John McCain: Profile in Courage

"I hope we can again rely on humility, on our need to cooperate, on our dependence on each other to learn how to trust each other again and by so doing better serve the people who elected us."

"Let's trust each other. Let's return to regular order. We've been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle. That's an approach that's been employed by both sides, mandating legislation from the top down, without any support from the other side, with all the parliamentary maneuvers that requires."

"What have we to lose by trying to work together to find those solutions? We're not getting much done apart. I don't think any of us feels very proud of our incapacity. Merely preventing your political opponents from doing what they want isn't the most inspiring work. There's greater satisfaction in respecting our differences, but not letting them prevent agreements that don't require abandonment of core principles, agreements made in good faith that help improve lives and protect the American people."

Above are three excerpts from John McCain's impassioned speech to the United States Senate on

Tuesday, July 25, 2017.  McCain's speech was a much-needed plea for civility and decency in American politics.  His was a welcome voice in the terrible Age of Trump.  This 80-year-old man, recently diagnosed with brain cancer, stood before the American people and renounced the polarizing politics of President Donald J. Trump.

Then, in the early hours of Friday, July 28, 2017, McCain and two female Republicans senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, combined to defeat a pared-down bill to repeal the Affordable Health Act, commonly known as Obamacare.  They rebelled at the way this so-called "skinny repeal" bill was being rammed down the throats of Americans with little consultation and bipartisan input..  They refused to succumb to threats and bullying.  As, a result, much to the disappointment and consternation of Tea Party Republicans, the bill was defeated by a vote of 49-51. It was a dramatic moment and a crushing defeat for Donald Trump and his politics of intimidation.

John McCain is a conservative American and I am a Canadian of mostly liberal persuasion.  I was pleased when Barack Obama defeated him for the presidency of the United States in 2008.  However, Senator McCain did something heroic and courageous on July 28 and I admire him for it.  Unlike some spineless Republicans, he did not put partisan politics about the national good.

McCain, a naval aviator, was shot down during the Vietnam War.  He was a prisoner of war and held captive for five years in Hanoi.  He refused early release despite being beaten repeatedly.  Yet Donald Trump had the unmitigated gall to say, "He's not a war hero.  He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."

Even the most vocal opponents of the war in Vietnam can see that John McCain has the courage of his convictions.  This is a man who endured five years of torture as a POW.  No wonder he refused to be bullied by the likes of Donald Trump.  Toward the end of his speech, McCain turned to criticize Trump.  He declared that the Senate was not to bow down to a  Republican president. “Whether or not we are of the same party, we are not the president's subordinates. We are his equal,” he said. Alluding to to Trump’s campaign mantra, he said, “We don't hide behind walls. We bridge them.”

Obamacare may be flawed, but it is far superior to the bill cobbled together by a group of wealthy white GOP males.  It's time that Republican work together to improve Obamacare, not repeal and replace it.  The repeal of Obamacare would mean that millions of Americans, especially the poor, elderly and vulnerable, would lose their health care coverage.  No one should have to choose between putting  food on the table and paying medical medical bills.

Now that many Americans have enjoyed the benefits of public health coverage, they will not let it slip away easily.  They will not be intimidated.  Most Canadians, including myself, treasure our public health care coverage.  We would never willingly relinquish our government health insurance cards.


- Joanne

Mata Hari: Spy for Germany or scapegoat for the French military?

"Her real crime, however, was being a woman of loose morals. Mata Hari freely admitted to a long list of lovers, from Paris to Berlin. Not even the British were immune. Her arresting officer said, “She was one of the most charming specimens of female humanity I had ever set eyes on,” and Sir Basil [Thomson} (Scotland Yard's Assistant Commissioner of Police and Head of Special Branch) himself would remember her as “tall and sinuous, with glowing black eyes and a dusky complexion, vivacious in manner, intelligent and quick in repartee.” 

- Don Hollway
From: "Mata Hari: Beauty, Seduction & Espionage"  
History Magazine, January 2016

One hundred years ago yesterday, Mata Hari was convicted of spying for Germany during World War One.  On July 25th, 1917, a French military court sentenced her to death.  Her name has since become synonymous with mysterious and seductive female espionage, but how much is her reputation is deserved?  Was she truly guilty of seditious wartime espionage or was she merely a pawn, a scapegoat for the ineptitude of the French military?  She may have been a spy, but was she a double agent? According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, "the nature and extent of her espionage activities remain uncertain, and her guilt is widely contested."

Maha Hari was the stage name of a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan.  She was born Margaretha Geertruida "Margreet" Zelle in Leeuwarden in the province of Friesland in the Netherlands on August 7, 1876.  Margaretha was the eldest of the five children of Adam Zelle (October 2, 1840 - March 13, 1910) and his first wife, Antje van der Meulen (April 21, 1842 - May 9, 1891). Margaretha had four brothers:  Johannes Hendriks Zelle (November 26, 1878 - July 10, 1936), Jacob Zelle (November 10, 1879 - December 30, 1955); Arie Anne Zelle (August 9, 1881 - 1955) and Cornelius Coenraad Zelle (August 9, 1881 - May 31, 1956). Note: Biographical references to Mata Hari state that she had three brothers, but a genealogical website lists the names of four brothers, the two youngest being twins).

Adam Zelle, Magaretha's father, was a milliner by trade and owned a hat shop.  He became quite prosperous due to investments in the oil industry and spoiled his young daughter, lavishing much attention on her and sending her to exclusive schools.  In 1889, however, Zelle's speculation in oil shares ended in terrible misfortune. He went bankrupt and departed for The Hague in utter humiliation. Margaretha's parents divorced soon after the bankruptcy and her father remarried in Amsterdam in 1893.  His second wife was Susanna Catherina ten Hove.

Adam Zelle

When Margaretha's mother died in 1891, the family, split up and the 15-year-old was sent to live with her godfather in Sneek, southwest of Leeuwarden.  She eventually left the Sneek household and made her way to the town of Leiden, where she attended a teachers' college and planned to teach kindergarten.  However, a scandal ensued when the college's 51-year-old headmaster began flirting with her.  The were caught in a compromising position and Margaretha's godfather removed her from the school. The disgraced teen then fled to her uncle's home in The Hague.

When she was 18 years old, a restless Margaretha came across a newspaper ad from Captain Rudolph MacLeod (born March 1, 1856).  MacLeod, an army officer stationed in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), was on leave and sought "a girl of pleasant character" for matrimony.  Margaretha boldly replied to the ad and provided a captivating photo of herself, tall, raven-hared and olive-skinned.  The mustachioed military man was intrigued by this brazen young woman. and despite an age gap of more than twenty years, the two wed.

Margaretha married Captain MacLeod in Amsterdam on July 11, 1895.  Her new husband was a man of Scottish ancestry who served with distinction in the Dutch colonial army.  Margaretha was nearing her 19th birthday and MacLeod was 39 at the time of their marriage.  She had had few prospects and the marriage provided her with social status, financial security and respectability.

Captain Rudolph MacLeod

From 1897 to 1902, Margaretha and her husband made their home in Java and Sumatra.  Their union, though, was not a happy one.  While in the Indies, coquettish Margaretha, who had a penchant for soldiers in uniform, was pursued by young lieutenants. This provoked Rudolph's jealousy, although he was not exactly a model spouse himself.  According to the Don Hollway in his History Magazine article, MacLeod also "had his own issues: gambling, drinking, womanizing, jealousy and spousal abuse, not to mention venereal disease."

The couple did have two children - a son named Norman John MacLeod (born January 30, 1897 - died June 27, 1899) and a daughter named Jeanne Louise MacLeod (born May 2, 1898).  In June of 1899, however, a terrible tragedy occurred. Both children became seriously ill and had to be hospitalized.  Two-year-old Norman died and Jeanne Louise (known as "Non") narrowly survived. Although a nanny was accused of poisoning the children, Hollway and others contend that Norman's death was more likely due to congenital syphilis, or its virulent mercury "cure."  It is thought that Margaretha may have contracted syphilis from her husband and passed it on to her children.

Jeanne Louuse MacLeod

Rudolph and son Norman

Margaretha and Rudolph returned to the Netherlands together in 1902, but separated soon after.  In 1906, their marriage ended in divorce and Rudolph MacLeod was granted custody of their daughter. After the break-up of her marriage, Margaretha headed for the City of Lights. In 1905, she started to dance professionally in Paris, using the moniker "Lady MacLeod." However, she soon adopted the name "Mata Hari," which is a  Malay expression for the sun or "eye of the day."  She performed East Indian dances and was willing to appear virtually nude in public, clad only in a beaded brassiere and heavy costume jewellery.

Taking advantage of her swarthy, exotic looks, Mararetha created the "Mata Hari" persona for herself. As part of her act, she performed a "temple dance" based on the knowledge of cultural and religious symbolism that she had acquired while living in the Dutch East Indies.  Although of Dutch heritage, she was able to successfully pass herself off as an alluring Javanese princess.

In the years before World War One, Mata Hari was one of the most popular exotic dancers in the French capital and elsewhere in Europe.  She danced before crowds in Berlin, Madrid, Monte Carlo, Milan and Rome.  She also became the mistress of many famous and powerful men.  About 1912, however, Mata Hari's dancing career began to decline and her bookings became fewer. By March of 1915, her star had faded and and she performed for the last time. The novelty of her act had worn off. She was approaching forty and had gained weight. When her career ended, she found it difficult to maintain her lavish lifestyle, so she supplemented her income by seducing government and military men.

During the war, Mata Hari was able to travel freely.  She spoke several languages and, as a Dutch subject, had no difficulty crossing borders due to the neutrality of the Netherlands.  In fact, Mata Hari traversed so frequently from country to country that her name appeared on a list of suspected spies. She also knew knew no borders when it came to her lovers, who unwisely included German officers. It is not surprising, therefore, that her activities brought her to the attention of British and French intelligence and that she was placed under surveillance.

Meanwhile, Mata Hari fell in love a much younger Russian pilot, Captain Vadim Maslov, who served with the French.  Maslov, only in his 20s, was part of the Russian Expeditionary Force that was deployed to the Western Front in the spring of 1916.  In the summer of 1916, he was shot down and seriously wounded during battle with the German.  He also faced the loss of the sight in both of his eyes.

When Mata Hara asked for permission to visit her Russian paramour at a hospital on the front, French officials allowed her to do so, provided she agreed to spy on the Germans.  Wanting to visit Maslov and in need of money, Mata Hari agreed to spy for France.  A French army captain named Georges Ladoux recruited her to pass on military secrets from her lovers to the French government. Ladoux, head of the Deuxième Bureau (French military intelligence during World War One), assumed she was a German agent.

