Members of the Order of British Columbia: C–E

Dr. John Cairns

As one of Canada’s most distinguished health researchers, Dr. John Cairns has made outstanding contributions to the medical and academic communities in BC and in Canada.

His research focuses on improving the lives of people with heart disease by studying the causes and prevention of heart attacks as well as the optimal management of patients who have experienced heart attacks. He proved through a multi-centre clinical trial that aspirin can reduce by more than half the incidence of heart attacks and death among patients with unstable angina. This finding revolutionized treatment of these at-risk patients, shifting the focus toward limiting the growth of clots in coronary arteries.

As Dean of Medicine at UBC from 1996 to 2003, he led substantial expansion of facilities. By 2002, the UBC Faculty of Medicine was in second place among its Canadian counterparts in total research funding. Dr. Cairns also led efforts to double the enrolment of medical students and residents. BC is now educating its own physicians for the people of BC rather than depending on other provinces to provide physicians. Much needed opportunities for rural health training are also being provided.

Dedicated to educating, training and mentoring the next generation of physicians in BC, he continues to teach undergraduate medical students, postgraduate trainees and practicing cardiologists.

Dr. Cairns has served on many national health bodies. He is president of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

• Year: 2014
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Science and Technology

Dr. Frank Arthur Calder *

Dr. Frank Calder was the first status Indian admitted to UBC; first to be elected to the Legislature, serving for 26 years; first to Canadian Parliament; and first appointed a Minister of the Crown. He was a tireless champion of equality for Aboriginal peoples.

He founded the Nisga’a Tribal Council, the first established in B.C. He served as its president for 20 years, then as research director and consultant since 1974. He was named Chief of Chiefs, an unprecedented tribute by all four Nisga’a clans.

Yet it is for his role in the Nisga’a quest for a just settlement to the land question and the 1973 Supreme Court of Canada decision that bears his name – Calder versus Attorney General of BC – that Dr. Calder is best known. After the BC Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal both rejected the claim, the Nisga’a appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. At that time in Canadian politics, this was a controversial step that risked a profound setback for all Aboriginal peoples.

This landmark decision established, for the first time, that Aboriginal title exists in modern Canadian law. The Calder Case provided the legal foundation on which the Nisga’a Treaty was ultimately negotiated, and for the B.C. treaty process to be started after 130 years of opposition by provincial and colonial authorities. This decision has reverberated nationally and internationally in current Aboriginal land claim settlements in Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and other countries.

Dr. Calder made an enormous contribution, as a peaceful warrior, as Chief of Chiefs, to the noble purpose of creating a society made up of peoples who have chosen freely to live and work together in a new relationship based on trust, respect of the land and its creatures, justice, and the rule of the law.

Among his awards and honours are: inductee to Canada’s First Nation’s Hall of Fame; President Emeritus, Nisga’a Tribal Council; Aboriginal Order of Canada; Officer, Order of Canada; Doctor of Divinity; Doctor of Laws; Licentiate in Theology; and National Aboriginal Lifetime Achievement Award.

• Year: 2004
• City: Victoria
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Community Leadership

Honourable Iona Campagnolo *

Born on Galiano Island and raised in northern B.C., Iona Campagnolo’s public service began in Prince Rupert in 1966 as a school trustee. A stint in radio saw her named B.C. Broadcast Citizen of the year for 1972. The same year she was awarded the Order of Canada. Serving in parliament during much of the 70s, her name became synonymous with the Liberal Party of Canada.

She served in Pierre Trudeau’s cabinet. She was the first woman president of her party. Since 1993, she has been the director of the Montreal based International Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development. Completing a six-year term, she was the first chancellor of the University of Northern British Columbia.

She continually pursued social justice. As former chair of the Fraser Basin Council, she was committed to the economic and environmental sustainability of the Fraser River. She was director of The Arctic Institute of North America based in Calgary.

• Year: 1998
• City: Courtenay
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Lieutenant Governor

Alex A. Campbell *

Alex A. Campbell of Sidney was President and General Manger of Thrifty Foods, a Vancouver Island business success story and one of Canada’s most respected providers of high-quality food products.

He was a stalwart supporter of his employees, local producers and manufacturers and the community. Leading by example and being committed to “putting back”, he continuously and generously supported local food banks, elementary and high school students, children with disabilities, the arts and our environment.

• Year: 1999
• City: Sidney
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Business

Gordon M. Campbell

Gordon Campbell has been an exemplary British Columbian and a visionary leader.

In business, as a volunteer, a City Councillor, President of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities and Mayor of Vancouver, Mr. Campbell worked tirelessly for his community.

As Mayor, he helped set the foundation of Vancouver’s world-renowned liveability. He led redevelopment of False Creek’s North Shore and Burrard Inlet. He presided over the creation of The Hasting Institute, the regional District’s Council of Councils, City Caucuses, and the regional Creating our Future program.

As M.L.A., Leader of the Opposition and then Premier, he demonstrated the importance of public service, pride in our province and meeting challenges and grasping opportunities by working together.

Mr. Campbell launched the nation-building Pacific Gateway program, investing in ports, highways, railways and airports to capture growing Asia Pacific Trade. He led British Columbia’s largest-ever expansion of health care and education services, including seven new universities.

Under his leadership, British Columbia became a leader in tackling climate change and took historic steps to build a New Relationship with First Nations.

Mr. Campbell was instrumental in bringing the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games to our province and worked tirelessly to make sure the highly successful Games belonged to all British Columbians and all Canadians.

• Year: 2011
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Right Honourable Kim Campbell

The Right Honourable Kim Campbell is an extraordinary British Columbian who has served her province and her country with distinction. From the age of 16 – when she became her school’s first-ever female student-body president – to 30 years later – when she became Canada’s first female Prime Minister – Ms. Campbell has spent much of her life breaking barriers.

She was Canada’s first female Justice Minister and Attorney General, the first female Defence Minister – not only in Canada, but of any NATO country – the first Prime Minister born and raised in British Columbia and the first former Canadian Prime Minister to serve as a diplomat after leaving office.

Ms. Campbell has served at all three levels of government, starting with her election to the Vancouver School Board in 1980. She was elected to the British Columbia legislature in 1986 and then Canada’s House of Commons in 1988. She served in the federal War Cabinet during the first Gulf War, and as Justice Minister, she responded decisively to the “Montreal Massacre,” implementing tighter gun controls. She also introduced groundbreaking changes to strengthen women’s protection from sexual assault.

Ms. Campbell became leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1993, serving as Prime Minister until the federal election later that year.

Since leaving politics, Ms. Campbell has worked on global issues, serving as Canadian Consul General in Los Angeles and pursuing initiatives to better Canada and the world. She has been awarded nine honorary degrees.

• Year: 2012
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Out of Province
• Category: Community Leadership

R. Wayne Campbell

Wayne Campbell has worked to give British Columbians an unparalleled insight into the hundreds of bird species in our province. His lifelong passion for birds has also been his life’s work.

Born in Edmonton, Alberta, he graduated from the University of Victoria in 1976 and received his M.Sc. from the University of Washington in 1983.

After graduation he joined the staff of the University of British Columbia as Curator of the Cowan Vertebrate Museum in the Department of Zoology.

For almost 20 years, Wayne Campbell has been the Curator of Ornithology at the Royal British Columbia Museum where he conducted wildlife inventories of remote areas of the province including the first complete census of breeding seabird colonies.

Since the early seventies, Wayne Campbell has spoken to naturalist groups in almost every B.C. community to impress upon them the importance of their contributions to the knowledge of the birds of our province.

He has written more than 300 scientific and popular articles, reports and books on higher vertebrates, the best known being Birds of British Columbia, for which he was one of the six co-authors.

Rather than relying strictly on data from scientists, Birds of British Columbia is the work of 5,000 provincial bird watchers and amateur naturalists.

Wayne Campbell’s hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm for birds has expanded and enriched a valuable body of knowledge.

• Year: 1992
• City: Victoria
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Professions and other occupations

Brian Canfield

Brian Canfield’s communications career began as a telephone installer in 1956. He climbed to the top of corporate ladder to become chairman and chief executive officer of BC TEL and BC TELECOM.

As important as his business savvy has been to the economic development of British Columbia, Brian Canfield is a model corporate citizen. He played a significant role in making Science World a reality.

He is honorary chairman of Leadership Vancouver, a program that fosters leadership from diverse and varied backgrounds.

To date, over 100 individuals have graduated from the program. Past chairman of the Business Council of British Columbia, Brian Canfield is a member of many industrial boards as well as the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation.

In1997, Mr. Canfield became the first businessman to be presented with an Honorary Doctor of Technology by the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Mr. Canfield was invested in the Order of Canada in 2007.

• Year: 1998
• City: Point Roberts
• Region: Out of Province
• Category: Business

Harold (Herb) Peter Capozzi *

Known as an “Ambassador for British Columbia,” Herb Capozzi made substantial contributions in the arenas of sports, tourism, business and government.

Mr. Capozzi served as a member of the B.C. Legislature for two terms during the 1960s.

He was Captain of the University of British Columbia’s Football team and went on to play pro football with the Montreal Allouettes and Calgary Stampeders. He was a Canadian Singles Racquetball Doubles Master and Canadian Masters Racquetball Champion. Following his pro football years, Herb became General Manager of the BC Lions, and for 10 years made many significant changes which included implementing the C.F.L.’s first Medical plan.

In the 1970s Herb assumed control of the Vancouver Canucks, a move which kept the Canucks in Vancouver and away from U.S. control. In the same decade, Herb also started the Whitecaps soccer team, bringing professional soccer to British Columbia for the first time in its history.

Herb was instrumental in bringing McDonald’s Restaurants to Canada, and co-founded the Keg Restaurants. He co-owned and served as vice-president of Calona Wines, the Capri Hotel and shopping centre and gave many millions to charities throughout B.C. through “Dabbers” – Kelowna’s first professional Bingo Parlour.

He served as a director of the highly successful Expo 86, responsible for food, entertainment and housing.

Mr. Capozzi has been inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame, the Vancouver College Sports Hall of Fame, the Italian Cultural Society Hall of Fame, the BC Sports Hall of Fame, and most recently the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame.

At 83, he was President and Patriarch of the family-owned business Pasadena Investments, a very successful property and land development company in Kelowna, B.C. He was actively involved with Smile Africa: a foundation that promotes literacy in Africa. He was widely known across the province for his dynamic, entrepreneurial spirit and great generosity.

• Year: 2008
• City: Kelowna
• Region: Thompson/Okanagan
• Category: Business

Ric Careless

Ric Careless is one of B.C.’s leaders in wilderness preservation. After moving here from Toronto in 1968, he has worked quietly and effectively for more than two decades to encourage protection of the British Columbia wilds he grew to love.

His work on wilderness campaigns has contributed to the protection of 10 major areas totaling an estimated 3 million acres. Most recently, his visionary efforts contributed to the protection of the Tatshenshini wilderness area as a provincial park.

A co-founder of the Sierra Club of B.C., he is now executive director of Tatshenshini Wild, and chair of its International Network, which represents 10 million members in leading North American conservation groups.

In 1991 Ric Careless received Equinox magazine’s Citation for Environmental Achievement and in 1992 he became the first non-U.S. citizen ever to be named River Conservationist of the Year by the American Rivers group.

His wilderness preservation focus is broad, bringing government and industries such as tourism, mining and forestry together to search for solutions beneficial to all.

Ric Careless’s philosophy of moving away from confrontation towards environmental solutions will be valued by future generations enjoying the beautiful areas protected through his efforts.

• Year: 1994
• City: Gibsons
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Public Service

Honourable Pat Carney *

The Honourable Pat Carney broke new ground in journalism and Canadian politics, advancing the causes of equality, women’s rights, indigenous and minority rights during a lifetime of public service.

