Two York University alumni and an honorary doctorate recipient were among 74 new appointments to the Order of Canada, one of Canada’s highest civilian honours.
The new appointees included 34 officers and 40 members made on the recommendation of the Advisory Council for the Order of Canada.
Established in 1967, during Canada’s centennial year, the awards recognize a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to community and service to the nation.
Françoise Bertrand (MES ’76) received the officer of the Order of Canada for her contributions to corporate governance as an administrator and role model for women. Her career has included more than 30 years working in senior management, including as CEO of Télé‐Québec (formerly the Société de radio‐télévision du Québec) and the first woman to chair the Canadian Radio‐Television and Telecommunications Commission. Since 2003, she has been the CEO of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec.
She is the recipient of many awards and distinctions, including the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur insignia from France in 2001. Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 named her one of the most influential women in the country in 2007 and, one year later, she received the Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec insignia – the Quebec government’s highest honour.
Denise Chong (Hon. LLD ’07) received the officer of the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture as a writer, and for her civic engagement in social causes, notably in support of human rights and the arts. She is an economist and writer. Chong began her career as an economist with the Department of Finance in Ottawa. She went on to work as a special advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office for one year before taking on the position of senior economic advisor which required her to work closely with the former prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau.
Since then, Chong pursued a career as a writer. She’s published three non-fiction books of literary non-fiction and edited one compilation of short stories. The Concubine's Children (Penguin Books, 1994), a family memoir, was her first book and was a The Globe and Mail best seller for 93 weeks. She went on to publish The Penguin Anthology of Stories by Canadian Women (Penguin Books, 1997), The Girl in the Picture: The Kim Phuc Story (Viking Press, 1999), and Egg on Mao: The Story of an Ordinary Man Who Defaced an Icon and Unmasked a Dictatorship (Random House Canada, 2009).
Paul J.J. Cavalluzzo (LLB ’70) became a member of the Order of Canada for his dedication to the pursuit of social justice in Canada, as a constitutional and labour lawyer. Cavalluzzo, a lawyer and senior partner in his firm, was awarded a member of the Order of Canada. As a leading constitutional, labour and administrative law lawyer, Cavalluzzo argues cases before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Courts of Ontario, and labour and administrative tribunals.
He was the lead commission counsel in the Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar, as well as in the Walkerton Inquiry looking into contamination of the Town of Walkerton's water supply.
He is a part-time lecturer at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School teaching administrative law and judicial review. He has also been appointed as a special advocate in security certificate cases by the federal minister of justice. He has also received the Law Society Medal from the Law Society of Upper Canada which recognized his significant contributions to the legal profession and the practice of law.
Recipients will be invited to accept their insignia at a ceremony to be held at a later date.
For a complete list of recipients, visit the Governor General of Canada website.
For more information, click here.