Georges Ladoux

The French were particularly interested in obtaining military secrets from Crown Prince Wilhelm, the playboy eldest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II (Mata Hari had danced for him before the war.).  They offered Mata Hari a million francs to senduce him.  What the French didn't realize was that the Crown Prince had little relevant information to offer them as he was not the great warrior that German propaganda portrayed him to be.  Although Prince Wilhelm was nominally a senior German general on the Western Front, he had very little active involvement.

Mata Hari accepted her lucrative assignment at a time when French fortunes in the war were at a low ebb.  French defeats were mounting and the army was in revolt.  Mata Hari's defenders argue that her extravagance, her open flaunting of her sexuality and her foreignness made her the ideal scapegoat to blame for the French predicament.

In November of 2016, Mata Hari was travelling from Spain by steamer, when her ship docked at the British port of Falmouth. She was arrested there and taken to London where she underwent intense questioning from Sir Basil Thomson, who was in charge of counter-espionage at New Scotland Yard. In his 1922 book, Queer People, Thomson provided an account of the interview and stated that Mata Hari admitted to working for the Deuxième Bureau.

After her interrogation, Mata Hari was initially detained at a police station and then released due to a lack of concrete evidence. She then stayed at the posh Savoy Hotel in central London.  However, Scotland Yard tipped off the French to keep her under close surveillance and then sent her back to Spain. Upon her return to Madrid, she rendezvoused with a German military attaché named Major Arnold Kalle and asked if she could see the Crown Prince.  In January of 1917, Kalle sent radio messages to Berlin regarding the helpful assistance of a German spy-code H-21, whose description was almost identical to Mata Hari's.  French intelligence intercepted Kalle's messages and identified H-21 as Mata Hari.

On February 13, 1917, Mata Hari was arrested by the French Secret Service in her room at the swanky Elysees Palace Hotel in Paris.  After her arrest, she underwent intense interrogation.  She only admitted to passing some outdated information to a German intelligence officer, but confessed to providing the inconsequential communication under the pseudonym of H-21. She later claimed that she was only trying to regain property that had been taken away from her by German officials.

Mata Hari on the day of her arrest

Mata Hari's chief nemesis was Captain Ladoux, one of her principal accusers.  Ladoux presented the evidence against her in a most damning fashion and on suspicion of being a double agent, Mata Hari was thrown into a filthy jail cell in the Prison Saint-Lazare,  She was accused of spying for Germany against the French and British and was tried before a French military court on July 24-25, 1917.  At her trial, she was charged with being responsible for the deaths of at least 50,000 French soldiers by revealing details of the Allies' new weapon, the tank. After deliberating for less than 45 minutes, the tribunal convicted her of espionage and sentenced her to death.

Mata Hari was executed by a 12-man firing squad on October 15, 1917.  The execution took place just before dawn, at Vincennes, outside of Paris.  She arrived at the muddy field, wearing a bright blue coat to protect her from the cold, a three-cornered hat to cover her untidy hair (unkempt from months of incarceration) and ankle boots, As she was about to be bound to the stake, she bravely refused to wear a blindfold and it has been reported that she blew a kiss to the dozen men before they shot her. No one claimed Mata Hari's corpse and her body was donated to the Museum of Anatomy in Paris. She was 41 years old at the time of her death

In 1930, the government of Germany publicly cleared Mata Hari of any guilt.

On October 15 2001 (84 years to the day of Mata Hari's execution), a group from her birthplace in Leeuwarden, Netherlands implored the French justice minister to reopen the case against the Dutch exotic dancer.  A delegation spokesman declared, "Maybe she wasn't entirely innocent, but it seems clear she wasn't the masterspy whose information sent thousands of soldiers to their deaths, as has been claimed.  She was probably more sexual than criminal."  The French justice ministry at the time, under Marylise Lebranch agreed to re-examine Mata Hari's conviction.

In 2007, a biography entitled, Femme Fatale: Love, Lies and the Unknown Life of Mata Hari was published by Pat Shipman, a freelance writer and Professor of Anthropology at Penn State University. Shipman researched Mata Hari's background and marriage and examined numerous declassified documents in France and England concerning Mata Hari's arrest and espionage trial.  She made the case that Mata Hari was framed by trumped-up evidence.  She  wrote: "The Allied commanders, especially the French, needed someone to blame, to punish - to defeat, as they were being defeated by the Germans. And there she came, the perfect scapegoat: a tall, dark woman . . ."

There is no doubt that Mata Hari exercised poor judgement and that she was a notorious femme fatale.  However, it is questionable as to whether she was a double agent who deserved her fate.


END NOTES

* Rudolph MacLeod remarried and his second wife was Grietjie Meijer.  MacLeod died on January 9, 1928 in Rheden, Gelderlnd, Netherlands.  He was 71 years old at the time of his passing.

* Although Mata Hari's daughter, Jean Louise survived the "poisoning," she died in 1919 at the age of 21, possibly from complications related to congenital syphilis.  She never really knew her mother.

* Four days after Mata Hari's execution, Captain Georges Ladoux was arrested for being a double agent.  He was eventually acquitted of the charges.


- Joanne

Meet the Neighbours: A Guide to Dealing with Neighbour Disputes

The following infographic provides information about neighbour disputes and advice on how to resolve them.  I hope you find it useful and informative.  Note;  It was created by a UK company and the facts pertain to Britain.  It is still relevant to readers outside the United Kingdom.

- Joanne


Meet the Neighbours by Cast Iron Radiators 4u.

The Mysterious Death of Canadian Artist Tom Thomson

He (Tom Thomson) was an intense, wry and gentle artist with a canny sensibility, one of the first painters to give acute visual form to the Canadian landscape as he discovered it in Algonquin Park, a section of northern Ontario that had been set aside as a conservation area in 1893."

- The Canadian Encyclopedia


To most people Thomson’s country was a monotonous dreary waste, yet out of one little stretch he found riches undreamed of. Not knowing all the conventional definitions of beauty, he found it all beautiful: muskeg, burnt and drowned land, log chutes, beaver dams, creeks, wild rivers and placid lakes, wild flowers, northern lights, the flight of wild geese and the changing seasons from spring to summer to autumn.

- A.Y. Jackson (1882- 1974), Canadian artist and member of the Group of Seven


How Thomson died, who found his body, its condition, and even its final resting place all remain mysteries. Some propose the cause of Thomson’s death was an accident resulting from plain bad luck, while others suggest suicide, and still others point to foul play resulting from a conflict over debt, a love interest, or opinions about the war effort. To add even more mystery to the affair there are serious questions regarding whether Thomson’s body was moved from its first resting place.

- Great Unsolved Mysteries In Canadian History website, Death on a Painted Lake: The Tom Thomson Tragedy

One hundred years ago today, Tom Thomson, one of the most influential Canadian artists of the early 20th century, went missing.  A century has passed since the day he disappeared during a fishing trip on Canoe Lake in Ontario's Algonquin Park.  Within hours of Thomson's departure, on July 8, 1917, his overturned canoe was spotted in the middle of the lake, not far from the dock from which he had departed.  Eight days later, the 39-year-old's  badly decomposed remains were discovered.  17 strands of copper fishing line were wrapped around his legs and there was a huge gash on the left side of his head.  On July 17, 1917, Thomson's death was officially ruled an accidental drowning by Mark Robinson, the Park Ranger who examined his body before burial at Canoe Lake.  Yet, Thomson's death is still shrouded in mystery. Was it really accident?  Was it a suicide?  Was foul play involved?

Thomas John Thomson was born in the town of Clarenmont, Ontario (in Pickering Township) on August 5, 1877.  The sixth of ten children born to John Thomson and Maragaret Matheson, Tom was raised on a farm in Leith, Ontario, near Owen Sound on Georgian Bay.  He spent his childhood fishing and hunting in the woods.  He also participated in the family's traditional and cultural pursuits such as singing in the Leith Presbyterian church choir, playing the mandolin, reading poetry and sketching.

Tom was educated locally, although poor health kept him from attending school for a time. According to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, his illness was described as "weak lungs" or "inflammatory rheumatism."  It is not known whether he completed high school. In 1899, however, he tried to enlist for service in the Boer War, but was rejected three times for health reasons. His sister stated that the rejection was due to fallen arches. That same year, he was apprenticed as a machinist in Owen Sound, but returned home after eight months.  He then enrolled in the Canadian Business College in Chatham, Ontario.

In the summer of 1901, Tom followed his older brother, George, to Seattle, Washington, where George and a cousin had started a vocational school which eventually became Acme Business College,  After some training at Acme, Tom landed his first job as a commercial artist.  He was employed as an engraver for a short time by Maring & Ladd (later known as Maring & Blake), a firm headed by C.C. Maring, a graduate of Chatham Business College. In 1903, he was hired away by the Seattle Engraving Company, at an increase of $10 a month.

Thomsonn may have remained in Seattle and pursued a career there, had not circumstances in his personal life intervened.  According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, an incident occurred involving Alice Elinor Lambert (1886-1981), an American romance novelist to whom Tom proposed marriage. At the crucial moment, Alice giggled nervously, upsetting the sensitive young man and causing him to abandon his matrimonial plans.  (In 1912, Lambert  married Joseph Ransburg and they had two daughters.  She later moved to San Francisco and served as an advice columnist for the San Francisco Examiner for a time. She died in Marysville, Washington in 1981 at the age of 95).

Alice Elinor Lambert

Tom returned to Ontario and in 1905 worked as a senior artist and engraver at Legg Brothers Photoengraving Company in Toronto. He also attended night classes at the School of Art and Design, where he studied drawing. By 1908, he was employed at a commercial art firm called Grip Ltd.  This Toronto design company employed many of Canada's major artists at the time and it was where the famed Group of Seven met for the first time.  J.E.H. Macdonald had become the head designer in 1906 and Thomson and Frank Johnston worked as designers under him.  In 1911, Franklin Carmaichael found employment as an office boy there and Arthur Lisner and Fred Varley later came from England to work for Grip.  Yet, despite Tom Thomson's strong association with the Group of Seven, he is not considered one of the seven.

Under J.E.H Macdonald's tutelage, Tom's talent really began to bloom.  He showed his sketches to Macdonald and others at the company and received rave reviews from A.H. Robson, the firms's art director and a member of the Toronto Art Students' League.  Robson, Macdonld and others were impressed with how true to nature Thomson's work was.

In May of 1912, Tom Thomson and fellow artist H.B. "Ben" Jackson spent two weeks in Algonquin Park, which was well known for its fishing and forests, and easily accessible by train. The two men explored the Tea Lake and Canoe Lake area of the park. During August and September of 1912, Tom went on an extended canoe trip further north, to the Mississauga Forest Reserve in the Algoma District.  When he returned, his colleagues at Grip praised his sketches as an expression of the character of the northern landscape.