She was the first woman in each federal government cabinet post she held, which included Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, Minister for International Trade, and President of the Treasury Board of Canada.

Carney brought together all her fellow B.C. MPs to form the British Columbia Caucus, which helped achieve the recognition of B.C. and Yukon as the fifth region of Canada.

As cabinet minister, she negotiated national and multilateral treaties, worked to ensure the sustainability of B.C.’s resource sectors, and joined in missions to heighten provincial profile in Asia Pacific relations. She initiated the first task force to reduce barriers to women in the public service.

As a member of the Senate of Canada for 18 years, she chaired the Energy and Environment Committee, was vice-chair of the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committee and was a member of the Aboriginal and Fisheries Committee. Her leadership led to the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, preserving heritage light stations along Canada’s coasts and B.C.’s maritime heritage.

Carney’s first love was journalism. As a business columnist for the Province and Vancouver Sun newspapers, her insightful reporting of business news and trends in the 1960s enlightened readers about economic issues in B.C. She is a best-selling author of fiction and non-fiction books.

A founder of the Arthritis Research Canada, Carney has for more than 20 years promoted arthritis research. Affected by arthritis herself, she advocates for treatment and rehabilitation for people with arthritis. She served as adjunct professor at the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia.

• Year: 2019
• City: Saturna Island
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Public Service

Dr. Nadine Rena Caron

Dr. Nadine Caron is a surgeon, researcher, mentor, educator, patient advocate, community builder and internationally renowned health leader who is committed to addressing inequities in access to health care and to improving clinical outcomes for Indigenous Peoples. Born in Kamloops, she is the daughter of an Ojibwe mother and an Italian immigrant father. Her stellar career has been characterized by high achievement and numerous firsts. Her life has exemplified determination and a drive to make the world a better place.

Caron launched her academic career at Simon Fraser University where she graduated in 1993 with a bachelor of science in kinesiology and was awarded the Gordon M. Shrum Gold Medal (Simon Fraser University’s most prestigious undergraduate medal bestowed on the graduating student whose high scholastic standing and extracurricular activities demonstrate outstanding qualities of character and unselfish devotion to the university). Throughout her undergraduate years, she also starred on the varsity basketball team. She then pursued a medical degree at the University of British Columbia (UBC), again graduating at the top of her class. She became the medical school’s first Indigenous woman graduate. She went on to complete a master’s degree in public health at Harvard University.

Following surgical residency and fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco, Caron returned to Canada in 2005 and established a clinical practice at the University Hospital in Prince George subsequently becoming Canada’s first female Indigenous general surgeon. As a professor, she teaches in the UBC’s Northern Medical Program and the Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health.

Caron has devoted her career to the health needs of rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities. Clinically, she skillfully improves cancer outcomes and wellness of Indigenous Peoples. She also holds the First Nations Health Authority chair in cancer and wellness at UBC. She co-founded and co-directs the UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health, which espouses health values promoted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Nationally, she served as a member of the governing council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Internationally, she holds a faculty position at Johns Hopkins University at the Center for American Indian Health in Duluth, Minn.

Caron is a particularly outstanding role model for Indigenous girls and women. She emphasizes that education is key to success. She coaches sports teams in her community, passing on life skills such as teamwork, perseverance and resilience. In addition, she is much in demand as a mentor for students at UBC, the University of Northern British Columbia and Johns Hopkins.

Caron’s honours are numerous. She holds honorary doctorates from the University of the Fraser Valley and Simon Fraser University. She has received recognition from prestigious organizations for high ethical standards and outstanding leadership (UBC), athletics (Simon Fraser University), Indigenous health advocacy (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada) and inclusive excellence (Canadian Cancer Society), and has been named a woman of the year (Chatelaine) and one of 100 Canadians to watch (Maclean’s magazine). Journalist and author Peter Mansbridge devoted a chapter of his 2020 book Extraordinary Canadians to Caron’s life story.

With all this, Caron continues to provide surgical oncology care to patients in the Prince George region. Her commitment to clinical care, education, research, advocacy, mentoring and health- care reform has enriched the lives of people in B.C. and beyond.

• Year: 2022
• City: Prince George
• Region: Cariboo
• Category: Professions and other occupations

Elaine Carty

Champion for healthcare options for pregnant women in British Columbia, Ms. Elaine Carty was instrumental in bringing midwifery into the mainstream and providing pregnant women with disabilities supportive delivery and postnatal care.

Ms. Carty’s pioneering practice, research, and advocacy for midwifery overcame strong opposition and made possible the formal education program which created and expanded professional midwifery in the province.

Beginning in the late 1970s, she worked closely with forward-thinking obstetricians and family physicians on pilot projects demonstrating safe midwifery practice in action. She went on to conduct clinical research on innovative approaches to care during childbirth, build alliances across hospital and community care sectors, and steadfastly erode the structural and attitudinal barriers to legitimizing midwifery. In 2002, she established B.C.’s founding midwifery education program within the Department of Family Practice of UBC’s Faculty of Medicine. In short, her leadership was instrumental in spreading midwifery services across the province.

The province now has almost 300 registered midwives. Almost twenty-five per cent of B.C. births are midwife assisted and the growth of midwifery is helping to cover the gap resulting from family physicians withdrawing from obstetrical practice.

Ms. Carty received the Award of Excellence in Nursing from the Registered Nurses’ Association of BC in 1993 and the Killam Prize for teaching excellence from UBC in 1997. In 2005, the College of Midwives of British Columbia awarded her its inaugural Life Membership for her pioneering efforts. In 2013, McMaster University acknowledged her outstanding contribution to the professionalization of midwifery in Canada by granting her an honorary Doctor of Science. She was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2017.

• Year: 2017
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Professions and other occupations

Chief Rosanne Casimir

Kúkpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir is gracefully and courageously leading the community of Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc (TteS) through the discovery of more than 200 unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. She has been the face of Le Estcwicwéý (the missing children) and a strong advocate for justice, reconciliation and healing for First Nations. Through the external affairs and public relations portfolio, she has worked with council to help keep these issues on the national and provincial agendas to ensure a path forward for healing.

Kúkpi7 Casimir brought the horrifying story of Le Estcwicwéý to the world. She was able to use the local, national and international media attention it received to help educate the public about the real history of the colonial impacts of the residential school system. This story brought a collective, nationwide grieving to Canada, as people who previously knew little about residential schools now stood side by side with TteS in shock and horror. This was the start of a mass education process and a renewed commitment to learning about the effects of residential schools and the racism faced by Indigenous Peoples.

For her leading voice and advocacy, Maclean’s magazine ranked Kúkpi7 Casimir No. 6 on their 2022 Power List. The Power List also ranked the unknown Indigenous victims of residential schools as No. 1.

Kúkpi7 Casimir recently represented B.C. as a delegate to the Vatican to discuss the church’s role in the operation of residential schools. She had the opportunity to meet directly with the Pope to share the experiences of survivors. At the end of the visit, the Pope issued an apology – a historic moment for all Indigenous Peoples of Canada.

Kúkpi7 Casimir is a strong, confident Secwépemc woman who leads by example as the 14th elected Kúkpi7 for TteS. She had nine years of experience as a TteS councillor before becoming chief in 2019 and being re-elected in 2021. She is also the Tribal Chief of the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council and a member on the board of directors for the BC Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN).

Recent awards Kúkpi7 Casimir has received are the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) President’s Award for Outstanding Public Relations and Communications, and the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The CPRS president’s award recognizes those who demonstrate outstanding leadership in communications and excellence in communications management. It was her great honour to accept the president’s award on behalf of TteS. The 2022 Platinum Jubilee award marks the 70th anniversary of Her Majesty’s accession to the throne and extraordinary public service by Canadians.

Year: 2022
City: Kamloops
Region: Thompson/Okanagan
Category: Indigenous Reconciliation

Raffi Cavoukian

Raffi is an internationally acclaimed family entertainer, songwriter, author, and ecology and children’s advocate. Over his 25-year career he has created 13 albums, 3 concert videos and numerous children’s books based on his music, with total sales of over 15 million.

In 2000, he founded the Troubadour Institute, which acts as a catalyst to move us toward a child-honoring society.

His recent autobiography, The Life of a Children’s Troubadour tells the story of his unique life and career, including his efforts to blend respect for both children and the natural world.

• Year: 2001
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Out of Province
• Category: Arts and Culture

Shirley Chan

Shirley Chan is a third-generation advocate for her community and for others, mostly people at risk of displacement, discrimination and marginalization.

Her great-grandfather came to Canada for the gold rush, worked on B.C. railways, and started a successful import-export business in Vancouver’s Chinatown. Her mother and father (Mary Lee Wo Soon and Walter Chan) helped create the Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants Association in 1968, and Chan worked with them to successfully challenge city plans that would have displaced thousands of residents and run a freeway through Vancouver. The Chans were able to galvanize others to work together to stop the freeway and protect their neighbours and neighbourhoods. Chan campaigned with her parents, going door-to-door to build opposition to the freeway plans and organizing a network of block captains to keep residents informed. Community activism has remained fundamental to her ever since.

Chan’s work roles include CEO of Building Opportunities with Business Inner-City Society; director of sustainable development, healthy environments and consumer safety branch, Health Canada; regional director general, B.C./Yukon; regional director, population & public health branch, B.C./Yukon Region, for Health Canada; director, non-market operations division, City of Vancouver; chief of staff, mayor’s office, City of Vancouver; and many more.

Chan’s volunteer work is extensive including Learning for a Sustainable Future Board; Pathways Serious Mental Illness Society, VP; Vancouver Chinatown Foundation Policy advisor; Vancouver Chinatown Revitalization Committee; Chinatown Historic Area planning committee; UBC president’s advisory committee on the university library; UBC Asian studies advisory committee; and Dr. Sun Yat- Sen Garden trustee. She has served on many boards including B.C. Hydro, Powerex, VanCity Credit Union; VanCity Enterprises; Citizens Bank & Trust; VanCity Place for Youth Society; VanCity Foundation; UBC board of governors; UBC president’s advisory committee on downtown presence; UBC Foundation Board; Children’s International Summer Villages.

She has advised several B.C. premiers on many community issues.

More recently, in addition to community service, since her daughter developed schizophrenia, Chan has been active promoting mental health. She credits the North Shore Schizophrenia Society for helping her and her husband move from “a place of denial and confusion, with nowhere to turn, to one of strength and knowledge about what was happening to our daughter and ourselves and knowledge about the mental health system.” She currently serves as VP on the board of Pathways Serious Mental Illness Society as a fierce advocate for people with mental illness and chair of Pathways’ education and support committee.

• Year: 2020
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Tung Chan

The story of Tung Chan is very much the story of what has made Canada great. He came to Canada from Hong Kong at age 22, struggled with English and waited tables to put himself through UBC.

He is a shining example of how an almost penniless immigrant can become an influential citizen. He has built a successful career, contributed to the democratic process, and given back to society as a volunteer, philanthropist and community leader. He thrives on building understanding and bridges across racial and other divides.

As CEO of S.U.C.C.E.S.S. he brought strong leadership, increased the annual budget from $16 million to $35 million and expanded to Fort St. John, Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei. He helped settle tens of thousands of immigrants from around the world more quickly in BC and worked to address barriers hampering their integration.

Mr. Chan was one of the first people of Chinese descent to be elected to Vancouver City Council. He inspired new Canadians to exercise their right to vote and learn what it means to be citizens in a democracy. He founded a radio program called Penderguy which was the only English language radio program produced by and for Chinese-Canadians.

He had a successful career in banking and has been appointed an Honorary Captain in the Royal Canadian Navy. Tung Chan has received the Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee Medal and the Diamond Jubilee Medal.

• Year: 2014
• City: Richmond
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Dr. Rose Charlie

Rose Charlie belongs to the Chehalis Band in the Sto:lo Nation, is a member of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and was named the Grand Chief of B.C. Charlie founded the Indian Homemakers Association of British Columbia and the National Indian Brotherhood, now the Assembly of First Nations, and the B.C. Association of Non-status Indians.

