The Canadian Encyclopedia

Showing All of 494 results for "Leaders & Activists"

Queen Elizabeth II

The longest reigning monarch in British and modern Canadian history
The first Pride celebration held in Toronto was just three years after the Stonewall Riots in New York in June 1969, an event that sparked the gay liberation movement, and was a fairly modest affair — a picnic on the Toronto Islands.
				
					Ted RogersEdward Samuel (Ted) Rogers Jr., OC, founder and CEO of Rogers Communications, businessman, philanthropist (born 27 May 1933 in Toronto, ON; died 2 December 2008 in Toronto, ON). Rogers was a pioneer in the Canadian communications industry who established Rogers Communications. At the time of his death in 2008, Rogers was the fourth-richest Canadian, with a net worth of over $7 billion, while the company was worth $18 billion and employed roughly 29,000 people. Rogers Communications owned Canada’s largest wireless telecommunications company and cable TV company; 52 radio stations; numerous TV stations (including CityTV, OMNI, Sportsnet and The Shopping Channel); more than 70 consumer and trade magazines (including Maclean’s, Chatelaine and Flare); and the Toronto Blue Jays and Rogers Centre (formerly the SkyDome).

					Jim BalsillieJames Laurence (Jim) Balsillie, co-CEO of Research In Motion, business executive, chartered professional accountant, philanthropist (born 3 February 1961 in Seaforth, ON). Balsillie is best known as the former chairman and co-CEO of Research In Motion, the Waterloo, Ontario, company now known as BlackBerry. He is also a major philanthropist and the founder of numerous non-profit organizations, including the Arctic Research Foundation (which found one of the lost Franklin ships in 2016), the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, the Balsillie School of International Affairs and the Centre for International Governance Innovation. An avid hockey fan, Balsillie tried on three separate occasions to purchase an NHL team and move it to Hamilton, Ontario.

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					Lucille TeasdaleLucille Teasdale Corti, CM, GOQ, surgeon, humanitarian (born 30 January 1929 in Montréal, QC; died 1 August 1996 in Lombardy, Italy).

					Laure WaridelLaure Waridel, CM, CQ, social activist, author, environmentalist, lecturer and columnist (born 10 January 1973 in Chesalles-sur-Oron, Switzerland). Regarded as one of the 25 most influential political personalities in Québec, Laure Waridel holds an honorary doctorate from the Université du Québec à Rimouski, the Insigne du mérite from the Université de Montréal, and the rank of Knight of the Order of La Pléiade. She is a co-founder of Équiterre, a Québec organization that encourages individuals and governments to make choices that are fair, ecological and consistent with the principles of solidarity. The author of a number of books and essays on environmental issues, Waridel has contributed to many magazines, such as Voir and Reader’s Digest, in addition to hosting the radio show Acheter, c’est voter on Radio-Canada. She is currently strategic advisor for CIRODD, an interdisciplinary centre for research on operationalization of sustainable development. This centre is based at Polytechnique Montréal, and its membership includes over 80 researchers.

					John StrachanStrachan lost his father when he was 14. He entered the University of Aberdeen at only 16 and supported his widowed mother through teaching.

					John MolsonHe also entered the lumber business during the building boom of the early 1800s, built a hotel and in 1821 established the colony's first distillery and financed the CHAMPLAIN AND SAINT LAWRENCE RAILROAD, the first railway in Canada.

					James CoyneJames Elliott Coyne, banker, businessman (born 17 July 1910 in Winnipeg, MB; died 12 October 2012 in Winnipeg).

					Louis RasminskyLouis Rasminsky, banker (b at Montréal 1 Feb 1908; d at Ottawa 15 Sept 1998). Rasminsky played a major role in creating the post-WWII international monetary system.

					Arthur James Edward ChildArthur James Edward Child, business executive (b at Guildford, Eng 19 May 1910; d at Calgary 30 July 1996). He was educated at Queen's, Harvard Business School and the University of Toronto.

					Famous FiveAlberta's "Famous Five" were petitioners in the groundbreaking Persons Case. Led by judge Emily Murphy, the group included Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney and Irene Parlby.

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					Conrad BlackConrad Moffat Black, Canadian-born British peer, Baron Black of Crossharbour, media baron, industrialist, journalist, historian and author (born 25 August 1944 in Montréal).

					Fred RoseFred Rose, union organizer, politician (b Fred Rosenberg at Lublin, Poland 7 Dec 1907; d at Warsaw, Poland 16 Mar 1983). Rose moved with his parents to Montréal. In the 1930s, as a member of the Young Communist League, he organized unions of unemployed and unskilled workers.