Thomson's first significant painting was A Northern Lake (1913).  It was created from one of the sketches he'd done on his trip to Algonquin Park.  In the autumn of 1914, Tom returned to the park with his friends A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer  and Frederick Varley.

In the winter of 1914-1915, Tom shared space in the Studio Building in Toronto.  He occupied Studio One with A.Y. Jackson and later with Frank Carmichael.  After their departure, he moved to a shack that was appended to the building. There he painted on large canvasses and entertained friends.

In November of 1915, while on his way back to Toronto, Tom stopped in Owen Sound to visit his sister, Minnie Harkness.  During the visit, according to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, he discussed his intention to enlist for service in the First World War but thought he might not be accepted.  Although Thomson despised the war, which he called "the machine," he was determined to serve in the conflict. As it turned out, he was rejected for reasons not fully known, although his family suggested it was due to foot problems (a toe broken as a youngster and faulty arches).

By 1915, Tom Thomson was producing beautiful oil paint sketches and his technique of landscape painting was evolving and developing.  He was also living in Algonquin Park for most of the year, spending only winters in Toronto.  It was in the park that he met his untimely demise.  Author Roy MacGregor has delved into the mystery surrounding Tom Thomson's death in his book Northern Light: The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson and the Woman Who Loved Him.  In this book, and in a 1977 article in the Toronto Star, MacGregor suggests that Tom was murdered by J. Shannon Fraser, the postmaster and  proprietor at Mowat Lodge on Canoe Lake and that Fraser's wife revealed the murder to a friend.

Who was J. Shannon Fraser and what motive could he have had for killing Tom Thomson?  Well, J. Shannon Fraser was born in Harrowsmith, Ontario in 1883.  His father, Skyler, was a labourer and his mother, Annie (Ferguson) was a weaver.  The family left Harrowsmith and settled on Earl Street in Kingsston, Ontario.  In 1903, Shannon married Annie Stewart from Westbrook, Ontario and the couple had a daughter named Mildred.  After living on Lower Bagot Street in Kingston, Fraser and his wife and daughter moved to Canoe Lake, where Fraser owned and managed Mowat Lodge while Annie served as manger and cooked for the guests.  It was there that that the Frasers became acquainted with the artist Tom Thomson.

From 1915 to 1917, when he was considered to be at the height of his creativity, Tom frequently stayed at the Lodge, when he was not camping.  According to Nancy Lang, who spent years researching Thomson's life for a documentary entitled West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson, "Tom would help Shannon with chores around the lodge to help pay for his room and board, so he would help put in a garden and more."

In 2011, nine students from St. Clair School in Kingston, Ontario participated in a project in which they investigated Tom Thomson's mysterious death.  The project was titled "Searching for Tom." and it earned them a gold medal at the Kingston Regional Heritage Fair.  The students did extensive research at the Queens University archives and reached the conclusion that Ton Thomson was most likely a victim of manslaughter.  After uncovering more information about J. Shannon Fraser, they came to believe that he was responsible for Thomson's death.

Why did the students suspect foul play and why they implicate Shannon Fraser?  Well, they found evidence that the night before Tom died, he and Fraser argued over a debt Fraser owed the artist. They also thought that Fraser may have been encouraged by the father of a woman named Winnie Trainer from Huntsville, Ontario, who some think was carrying a child by Tom.  Winnie's father may have been trying to persuade Thomson not to leave his pregnant daughter as Tom was apparently making plans to go out west to paint in the Rocky Mountains.

One student, Ashlee Redmond, explained the students' theory this way:  "It is thought that Tom and Fraser had a heated exchange, with Fraser pushing Tom into the hearth of the fireplace where Tom likely fell and hit his head on an andiron, which caused his death and accounted for the gash on his head.”

The students based their theory on a confession that Fraser's wife, Annie, allegedly made to a friend named Daphne Crombie.  Annie reportedly told her friend that she and Shannon dragged Thomson's body to the lake.  The students quoted the words of Daphne Crombie in an interview she gave to Algonquin historian Ronald Pittaway over 60 years later.  On January 4, 1977, Crombie told Pittaway that "she (Annie Fraser) never told me lies, ever."

The students' research prompted a letter to their principal, Mark Millan, from author Roy MacGregor. MacGregor noted that the students' findings provided fresh information and that they 'represented original research important to the Shannon Fraser file."

There are still other explanations regarding Tom Thomson's demise.  Another theory is that he was murdered by Martin Blecher Jr., a regular summer resident of Algonquin Park.  Blecher was known to envy Thomson's relationship with Winnie Trainer and may have killed him out of jealousy.

Although no suicide note has ever been discovered, some have surmised that Thomson took his own life.  Tom was known to have been shy and sensitive and he was said have had bouts of melancholia or depression.  In 1972, an article entitled "Reflections on The Passing of Tom Thomson" was published in Canadian Camping Magazine.  The piece was written by 82-year-old Charles F. Plewman, who had stayed at the Lodge and was a pallbearer at Thomson's funeral.  Plewman stated that he wished to shed some light on the subject of Tom's death, particularly since "as time goes on, myths increase."  In the excerpt below, Plewman details the stress and pressure that Tom was experiencing at the time.

After the funeral, Shannon Fraser who operated Mowat Lodge where Tom had stayed, and who was more intimate with Tom than anyone else, confided in me what he felt had actually happened. Tom Thomson […] was engaged to marry Miss Trainor. She was pressing him to go through with the marriage. He intimated that she was coming up to see Tom to have a showdown on the fatal week. He mentioned that Tom was a shy and sensitive person and that he felt he just could not face the music. The impression Shannon left me with was that somehow Tom had come to the conclusion that a settled, married life was not for him, but that he just could not say so to Miss Trainor. Recalling Tom’s previous statements of not to worry if he didn’t return on time, Shannon said that had made him feel that Tom had contemplated doing something on earlier occasions but had not mustered sufficient courage to go through with this intention.

Charles Plewman also had something to say about the discovery of Thomson's remains and the possibility of foul play.  He wrote that Mark Robinson, the Park Ranger, seemed to be in charge of the proceedings and that Robinson refused to allow Winnie Trainor to see the body.

When the body was found Miss Winnie Trainor, Tom’s girl friend from Huntsville, whose parents had a cottage on Canoe Lake in front of the Lodge, appeared on the scene and demanded the right to see the remains, saying that there must have been foul play as she was certain that Tom didn’t drown by accident in a small lake like Canoe Lake. This, Mark Robinson stoutly refused to grant. (The body had been in the lake about eight days and was not very presentable).

Tom Thomson had been dead for one hundred years now and, through the years, more information has come to light concerning his demise.  Some of the evidence, however, is confusing and conflicting.  A century later, questions still linger regarding the artist's untimely death.   Nevertheless, Thomson bequeathed a wonderful legacy to Canadians. His masterpieces, such as The West Wind and The Jack Pine are a reflection of this country and its magnificent landscape.

- Joanne

The Loyal X1: The best team of football (soccer) players who have only played with one club

Here is an  inforgraphic that should please football (soccer) fans.  It displays a super team made up of 11 players who have only played for one cub during their career.  I hope you enjoy it and that you find it interesting and entertaining.  It may even spark some debate.

- Joanne




The Loyal XI by Clubline Football.

In Celebration of Canada's 150th Birthday: 150 Special Canadians

My dream is for people around the world to look up and to see Canada like a little jewel sitting at the top of the continent.

- Tommy Douglas in a letter to his daughter, Shirley (1951)


Happy Canada Day!  It's the 150th anniversary of Confederation.  In celebration, Number 16 presents a list of 150 special Canadians.

My list of 150 special Canadians is definitely subjective.  No list will please everyone and many will complain that I have left someone out or that it displays a strong bias.  Well, it is biased and I make no bones about that.  However, I have endeavoured to make it inclusive.  I have chosen Canadians whose achievements vary greatly and represent a wide scope of accomplishments.  Some are academics, artists, writers and humanitarians.  Others are politicians, athletes and astronauts.

There may also be disagreement on whether a few of my choices are truly Canadian.  For example, Alexander Graham Bell was born in Scotland and died an American citizen.  However, he spent many years of his life in Canada and made the first long distance phone call from the Bell homestead near Brantford, Ontario.  He died on Canadian soil and is buried in Nova Scotia.  Some of my choices, such as Jane Jacobs, could also be included in a list of special Americans.

Here are my criteria for my choices:

* Born or spent a significant part of their life in Canada or citizen of Canada

* Contributed greatly to Canadian culture, law, human rights, politics, business, health, literature, art, music and other major fields of endeavour

OR

* Made a significant contribution to the improvement of life, education, art, science and medicine, athletics and entertainment in Canada and/or the world.

NOTE: The people on my list are imperfect human beings and certainly not above criticism. However, their achievements outweigh their detriments.  For the most part, their talents and accomplishments have contributed to the growth and development of Canada and have reflected this country to Canadians and to the world.

150 SPECIAL CANADIANS


1.  ADAMS, BRYAN (born November 5, 1959 in Kingston, Ontario) - singer/songwriter, guitarist, photographer. activist, philanthropist, winner of numerous Juno Awards and Grammy Awards

2.  ALEXANDER, LINCOLN  (born January 21, 1922 in Toronto, Ontario - died October 19, 2012 in Hamilton, Ontario)-- lawyer, politician, First Black Canadian to sit in the House of Commons, chair of the Ontario Workers' Compensation Board, Ontario's 24th lieutenant-governor, first Black Canadian to be appointed to a vice-regal position in Canada (1985), chancellor of the University of Guelph for five terms

3.  ARBOUR, LOUISE (born February 10, 1947 in Montreal, Quebec) - lawyer, law professor, judge, justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario, Chief Prosecutor for the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (1990 to 2004), United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2004-2008), President of the International Crisis Group (2009-2014), United Nations Special Representative for International Migration (2014 -

4.  ARCAND, DENYS  (born June 25, 1941 in Deschambaut, Quebec) - acclaimed film director, screenwriter and producer, joined the National Film Board of Canada (1963), Film awards include: Critics' Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, three Genie Awards and Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film for Le Déclin de l'empire américain (The Decline of the American Empire) (1986); jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, 10 Genie Awards and Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film for Jésus de Montréal (Jesus of Montreal) (1989); two Cannes Film Festival awards, Best Canadian Feature Film award at Toronto International Film Festival and Oscar for Best Foreign Film for Les invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions) (2003)

5.  ASPER, IZZY  (born August 11, 1932 in Minnedosa, Manitoba - died in Winnipeg, Manitoba on October 7, 2003) - businessman, broadcaster, lawyer, politician, media magnate and founder of now-defunct CanWest Global Communications Corp., established the Canadian Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba

6.  ATKINSON, JOSEPH E. (born December 23, 1865 in Newcastle, Canada West (now Ontario) - died May 8, 1948 in Toronto, Ontario)-  journalist, newspaper editor, publisher of the Toronto Star (1899-1948), social activist, formulated the Atkinson Principles - guidelines for the editorial values and beliefs that a large city newspaper should espouse, established the Atkinson Foundation in 1942, a major Canadian charity, advocate of social, economic and racial justice

   

7.  ATWOOD, MARGARET (born November 18, 1939 in Ottawa, Ontario) - author, poet, novelist, environmental activist, notable works: The Handmaid's Tail, Cat's Eye, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin, Orynx and Crake, Surfacing, founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, winner of the Governor General's Award and the Booker Prize

8.  BACHMAN, RANDY - (Born September 27, 1943 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) - singer/songwriter, musican, guitarist, member of the rock bands The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, CBC radio personality

9.  BANTING, FREDERICK (Dr.) born November 14, 1891 in Alliston, Ontario - died February 21. 1941 in Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador - medical scientist, physician principal discoverer of insulin at the University of Toronto along with Dr. Charles Best (1921-1922), winner of the Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine along with physiologist J.J.R. Macleod, director of Banting and Best's insulin research, first professor of medical research at the University of Toronto.