She helped restore Indian status to over 16,000 women and 46,000 first-generation children of mixed ancestry.

Rose also helped found two of the most important Native women’s groups in Canada, the National Association of Indian Rights for Indian Women and the Native Women’s Association of Canada. In 1989, she received an honorary doctor of laws from UBC.

• Year: 2003
• City: Agassiz
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Simon Charlie (Hwunumetse') *

In over 30 years of carving traditional Cowichan Coast Salish art, aboriginal elder Simon Charlie estimated he carved the equivalent of 22 logging truckloads of cedar logs. His totem poles stand in the Royal B.C. Museum, the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, and from Washington State to New York, Chicago, Holland, New Zealand and Australia. His artworks and masks are found in collections in North and South America, Europe and Japan. He taught heritage, culture and traditions to his people, and to non-aboriginals as well.

• Year: 2001
• City: Duncan
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Arts and Culture

Eric Charman *

Eric Charman was a key player in Victoria’s arts scene, with the ability to organize and lead events to raise money for the community. Mr. Charman contributed to Victoria through his efforts as a volunteer, master of ceremonies, auctioneer and philanthropist. He had the tenacity to make every event he lead a success. Just as important was his role as a catalyst for the citizens and organizations he encouraged to follow his lead and support the arts.

• Year: 1999
• City: Victoria
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Community Leadership

Phyllis Chelsea

Phyllis Chelsea is a member of the Alkali Lake Indian Band. From an early age, she has shown remarkable courage and dedication in the pursuit of a better life for herself, her family and her community.

Recognizing the devastating toll that the consumption of alcohol was having on her own family relationships, Phyllis Chelsea chose to change and became an abstainer. Through her efforts and example, members of her family and the entire community eventually achieved sobriety. It was not an easy task; Mrs. Chelsea met with hostility and opposition but she persevered and she prevailed.

Mrs. Chelsea’s pursuit of a better life did not stop there. She fostered abused and underprivileged children. Her home became a haven for dozens of children seeking respite from dangerous home environments. She instituted local services to replace those provided by agencies unfamiliar with local traditions. She had the previously forbidden Shuswap language revived and recognized as a credit for University entrance at UBC. And she was the moving force behind the development of an Elementary School on the Alkali Lake Reserve.

Because of her efforts, Alkali Lake is now a model for other native communities across Canada.

Mrs. Chelsea has travelled with workshops and training sessions to help other communities. Her work is recognized not only in Canada but also in the United States and Australia. She recently received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of British Columbia.

Phyllis Chelsea’s commitment as a mother, grandmother and community leader, has given inspiration, hope and support to all who have known her.

• Year: 1990
• City: Williams Lake
• Region: Cariboo
• Category: Community Leadership

Dr. Suezone Chow

Dr. Suezone Chow is a gifted researcher and intuitive businessman who has worked to help us get more value from our forests in British Columbia.

Dr. Chow was born in Taipei, Taiwan. Following graduation from Taiwan National University in 1963, he emigrated to Canada.

Starting with his post-graduate studies at the University of British Columbia, continuing with the Canadian Forestry Service, and today as Director of Research and Development at Canfor Corporation, he has developed a scientific reputation on both national and international fronts.

His pioneering scientific work has contributed vastly to the economy of British Columbia through the development of new wood lamination techniques and environmentally friendly surface coatings, to mention just two.

Combining his technical expertise with his fluency in Japanese and his cultural sensitivity, he travelled to Japan in 1973 helping to increase British Columbia’s share of the plywood market in that country.

Until very recently he was involved in a trade mission to Taiwan demonstrating the use of wood and engineered composite products to facilitate marketing these products throughout the Pacific Rim countries.

Dr. Chow has successfully married academic disciplines with industrial research and development and international trade .

His successes continue to benefit all British Columbians.

• Year: 1992
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Science and Technology

Dr. Wallace Bakfu Chung

Dr. Wallace Bakfu Chung has made significant contributions to the citizens of British Columbia, as a surgeon, educator, cultural historian and benefactor. The first Chinese-Canadian surgeon to be appointed to the UBC Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital, Dr. Chung was instrumental in the establishment of vascular surgery as a specialty recognized by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He taught in UBC’s Department of Surgery for 30 years, and spent 15 years on the President’s Advisory Council for the University Library.

In 1999, Dr. Chung donated his expansive collection of priceless artefacts to the UBC Library. The collection contains more than 25,000 rare items depicting the province’s early history through the eyes of Chinese immigrants. An invaluable educational resource, the collection is considered to be a national treasure.

Dr. Chung was a member of the Canadian Multiculturalism Council, and helped to draft the Multiculturalism Act, which recognizes and promotes the diversity of all people in terms of race, cultural heritage and religion. He is a dedicated volunteer and philanthropist who has been involved with a variety of organizations, including the BC Heritage Trust, the Vancouver Chinese Cultural Centre, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Gardens Society, and the Vancouver Maritime Museum.

Dr. Wallace Bakfu Chung has received the Honourary Alumnus Award from the UBC Alumni Association, and was named Honourary Patron of the Vancouver Maritime Museum. He received the Order of Canada in 2005.

• Year: 2006
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Ronald Cliff

Vancouver business leader Ronald Cliff is an invaluable volunteer and philanthropist who for decades has applied himself to the betterment of the community – from the Vancouver Symphony Society, where he has given more than 60 years of volunteer service, to a diverse set of other cultural, civic, athletic and health related organizations.

Cliff’s service on behalf of the symphony society has earned him honorary life president’s status. He has contributed more than 40 years of service to the Vancouver Police Foundation. He is also past chair of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, an advisor and former trustee of the University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business, a lifetime member and past director of the Vancouver Art Gallery, and a former trustee of the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) and University of British Columbia (UBC) Hospital Foundation.

His efforts to help ensure the sustainability of not-for-profit entities are unparalleled. He co-founded the Vancouver Police Foundation and the Vancouver Symphony Foundation. He helped create the Endowment Fund of the Lester B. Pearson School of the Pacific and he was a co-founder of the Endeavour Society, a long-standing Vancouver organization that builds community by supporting arts, sciences and health.

Cliff’s volunteerism is coupled with the philanthropic leadership that he and his wife have demonstrated in their generous contributions to arts, education, community and health organizations.

His career and expertise as a chartered accountant have been relied upon by a number of prominent companies, including the Royal Bank of Canada (director), BC Gas (chair), Canfor (chair) and Southam Inc. (chair).

• Year: 2019
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Volunteer Service

Dr. William (Bill) Clifford

A dedicated physician with a passion for information technology, Dr. William Clifford is a leader in harnessing the power of IT to ensure patients receive coordinated, quality care.

He experienced first-hand the struggles doctors encounter: operating an efficient office through implementation of best practices; organizing comprehensive, sensitive information; and most importantly, providing meaningful patient care. Dr. Clifford applied his expertise to the development of electronic solutions for healthcare’s complex networking challenges, and to fully utilize data in improving quality of care.

Foremost in his accomplishments is his creation of the Medical Office Information System in 1990, years before electronic medical records became commonplace. When colleagues saw the benefits of his software, he unselfishly shared it with them and by the early 2000s it was in widespread use in medical practices throughout Northern B.C. Now distributed by a non-profit organization, there are many users across B.C. It is ranked as the number one Medical Record System in Canada.

Now the Chief Medical Information Officer for Northern Health in Prince George, Dr. Clifford is involved in a number of technology projects. They include a ground-breaking information system for Northern Health community programs which will allow for secure messaging and real-time care planning between community workers/teams and family physicians. He is also the faculty lead on informatics for the Prince George Site of the UBC Family Practice Residency Program.

• Year: 2014
• City: Prince George
• Region: Cariboo
• Category: Professions and other occupations

Sergio Cocchia

Mr. Sergio Cocchia, a Vancouver-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, is fueled by the desire to make his country a better place to live, work and visit. He’s fired up on results, for the community through numerous philanthropic projects, and for his team of employees at Absolute Spa Group and the Century Plaza Hotel and Spa.

Mr. Cocchia has raised millions of dollars for charitable organizations throughout British Columbia. In 1987 he founded, along with his wife and the chair of the event, the annual Women’s Media Golf Classic that has raised more than $3 million in the past 25 years to help children with special needs. Completed projects supported include the Down Syndrome Research Centre, the Oral Centre for Hearing Impaired Children, and The Children’s Foundation.

Mr. Cocchia and his wife Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia created the Pacific Autism Family Centre Foundation which is building a $35 million centre to provide knowledge, connections and services to families province wide.

Mr. Cocchia also serves as president of the board of the Mediated Learning Academy and the Variety Learning Centre, a provincial in nature, independent school that serves special children with more than 30 different diagnoses and learning problems.

In 2010 Mr. Cocchia received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the Justice Institute of BC. He has also received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the BC Community Achievement Award and the Children with Intestinal and Liver Disorders Foundation Humanitarian Award.

• Year: 2013
• City: West Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Other

Joseph H. Cohen *

Joseph Cohen was without a doubt one of British Columbia’s most outstanding citizens. He was a successful businessman who became an outstanding philanthropist locally, nationally and internationally.

A highly respected leader, he supported and raised millions of dollars for a variety of worthy causes.

Mr. Cohen’s community involvement was unparalleled and includes:

• former Director of the YMCA participating extensively in all their fundraising activities over 40 years,
• a member of the Royal Commonwealth Society;
• a member and Life Patron of the Variety Club of Vancouver;
• one of the first Directors, and a member for eleven years, of the Justice Institute of British Columbia;
• a Director of St. Vincent’s Hospital and Chairman for 13 years of the Special Gifts division;
• a former Western Canadian Director of Teleglobe Canada for six years.

Mr. Cohen has been honoured with many awards for his community work and his support for so many citizenship and humanitarian causes. Some of these include:

• 1971 Vancouver “Man of the Year”;
• 1978 appointed “Member, Order of Canada”
• 1979 Honorary Member, Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police;
• 1980 “Freeman” City of Vancouver;
• 1982 awarded Boy Scouts of Canada “Medal of Merit”;
• 1982 chosen “B.C. Catholic Man of the Year”;
• 1986 awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by U.B.C.;
• 1986 recognized as “Businessman of the Year” by Better Business Bureau of Vancouver;
• 1989 appointed Member, Board of Governors, Victoria Commonwealth Games Society.

While his achievements are legendary and awards numerous, he remained modest, tireless and energetic, always willing to go that extra mile in support of worthy causes. By his exemplary life and work, Joseph Cohen was an example for his community, a first class ambassador at large for B.C.

• Year: 1990
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Tim Collings

Tim Collings has made a significant contribution to British Columbia through his strong sense of vision, personal integrity and fortitude in bringing his vision to reality.

Tim invented the V-Chip technology that enables television users to filter content they consider offensive, particularly for their children.

The massacre of 14 young women at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989 compelled Tim to pursue a technological approach to enable social change. He began working on the V-Chip at Simon Fraser University in 1990. It is now installed in equipment used worldwide. His invention – legislated to be included in every television sold in the United States – instigated public discourse and led to a higher level of media literacy among the general public, particularly among parents.

Acknowledged as a Young Innovator, one of British Columbia’s ‘Top 40 under 40’, and one of this province’s ‘Top 50 Thinkers’, Tim’s humble approach to problem-solving has resulted in innovations of international significance.

Future innovators will be able to look to Tim as a positive example of how hard work, a great idea, persistence and enterprise can be combined to make a truly positive impact on today’s world.

• Year: 2015
• City: Surrey
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Science and Technology

Janet Nita Connolly

Janet Nita Connolly has shown unparalleled passion and leadership in the fight for health care improvements in the small town of Atlin, near the Yukon border, in northwest British Columbia. She has been instrumental in spear-heading projects to benefit her community, bringing together groups of volunteers to address the various challenges facing the residents of the town.

