Foreign correspondents Mellissa Fung and Joyce Napier, and actress Tina Keeper are among the 83 new appointments to the Order of Canada, announced by Governor General Mary Simon.
Celebrating outstanding achievements and extraordinary contributions, Fung has been named an Officer of the Order. The veteran correspondent, author and documentary filmmaker – a strong advocate for women and girls in war-torn countries – was kidnapped in Kabul during her coverage of the war in Afghanistan in 2008. She went on to write bestseller Under an Afghan Sky: A Memoir of Captivity.
Appointed as a Member of the Order, Napier was named Canada’s Ambassador to the Vatican in May. The veteran journalist is being recognized for her reporting across CBC, Radio-Canada and CTV, including her time heading CBC/Radio-Canada’s Washington, D.C. bureau and CTV’s Parliamentary bureau in Ottawa. She also served as Radio-Canada’s Middle East correspondent for five years.
Also appointed as a Member, Keeper is best known for her role on CBC’s North of 60, but also for her work as a producer and former Member of Parliament for Churchill, MB, one of the first sitting Cree MPs. She’s most recently been featured in CTV comedy Acting Good, set in the fictional Grouse Lake First Nation.
Others from film, television and documentary production inducted in this round include science communicator Pierre Chastenay, host of Télé-Québec’s popular Le code Chastenay; Arnie Gelbart, founder, executive producer and CEO of Galafilm Productions, where he has overseen the production of nearly 400 hours of documentaries, series and specials, and feature films, released in both official languages; Sylvia D. Hamilton, a Nova Scotia-based filmmaker, writer, poet and artist; and Toronto playwright and filmmaker Colleen Louise Murphy; and former cable magnate James Meekison.
Other notable appointees include punk-pop performer Avril Lavigne; Pamela Appelt, the first Black Canadian woman appointed to the Court of Canadian Citizenship; percussionist Beverley Johnston; singer-songwriter Daniel Lavoie; conductor Kent Nagano; former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz; Vancouver artist Joe Average; Métis visual artist and advocate Christi Belcourt; and Jim Kyte, the first deaf player in the history of the NHL.
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