10.  BAUER, DAVID  (Father.) (born November 2, 1924 in Kitchener, Ontario - died November 9, 1988 in Goderich, Ontario) - hockey player (1941-1945), Basilian priest (ordained 1953), educator, hockey coach and pioneer, formed Canada's first national team to compete in Winter Olympic (1964-1968), won Olympic bronze (1968), Vice President of Hockey Canada ((1981), elected to Hockey Hall of Fame (1989) and International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame (1997)

11.  JEAN Béliveau  (born August 31, 1931 in Trois-Rivières, Quebec - died December 2, 2014, Montreal, Quebec, legendary hockey player and captain of the storied Montreal Canadiens, played with the Canadiens from 1950 to 1971, nicknamed "Le Gros Bill," established the Jean Béliveau Foundation in 1971 and transferred it to the Québec Society for Disabled Children upon his retirement in 1993, comported himself with grace, humility, dignity and class, never refused requests for autographs

12.  BELL, ALEXANDER GRAHAM (born Edinburgh, Scotland on March 3, 1847 and immigrated with his family to Brantford, Ontario in 1870 - died August 2, 1922 in Baddeck, Nova Scotia) - inventor and innovator, scientist, engineer, teacher of the deaf, credited with patenting the first practical telephone

13.  BELL, MARILYN (born October 19, 1937 in Toronto, Ontario) - long distance swimmer, became first to swim across Lake Ontario on September 9, 1954, youngest to swim the English Channel in 1956

14.  BERTON, PIERRE (born July 12, 1920 in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory - died November 30, 2004 in Toronto, Ontario) - author, historian (especially of Canadiana and Canadian history), television personality and journalist

15.  BETHUNE, NORMAN (Dr.) born March 4, 1890 in Gravenhurst, Ontario- died November 12, 1939 in Tangxian, Hebei, China) - physician, surgeon, medical innovator, anti-fascist, joined the Spanish Civil War as part of the Canadian Medical Unit in Madrid in 1936 and developed a mobile blood-transfusion service to the front lines, brought modern medicine to China and treated soldiers and villagers during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1945)

16.  BIRNEY, EARLE (born May 13, 1904 in Calgary - died September 3, 1995 in Toronto, Ontario), distinguished poet and novelist, established Canada's first Department of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia (1965), appointed the first writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto (1965), two-time winner of a Governor General's Award for his poetry in 1942 and 1945, best known for his poem "David"

17.  BOMBARDIER, JOSEPH-ARMAND (born April 16, 1907 in Valcourt, Quebec - died February 18, 1964 in Sherbrooke, Quebec) - engineer, entrepreneur, inventor of the snowmobile and Ski-Doo

18.  BONDAR, ROBERTA (Dr.) (born December 4, 1945 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) - physician, neurologist, Canada's first female astronaut, second Canadian in space, first neurologist in space aboard the American Space Shuttle (January 22-30, 1992), headed an international research team at NASA to find links between recovering from miccrogravity of space and neurological illnesses on Earth, educator, author, photographer

19.  BOYD, LIONA (born July 11, 1949 in London, England, UK and raised in Toronto, Ontario) - classical guitarist, composer, known "The First Lady of the Guitar"

20.  BROWN, GEORGE - (born November 29, 1818 in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland - died May 9, 1880 in Toronto, Ontario) - journalist, founder and editor of the Toronto Globe, politician, Father of Confederation (attended the Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences of 1864)

21.  BURGESS, MICHAEL - (born July 22, 1945 in Regina, Saskatchewan - died September 28, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario) - actor, tenor singer, played Jean Valjean in Toronto production of Les Misérables, frequently performed national anthems, first person to sing O Canada at the baseball World Series

22.  CALLWOOD, JUNE (born June 2, 1924 in Chatham, Ontario - died April 14, 2007 in Toronto, Ontario) - Canada's first female bush pilot in the 1940s, a, newspaper journalist and writer for Maclean's and Chatelaine magazines, inducted into Canadian News Hall of Fame (1984), television broadcaster,  author and social justice activist for causes such as homelessness and drug addiction, called "Canada's conscience,"  in Toronto, she founded Nellie's (named after Nellie McClung), a crisis shelter for women) (1974), Jessie's, a centre for pregnant and parenting teens (1982) and Casey House, Canada's first hospice to provide palliative care for AIDS/HIV victims (1988), civil libertarian, feminist, founding member of the Writer's Union of Canada

23.  CARNEGIE, HERB - (born November 8, 1919 in Toronto, Ontario - died March 9, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario) - hockey player,arguably the first Black Canadian hockey star, played in the 1940s and 1950s, mainly in the Quebec and Ontario Junior A and seniior leagues, businessman, philanthropist, established the Herbert H. Carnegie Four Aces Association in 1954, one of the first hockey schools in Canada

24.  CARR, EMILY (born December 13, 1871 in Victoria, British Columbia - died March 2, 1945 in Victoria) - artist, writer, one of the outstanding Canadian painters of the first half of the twentieth century, one of the few major female artists in North America and Europe during that time, displayed a keen interest in Aboriginal peoples and their culture, one of the great themes in her art

25.  CARRIER, ROCH - (born May 13, 1937) in Sainte-Justine-de Dorchester, Quebec) - poet, short story writer, novelist, author of The Hockey Sweater, director of the Canada Council for the Arts (1994-1997), National Librarian of Canada (1999-2004)

26.  CARTIER, George-Étienne (born September 6, 1814 in Saint-Antoine, Lower Canada (now Quebec) - died May 20, 1873 in London, England) - lawyer, politician, co-premier of the Province of Canada, engineered Queen Victoria's choice of Ottawa as the capital of the Canadas (1857), statesman, Father of Confederation, primary role in bringing French-speaking Canada, Manitoba and British Columbia into Confederation

27.  CASGRAIN, Thérèse (born July 10, 1896 in Monteal, Quebec - died November 2, 1981 in Montreal) - susffrogist (led campaign for women's suffrage in Quebec prior to World War II). politician, activist, reformer, feminist, first female to be elected the leader of a political party in Canada, Canadian senator

29.  CLARKSON, ADRIENNE (born February 19, 1939 in Hong Kong, arrived in Canada as a refugee in 1941) - journalist, author, politician, stateswoman and 26th Governor General of Canada (1999-2005)

30.  COHEN, LEONARD  (born Montreal, Quebec - died November 7, 2016 in Los Angeles California) - singer/songwriter of folk songs and soft rock, musician, poet, novelist, painter, winner of eight Juno Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, known for his signature songs, "Suzanne" and Hallelujah"

31.  CONNORS, STOMPIN' TOM (born February 9, 1936 Saint John, New Brunswick  - died March 6, 2013 in Ballinfaad, Ontario) - country and folk musician, guitarist, fiddler singer/songwriter, best known for songs that reflect Canada such as "Sudbury Saturday Night" and "Bud the Spud", his recording of "The Hockey Song" is played at hockey arenas across Canada

32.  CONACHER, LIONEL (born May 24, 1902 in Toronto, Ontario -died May 26, 1954 in Ottawa, Ontario) - Canada's greatest all-round athlete, excelled in a variety of sports, named Canada's top athlete of the first half of the 20th century in 1950, nicknamed "The Big Train, politician

33.  CRONENBERG, DAVID (born March 15, 1943 in Toronto, Ontario) - internationally renowned filmmaker, actor, author, known for his horror and science fiction films

34.  CUMMINGS, BURTON (born December 31, 1947) in Winnipeg, Manitoba) - singer/songwriter, musician, lead singer and keyboardist for famed Canadian band The Guess Who, formed in Winnipeg in 1965, launched solo career (1976)

35.  DAVIES, ROBERTSON (born August 28, 1913 in Thamesville, Ontario - died December 2, 1995 in Orangeville, Ontario) - writer, professor of literature at the University of Toronto, journalist, essayist, playwright and novelist, winner of the Governor General's Literary Award, best known for the novel Fifth Business

36.  DALLAIRE, Roméo  (born June 25, 1946 in Denecamp, Netherlands, the son of an officer in the Canadian Army, arrived in Canada as a baby and was raised in Montreal, Quebec) - soldier, humanitarian, author, Canadian senator (2005-2014), joined the Canadian forces in 1964, commanded the United Nations Assistance Mission for Uganda and Rwanda, tried to warn the UN about brutal genocide in Rwanda but was refused permission to act more forcefully, was so affected that he became an advocate for world's genocide victims and a human rights advocate

37.  DESMOND, VIOLA (born July 6, 1914 in Halifax, Nova Scotia - died February 7, 1965 in New York City, USA) - Businesswoman and beautician, founder of the Desmond School of Beauty Culture, civil libertarian, challenged an act of racial discrimination at a movie theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia in 1946, inspiration to Blacks in Nova Scotia and throughout Canada, first Canadian woman to be depicted on the face of a Canadian bank note

38.  DIEFENBAKER, JOHN (born September 18, 1895 in Neustadt, Ontario - died August 16, 1979 in Ottawa, Ontario) - lawyer, politician, 13th Prime Minister of Canada (1957-1963), supporter of civil rights, champion of the Canadian Bill of Rights and the extension of voting rights to First Nations, played a leading role in opposing apartheid and ousting South Africa from the Commonwealth in 1961