Mrs. Connolly is a founder of the Atlin Supportive Living Society, which evolved out of the recognition of a growing demand for seniors’ services. The Society endeavoured to work with all levels of government to ensure these demands would be addressed, and organized enough funding to open a palliative care facility in the town. They also raised funds to provide necessary equipment for the facility, and helped organize a meals-on-wheels service through the Supportive Living Program. These efforts have enabled seniors to remain close to family and community, instead of travelling long distances to provincial care facilities in southern BC.

Mrs. Connolly has also extended her efforts to ensure equal access to health care and pharmaceutical prescriptions for Atlin residents who must travel to long-term care facilities in the Yukon. She played a fundamental role in obtaining a Memorandum of Understanding between the BC and Yukon governments to address health care provisions. Along with her advocacy work, Janet Connolly is a dedicated teacher at the Atlin School, and has recently completed a Home Support Attendant program to expand her knowledge and care-giving skills in the health profession.

• Year: 2006
• City: Atlin
• Region: Northern B.C.
• Category: Community Leadership

Michael Conway Baker

Michael Conway Baker is considered one of Canada’s most prolific and successful composers, with popular works in a variety of musical genres, including symphonic, ballet, film, TV and special events. He has over 120 film, television, and video music scores. and over 110 concert works to his credit and is the recipient of numerous awards, including four GENIES, one JUNO, and two GEMINIS.

Mr. Conway Baker’s best known works include Fanfare for EXPO 86, the Music for the BC Pavilion film at EXPO 86, the soundtrack music for The Planet for the Taking, the popular Canadian film, The Grey Fox, and the music for two episodes of The Road to Avonlea. He is Composer in Residence for the Vancouver School Board, Sessional Lecturer in Music in Film and Orchestration at UBC and has just retired after 17 years as an Elementary School Teacher.

• Year: 1997
• City: North Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Arts and Culture

Neil Cook

Neil Cook is a most worthy candidate for the Order of B.C. due to the depth and breadth of his volunteer service to Cranbrook, the East Kootenay, and British Columbia.

Cook has clearly demonstrated selfless dedication to making his community a better place for all residents. He has made a positive, life-long impact through the lives of the three children he and his wife, Marilynne, adopted, in addition to the 24 foster children they welcomed into their home and their hearts.

Cook has volunteered much of his time with local non-profits, in areas such as mental health (six years as a crisis line volunteer and six years on the local CMHA board), homelessness (seven years as the chair of the East Kootenay Homeless Coalition, working to build a 24/7 homeless shelter), and community services (seven years on the Cranbrook Family Centre Board, now Summit Community Services, and nine years on the Cranbrook Society for Community Living Board). Cook had the vision, determination, and perseverance to lead the formation of the Cranbrook and District Community Foundation (now the Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies).

Cook served as the founding president and then a director on the Community Foundation Board for a total of 17 years. His work resulted in the establishment of an effective and efficient Community Foundation, which now holds almost $2.5 million in permanently invested funds and returns annual grants to eligible community groups, in perpetuity. In all of his volunteer work, Cook has been kind, inclusive, and generous.

Cook has been an active member of local service clubs as well, including Cranbrook Sunrise Rotary (three years), Cranbrook Rotary (two years), and Kinsmen (seven years). His other volunteer contributions in our community include 22 years of volunteering with the Cranbrook Community Christmas Dinner as a fundraiser and chef, as well as 10 years on the church committee at Christ Anglican Church. Cook’s work life also included community service, such as his role as Anne Edwards’ Kootenay MLA constituency assistant from 1992 to 1996 as well as three years as the East Kootenay emergency services coordinator. He also served for three years on the College of Pharmacists for the Province of B.C. and for two years on the City of Cranbrook Planning Council. In the midst of these many contributions to the community, Neil played a key role in supporting numerous community fundraisers and events, including the SPCA, Juvenile Diabetes Association, Kinsmen Mothers’ March, Canadian Cancer Society, and the Cranbrook Children’s Festival. For all of the 26 years that Neil has lived in Cranbrook, he has chosen to volunteer his time with many organizations and projects, all with the goal of helping people and improving our community. The Order of B.C. would be a very well- deserved award for his lifetime of service to others.

• Year: 2020
• City: Cranbrook
• Region: Kootenay
• Category: Volunteer Service

Jane Coop

Jane Coop is a preeminent concert pianist, mentor and educator whose 40-year international career includes four Juno award nominations and the founding of the Skylark Music recording label, which serves West Coast, Canadian and international composers.

By the age of 20, Coop had already won such prestigious contests as the CBC National Young Performer Competition and the Maryland International Piano Competition, launching her career as a concerto soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and recording artist.

Coop has performed around the globe with some of the world’s finest orchestras. She has played as a solo recitalist in the most prestigious musical venues in the world including Wigmore Hall in London, and Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York.

As a distinguished University of British Columbia professor of piano and chamber music, she is an inspirational force for her students. She has also given master classes at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Shanghai and Beijing Conservatories, and the Juilliard and Manhattan Schools.

Her discography includes seven concertos and the great masterworks of, among others, Haydn and Mozart. With Maestro Mario Bernardi, she recorded two collections of concertos and with violinist Andrew Dawes she made landmark chamber recordings of Beethoven’s piano and violin sonatas.

Coop’s performances were lauded by the New York Times for having “not only technical prowess but intellectual perception and telling interpretive instincts.”

Coop has shared her talents in every region of the province and in smaller communities through her classes and performances.

• Year: 2019
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Arts and Culture

Edna and Robert Cooper

Separately, and together, Bob Cooper and Edna Cooper have demonstrated community leadership with their untiring work and selfless dedication to the province’s northern communities and the people in them.

Adopting the north as her home in 1943, Edna Cooper brought with her a strong interest in arts and culture and has devoted a large part of her life to these community activities. As a charter member of the Terrace Art Association and a past member of the Regional Arts Council, she worked to establish the Terrace Public Art Gallery and the annual Terrace Arts and Crafts Show. She was for many years President of Terrace Little Theatre.

Edna Cooper has served as an Alderman on the Terrace Municipal Council, a School Trustee, and has been appointed to numerous boards and commissions. With all her official activities, she still found time to lead Girl Guides, chair the Centennial celebrations for Terrace, and for many years instruct adult night school courses.

Bob Cooper has also been heavily involved in all aspects of northern community life – from acting as president of the Northwest Loggers Association, and director of the Regional District of Kitimat Stikine, to membership on the local Parole Board. For ten years, he was an Alderman of the City of Terrace. Bob Cooper, too, has been appointed to a number of boards and commissions including the Terrace/Kitimat Airport Advisory Committee, the Northern Development Council, and the Mills Memorial Hospital Board. He has worked to enhance the welfare of inmates at the Terrace Community Correctional Centre.

Both Bob and Edna Cooper are highly respected members of their community because of the years of hard work they have dedicated to the betterment of this north west corner of B.C., and the province as a whole. They demonstrate community spirit at its finest.

• Year: 1995
• City: Terrace
• Region: Northern B.C.
• Category: Community Leadership

Mel Cooper

Mel Cooper, an outstanding business and community leader, was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland. After moving west he attended the University of British Columbia.

His British Columbia broadcasting career started with an announcer’s job in Port Alberni 40 years ago. Mel Cooper is now President and General Manager of three radio stations: C-FAX Victoria and CKOV-AM and CKLZ-FM in Kelowna, and has served four years as President of the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters.

Airwaves are not Mel Cooper’s only line of business, he is also chairman of AirBC and a director of a number of other corporations.

For many British Columbians, Mel Cooper will be remembered as the vice president of Expo 86, the person who developed its hugely successful corporate sales plan.

In addition to his considerable business flair, Mel Cooper has contributed his time, his expertise and his inspirational enthusiasm to local, regional and national charities, non-profit boards, foundations and community groups. Canada 125 and the Victoria Commonwealth Games are but two examples.

He has been given awards too numerous to mention from business and industry and as a community leader and humanitarian, awards which include the Order of Canada.

Mel Cooper is a much sought-after speaker. A title of one of his presentations is, “I’ve never met an enthusiastic failure”. It’s a title which speaks volumes about the man himself.

• Year: 1992
• City: Victoria
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Business

Dr. Peter L. Cooperberg

Dr. Peter Cooperberg is a pioneer in ultrasound imaging – a world leader in the use of ultrasound in medical diagnosis.

Dr. Cooperberg has authored 220 scientific publications and played a key role in the education of most of British Columbia’s radiologists and many others worldwide.

Dr. Cooperberg has served in a leadership role in radiology at UBC’s Faculty of Medicine since 1975. Equipped with a Bachelor of Life Science from MIT and an MD from McGill University, Dr. Cooperberg’s training, expertise and energy uniquely qualified him to advance the use of ultrasound.

The rise of ultrasound imaging from static scanning to observing and imaging “real-time” is largely due to Dr. Cooperberg’s efforts. For many years, he trained fellows from around the world, helping them learn the technology’s full potential, sharing his infectious enthusiasm for the field.

In 1983, Dr. Cooperberg co-founded the “Practical Radiology at Whistler” conference, which combines the latest radiology education with time spent in spectacular British Columbia. The annual conference attracts large numbers of radiologists from around the world, bringing international recognition to UBC’s Department of Radiology.

Dr. Cooperberg’s innovation, teaching, research and clinical care are exemplary and his dedication to his field has benefitted all British Columbians. In recognition of his major contributions to ultrasound, UBC has initiated the Peter L. Cooperberg Annual Lecture.

• Year: 2012
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Professions and other occupations

Jean Coulthard *

In naming Jean Coulthard Composer of the Year in 1984, the Performing Rights Organization said that the underlying force in all her work is feeling. Those who have been her students speak of her as a mentor, a world-class composer, a musical catalyst.

In a distinguished career which encompasses six decades of continuous activity, she created more than 200 compositions. Her music, including works for orchestra, opera, chamber music, voice, and others, is regularly performed and broadcast worldwide.

Born in Vancouver, Jean Coulthard began to write music while still a child and continued her musical studies in England, New York and France. By the 1940s she was already being hailed as one of Canada’s most important composers.

In 1947 she was invited to teach music at the University of British Columbia, a position she maintained until her retirement in 1973. With her retirement from academic life, her activity as a composer blossomed with a renewed intensity.

In 1978 she was named a Freeman of the City of Vancouver and an Officer in the Order of Canada.

Jean Coulthard’s belief that a composer has a special responsibility to the community resulted in works designed to be accessible to the wider public, including works for students. She brought British Columbia recognition in the musical field that made possible the achievements of younger composers whom she taught and assisted.

• Year: 1994
• City: West Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Arts and Culture

Douglas Coupland

Douglas Coupland is an amazing writer, designer and visual artist. Famed for his prescient 1991 novel Generation X, Douglas Coupland has gone on to turn his sharp and insightful attention to social commentary, art theory, journalism and design. His intellectual engagement effortlessly crosses disciplines and categories of cultural production.

The author of 14 works of fiction and four works of non-fiction, his books have been published in 35 languages and sold on every continent. He is also a playwright and filmmaker, a designer of clothing and furniture, a creator, an artist of immense range, an inventor and an internationally-known cultural figure respected for his powers of observation and analysis. In short, he is a modern Renaissance man.

Trained in Vancouver at Emily Carr University, Douglas Coupland has always been intrigued by the character and condition of modern life. Our viewpoint of life has changed because of Mr. Coupland. He is an ambassador and global change-maker of how we think. He is also a dedicated volunteer and philanthropist, having raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charitable and community initiatives across his home province.

Considered one of the most important thinkers and artists working today, his recognized artworks include the revered Terry Fox memorial at BC Place Stadium, the iconic digital orca sculpture outside the Vancouver Convention Centre and other famous pieces located elsewhere in Canada.

