese Canadians who were interned in Canada during the Second World War.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Siksikáí’powahsin (commonly referred to as the Blackfoot language) is an Algonquian language spoken by four Blackfoot nations: the Siksiká (Blackfoot), Aapátohsipikani (North Piikani), Aamsskáápipikani (South Piikani) and Kainai (Blood). While there are some dialectal differences between these groups, speakers can generally understand one another. Blackfoot is an endangered language; since the 1960s, the number of new speakers has significantly decreased. The development of language programs and resources in Canada and the United States seek to preserve the language and promote it to new speakers.
Margret Benedictsson (née Jonsdottir), journalist, social activist, suffragist (born 16 March 1866 in Hrappsstadir, Iceland; died 13 December 1956 in Anacortes, Washington). Benedictsson brought her deeply held beliefs and interest in social change to Manitoba. Through her service to the Icelandic communities in Selkirk, Gimli, and Winnipeg, she championed women’s suffrage, education, improved working conditions, and human rights.
The vast majority of Canada's eight million people fought the Great War at home.
Agnes Campbell Macphail, politician, reformer (born 24 March 1890 in Proton Township, Grey County, ON; died 13 February 1954 in Toronto, ON). Agnes Macphail was the first woman elected to the House of Commons (1921–40) and was one of the first two women elected to the Ontario legislature (1943–45, 1948–51). She was also the first female member of a Canadian delegation to the League of Nations. Macphail was a founding member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (the forerunner of the New Democratic Party). She was a noted pacifist and an advocate for prison reform. As a member of the Ontario legislature, she championed Ontario’s first equal pay legislation (1951).
Marvin Duchow. Musicologist, composer, administrator, teacher, b Montreal 10 Jun 1914, d there 24 May 1979; B MUS (McGill) 1937, Diploma in Composition (Curtis) 1939, BA (New York) 1942, MA musicology (ESM, Rochester) 1951, honorary D MUS (Chicago Cons) 1960.