39.  DION, Céline  (born March 30, 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec) - singer, discovered by Montreal impresario René Angélil, who became her manager and future husband, teen star in the French-speaking world, recorded her first English-language album, Unison in 1990 and achieved worldwide fame after releasing several other English-language albums such as The Colour of My Love (1993), Falling into You (1996), Let's Talk About Love (1997) and additional French-language albums,  including the best-selling D'eux (1995), had a string of pop hits, including the romantic ballad, My Heart Will Go, the theme from the film Titanic, established a 5-night-per-week residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas from 2003 to 2007

Photo Attribution: Georges, Biard

40.  DOUCET, ROGER (born April 21, 1919 in Montreal, Quebec- died in Montreal on July 19, 1981) - tenor singer, known for singing O Canada with enthusiasm at Montreal Canadiens' hockey games

41.  DOUGLAS, TOMMY (born October 20, 1904 in Falkirk, Scotland, immigrated  to Canada in 1919, where his family settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba - died February 24, 1986 in Ottawa, Ontario) - Baptist minister, social democratic politician, universal health care advocate, known as the "father of Canadian medicare," first elected to the Canadian House of Commons (1935-1944), premier of Saskatchewan (1944-1961) and led the first socialist government elected in Canada, returned to the House of Commons (1969-1979), chosen "Greatest Canadian" in online vote conducted by the CBC (2004)

42.  DOWNIE, GORD  (born February 6, 1964 in Amherstview, Ontario) - musician, singer/songwriter, environmental activist, advocate of reconciliation with the Indigenous people of Canada, lead singer and lyricist for celebrated Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip

43.  DUPUY, DIANE (born 1948 in Hamilton, Ontario)- founder of the Famous People Player Puppet Troupe (1974) for developmentally disabled actors

                                                    Photo courtesy of TripAdvisor



44.  EATON, TIMOTHY  (born March 1834 in Ballymena (Northern Ireland) - died January 31, 1907 in Toronto, Ontario) department store entrepreneur

45.  EGOYAN, ADAM  (born July 19, 1960 in Cairo, Egypt, the son of Armenian refugees, moved to Victoria, British.Columbia. at a young age) - filmmaker, writer and producer, received two Academy Award nominations for his critically acclaimed drama The Sweet Hereafter (1997), biggest commercial success was thriller Chloe (2009)

46.  FAIRCLOUGH, ELLEN (born January 28, 1905 in Hamilton, Ontario, died November 13, 2004 in Hamilton) - politician, member of Canada's House of Commons from 1950 to 1963, advocate of women's rights and equal pay for work of equal value, first woman to serve in the Canadian Cabinet as Secretary of State in 1957, first women to be given the duty of Acting Prime Minister of Canada in February 1958, introduced more open immigration and refugee policies as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration in 1962,

47.  FLEMING, SANDFORD (born January 7, 1827 in Kirkaldy, Scotland, died July 22, 1915 in Halifax, Nova Scotia)- railway surveyor, engineer, scientist, inventor, advocated worldwide standard time, designed the first Canadian postage stamp

48.  FOSTER, DAVID (born November 1, 1949 in Victoria, British Columbia) - musician, composer and arranger, record producer, influential figure in popular music, winner of many Juno and Grammy awards

49.  FOX, TERRY (born July 28, 1958 in Winnipeg, Manitoba - died June 28, 1981 in New Westminster, British Columbia) - humanitarian, disabled athlete, 1980 Marathon of Hope cross-country run, cancer research activist

50.  FRANCA, CELIA (born June 25, 1921 in London, England - died February 19, 2007 in Ottawa, Ontario) - dancer, choreographer, founder of the National Ballet of Canada in 1951, remained its artistic director until 1974 

Photo Attribution : Portrait of Celia Franca / Portrait de Celia Franca

                                                                       


51.  FRYE, NORTHROP (born July 14, 1912 in Sherbrooke, Quebec, died January 23, 1991 in Toronto, Ontario) - literary critic, English professor at the University of Toronto, received international recognition for his literary theories

52.  GARNEAU, MARC (born February 23, 1949 in Quebec City, Quebec) - military officer, engineer, astronaut, first Canadian in space (1984), President of the Canadian Space Agency (2001-2005), politician

  


53.  GOULD, GLENN (born September 25, 1932 in Toronto, Ontario - died October 4, 1982 in Toronto) - celebrated classical pianist, composer and conductor

54.  GREENE, LORNE (born February 12, 1915 in Ottawa, Ontario - died September 11, 1987 in Santa Monica, California, USA)- World War II CBC radio broadcaster ("Voice of Doom"), actor, hosted Canadian TV nature documentary series, Lorne Greene's New Wilderness, starred in American TV series Bonanza and Battlesstar Galactica

55.  GRETZKY, WAYNE (born January 26, 1961 in Brantford, Ontario) - hockey player, coach, businessman, regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time, was part of four Stanley Cup-winning teams with the Edmonton Oilers, played his last NHL game on April 18, 1999, holds numerous National Hockey League (NHL) records,, such as all time leading scorer with 2,857 points and 894 goals, represented Canada as a player in international tournaments, named executive director of Team Canada's Olympic Hockey team for the 2002 games in Salt Lake City and made a substantial contribution to Canada's first gold medal in men's hockey since 1952, nicknamed "The Great One" or "Number 99," inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November of 1999

56.  GZOWSKI, PETER (born July 13, 1934 in Toronto, Ontario - died January 24, 2002 in Toronto) - broadcaster, writer, reporter, editor, host of CBC Radio's Mornngside (1982-1997), winner of the international Peabody Award for excellence in radio, television and other media, Chancellor of Trent University (1999-2002), founded the Peter Gzowski Invitational Golf Tournament (PGI) to raise funds for literacy project throughout Canada

57.  HANLAN, NED (born July 12, 1855 in Toronto, Ontario,- died in Toronto on January 4, 1908)   - professional sculler, hotelier and municipal politician

58.  HANSEN, RICK (born August 26,, 1957 in Port Alberni, British Columbia) - wheelchair racer, 
won six Paralympian medals and in three world championships, humanitarian in the 1980s, named Canada's Disabled athlete of the Year three times, received Lou Marsh Trophy for Canadian Outstanding Athlete of the Year (1983) , best known for his Man in Motion Tour (1985-1987) in which he wheeled throughout the world (34 countries) to raise public awareness and financial support for spinal cord research and rehabilitation and wheelchair sports

59.  HARRIS, LAWREN (born October 23, 1885 in Brantford, Ontario - died January 29, 1970 in Vancouver, British Columbia) - artist, member of the Group of Seven, known for his paintings of Canadian landscapes, especially of the Canadian North

60.  HATFIELD, CHRIS  (born August 29, 1959 in Sarnia, Ontario) - engineer, military pilot, astronaut, author, has flown two space shuttle missions (1995, 1998), first Canadian to to operate the Canadarm in orbit (1995) only Canadian to ever board MIR, the Soviet/Russian space station (1995), Chief Astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency (1996-2000), first Canadian to walk in space (2001), Director of Operations for NASA at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Russia (2001-2003), first Canadian to serve as commander of the International Space Station (2013)

61.  HAWLEY, SANDY (born April 16, 1949 in Oshawa, Ontario)- champion jockey whose career spanned from 1968 to 1998, 31,455 mounts and 6,449 wins, four-time Queen's Plate winner, inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1986 and the United States National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1992 and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.

62.  HEWITT, FOSTER (born November 21, 1902 in Toronto Ontario - died April 21, 1985 in Scarborough, Ontario) - hockey play-by-play broadcaster and the voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs across Canada, made one of the first radio broadcasts of a hockey game in 1923 and the first from Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931, known for the phrase "He shoots, he scores!," announcer and colour commentator on CBC-TV;s Hockey Night in Canada from 1952 to 1963, came out of retirement in 1972 to broadcast Canada-Soviet Summitt Series

63.  HIGHWAY, TOMSON (born December 6, 1951 in Brochet, Manitoba) - Iindigenous playwright, novelist and children's author, pianist and songwriter, known for his plays The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, both of which earned him the Doris Mavor Moore Award and the Floyd S. Chalmers Award

64.  HUMPHREY, JOHN PETERS (born April 30, 1905 in Hampton, New Brunswick - died March 14, 1995 in Montreal, Quebec - legal scholar, jurist, human rights advocate, first director of United Nations Division of Human Rights (1946), principal drafter of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, called "Magna Carta of all mankind" by Eleanor Roosevelt

65.  HURTIG, MEL (born June 24, 1932 in Edmonton, Alberta - died August 3, 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia) - publisher, author, political activist and politician, created and published two editions of Canadian Encyclopedia

66.  JACKSON, A.Y. (born October 3, 1882 in Montreal, Quebec, died April 5, 1974 in Kleinburg, Ontario) - artist, founding member of the Group of Seven

67.  JACOBS, JANE (born May 4, 1916 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA - died April 25, 2006 in Toronto, Ontario) - journalist, author, economist, ecologist and urban activist, advocate of safe and healthy neighbourhoods, known for her influential book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), lived in Greenwich Village, New York City during the 1950s and 60s and fought against the construction of the Lower Manhattan Expressway through Washington Square Park, moved to Toronto in 1968 and joined the opposition to the Spadina Expressway and other expressways planned in the city, became a Canadian citizen in 1974, helped to organize a meeting of the mayors of five Canadian cities to discuss empowering local governments (2001)

68.  JENKINS, FERGUSON (born December 13, 1942 in Chatham, Ontario) - baseball player, major league pitcher from 1965 to 1983, first Canadian to win a Cy Young award (1971), 20-game winner for seven seasons, first Canadian to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown

69.  JEROME, HARRY (born September 30, 1940 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan - died December 7, 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia)  - track and field athlete, consultant for Sport Canada, teacher, first man to share the hundred metre (1960) and hundred yard (1962) records, represented Canada in the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Olympics, won the 100 metre bronze medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and 100 metre gold in the 1967 Pan-American Games, devoted to the welfare of children

70.  JEWISON, NORMAN (born July 21, 1926 in Toronto, Ontario) - film director, producer, author and founder of the Canadian Film Centre, produced and directed television shows for the CBC and CBS during the 1950s and early 1960s, spent much of his career outside of Canada but, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia, "believes his Canadian perspective has brought an important objectivity to his work"

71.  JOHNSON, PAULINE (Mohawk name Tekahionwake,  meaning "Double wampum") (born March 10, 1861 on Six Nations Reserve, Canada West, near present-day Brantford, Ontario - died March 7, 1913 in Vancouver, British Columbia) - poet, writer, artist and entertainer, toured Canada and the United States delivering spoken word performances