• Year: 2014
• City: West Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Arts and Culture

Brenda L. Crabtree (Xyolholemo:t)

Brenda (Xyolholemo:t) Crabtree, a pivotal figure in Indigenous art and culture, has dedicated over 40 years to revitalizing and promoting Indigenous heritage. Influenced by her personal experience and heritage, Brenda has been instrumental in reconnecting Indigenous artists with their culture, overcoming the legacy of Residential Schools. As a founding supporter of the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art, she facilitated an agreement with Emily Carr University to enhance educational pathways for Indigenous students.

Her work with the YVR Art Foundation and BC Achievement Awards has supported countless emerging artists. Brenda’s leadership extends internationally, fostering cultural exchanges between B.C. and Indigenous communities in New Zealand and Hawaii. She has raised significant funds for Indigenous initiatives, created the Aboriginal Gathering Place at Emily Carr University, and supported artists with essential resources.

Brenda was honoured by the BC Achievement Foundation as an enduring champion for Indigenous artists.  She played a pivotal role in the First Nations Art award program and the establishment of the Crabtree McLennan Emerging Artist designation. Her efforts in expanding art exhibitions and supporting the BC Reconciliation Award highlight her dedication to reconciliation and cultural preservation.

Recognized locally, nationally and internationally, Brenda’s tireless advocacy and support for Indigenous artists have made a profound impact, ensuring the preservation and celebration of Indigenous art and culture for future generations.

• Year: 2024
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Indigenous Reconciliation

Donna Crocker

Fifteen years ago, Ms. Donna Crocker was invited by her sister-in-law, a caterer, to help distribute left over food from an event to the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Little did she know that this would become her passion and she would become a major contributor to what little warmth and comfort Vancouver’s street residents have in their lives.

Ms. Crocker started a street ministry – Friendship Providers in Action – and every Sunday leads a team of volunteers serving food to more than 700 people, most of whom are homeless. They set up tables at three locations and serve more than 2,500 sandwiches, homemade soup, dessert and drinks; all prepared the previous Friday night.

Donna Crocker works tirelessly to collect donations. She organizes lawyers to buy blankets each year for her street ministry to distribute. She collects new clothing from a contact in the industry and distributes it through shelters across the Lower Mainland. She brings high school students from five different schools into the Downtown Eastside to help educate them in social responsibility.

She opened street churches in Vancouver and Surrey, one of the main reasons for doing this, was to provide a warm meal and clean clothing and toiletries; it also provided them with a place to simply rest and relax-if only for a few hours.

She became a hospital chaplain so she could spend time with street residents who are sick or dying. She also sits on the board of the Salvation Army. This provides her with access to shelters and de’tox centers were she can direct people too. And on it goes.

The people on the streets know how much Ms. Crocker loves and cares for them. Her actions bear this out, every day of the year.

• Year: 2013
• City: Langley
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Volunteer Service

Domenic Cuccione

Domenic Cuccione is a leading philanthropist and fundraiser helping to improve treatments for children with cancer and advance promising clinical trials for paediatric oncology research.

Since 1997 the Michael Cuccione Foundation, a foundation named after his late son, Michael Cuccione, has raised over $23 million dollars towards paediatric oncology research. Most of these funds raised over the past 23 years have contributed to establishing the most successful paediatric oncology research program at BC Children’s Hospital.

Domenic Cuccione’s efforts have resulted in the creation of the Michael Cuccione Childhood Cancer Research Program at the Research Institute at BC Children’s Hospital. Many young British Columbians benefit from the high quality research advancements in the laboratories under the Michael Cuccione Childhood Cancer Research Program. Through the foundation’s funding, state of the art equipment and high quality research leaders help to advance knowledge and treatments for childhood cancer.

The Michael Cuccione Foundation has become very well known in British Columbia over the past 23 years, and has established satellite chapters in Edmonton, Toronto and New York State, USA. This recognition has led to further awareness of childhood cancer and pushed it to the forefront immensely changing the outcomes of childhood cancer.

Domenic Cuccione’s efforts have helped establish friendlier treatments related to paediatric oncology and it is his hope that childhood cancer research will lead to more breakthroughs and continue to reduce side effects, and hopefully one day cure cancer.

A compassionate person, Cuccione does not hesitate to meet directly with families who have lost a child to cancer or who are dealing with this devastating disease. He has helped these families cope by sharing his own personal experience with them and comforting them in their time of need.

• Year: 2018
• City: Coquitlam
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Gloria Cuccione

Gloria Cuccione has been instrumental in the creation and ongoing success of the Michael Cuccione Foundation, named after her late son. Since the foundation’s creation in 1997, it has raised – together with grants and matching funds – more than $15 million toward pediatric oncology research.

Michael Cuccione was a singer, actor, author, motivational speaker and most importantly to him, a childhood cancer crusader. Michael died at the tender age of 16 in 2001 of respiratory complications after winning his battle with cancer. While his passing was devastating to Gloria Cuccione and her family, they did not respond with helplessness. Michael’s dream had been to find a cure for childhood cancer. With the dedication of Gloria and her husband Domenic, the foundation continues to pursue this important goal.

Today, Gloria Cuccione continues to be one of the driving forces behind the achievement of the Michael Cuccione Foundation. Her inspiration, motivation and unparalleled work has culminated in the Michael Cuccione Childhood Cancer Research program at BC Children’s Hospital, whose researchers are making breakthrough discoveries in the fight against childhood cancer.

Gloria Cuccione presents scholarships to schools, participates and hosts several fundraising initiatives, and supports the Vancouver Italian Cultural Centre. She takes on motivational speaking engagements and assists families whose lives have become immersed in childhood cancer.

Mrs. Cuccione is an outstanding advocate in the search for improved treatment and –ultimately – a cure for childhood cancer.

• Year: 2014
• City: Coquitlam
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Dr. Pieter R. Cullis

Pieter R. Cullis is a Canadian physicist, biochemist and scientific entrepreneur known for his contributions in the field of nanomedicines.

He is a professor at UBC. Cullis has co-founded more than 10 biotechnology companies and three not-for-profit organizations centred around lipid-based drug-delivery systems, personalized medicine and enhancing the probability that academic discoveries are translated into new drugs and devices. Cullis received a bachelor of science (physics) and a PhD (solid state physics) in 1972 from UBC. He did post-doctoral work at Oxford University and Utrecht University, using nuclear magnetic resonance to study membrane lipids.

Cullis is globally best known for his work on lipid-based drug-delivery systems. This work has led to two devices to manufacture liposomes and lipid nanoparticle (LNP) systems (the Extruder and the NanoAssemblr), as well as five drugs that have received regulatory approval. Of note is Comirnaty, the Pfizer/ BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine that uses LNP system provided by Acuitas, one of the companies that Pieter co-founded. Comirnaty is the most successful new medicine of all time in terms of sales made, doses administered and global effect on human health.

Cullis’s basic research concerns the physical properties and functional roles of lipids in biological membranes, particularly lipid polymorphism and lipid asymmetry. His applied research interests to the development of LNP systems for small molecule drugs (anticancer drugs) and nucleic acid-based drugs.

Technologies that have originated from his work include the high-pressure extrusion process to manufacture unilamellar liposomes, microfluidic mixing process for manufacturing LNP systems, methods to load cancer drugs into LNP, methods to load nucleic acid-based drugs into LNP systems and methods to deliver nucleic acid-based drugs into target cells in vivo.

Companies that Pieter has co-founded include:

• Lipex Biomembranes (now part of Evonik Industries) to manufacture the Extruder;
• The Canadian Liposome Company to develop ABELCET and Myocet;
• lnex Pharmaceuticals (now GeneVant) to develop Marqibo;
• Northern Lipids (now part of Evonik Industries);
• Protiva Biotherapeutics (now Arbutus);
• Acuitas Therapeutics to develop LNPs used in Onpattro and Comirnaty;
• Precision NanoSystems (now part of Danaher) to develop the NanoAssemblr;
• Integrated NanoTherapeutics; and
• NanoVation Therapeutics.

Cullis has also co-founded companies focused on personalized medicine, such as Molecular You to provide multi-Omic analyses to guide preventive medicine strategies and GenXys Healthcare to use genetic analyses to guide drug-prescription practices.

Cullis has co-founded not-for profit enterprises, including two national centres of excellence, namely the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CORD) (now AdMare) and NanoMedicines Innovation Network (NMIN).

Cullis has authored more than 400 research articles, holds more than 100 patents and, as of 2023, has been cited more than 60,000 times. As a result of his contributions, he has received multiple awards. These include the Order of Canada in 2021, Prince Mahidol Prize (Thailand), VinFuture Prize (Vietnam), Gairdner International Award (Canada), Tang Award (Taiwan), BloomBurton Award (Canada) in 2022 and Killam Award (Canada) in 2023. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (London) in 2023.

• Year: 2023
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Science and Technology

George Frederick Curtis *

George Frederick Curtis devoted his life to legal education. During his long and illustrious career, he made significant and lasting contributions to his country, to university education, to the law and to legal education.

He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1927 and was named a Rhodes Scholar. He earned a BA in Jurisprudence in 1930 and a BCL at Oxford in 1931 – achieving first class honours in each.

After a number of years spent in private practice in Halifax and teaching at Dalhousie University, it was British Columbia’s good fortune that he was appointed the first Dean of the fledgling Law Faculty at the University of British Columbia in 1945. He arrived at a time when there was little money, no facility to house its first class, and no library. Undaunted by these challenges he took the initiative and recruited judges and practitioners as voluntary lecturers, to supplement himself and one other professor.

The faculty he created was pluralistic and tolerant, enriched by teachers from differing backgrounds contributing different points of view.

No stranger to honours, Dean Emeritus George Curtis has granted honorary degrees by the universities of Dalhousie, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and British Columbia. He was named Queen’s Counsel in 1957 and a member of the Order of the Coif in 1964. The Law Society made him the first recipient of the Law Society Award in 1986.

On the 50th anniversary of the law school, it was appropriate that we honoured the esteemed Dean Emeritus with the Province’s highest award.

• Year: 1995
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Out of Province
• Category: Education

Dr. Max Cynader

Dr. Max Cynader is a world leader in the field of brain research, a scientific entrepreneur, and a generous contributor to his community and society.

In the nearly 20 years since his arrival in British Columbia, Dr. Cynader has made important contributions to our understanding of the functioning of the brain and the visual system.

Working as the founding Director of the Brain Research Centre at the University of BC, he has built Canada’s pre-eminent centre for neuroscience. Dr. Cynader has attracted more than 30 new faculty members to the Brain Research Centre, and it now has 24 Canada Research Chairs among its faculty.

Dr. Cynader has completed influential research on brain development and has applied his scientific talents and discoveries in the ‘real world’ by founding and nurturing several innovative B.C. companies. These companies develop medical treatments and have generated employment, training and wealth in British Columbia.

Dr. Cynader has generously supported B.C. charities in the arts, the community, and the health sector, as well as being a significant donor to the University of B.C. He has served as a public spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Literacy BC, and the Alzheimer’s Society.

Dr. Cynader is regularly called upon to provide advice to government and has served on numerous review panels. He has won several excellence in teaching awards and has played an important role in conveying to the public the importance of contemporary science. Dr. Cynader was invested into the Order of Canada in 2010.

• Year: 2007
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Education

Marilyn Dahl

Hard of hearing persons are the most invisible of disabled groups, and Marilyn Dahl has probably done more than any individual to contribute to a national identity for these people. She herself has had a progressive hearing loss for most of her life. The skills she used as a registered nurse working in psychiatry have been used to motivate others to work on the issues and problems faced by hard of hearing persons.

She began her work as a volunteer in 1978, when she conducted classes and workshops for hard of hearing adults and youth.

