ORDER OF CANADA
Barbara Turnbull often refused praise, but would have enjoyed this earned honour
Honour goes to our late, great colleague Barbara Turnbull,
An achingly sad notation distinguishes her name from all others on the list of 87 newly minted Order of Canada members announced Wednesday: Barbara Turnbull C.M. ( deceased). Though she did not know it, Turnbull received her appointment to the country’s highest accolade just two days before her death May 10 from complications caused by pneumonia. She was 50.
The longtime Toronto Star reporter and tireless advocate for spinal cord research was an immensely proud Canadian who would have been humbled by the honour, her sister Lynn Turnbull says.
Turnbull was left a quadriplegic at 18 after she was shot in the neck during a 1983 convenience store robbery in Mississauga — a cowardly crime that still haunts many in that city and the wider GTA.
But she always shunned the ample praise and adulation she received for the brave and graceful way she coped with her injuries, her sister says.
“She hated it when people called her courageous because she didn’t think that she had a choice about living with a disability. She had to live,” Lynn Turnbull said.
“So she wouldn’t have wanted any external validation for being disabled, but I think that she would have been really honoured — really honoured — because it (the appointment) wasn’t about what happened to her but more about the work she did as a Canadian.”
That work included the establishment of the Barbara Turnbull Foundation for Spinal Cord Research, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund studies into neurological injuries and ailments. Since 2001, the foundation has, among other things, given out an annual award of $50,000 to top international researchers to help advance their groundbreaking work in the field.
Turnbull was also a vocal and prolific advocate for organ donations and accessibility for the disabled.
Dr. Charles Tator, the Toronto neurosurgeon who operated on Turnbull after she was shot, called her “the bravest person” he’d ever known.
And her efforts for spinal cord research made her fully deserving of this country’s premier accolade, says Tator, who became a close friend and helped nominate Turnbull for the Order recognition several years ago.
“She contributed enormously to Canada and now Canada is returning the favour,” Tator said. “And I said in my letter of nomination that I can’t think of anyone who would be more worthy than Barbara Turnbull to be recognized by the country.”
In all, Gov. Gen. David Johnson announced 100 new Order appointments, including two elevations to Companion status and 11 new Officers.
Among the new Companions is former Ontario premier Bob Rae, who was cited for his contributions to public life and for strengthening ties between native and non-native Canadians.
Other Toronto recipients include: Companions of the Order of Canada Janet Rossant Officers of the Order of Canada Sandra Black Stephen Cook Daniel J. Drucker Mary Gospodarowicz Evans Allen Linden James Thomas Rutka Stephen Toope Members of the Order of Canada Aubie Angel Pat Capponi Lisa de Wilde Jacques Israelievitch Donna Soble Kaufman Jay Keystone Douglas Knight Julia Koschitzky Johann Olav Koss Judy Loman Lynn McDonald John Wilson Morden Fiona Nelson Vivian Morris Rakoff John Carman Ricker Fran Rider Marla Shapiro Don Tapscott Morley Torgov V. Prem Watsa Martin Yaffe Phyllis Yaffe