72.  KAIN, KAREN (born March 28, 1951 in Hamilton, Ontario) - internationally renowned ballerina, began training at the National Ballet of Canada School in 1962 and was offered a contract by National Ballet of Canada founder, Celia Franca, at the age of 18, continued to dance until the age of 40, artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada since 2005, founding president of the Dancer Transition Cenre, which assists dances in planning for transition from stage performer to new career, chair of the board of the Canada Council for the Arts (2004-2008)

             
                                                                                                                                                       

73.  KIELBURGER, CRAIG  (born December 17, 1982 in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada) - humanitarian, author, children's rights activist and opponent of child labour, co-founder, with his brother Marc, of the "Free the Children" and "Me to We" movements, social entrepreneur

74.  KING, WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE  (born 1874 in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario - died July 22, 1950 in Kingsmere, Quebec) - journalist, politician, first elected to Parliament 1908, became Canada's Minister of Labour in 1909, acted as labour consultant for the Rockereller Foundation during World War I, author of Industry and Humanity (1918) argued that government has an interest in the peaceful resolution of labour disputes, 10th Prime Minister of Canada (1921 1926, 1926-30, 1935-1948), dominant Canadian political leader of his era, led Canada through World War II, introduced unemployment insurance (1940) and post-war reconstruction program included family allowances and health insurance proposals

75.  KINSELLA, W.P. (born May 25, 1935 in Edmonton, Alberta - died September 16, 2016 in Hope, British Columbia) - novelist and short story writer, author of Shoeless Joe, which was adapted into the film Field of Dreams        
                                  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                  
76.  KRIEGHOFF, CORNELIUS  (born June 19, 1815 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, moved to North America and lived in Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City - died April 8, 1872 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) - artist, famous for his painting of Canadian landscapes, outdoor life and winter scenes, sketched Mohawks at the Kahnawake Reserve (on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River across from Montreal) and created oil paintings of them

77.  LASKIN, BORA - (born October 5, 1912 in Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) - died March 26, 1984 in Ottawa, Ontario) - lawyer, academic, judge, brilliant legal scholar, particularly in constitutional and labour law, civil libertarian, appointed to Ontario Court of Appeal (1965), named to the Supreme Court of Canada (1970), Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Canada (1973-1984)

78.  LaMARSH, JUDY (born December 20, 1924 in Chatham, Ontario - died October 27, 1980 in Toronto, Ontario) - lawyer, politician, author, broadcaster, as federal cabinet minister in the Pearson minority governments during mid and late 1960s, she pushed through legislation creating the Canada Pension Plan and Medicare, was in charge of Canada's Centennial Celebrations in 1967

79.  LAURENCE, MARGARET (born July 18, 1926 in Neepawa, Manitoba - died January 5, 1987 in Lakefield, Ontario) - novelist, short story writer,, author of The Stone Angel, The Diviners, A Jest of God,  major figure in Canadian literature, founder of Writers' Trust of Canada

80.  LAURIER, WILFRID  (born November 20, 1841 in St. Lin, Canada East (now Quebec), died February 17 1919 in Ottawa, Ontario) - lawyer, journalist, politician, member of the House of Commons for 45 years, 7th Prime Minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911, first francophone and fluently bilingual PM, tried to balance the interests of both French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians, his government recruited immigrants to the West (Saskatchewan and Alberta became provinces in 1905), known for his bold prediction in 1904 that the 20th century would belong to Canada: "The 19th century was the century of the United States. I think we can claim that it is Canada that shall fill the 20th century."

81.  LAYTON, IRVING  (born Marcch 12, 1912 in Tirgu Neamt, Romania, immigrated to Canada as young child and settled in Montreal, died January 4, 2006 in Montreal, Quebec) - poet, short story writer, essayist, professor, political activist, published his early poems in a publication called First Statement (1942-1945), controversial, outspoken and flamboyant, known for his "tell it like it is" style, appeared on the CBC's televised debating show Fighting Words in the 1950s,

82.  LEACOCK, STEPHEN  (born December 30, 1869 in Swanmore, England, immigrated to Canada with his family at the age of six - died March 28, 1944 in Toronto, Ontario) - author, humorist, political scientist, economist, teacher, historian, professor at McGill University in Montreal (1903-1936), best known for his Canadian classic Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912), a sequence of stores set in the fictional small town of Mariposa, (based on Leacock's experiences in Orillia, Ontario, most prominent humorist in the English-speaking world from about 1915 to 1925

83.  LECLERC, Félix  (born August 2, 1914 in La Tuque, Quebec - died August 8, 1988 in Saint-Pierre-de-l'Île-d'Orléans, Quebec) - singer/songwriter, poet, writer, actor and political activist, discovered by Paris imrpresario Jacques Canetti in 1950 and performed successfully in France, played a large role in energizing the Quebec folk song tradition

84.  LEDDY, MARY JO  (born February 1, 1946 in Toronto, Ontario - internationally known writer, theologian, social activist, founder of Romero House for refugees around the world

85.  LEPAGE, ROBERT  (born December 12, 1957 in Quebec City, Quebec) - playwright, actor, director, designer, internationally known artist, versatile and multilingual, gained international recognition with La Trilogie des dragons (The Dragon Trilogy), an epic story of two generation of Quebecers, created his own company, Robert Lepage Inc (1988), director of the National Arts Centre French language theatre (1989-1993), has directed stage performances around the world

Photo Attribution: TBWA/Busted

Photo Attribution: TBWA/Busted

86.  LEWIS, STEPHEN  (born Ottawa, Ontario) politician, public speaker, broadcaster, diplomat, social democrat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States (1984-1988), United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa (2001-2006)

Photo Attribution: AIDS-Free World

87.  LIGHTFOOT, GORDON (born November 17, 1938 in Orillia, Ontario - singer/songwriter, guitarist, helped define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s, wrote, composerd and performed the classic "Canadian Railroad Trilogy," a song that tells the story of the building of the trans-Canada Canadian Pacific Railway in the early 1880s, (the CBC commissioned Lightfoot to write the song for a special broadcast on January 1, 1967 to begin Canada's Centennial year)

88.  LOMBARDI, JOHNNY  (born December 4, 1915 in Toronto, Ontario - died March 18, 2003)  - musician and entrepreneur, multiculturalism promoter, pioneer of multicultural broadcasting in Canada, founder of CHIN, multilingual radio station

89.  LONGBOAT, TOM  (born June 4, 1887 at the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario - died January 9, 1949 at the Six Nations Reserve) - member of the Omondaga Nations whose native name was Cogwagee, meaning "everything," legendary long distance runner, winner of the 1907 Boston Marathon 

90.  MACDONALD, JOHN A. (born January 10 or 11, 1815 in Glasgow, Scotland, moved with his family to Kingston, Upper Canada (now Ontario) when he was a child - died June 6, 1891 in Ottawa, Ontario) - lawyer, businessman, politician, chief architect of Confederation and first Prime Minister of Canada, succeeded in his dream to buld a transcontinental railway

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91.  McCLUNG, NELLIE  (born October 20, 1873 in Chatsworth, Ontario and raised in Manitoba - died September 1, 1951 in Victoria, British Columbia) - politician, suffragist and women's rights advocate, reformer, author, fought for dower rights for women and factory safety legislation, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (1921-1927), known for her role in the "Person's Case," as one of the "Famous Five" female activists who petitioned the Supreme Court of Canada in 1927 to have women declared "persons" and eligible for the Senate.  

92.  McGEE, THOMAS D'ARCY  (born Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland - died April 7, 1868 in Ottawa, Ontario) - journalist, poet, politician, eloquent public speaker, Father of Confederation and staunch supporter of Canadian nationhood, settled in Montreal (1857) and established a publication called The New Era, elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada (1858), attended the Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences in 1864, supported educational rights for religious minorities, elected to first Canadian Parliament in 1867, although a Catholic and an Irish nationalist, he criticized the Irish nationalist Fenian Brotherhood in America for advocating the takeover of Canada by the U.S., assassinated (1868) and a Fenian sympathizer was convicted of his murder

93.  MacGILL, ELSIE (born March 27, 1905 in Vancouver, British Columbia - died November 4, 1989 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA), aeronautical engineer, aircraft designer, businesswoman, known as the "Queen of the Hurricanes,," first female graduate of electrical engineering at the University of Toronto (1927), first woman in the world to receive a master's degree in aeronautical engineering (1929) and the first woman to practice engineering in Canada, became chief aeronautical engineer of Canadian Car & Foundry (1938) and headed the production of Hurricane fighter planes during World War II, feminist, human rights activist,  served on the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada (1967-1970)

94.  McLAREN, NORMAN (born April 11, 1914 in Stirling, Scotland -  died January 26 or 27, 1987), pioneer in both animation and filmmaking techniques, known for his work with the National Film Board of Canada (1941-1984) won Academy Award for documentary Neighbours (1952) and BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film for Pas de deux in 1969

95.  McLUHAN, MARSHALL (born: July 21, 1911 in Edmonton, Alberta - died: December 31, 1980 in Toronto, Ontario)  - professor of English at the University of Toronto, author, philosopher, media theorist ("the medium is the message," "global village"), internationally famous during the 1960s for his studies of the effects of the mass media on thought and behaviour

96.  MacNEIL, RITA  (born May 28, 1944 in Big Pond, Nova Scotia - died April 16, 2013 in Sydney, Nova Scotia) - Maritime folk/country singer and songwriter, known as "Cape Breton's First Lady of Song," recognized for her powerful voice and her hit song "Flying On Your Own," the top-selling country artist in Canada in 1990 and 1991, winner of three Juno Awards, and 11 East Coast Music Awards, inducted into the Canadian County Music Hall of Fame

97.  MACPHAIL, AGNES  (born March 24, 1890 in Proton Township, Grey County, Ontario - died February 13, 1954 in Toronto, Ontario) - teacher, politician, reformer, first woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1921 and Member of Parliament until 1940, first Canadian woman to be a delegate to League of Nations in Geneva (1929), strong advocate for prison reform and founder of Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, as Member of the Ontario Legislature, brought in legislation demanding equal pay for equal work for women in the province (1951)

98.  MERCER, RICK  (born October 17, 1969 in St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador)- comedian, television personality, author, political satirist, has received multiple Gemini Awards for his television performances, co-chair of the "Spread the Net Campaign" which provides nets to prevent the spread of malaria among children in Africa

99.  MIRVISH, ED (born July 24, 1914 in Colonial Beach, Virginia, USA - died July 11, 2007 in Toronto, Ontario) - entrepreneur, established "Honest Ed's," a landmark discount department store in Toronto, patron of the arts, philanthropist, theatre impresario, purchased Toronto's historic Royal Alexandra Theatre in 1963 and saved it from demolition, purchased the Old Vic Theatre in London, England, and restored it during the 1980s and 1990s, 

100.  MITCHELL, JONI  (born November 7, 1943 in Fort Macleod, Alberta) - singer/songwriter, guitarist, painter, attended the Alberta College of Art in Calgary, performed regularly at The Depression coffeehouse in Calgary, moved to Toronto in 1964 to pursue her dream of becoming a folk singer, played in clubs and coffee houses in the bohemian Yorkville district of Toronto, moved to southern California in 1967 and David Crosby produced her first album, Song to a  Seagull, toured as the opening act for Crosby, Still & Nash in 1969, did not perform at Woodstock Festival but wrote the hit song "Woodstock" for Crosby, Stills & Nash, well-known for such hits as "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Free Man in London," inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the Juno Awards in 1981

101.  MITCHELL, W.O. (born March 13, 1914, in Weyburn, Saskatchewan - died February 25, 1998 in Calgary, Alberta - writer and dramatist, author of Who Has Seen the Wind and Jake and the Kid, depicted the Canadian West in fiction

102.  MONTGOMERY, LUCY MAUD (born November 30, 1874 in Clifton (now New London), Prince Edward Island - died April 24, 1942 in Toronto, Ontario) - teacher, writer, author of Anne of Green Gables (first published in 1908) and numerous other novels featuring spunky red-haired Anne Shirley. The character came to symbolize Montgomery's beloved Prince Edward Island and became internationally popular.  