Marilyn Dahl created a local support group called HEAR, which later became the founding branch of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association. Today, CHHA has become Canada’s leading consumer self-help organization formed by and for hard of hearing persons. She has served on the executive of this organization since 1984 and has been president for several years.

Marilyn Dahl was the initiator of the Canadian Deaf and Hard of Hearing Forum. She is also vice president of the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People and is the first person from outside Europe to be elected to the board.

As Canada’s foremost advocate for hard of hearing persons, her dedication, organizational skills and example has made a real difference to countless persons.

• Year: 1993
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Professions and other occupations

Kathleen * and Albert Dalzell *

Kathleen (Betty) and Albert Dalzell made extraordinary contributions in recording the history of their beloved islands, the Queen Charlottes. Betty became a historian when her aging father worried the memories would fade with his aging generation. On a shoestring budget, Kathleen would travel to Victoria to pour over provincial archives. Her manual typewriter punched out three volumes: The Queen Charlotte Islands, 1774-1966; The Queen Charlotte Islands: Places and Names; and The Beloved Island.

Recognized as most comprehensive references of the Queen Charlottes Islands, historians, anthropologists, island residents, mariners, and tourists refer to them for historical and geographical information.

Betty and Albert were involved in the founding of two museums — the Haida Gwaii and the Port Clements. Albert’s carpentry and curatorial skills were seen in every display. Betty collected and catalogued some 3,000 photographs.

• Year: 1998
• City: Port Clements
• Region: Northern B.C.
• Category: Communications

Shushma Datt

Shushma Datt is a well known radio-personality in the Indo-Canadian community throughout British Columbia.

Known simply as Shushma to her listeners, she was born in Kenya, began her broadcasting career in England with the BBC, and moved to Vancouver in 1972.

Her private radio station, ‘Rim Jihm’, broadcasts on an FM sideband to more than 20,000 special radios which listeners in British Columbia and neighboring Washington have purchased in order to receive its signal.

She was the first Hindi and Punjabi announcer at CJVB Radio in Vancouver until 1978 when she started her own station. Today she also broadcasts on the Community and Multicultural television channels.

Shushma provides the Indo-Canadian community with a wide range of news and entertainment programming and has produced educational and informational programs for radio, television and for use in schools.

As well, Shushma is heavily involved in the Indo-Canadian community promoting classical Indian dancing and chairing the Indo-Canadian Women for Freedom and Speech organization and is active as an MC and fundraiser for various cultural and charitable organizations.

For the past 19 years she has been a source of inspiration for aspiring broadcasters in the Indo-Canadian community, and produced programs which enhance the Canadian mosaic and encourage cross-cultural understanding.

• Year: 1992
• City: Burnaby
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Communications

Robert Davidson

Haida artist Robert Davidson‘s remarkable prints, carvings and jewelry are known throughout the world. He has produced carvings for such centres as Montreal, Toronto, Tokyo, Dublin and Los Angeles.

It is fitting that he receive this award at this time, following the major retrospectives of his work mounted by both the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa.

Robert Davidson learned the art of carving from his father and his grandfather. Since he raised the first totem pole in this century in his home village of Massett, Mr. Davidson has remained committed to using cultural knowledge to celebrate the present as well as to commemorate the past. His concern as an artist has always been to create images that all people can relate to, native and non-native alike.

Born in Alaska in 1946, Mr. Davidson moved to Massett the following year. He now lives near Vancouver and returns frequently to the Haida Gwaii to refresh his spirit.

Not only has Robert Davidson contributed to British Columbia and Haida culture through his artistic work, he has also helped to renew cultural practices such as dance by forming the Rainbow Creek Dancers, by speaking widely on Haida culture and by donating his time and art to charitable organizations.

He has established a tradition of community leadership and innovation which stands as an example for all.

• Year: 1995
• City: White Rock
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Arts and Culture

W. Lorne Davies *

As director of athletics and recreation at Simon Fraser University from 1965 to 1995, Lorne Davies built an athletic program that was considered one of the best in the country. He created an atmosphere of success which produced many of Canada’s Olympic athletes and many players for the Canadian Football League. As athletic director, he was well known to the athletes and always available to provide counsel on sport, career and life.

Lorne Davies was a pioneer in Canada in recruitment, marketing and facilities. He established the first endowment fund to support a university athletic program. He was a fundraiser, a volunteer, a leader, a motivator and a teacher who left behind a legacy of successful university graduates who have gone on to success in their professions.

His coaching career also took him to Western Washington University, University of Oregon, University of British Columbia and the B.C. Lions. He volunteered his time and expertise to a number of provincial and national organizations. He was the executive director of the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award Program. In the past, he served as the chairman of the Provincial Drugs in Sport Task Force and a member of the Provincial Anti-Doping Advisory Committee.

Lorne Davies led an exemplary life of service to young athletes. He won the Premier’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sport in B.C. in 1994 and in 1995 was inducted in Western Washington University’s Sports Hall of Fame.

• Year: 2000
• City: Maple Ridge
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Sports and Recreation

Ginny and Kerry Dennehy

Ginny and Kerry Dennehy responded to the suicide of their son, Kelty, in 2001 by embarking on a mission to prevent suicide-related depression in young people.

The Dennehys put their careers aside to help others by founding the Kelty Patrick Dennehy Foundation which has raised more than $7 million to date. The first centre at BC Children’s Hospital is an innovative one-stop shop for resources and relief.

The new approach to accessing help includes telepsychiatry and a unique website where users can chat with others in a safe, anonymous and supported environment. Other centres both here and abroad can benefit from an ‘off the shelf’ solution. A second centre has just opened at the new mental health building (The Hope Centre) at Lions Gate Hospital and a third is going to be established at VGH, with a Kelty Online Therapy Program already developed and open to precede that building.

Facilitating dialogue between community groups to help end the stigma of mental illness is at the core of Kerry and Ginny’s work. School programs to combat the silence give hope that talking openly about depression and anxiety will be just as mainstream as talking about drinking and driving.

In 2013, Ginny and Kerry Dennehy cycled across Canada, delivering 38 presentations and raising more than $1.2 million to raise depression awareness.

• Year: 2015
• City: Whistler
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Edmund Desjardins *

In 1944, Edmund Desjardins was confined to a wheelchair as a result of a training accident at Sandhurst Military College in England. Since that time, he dedicated his life to the development of rehabilitation services and the design of public facilities to make them accessible to all. His work directly benefited many thousands of lives.

He was a founding director of the G.F. Strong Centre and in 1948, he became its first manager, a post he held until 1979. He guided its development into an outstanding rehabilitation institution.

As Chairman of the Architectural Committee for the Social Planning and Review Council of British Columbia, Mr. Desjardins prepared and presented a comprehensive set of design standards for persons with disabilities that was adopted by the City of Vancouver in its building by-law. His work was also important in the incorporation of design standards for accessibility into British Columbia provincial building codes.

Mr. Desjardins was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1975 and received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of British Columbia in 1981 for his distinguished service. While focusing limitless energy on physical rehabilitation and the removal of architectural barriers, Mr. Desjardins inspired, by his own personal example, many to become productive contributors rather than dependents.

As one of this colleagues put it, “His aim is the rehabilitation of the spirit” – an ideal he pursued as a member of the Premier’s Advisory Council for Persons with Disabilities.

• Year: 1991
• City: North Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Peter Dhillon

An outstanding business and community leader, Peter Dhillon is also involved in a wide variety of critically important areas including health care and research, land management, sport and education.

In addition to the great benefits that his family cranberry growing business, The Richberry Group of Companies, has given to the economy of B.C., he has put equal importance on his philanthropic and charitable service.

Mr. Dhillon has played an active role on many organizations and boards, including Director of Vancouver Airport Authority, Board of Governors of Simon Fraser University, Director and former vice chair of Ocean Spray Cranberries, audit committee of the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee, Canadian Olympic Committee, Board member Vancouver Hospital and UBC Hospital Foundation, Director and vice chairman of B.C. Ferries, Director of Canada Customs and Revenue Agency and Director of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.

He has made significant financial contributions to many organizations including: Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the Canadian Red Cross, the Canadian Olympic Committee, Arts Umbrella, and the Khalsa Diwan Society.

At the University of British Columbia he established the Rashpal Dhillon Pulmonary Fibrosis Research Endowment and the Rashpal Dhillon Track & Field Centre in his father’s memory.

He is chair of the Vancouver Branch of the Right to Play, an international humanitarian organization for children in communities affected by war, poverty and disease.

• Year: 2009
• City: Richmond
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Business

Gordon Robert Diamond

A highly successful business leader, Gordon Diamond has used his success to benefit numerous deserving organizations in his community, his province, his country and countries beyond.

Born and raised in British Columbia, Mr. Diamond transformed his family’s rendering and property businesses into a modern success story. Today, Mr. Diamond lends his business acumen to several boards on which he sits.

Mr. Diamond and his late father, Jack Diamond, established the Diamond Foundation in 1985. The Foundation’s vision continues today through the dedicated participation of Mr. Diamond’s wife Leslie and their children.

Recent donations include, gifting the land for the BC Cancer Research building, endowment of a chair in Jewish Law and Ethics at the University of British Columbia, continuing support of the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance, building the King David High School in Vancouver and a major contribution to the Health Care Centre for the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation.

Setting a high standard for philanthropy, Mr. Diamond is known as an honest and straightforward person who earns the respect of those around him.

• Year: 2007
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Business

Isabelle Diamond

Isabelle Diamond‘s success as a fund-raiser for worthy causes is legendary in this province.

One of her many admirers says that it seems wherever Isabelle Diamond sees a need, particularly in the field of health care, she is there.

Mrs. Diamond has been most active on behalf of the B.C. Children’s Hospital, and is currently a member of its capital campaign executive committee. As a board member, she helped to instigate and chaired the first Crystal Ball, which has grown to become one of Vancouver’s most prestigious charity black tie galas.

To raise funds for oncology programs at the hospital, she helped coordinate the first CHILDRUN, a family run now in its 10th year, which regularly attracts more than 2,500 participants.

Perhaps her greatest coup was the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon, one of the largest fundraising efforts undertaken annually in British Columbia. She has supported the telethon personally and financially for more than 10 years. The telethon has raised millions for the hospital and has consistently broken North American fundraising records.

Isabelle Diamond has recently turned some of her abundant energy to the task of raising money for the treatment of persons with AIDS with the Think Aids Society.

To all her endeavors, she has brought more than just her time and energy — she has brought a sense of caring, with dignity — setting a benchmark for all volunteer service in this province.

• Year: 1995
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Jack Diamond *

Jack Diamond left an indelible mark on the history of British Columbia, as a businessman, sportsman, philanthropist and community-minded citizen. A Polish immigrant, he purchased the Pacific Meat Company in 1940 and built it into the largest packing house in B.C.

In 1954, the British Empire Games came to British Columbia. Empire Stadium had to be built for the track and field events but there was not enough money to finish the project. Jack Diamond assumed the role of organizer to raise the money privately to pay for the stadium’s roof. He enlisted the help of many of his business and social friends, raised $360,000 and the project was completed.

Jack Diamond created a “Day at the Races”, an imaginative program that annually introduces another season of thoroughbred horse racing. It has raised more than $1 million for charity organizations.

In 1965, when the late Harry Howard was attempting to start a Variety Club chapter in B.C., Mr. Diamond invited the group to the Clubhouse at The Track. He sponsored the dinner meeting and became a charter member of Tent 47, one of the most productive Tents in Variety’s world.

Jack Diamond’s leadership brought together sportsmen from across the province time and again to raise other much needed funding. He loved horse racing and was largely responsible for the survival of thoroughbred racing in British Columbia.

He served on Simon Fraser University’s Board of Governors and as its second chancellor. Jack Diamond co-founded what later grew into the B.C. Heart Foundation.

