History Matters
Governor General’s History Awards celebrate Canada’s history champions.
Bidding a fond farewell to Governor General David Johnston and a warm welcome to his successor, Julie Payette.
Governor General David Johnston invests astronaut Julie Payette as an officer of the Order of Canada in 2011. Payette was installed as Governor General in October.
As this issue of Canada’s History magazine goes to press, Canada’s National History Society is preparing for the annual presentation of the Governor General’s History Awards, scheduled to take place in Ottawa in late November.
At the event, an impressive group of new award recipients — teachers, writers, filmmakers, museum professionals, scholars, community volunteers and youth — will for the first time meet with Canada’s new Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette.
Our partnership with Rideau Hall goes back to 1996, when His Excellency the Right Honourable Governor General Roméo LeBlanc — a former teacher himself — joined with Canada’s History Society to establish a new award recognizing history teachers who went beyond the call of duty to engage their students and to encourage them to explore the past.
The goal of the Governor General’s Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History was twofold — to applaud the teachers’ exemplary efforts, and to enable recipients to exchange ideas and best practices and then share these insights with the wider teaching community.
Since then, this joint initiative of Canada’s History Society and the Governor General has expanded into the Governor General’s History Awards and has acknowledged hundreds of recipients and finalists in a number of categories.
Today, the awards program features five different categories of honours and involves the leading agencies of Canada’s diverse history and heritage community. It provides an annual opportunity for the history community to come together to celebrate Canada’s past and to learn from one another.
It was in this spirit of learning that, in 2016, His Excellency the Right Honoural Governor General David Johnston
invited all past recipients of the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching to Rideau Hall for a national meeting that encouraged the use of multimedia technologies and scientific research in the classroom.
At the gathering, the Governor General spoke of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report, which stated that Canadians need to learn more about the history of residential schools and of treaties and to recognize the contributions Indigenous peoples have made to the building of Canada. His message was well received by the teachers, who themselves are continually developing new ways to bring history — and particularly Indigenous history — to Canadian students.
For more than two decades, the Governor General’s History Awards have celebrated the achievements of individuals and organizations that make our past relevant, empowering, and accessible. Canada’s History Society is honoured to be able to enjoy this vital and valued relationship with the Governor General of Canada — and to recognize those who help to make our history truly inclusive.
We deeply appreciate the inspiring efforts of individuals and groups that work every day to preserve the past and to pass it on to future generations.