103.  MORRISSEAU, NORVAL (born March 14, 1932 in Sand Point Reserve, near Beardmore, Ontario - died December 4, 2007 in Toronto, Ontario)- self-taught Indigenous artist, known as "Picasso of the North" and "Copper Thunderbird" (his Ojibwa name), created works depicting legends of his people, originator of pictograph style or Woodlands School, "legend paining" or "x-ray art," first artist of Indigenous background to break through the Canadian professional white-art glass ceiling

104.  MOWAT, FARLEY (born May 12, 1921 in Belleville, Ontario - died May 6, 2014 in Port Hope, Ontario) - award-winning author, prolific writer,of nonfiction, children's stories and memoirs, naturalist and environmental activist, best known for his book Never Cry Wolf, based on his time in the Arctic observing wolves in their habitat 

105.  MUNRO, ALICE  (born: July 10, 1931 in Wingham, Ontario) - acclaimed short story writer, many of the stories set in Huron County, southwestern Ontario, won Booker Prize (2009), first Canadian to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature (2013)

106.  MUNSCH, ROBERT - (born June 11, 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) - celebrated children's author and storyteller, moved to Canada in 1975 to join the Family Studies Department at the University of Guelph in Ontario and eventually became a Canadian citizen. published his first two picture books, Mud Puddle and The Dark in 1979, his stories try to empower children and they reflect Canada's multicultural population and its geographic diversity

107.  MURPHY, EMILY (born March 14, 1868 in Cookstown, Ontario - died October 27, 1933 in Edmonton, Alberta) - author, feminist, journalist, pen name "Janey Canuck." jurist, political and legal reformer, appointed police magistrate for Edmonton and then Alberta, first woman magistrate in Canada and in the British Empire (1916), best known for her role in the "Persons Case" to have women declared "persons" and eligible for the Senate of Canada

108.  MURRAY, ANNE - (born June 20, 1945 in Springhill, Nova Scotia) - pop, country singer, first Canadian female solo singer to have a No. 1 hit on the U.S. charts with "Snowbird" (1970), winner of four Grammys, multiple Juno Awards, three American Music Awards, inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and the Juno Hall of Fame

109.  MUSTARD, FRASER (Dr.) - born October 16, 1927 in Toronto, Ontario - died November 16, 2011 in Toronto) - physician and scientist, world renowned for being a pioneer in the field of early childhood development, influenced the Ontario government's move to full-day kindnergarten

110.  NAISMITH, JAMES (born November 6, 1861 in in Ramsay Township, near Almnte, Ontario - died November 28, 1938 in Lawrence, Kansas,USA), physical education coach, educator, physician, inventor of basketball

111.  OSLER, WILLIAM (Dr.) (born July 12, 1849 in Bond Head, Canada West (now Ontario) - died December 29, 1919 in Oxford, England, UK - physician, leading founding professor of Johns Hopkins Hospital, dubbed "one of the greatest diagnosticians ever to wield a stethoscope"

112.  PEARSON, LESTER B. - diplomat (winner of the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize for helping to end the Suez Crisis of 1956), statesman, politician, 14th Prime Minister of Canada (1963-1968), his government implemented a Canada Pension Plan, a universal medicare system and a new Maple Leaf flag

113.  PENFIELD, WILDER (Dr.) - (born January 26, 1891 in Spokane, Washington, USA - died April 5, 1976 in Montreal, Quebec) - pioneering neurosurgeon, scientist, his studies in 1924 in Madrid with neurohistologist Pio del Rio-Hortega resulted in new information on the supporting cells of the nervous sytermo, founded the Montreal Neurological Institute (1934) and served as its director until 1960, established the "Montreal procedure" for the surgical treatment of epilepsy, had a second career as a writer of historical novels and medical biography

112.  PETERSON, OSCAR  (born August 15, 1925 in Montreal, Quebec - died December 23, 2007 in Mississauga, Ontario) - jazz pianist, composer, prolific recording artist, educator, dubbed the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, called "the man with four hands" by Louis Armstrong," regarded by many as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, made Canada his home base throughout his career, moving to Toronto in 1958 and then to Mississauga later on

113.  PINSENT, GORDON   (born July 12, 1930 in Grand Falls, Newfoundland) - outstanding actor, screenwriter, director and playwright, began his career in Winnipeg, Manitoba as a member of Theatre 77, appeared in many stage roles in Toronto and at the Stratford Festival, performed on radio and television, starred in the CBC-TV series Quentin Durgens MP (1966-1969), and A Gift to Last (1978-1979), acted in the TV series Due South (1994-199), wrote the screenplay and musical version for the film The Rowdyman (1972) and the screenplay for John and the Missus (1986) and portrayed the lead character in both films, received high acclaim and a Genie Award for best actor for his role in the Sarah Polley-dircted film Away From Her (2006)

114.  PLUMMER, CHRISTOPHER (born December 13, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario, raised and educated in Montreal, Quebec) - great-grandson of Canadian prime minister John Abbott, acclaimed theatre, film and television actor, international star who has done much stage, film and television work in Canada, Britain and the U.S., Academy Award winner 

Photo Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdcgraphics/1752518829/in/set-72157602744288487/

    

115.  POLLEY, SARAH  (born January 8, 1979 in Toronto. Ontario) - actor, director, writer, producer, political activist, performed in CBC TV series Road to Avonlea (1990-1996)) and in Atom Egoyan films Exotica (1994) and The Sweet Hereafter,(1997), chose to focus her career on Canadian and independent films rather than Hollywood stardom, wrote and directed such award-winning films as Away from Her (2006), Take This Waltz (2011) and Stories We Tell (2012), winner of multiple Genie and Gemini Awards, first woman to win a Genie Award for Best Director, 

Photo Attribution: nicolas genin 

116.  PRATT, E.J. (born February 4, 1882 in Western Bay, Newfoundland - died April 26, 1964 in Toronto, Ontario) - Methodist minister, poet, teacher, began publishing poetry in 1914 but was not recognized until Newfoundland Verse, a book of poetry, was published in 1923, appointed to the Department of English at Victoria College, University of Toronto in 1920 and taught there until his retirement in 1953, editor of The Canadian Poetry Magaazine (1936-1943), three-time winner of the Governor General's Award for poetry (1937), (1940), (1952),  his poems such as "Erosion," "Sea-Gulls," and "Silences" reflect his Newfoundland background with their sea and maritime themes, during the 1930s Great Depression, his work expressed social and economic concerns 

117.  PURDY, AL (born December 30, 1918 in Wooler, Ontario - died April 21, 2000 in Sidney, British Columbia) writer with working class roots, traveller, free verse poet, two-time winner of the Governor General's Award 

118.  RICHLER, MORDECAI  (born January 27, 1931 in Montreal, Quebec - died July 3, 2001 in Montreal) - writer, novelist, essayist, social critic, immortalized Montreal's old Jewish neighbourhiood in his work, two-time winner of the Governor-General's Award (1968, 1971) and winner of the Giller Prize, best known works include The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, St. Urban's, Horseman, Joshua Then and Now, Solomon Gursky Was Here, Barney's Version and the Canadian children's classic Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang

119.  RICHARD, MAURICE  (born August 4, 1921 in Montreal, Quebec - died May 27, 2000 in Montreal - hockey great, played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens, first play in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season of 50 games (1944-1945), retired in 1960 after scoring 544 goals, his goal-scoring skill and the passion in his blazing eyes made him an iconic figure, especially in French-speaking Canada

  
120.  RIDDELL, WALTER A. (born August 5, 1881 in Stratford, Ontario - died July 27, 1963 in Algonquin Park, Ontario) - scholar, civil servant, Ontario's deputy minister of labour, helped bring about benefits such as mother's allowance and minimum wage after World War I, Canadian delegate to International Labour Organization in Geeva, Switzerland (1920-1925) diplomat, Canadian Advisory Officer to League of Nations (1924-1937)), proposed sanctions against Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (1935), High Commissioner to New Zealand (1940-1946), professor of International Relations at University of Toronto

Riddell (right) with PM King at League of Nations(1936)

121.  RIEL, LOUIS (born October 22, 1844 in St. Boniface, Red River Settlement- died November 16, 1885 in Regina, Saskatchewan) - founder of the province of Manitoba and political leader of the Métis people of the Prairies, led two popular Métis governments and was instrumental in bringing Manitoba into Confederation in 1870, executed for high treason in 1885 for his resistance to the Canadian government's encroachment on Métis land.

