Walk of Fame to get six additions
TORONTO — Six influential Canadians from entertainment, culture and sports will be added to Canada’s Walk of Fame next month.
Olympic gold medallist Donovan Bailey, Oscar-winning actor Anna Paquin and civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond, are among the diverse selection of people who will be inducted at the annual awards gala in Toronto on Nov. 15.
The others are Canadian folk icon Stompin’ Tom Connors, telecommunications leader Ted Rogers and science TV host and environmental activist David Suzuki.
Half of this year’s honourees are posthumous recognitions as the organization’s incoming CEO Jeffrey Latimer attempts to draw equal attention to Canadians outside entertainment and sports.
Desmond, who died in 1965, challenged racial segregation in Nova Scotia during the 1940s after being jailed for sitting in the whites-only section of a movie theatre. She fought the charges in court, and after losing various proceedings, closed her business and left the province.
In 2010, Desmond was given a posthumous pardon and an apology from the Nova Scotia government. More recently, she was featured in both a Heritage Minute and chosen to grace the new $10 bill.
Connors, who died of kidney failure in 2013, is hailed as a writer of Canada’s cultural songbook with staples such as Bud the Spud, The Hockey Song and Sudbury Saturday Night.
Rogers, the late president and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc. who died in 2008, is considered a seminal figure in Canada’s broadcasting landscape. His upstart company stepped into the cable industry in 1967 and in the decades that followed became a dominant player in TV, radio and publishing. Bailey is a two-time Olympic gold medallist and threetime world champion sprinter who once held the 100-metre world record.
Paquin is the youngest Canadian to win an Academy Award, capturing the honour when she was 11 for her role in the 1993 film The Piano.
Suzuki, who holds a PhD in zoology, rose to international fame with his CBC-TV program The Nature of Things, which has aired around the world. He is an outspoken activist for numerous causes, including his own David Suzuki Foundation, which encourages living in a sustainable environment.