• Year: 1991
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Business

Leslie Diamond

Leslie Diamond has a long history of giving to the people of British Columbia through her financial support and personal involvement with many organizations.

She is a director of the Diamond Foundation, a founding member of the United Way’s Women in Philanthropy, a member of BC Women’s Hospital Council of Governors and of Women Moving Millions. Mrs. Diamond is a trustee of the University of British Columbia’s Dean of Arts Advisory Board, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. She is co-chair of the Council of 50 for Simon Fraser University.

She was instrumental in the founding of the Vancouver Friends for Life Society’s Diamond Centre for Living and is an honorary board member. Recently, she and her husband established the Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre in Vancouver, the Leslie Diamond Women’s Healthy Heart Clinic at Vancouver General Hospital and the Sadie Diamond Breast Imaging Center at BC Women’s Hospital as well as a major donation to the Neonatal Special Care Department of BC Women’s Hospital.

In 2011, her husband named the Leslie Diamond Chair in Cancer Survivorship at Simon Fraser University in honor of her birthday.

Her awards include Simon Fraser University’s Distinguished Community Leadership Award in 2012, the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada and the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee and Diamond Jubilee Medals.

• Year: 2014
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Ajay Dilawri

Ajay Dilawri is a leading entrepreneur whose vision, perseverance, leadership, and social conscience continues to improve the lives of many people in our province. He has made a significant and far-reaching impact throughout British Columbia.

Ajay and his brothers Kap and Tony are the founders of the Dilawri Group – the largest automotive group in Canada, with over 4,000 employees and 76 automotive dealerships across Canada. With 24 dealerships in BC alone, he supports more than 2,000 employees and their families in his home province. Through vast commercial real estate holdings and many other successful operating businesses, he invests millions of dollars into the province’s economy every year. His significant investment in electrical vehicle development will also help address climate change and contribute to a greener economy.

The Dilawri brothers’ success is largely based on learning a strong work ethic from their parents who immigrated to Canada from India. They haven’t forgotten their upbringing and have built the business not only for financial success but to generate enough capital to give back to the community.

With a focus on children and healthy outcomes, the Dilawri Foundation has quietly donated tens of millions of dollars to help charitable causes in health care, mental health, education, autism, and public safety. Ajay believes that by giving children a solid foundation early in life, they are infinitely more likely to thrive in the future.

Dilawri uses his considerable leadership skills daily to ensure the well-being of British Columbians. His commitment to making BC a better place to live creates a healthier and more productive population, which benefits everyone in the province.

• Year: 2021
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Business

Ken Dobell

For 36 years, Ken Dobell was a leader in public service in British Columbia, deeply involved in projects shaping our province today and for the future.

After studying engineering at the University of B.C. and the University of Birmingham in England, Mr. Dobell worked with the City of Vancouver on projects such as Expo ’86, the redevelopment of False Creek and Lower Mainland emergency planning upgrades.

He served as City Manager before becoming Translink’s Chief Executive Officer, implementing its first strategic transportation plan and initiating planning for the Canada Line.

In 2001, Mr. Dobell became Deputy Minister to the Premier, managing 30,000 provincial government employees and working on infrastructure projects such as the Canada Line, Pacific Gateway Project, Vancouver Convention Centre, Prince Rupert port development, and the 2010 Olympics and Paralympics.

He took a personal interest in resolving conflicts over the Great Bear Rainforest and in the softwood lumber dispute.

After leaving the public service, Mr. Dobell helped create the Street to Home Foundation and has advised organizations ranging from the BC Lumber Trade Council and Vancouver Airport Authority to Port Metro Vancouver and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).

Mr. Dobell’s imprint can be found on many of the most important initiatives our province has seen since the 1970s.

• Year: 2011
• City: Delta
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Public Service

Honourable Thomas Anthony Dohm *

During a legal career that spanned six decades, the Honourable Thomas Dohm served with distinction as one of British Columbia’s foremost defense counsels, as a Prosecutor and Magistrate for the City of Vancouver, and as a Justice of the Supreme Court of BC. His integrity as a criminal lawyer and an even-handed judge served as a powerful role model for others striving to achieve excellence in the legal profession.

Mr. Dohm devoted much of his time to volunteer service. He took an active and varied leadership in the community, as a member of the Salvation Army Advisory Board, director of the Vancouver Civic Non-Partisan Association, co-chair of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, and Honorary President of the Confratallenza Italo-Canadese Association. He served as President of the Vancouver Stock Exchange, and spent 13 years as chair and member of St. Vincent’s Hospital Board of Directors, and eight years as chair and member of the Board of Governors of UBC.

Mr. Dohm was a generous benefactor to many associations in the province. He established several scholarships and bursaries at Capilano College, the University of BC, and the University of Victoria, including a scholarship for Aboriginal law students, and a bursary for disabled students.

Thomas Dohm was appointed to Queen’s Counsel in 1972. He received the Canadian Centennial Medal, the Humanitarian Award for outstanding service from the BC Lions Society for Crippled Children, and an Honourary Doctor of Laws from UBC. Mr. Dohm was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1998.

• Year: 2006
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Professions and other occupations

Debra Doucette

On her path to becoming president and CEO of B.C.-based investment firm Odlum Brown, Debra has been a pioneer in a traditionally male-dominated industry. In 2007, she became the first female leader in the firm’s then 84-year history, after serving as chief operating officer for seven years.

In 2019, Debra was recognized by BC Business magazine as one of the province’s most influential women in the trailblazers category for her work to promote gender equity in finance. Her mentorship has been invaluable not only to colleagues at Odlum Brown, but to individuals throughout B.C., through endeavours such as Minerva’s CEO for a Day program and her work with the UBC Sauder School of Business faculty advisory board. Debra’s passionate leadership and sterling reputation have been instrumental in changing the face of the finance industry, and broader business community in B.C.

Nationally, Debra is a former industry director and chair of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund, and in 2017 was recognized as one of Canada’s Most Admired CEOs. In 2020, Debra’s steadfast leadership saw Odlum Brown through the COVID-19 crisis and the associated drop in markets, resulting in the firm making no layoffs and finishing the fiscal year with record assets under management. She also continued to be an inspirational leader in the business community, participating in industry roundtable discussions and being interviewed on a national scale about leading an investment firm through the pandemic.

Beyond her unprecedented accomplishments in her industry, Debra is known as a philanthropic community leader. In recognition of her significant community contributions, in 2012 she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Governor General of Canada. For Canada’s sesquicentennial, she was featured among other exceptional Canadians in the book Canada 150 Women.

In addition to being the driving force behind the growth of Odlum Brown’s corporate philanthropy program, which has grown to over $1.4 million annually in sponsorships and corporate donations, and continued to support community partners throughout the pandemic under her leadership, she gives generously of her own time and resources to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Currently, she is a board member of Providence Health Care, Drug Free Kids Canada and Alumni UBC.

In particular, Debra’s tireless support of United Way of the Lower Mainland demonstrates her philanthropic spirit and the impact she has made on the lives of British Columbians. From 2009 to 2012, Debra was a member of the board of directors and was the 2011-12 campaign cabinet co-chair. She has also been a leadership speaker since 2004, visiting workplaces to inspire donors to give to the United Way. With Debra as champion, Odlum Brown increases its fundraising efforts each year, in 2020 raising an astounding $333,955 for the United Way – an especially impressive amount given that the campaign was entirely virtual.

Debra’s journey from a self-described “receiver” of United Way support to a “contributor” is remarkable. She has spoken publicly about her family benefiting from United Way programs when she was a child in the 1960s, and she never forgot the difference the organization made to her family. Coming full circle, in 2016 Debra received the Joseph and Rosalie Segal United Way Community Vision Award in recognition of her outstanding commitment to the betterment of the community through her leadership and support of United Way.

• Year: 2021
• City: North Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Dan Doyle

Dan Doyle’s career as a public servant has resulted in a legacy of transportation infrastructure for B.C.

In his 36 years with the Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Doyle served across the province in many capacities, with his last assignment being the Deputy Minister for four years.

Under Mr. Doyle’s leadership, many large and well-known transportation projects were undertaken. They include: the Asia-Pacific Gateway Initiative; the Sea-to-Sky Highway; and the Okanagan Lake Bridge. He also brought about the rehabilitation of the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver.

Mr. Doyle recently served with the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as executive vice president for construction. In this role he was responsible for the 580-million-dollar development and construction of the Games venues.

Mr. Doyle also served as a director of Partnerships BC; a member of the independent panel to review the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority governance structure; the Chair of Rapid Transit 2000; and a Board member of the Canada Line Corporation.

Mr. Doyle is currently Chair of the BC Hydro Board of Directors.

A civil engineer by training, Dan Doyle’s professional expertise has been widely recognized. He was named Canadian Transportation Person of the Year, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Transportation Engineers, and the highest recognition awarded by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC, the R.A. McLachlan Memorial Award.

• Year: 2010
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Public Service

Dr. Beverly Witter Du Gas *

Dr. Beverly Witter Du Gas played a major role in developing new approaches and introducing new technologies for the delivery of university-level distance education to nurses.

Her textbook, Introduction to Patient Care: A Comprehensive Approach to Nursing, published in 1967, was widely used throughout Canada and the U.S., translated into six languages and used in schools of nursing in some 40 countries.

She made major contributions to the improvement of nursing education in British Columbia, in Canada and in many other countries including India, Guam, Korea, Ghana, the Philippines and Fiji.

• Year: 1999
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Professions and other occupations

Neville (Pat) Duke *

Since Neville (Pat) Duke settled in Lumby in 1927, there is little in the village that had not benefitted from his involvement.

Fire protection, sewage facilities, a community skating arena or village incorporation; if it was good for Lumby, Pat Duke was there for his community.

From 1951 to 1986, he was mayor for all but two years and one of the longest-serving mayors in British Columbia. He worked on countless boards and commissions, and served as president of the local chamber of commerce.

He worked in many capacities for the Union of B.C. Municipalities and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. He was a strong supporter of minor sports. Lumby residents named him their citizen of the year in 1982.

His devotion and contributions to the area, most often with little or no reward, earned him the local moniker of ‘Mr. Lumby’.

His contributions also extended beyond the town, to the North Okanagan Regional District and Hospital District and to the Okanagan Mainline Municipal Association.

• Year: 1991
• City: Lumby
• Region: Thompson/Okanagan
• Category: Public Service

Crystal Dunahee

Crystal Dunahee has lived through personal tragedy and become a community leader and advocate for services to families whose children go missing.

Mrs. Dunahee’s son, Michael, disappeared in 1991 when he was four years old. This triggered one of Canada’s largest-ever police investigations, generated thousands of tips from around the world and remains one of the highest profile missing children cases.

From this adversity, Mrs. Dunahee emerged as an advocate for missing children’s issues, becoming president of Child Find BC and Child Find Canada.

Rather than becoming hopeless, she has continued to offer total support to the police officers and community members who rallied to her side. Simply put, she is working to ensure such a tragedy never happens again.

Every year, Mrs. Dunahee and her family organize the Michael Dunahee Keep Hope Alive Drive to raise money for Child Find. Large numbers of people turn out every April to run and walk through the streets of Esquimalt.

In 2002, Mrs. Dunahee gave her support to introduce the AMBER Alert system in B.C., which has since been implemented across Canada, providing up-to-date information about child abduction using widespread media broadcasts.

• Year: 2011
• City: Victoria
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Community Leadership

Dr. Felix A. Durity

Dr. Felix Durity is a neurosurgeon and humanitarian who has dedicated his life to seeking out the best possible neurosurgical care for the people of British Columbia. He has pioneered many techniques and initiated radical treatment programs, and was named one of the “Best Doctors in Canada” in 1998.