122.  RIOPELLE, JEAN-PAUL - (born October 7, 1923 in Montreal, Quebec - died March 12,, 2002 in Saint-Antoine-de-l'Isle-aux-Grues, Quebec) - painter and sculptor, one of first Canadian artists to gain major international recognition, one of the original signatories of the Refus Global (1948), an essay challenging the traditional values of Quebec and the opening up of Quebec society to the world

123.  ROSENFELD, BOBBIE (born December 28, 1904 in Ekaterinoslav, Russia (now Dnipro, Ukraine) - died November 13, 1969 in Toronto, Ontario) - track and field athlete, excelled in multiple sports including basketball, hockey and softball, sportswriter, won two medals in track for Canada at 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam (gold for 400 metre relay, silver medal for 100 metre), named Canada's Female Athlete of the First Half-Century (1900-1950)

124.  ROY, GABRIELLE (born March 22, 1909 in St. Boniface, Manitorba - died July 13, 1983 in Quebec City, Quebec) - author

125.  RYERSON, EGERTON - Born March 23, 1803 in Charlotteville Township, Norfolk County, Upper Canada - died  February 19, 1882 in Toronto, Ontario) - Methodist minister, educator, politician and public education advocate, instrumental in establishing a free and mandatory public education system in Ontario, revolutionized education in Canada

126.  SAINTE-MARIE, BUFFY (born February 20, 1941 on Piapot Plains Cree First Nations Reserve in Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan)  - Singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, social activist

127.  Sauvé, JEANNE  (born April 26, 1922 in Prud'homme, Saskatchwan - died January 26, 1993 in Montreal, Quebec) - distinguished journalist, politician, stateswoman, elected Member of Parliament from Montreal in 1972, re-elected in 1974, 1979 and 1980, first female Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (1980), first female francophone Cabinet member and during her tenure as Misister of State for Science and Technology and Minister of the Environment and Communications, Canada improved its status as a technological leader in the world, Governor General of Canada (1984-1990) and was the first female to hold the position

128.  SECORD, LAURA (born September 13, 1775 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts - died October 17, 1868 in the Village of Chippawa (now Niagara Falls), Ontario - Loyalist, Canadian, settler in Queeston, Upper Canada, heroine of War of 1812, on June 22, 1813, walked 30 kilometres (18.64 miles) from Queenston to Beaver Dams (near present-day Thorold, Ontario) to warn British officer James FitzGibbon that the Americans were planning to attack his outpost

129.  SERVICE, ROBERT W. (born January 16, 1874 in Preston, Lancashire, England and educated in Scotland, immigrated to Canada in 1894 - died September 11, 1958 in Lancieux, Côtes-d'Armor, France - poet, known as the "Bard of the Yukon," worked for the Canadian Bank of Commerce and was stationed in British Columbia and Whitehorse and Dawson City in Yukon.  Known for poems such as "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee"

130.  SINCLAIR, CHRISTINE (born June 12, 1983 in Burnaby, British Colmbia) - gifted soccer player, began playing with Canada's senior team at the age of 16 in the year 2000, winner of 12 female player-of-the-year awards from the Canadian Soccer Association, has received multiple nominations for FIFA world player of the year, captained the Canadian female soccer team at the 2012 Olympics London and led the team to a bronze medal victory (Canada's first medal in a traditional team sport at the Summer Games since 1936), scored six goals in Lndon, an Olympic record, that won her the Golden Boot award for top scorer, first soccer player to receive the Lou Marsh Trophy for Canada's outstanding athlete of the year (2012)

131.  SHEBIB, DON (born January 17, 1938 in Toronto, Ontario) - filmmaker, writer, editor, graduate of UCLA film school, made documentaries for the National Film Board of Canada and the CBC before turning to feature films, key figure in early English language Canadian cinema, received critical acclaim for his seminal 1970 film Goin' Down the Road about two Maritime roustabouts who come to Toronto, also directed the teen comedy Rip-Off (1971) and Between Friends (1973), about a mine robbery in Northern Ontario that went wrong

Photo Attribution: User:Hyfen

132.  SMALLWOOD, JOEY - (born December 24, 1900 in Gambo, Newfoundland - died December 17, 1991 in St. John's, Newfoundland) - journalist, union activist, politician, led Newfoundland into Confederation (1949), known as "last Father of Confederation" and "the only living Father of Confederation" during his lifetime, premier of Newfoundland (1949-1972), wrote two volumes of Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador

133.  STOWE, EMILY -  (born May 1, 1831 in Norwich, Upper Canada (now Ontario) - died April 30, 1903, in Toronto, Ontario) -  physician, first female doctor to practise in Canada (1880), suffragist and women's rights activist

134.  SUTHERLAND, DONALD (born July 17, 1935 in Saint John, New Brunswick, raised in Nova Scotia and attended the University of Toronto) - acclaimed actor who has had a long and distinguished theatre and film career, many of his movies have been filmed internationally, but he has performed in Canadian films, most notably Act of the Heart (1970) and Threshold (1981), has retained his Canadian citizenship and maintains a home in Quebec, complained in a 2016 op-ed article in The Globe and Mail about not being allowed to vote in his native Canada because he lives in the United States, known for films such as The Dirty Dozen (1969), M*A*S*H (1970), Klute (1971), Murder by Decree (1978), Ordinary People (1980)

135.  SUZUKI, DAVID (born Vancouver, British Columbia on March 24, 1936) - scientist, professor of genetics at the University of British Columbia (1963-2001), environmentalist, activist to reverse global climate change, host of CBC science show The Natiure of Things, established the David Suzuki Foundation in 1990 to "find ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that does sustain us."

Photo Attribution: David Suzuki Foundation  http://davidsuzuki.org.

136.  TEWKSBURY, MARK  (born February 7, 1968 in Calgary, Alberta) - champion swimmer, relay silver medalist at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, gold medalist in the 100m backstroke and medley relay at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Aukland New Zealand, gold medalist at the 1992 Olympics in Bacelona, Spain in the 100m backstroke, winner of the Lionel Conacher Award as Canada's male athlete of the year (1992), television host, author, motivational speaker

137.  THOMSON, R.H. (born September 24, 1974 in Richmond Hill, Ontario) - actor, director, playwright, one of Canada's foremost stage actors, CBC radio and television host, has performed extensively in television and film, known for portraying Canadian historical figures, trained at the National Theatre School of Canada and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), toured with LAMDA Shakespearean troupe, debuted at Stratfored Festival in Julius Caesar (1982), received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (2015), strong advocate for the arts 

138.  THOMPSON, DAVID (born April 30, 1770 in Westminster, Middlesex, England - died February 10, 1857 in Longueuil, Canada East (now Quebec)) -fur trader, explorer, surveyor and map-maker, called "greatest land geographer who ever lived," mapped most of Western Canada and parts of the east and northwestern United States

139.  THOMSON, TOM (born August 5, 1877 in Clarenmont, Ontario- died July 8, 1917 in Algonquin Park, Ontario) - influential artist, inspired the famed Group of Seven, renowned for his paintings of Canadian landscape and outdoors, especially The West Wind and Jack Pine

140.  TREMBLAY, MICHEL (born June 25, 1942 in Montreal, Quebec), playwright and novelist, the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia describes him as "probably the most-produced and arguably the most important playwright in the history of the country, " his first play, Le Train earned first prize in the Concours des jeune auteur sponsored by Radio-Canada (1964),  best known for his first widely produced play, Les Belles-soeurs, used "joual," the language of the street, in his work

141.  TROUT, JENNIE (Dr.) -  (born April 21, 1841 in Kelso, Scotland, moved to Canada in 1847, raised near Stratford, Ontario - died November 10, 1921 in Los Angeles, California, USA) - physician, struggled against prejudice to become the first woman licensed to practise medicine in Canada (1875), promoter of women in medicine, opened the Therapeutic and Electrical Institute in Toronto, which provided specialized treatments for women, ran a dispensary for the poor at the T and E Institute, helped launch the Women's Medical College at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario (1883)

142.  TRUDEAU, PIERRE (born October 18, 1919 in Montreal, Quebec - died September 28, 2000 in Montreal) - charismatic and controversial politician, writer, constitutional lawyer, staunch federalist who opposed Quebec sovereignty, 15th Prime Minister of Canada, became a Member of Parliament in 1965 and Minister of Justice in 1967, brought in the Official Languages Act  (1969), making Canada officially bilingual, played a key role in establishing a new Canadian Constitution with a Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982)

Photo Attribution: Nationaal Archief

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143.  TUPPER, CHARLES  (born July 2, 1921 in Amherst, Nova Scotia - died October 30, 1915 in Bexleyheath, England, UK) - physician,  politician, diplomat, Premier of Nova Scotia (1864-1867), Father of Confederation (led Nova Scotia into Confederation), first President of the Canadian Medical Association (1867-1970), Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (1883-1896), Sixth Prime Minister of Canada (1896), Member of the British Privy Council (1907)

144.  TWAIN, SHANIA  (born August 28, 1965 in Windsor, Ontario and raised in Timmins, Ontario) - singer, songwriter, guitarist, best-selling female country music artist of all time, known as the "Queen of Country Pop," multiple Juno and Grammy Award winner, received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, first non-American to be named Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music Awards

Photo Attribution:

Sara Collaton

Sara Collaton

145.  VANIER, JEAN (born Geneva, Switzerland on September 10, 1928, son of Georges Vanier, 19th Governor General of Canada) - philosopher, theologian, humanitarian, founded L'Arche in 1964, an international federation for people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them

146.  WAXMAN, AL  (born March 2, 1935 in Toronto, Ontario - died January 18, 2001 in Toronto) - actor and director of numerous productions on radio, television, film and stage, known for his starring role as Larry King in the CBC's King of Kensington (1975-1980) in which he portrayed a store owner in a multicultural area of Toronto, also performed in the American CBS-TVseries Cagney and Lacey (1981-1988), won much acclaim and an Earle Grey Award fin 1981 for his performance as an unemployed labourer in the CBC drama The Winnings of Frankie Walls, won an Emmy nomination for directing the CBS television movie Maggie's Secret (1990), served as Chairman of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (1989-1992)

147.  WICKENHEISER, HAYLEY (born August 12, 1978 in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan) - women's hockey pioneer and outstanding player, first woman to play full-time professional hockey in a position other than goalie, member of Canada's women's national ice hockey team from 1994 to 2017, played for Canada at the Winter Olympics five times and won four gold and one silver medals, all-time leader in goals, assists and points in women's Olympic ice hockey, first woman to score a goal in a men's professional league

Photo Attribution: Hayley Wickenheiser

148.  WONG, JOSEPH (Dr.)  (immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong in 1968) - physician, humanitarian, founder of the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto (1987), chair of the United Way of Greater Toronto (1990-1992), led protest against CTV program that portrayed Canadian students of Chinese descent as foreigners who took university places away from Canadians, founded ALPHA (Association for Learning and Preserving the History of World War II in Asia) in 1997 to promote peace and reconciliation through education and knowledge

Photo Attribution: Toronto ALPHA 

149.  WOODSWORTH, J.S. (born July 29, 1874 in Etobicoke, Ontario - died March 21, 1942 in Vancouver, British Columbia) - pioneer in the social democratic movement in Canada, politician, union activist

150.  YOUNG, NEIL (born November 12, 1945 in Toronto, Ontario) - singer/songwriter, musician, founder and member of celebrated rock group Buffalo Springfield (1966-1968), worked with Steven Stills, David Crosby and Graham Nash 1969-1974 and 1988, his song "Philadelphia" was nominated for an Academy Award (1994)

- Joanne