					William Merton NealWilliam Merton Neal, "Billy," railway executive (b at Toronto 20 June 1886; d at Longbow Lk, Ont 19 Oct 1961). Neal entered the CPR's service in 1902, qualifying as a stenographer in Winnipeg 2 years later.

					William Mellis ChristieWilliam Mellis Christie, biscuit manufacturer (b at Huntley, Aberdeenshire, Scot 5 Jan 1829; d at Toronto 14 June 1900). He apprenticed as a baker in Scotland, and at age 19 immigrated to Canada.

					Jean-Baptiste L'HeureuxJean-Baptiste L'Heureux (b at L'Acadie, LC 25 June 1831; d at Midnapore, Alta 19 Mar 1919). L'Heureux studied for the priesthood but was never ordained; a tradition maintains that he was expelled from the Séminaire de St-Hyacinthe for a criminal offence.

					Louis NicolasLouis Nicolas, Jesuit missionary (b at Aubenas, France, 15 Aug 1634 - ?). Louis Nicolas joined the Compagnie de Jésus in Toulouse in 1654, and arrived in Canada in 1664 on the same boat as Jeanne MANCE.

					Chloe Cooley and the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper CanadaAlthough little is known about Chloe Cooley, an enslaved woman in Upper Canada, her struggles against her “owner,” Sergeant Adam Vrooman, precipitated the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada, 1793 —  the first legislation in the British colonies to restrict the slave trade.

					Guy LalibertéGuy Laliberté, OC, OQ, street performer, businessman (born 2 September 1959 in St-Bruno, QC). Laliberté is the fire-breathing accordionist and stilt-walking founder of Cirque du Soleil. He transformed a small band of Québec buskers and street musicians into a performing organization of international repute. Laliberté is also the founder of the One Drop Foundation and in September 2009, he became the first Canadian space tourist.

					Bronfman FamilyDescendants of Russian immigrant tobacco farmer Yechiel (Ekiel) Bronfman and his wife, Mindel, members of the Bronfman family owned and controlled huge financial empires that were built from the profits of the family liquor business (see Seagram Company Limited). The best known members of the family are Samuel Bronfman, founder of Seagram and president of the Canadian Jewish Congress (1939–62), and his descendants. Sons Edgar and Charles Bronfman ran Seagram for decades, while grandson Edgar Miles Bronfman Jr. oversaw the sale of Seagram to Vivendi. Charles was also co-founder of the Historica Foundation of Canada and Heritage Minutes, as well as chairman and principal owner of the Montreal Expos. His sister Phyllis Lambert is a well-known architect who founded the Canadian Centre for Architecture. Their cousins, Edward and Peter Bronfman (sons of Allan Bronfman), developed a financial empire in their own right. The family has given generously to several charitable organizations and been involved in the Canadian Jewish Congress and World Jewish Congress.

					Terry FoxTerrance Stanley (Terry) Fox, CC, OBC, athlete, humanitarian, cancer research activist (born 28 July 1958 in Winnipeg, MB; died 28 June 1981 in New Westminster, BC).

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					Women and the LawWomen have looked to the law as a tool to change their circumstances, while at the same time the law is one of the instruments which confirms their dependent status as citizens (see Status of Women). The first phase of the Women's Movement, in proclaiming that women were capable of reason as well as reproduction and nurturing, claimed a place for women in the public sphere, while also relying upon the concept of "separate spheres" to delineate their areas of strength and competence.

					Moses CoadyMoses Michael Coady, "M.M.," priest, teacher (b at North East Margaree, NS 3 Jan 1882; d at Antigonish, NS 28 July 1959).

					Jim PattisonJames Allen Pattison, OC, OBC, entrepreneur, business executive (born 1 October 1928 in Saskatoon, SK). Pattison is best known as the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of The Jim Pattison Group, Canada’s second largest private company, with $9.6 billion in revenues in 2016. The Jim Pattison Group has divisions in broadcast media, signage, supermarkets, fishing, forestry, agriculture, equipment, manufacturing, recreation, marketing and entertainment. With an estimated net worth of $5.6 billion (2016), Pattison is one of the richest individuals in Canada. He is also a philanthropist, having donated a landmark $75 million in 2017 to establish the Jim Pattison Medical Centre in Vancouver, for example.

					Robert CampeauRobert Campeau, real-estate entrepreneur (born 3 Aug 1923 in Sudbury, ON; died 12 June 2017 in Ottawa, ON)