Dr. Durity was the first resident to be trained in neurosurgery at the University of British Columbia, after which he embarked on a path of life-long education, studying with many renowned neurosurgeons across the globe. As a result, British Columbians have a neurosurgeon who is able to operate on the most difficult and complex cerebrovascular problems. Dr. Durity established the first Canadian intracranial pressure-monitoring unit, which revolutionized the acute care management of head injuries, and he helped establish Vancouver General Hospital’s Laser Surgery program.

As Head of UBC’s Neurosurgery Division, Dr. Durity single-handedly raised funds to provide salary support for neurosurgical residents, research and equipment. He has served on numerous hospital, university, national and international boards and committees. In Ghana, West Africa, Dr. Durity, with other Canadian colleagues, is founding the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Neuroscience, working with various Canadian organizations to raise funds for the project, which will serve 275 million West Africans.

Dr. Durity has received a multitude of prestigious teaching and clinical excellence awards. He has been honoured with the Primus Inter Pares degree from the Vancouver Medical Association, and the Cam Coady Medal for Excellence in the areas of education and humanitarianism.

• Year: 2005
• City: Delta
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Professions and other occupations

Jane Dyson

Jane Dyson is a trusted and influential leader who has devoted much of her working life to advocating on behalf of people with disabilities.

Jane’s sustained commitment to accessibility and inclusion includes 17 years with Disability Alliance BC, the past six years as executive director. She has worked proactively with groups and organizations on policy initiatives that have led to positive changes for thousands of people with disabilities. She played a key role in the BC government’s 10-year plan to make BC the most progressive province for people with disabilities.

Jane has been working with the BC Ministry of Justice to modernize regulations related to the Guide and Assistance Dog Act.

She facilitated a consultation which reduced barriers to employment by enabling 108,000 people receiving disability assistance to calculate their earnings on an annual, rather than a monthly, basis. This allowed allowed people to earn more money and improve financial security for themselves and their families.

Jane has volunteered her time and energy to countless other organizations, boards and community groups. She founded the Disability Without Poverty Network to drive positive social change. She is committed to change for the better for some of BC’s most vulnerable and underrepresented citizens.

• Year: 2015
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Dr. Allen Eaves

Dr. Allen Eaves is a leukemia specialist and visionary business leader in British Columbia.

Allen founded the Terry Fox Laboratory and was its director for 25 years, building the laboratory into an internationally recognized research centre known for being an incubator of new ideas such as the regulation of growth and maturation of blood-forming stem cells.

As head of hematology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver General Hospital and the BC Cancer Agency for 18 years, he launched one of the finest bone marrow transplant programs in the world which, by the early 1990s, had treated more than 1,500 patients. He is UBC Professor Emeritus of hematology.

Allen is the founder and owner of Vancouver’s STEMCELL Technologies Inc., now the largest biotechnology company in Canada with more than 800 employees. He is credited with creating jobs in industry for young people who love science and with developing innovative products for the emerging industry that will lead to future cell therapies for cancer and other serious diseases. STEMCELL sells 2,500 products globally to thousands of academic and industry researchers.

Allen has published more than 200 papers in leading peer-review scientific journals, has served on many boards, and has won many scientific awards.

• Year: 2016
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Science and Technology

Frankie Edroff

As the youngest person ever to be awarded the Order of British Columbia, Frankie (nee Jeneece) Edroff has been known to many on Vancouver Island as “the Penny Girl” for outstanding efforts at fundraising and a spirit of generosity.

Affected with the rare genetic condition Neurofibromatosis since birth, Frankie has undergone many surgeries to straighten and strengthen their spine, and surgery to repair a hole in their heart. Frankie has an enthusiastic and encouraging spirit and thrives on helping others, despite a difficult medical condition.

At age seven, Frankie decided to raise funds to “give back” to the charity that had assisted their family financially with medical expenses. Frankie spearheaded a penny drive for the Variety The Children’s Charity. Over the years, Frankie has raised 1.5 million dollars for children in B.C.

Frankie has also been involved in fundraising for the Easter Seal’s 24-hour Relay, the B.C. Neuro-fibro-ma-tosis Foundation, BC Children’s Radiothon for the Kids, Cops for Cancer and is a Junior rider in the Tour de Rock.

In 2009 Frankie partnered with the Queen Alexandra Foundation and TELUS to realize a dream of building a “home away from home” in Victoria for families travelling to the capital for paediatric medical treatments or appointments.

Frankie was inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame in 2006, and is also the recipient of the B.C. Community Achievement Award, the Victoria Community Youth Leadership Award, the Saanich Youth Award and the Colleen Wood Award for fundraising.

• Year: 2010
• City: Victoria
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Community Leadership

Ronald Eland

Ron Eland is a commercial helicopter pilot whose professionalism has had many lives and raised safety standards for the aviation community. He is Canada’s first commercial helicopter pilot who was not previously a fixed-wing pilot.

Born in Vancouver, he spent his early years living on Texada Island. His flying career took off in 1967 and soon afterwards he began specializing in high altitude flying.

Today he is a pilot with Yellowhead Helicopters in McBride, where he continues to demonstrate selfless dedication during countless mountain rescue operations on Mount Robson and in Jasper National Park.

Earlier in his career, as a rescue coordinator in the Yukon’s Kluane National Park, the site of Canada’s highest mountain, he flew missions at extremely high altitudes often flying his helicopters perilously close to their operating limits, sometimes in blinding snowstorms. In one particularly dangerous mission he rescued nine climbers from above 17,000 feet on Mount Logan.

Ron Eland is the only Canadian to be awarded the U.S. Flight Safety Foundation’s Presidential Citation for Professional and Extraordinary Achievement. In 1993 he was awarded the Order of Canada.

Helicopter rescue work takes extraordinary skill and courage. To use his own words, “When I was young, I used to watch eagles because they were the best flyers ..their landings were perfect. If you can fly like an eagle, he said, you’ve got it made”. Ron Eland learned well from the eagles.

• Year: 1992
• City: Kamloops
• Region: Thompson/Okanagan
• Category: Other

Charles W. Elliott (Temosen) *

Charles Elliott is among the very best of British Columbia’s contemporary artists. A master carver of the Coast Salish Art tradition, his works are considered by many to be masterpieces, and can be found in private collections around the world.

Mr. Elliott has worked tirelessly to reclaim the heritage and culture of the Coast Salish people. Inspired by his love of the Salish Art tradition, he has worked steadily for four decades to revive the Coast Salish Art discipline, which was in danger of being lost. Through extensive research, Mr. Elliott was able to locate images and information on the symbolic imagery and language of the Coast Salish people, which he brought back to life in his artwork.

Mr. Elliott’s generosity of spirit and outstanding artistic skills have enabled him to retain the integrity and richness of Salish traditions. His desire to encourage artists and youth in the knowledge of these traditions has been an inspiration to others. Mr. Elliott has lectured on Salish art to all levels of education, and has acted as a mentor to countless emerging artists while still producing a high volume of artwork. He is a leader in his community, volunteering countless hours toward cultural education and the promotion of Salish Art.

Charles Elliott has produced many notable carvings, from special commissions for totems and sculptures, to ambassadorial works, such as the Queen’s Baton for the 1994 Commonwealth Games, and the creation of a Talking Stick for Nelson Mandela.

• Year: 2005
• City: Brentwood Bay
• Region: Vancouver Island/Coast
• Category: Arts and Culture

Honourable David L. Emerson

David Emerson has contributed greatly to British Columbia’s economic success over many years of leadership in both the private and public sectors, serving his province and country with distinction.

Mr. Emerson was the first President and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, overseeing a huge increase in passenger traffic while more than doubling terminal and airside facilities to meet B.C.’s needs for expanded air services provincially, nationally and internationally.

He served as Chair and CEO of Canadian Western Bank and President and CEO of Canfor Corporation. In this position, he was a key player in softwood lumber negotiations, which culminated in an Agreement with the United States while Emerson was International Trade Minister for Canada.

Mr. Emerson has also served on many boards and advisory committees including those of Telus, Terasen Gas, Finning, Timberwest Forest Corporation and BC Ferries.

Mr. Emerson’s public sector accomplishments have been substantial at both the provincial and federal levels. These include serving as Deputy Minister of Finance and Deputy Minister to the Premier provincially and as Foreign Affairs Minister and International Trade Minister and Industry Minister federally.

He was the federal Minister responsible for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as well as Minister responsible for the federal Asia Pacific Gateway Initiative.

Mr. Emerson also served as Chair of the Premier’s Economic Advisory Committee.

• Year: 2011
• City: Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Business

Helmut Eppich

In 1953, Helmut Eppich emigrated to Canada from Yugoslavia and together with his twin brother, Hugo, established EBCO Industries Limited, of which he is now Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The company is a great success story, having grown from a small tool and die shop into a multi-faceted group of companies engaged in heavy equipment manufacturing, high-tech, sophisticated computer data collection systems and aerospace technology with projected annual sales of $100 million and 900 employees.

This work force is comprised of employees from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds representative of over 50 different countries, holding positions throughout the company from the shop floor to senior management.

The Ebco Group has shown a remarkable generosity of spirit and interest in the welfare of these employees. Its Multicultural Policy, which respects the religious and cultural backgrounds of employees in tangible ways, has gained great respect, admiration and national recognition, including the 1990 Ministerial Award for Multiculturalism from the federal government.

Helmut Eppich is a member of the B.C. Premier’s Advisory Council on Science and Technology and Director of the National Research Council and the Discovery Foundation.

Mr. Eppich has also significantly contributed to his adopted country in other ways. He is noted for his philanthropy in the arts, science and education. He has undertaken a leading part in major fund-raising projects for SFU and the Germanic Studies Fellowship Endowment at U.B.C.

• Year: 1990
• City: West Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership

Karimah L. Es Sabar

Karimah Es Sabar has been a transformative force in B.C.'s healthcare and life sciences sectors, dedicating her career to advancing commercial healthcare from research to real-world impact. Starting with roles at major pharmaceutical companies, she later revitalized BC Biotech into LifeSciences BC, fostering collaboration across government and with stakeholders. As president and CEO of the Centre for Drug Research and Development, she secured over $180 million which spawned six innovative companies. Since 2016, as CEO of Quark Venture, based in Vancouver, Karimah spearheaded a $500 million USD Global Health Sciences Fund, backing 24 pioneering healthcare companies globally.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Karimah guided national response strategies. Her influence spans diverse roles, including at UBC and advisory boards, where she mentors and champions women in leadership. With a career marked by resilience and generosity, Karimah has raised over $1.5 billion for impactful enterprises, cementing herself as a valued leader in healthcare, venture capital and biotech.

Karimah's achievements extend beyond industry, including roles with St. Paul’s Hospital and MOSAIC. Her accolades, including Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award, underscore her profound impact on B.C.'s health and economic landscape.

• Year: 2024
• City: West Vancouver
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Business

Al B. Etmanski

Al Etmanski is an author, advocate and social entrepreneur. A specialist in innovative, multi-sector solutions to complex social challenges, he is known for his longstanding work to secure a good life for people with disabilities and their families.

Al’s lifelong commitment to social change led him to advocate for initiatives such as the Representation Agreement and the Registered Disability Savings Program, which contributes to the financial well being of Canadians with disabilities. There are more than $2 billion in RDSP accounts. He is co-founder with his wife Vickie Cammack, of Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN), a social enterprise working with families to ensure the security and well-being of persons with disabilities when their parents die. PLAN’s model has spread around the world.

Through his work with the BC Partners for Social Impact, Al continues to lead and inspire people to work together to find new ways to address society’s most complex and pervasive social problems. He is particularly interested in addressing social isolation and supporting natural caregivers.

His commitment is much more than his formal role with any one organization or committee. He consistently finds ways to connect networks of passionate amateurs, promote new ideas and approaches to financing and foster major initiatives in British Columbia and beyond. He is a Member of the Order of Canada.

• Year: 2015
• City: Surrey
• Region: Mainland/Southwest
• Category: Community Leadership