Five Edmontonians honoured with Alberta Order of Excellence

Five more Edmontonians are to be awarded the highest honour the province can give a citizen.

The latest Edmonton-area inductees include a judge, a labour leader and the first female pilot for a commercial airline in North America. The Alberta Order of Excellence was established in 1979 by royal assent and is administered by the office of Alberta Lt.- Gov. Lois Mitchell.

Solomon Rolingher was travelling with the provost martial of the Canadian Forces Military Police when he received notice of his selection. A longtime lawyer and member of numerous local and provincial organizations, Rolingher is also an honorary lieutenantcolonel with 1 Military Police Regiment. He spent two weeks with soldiers in Afghanistan in 2008.

“Is this for real?” he remembers thinking when he opened the notification email.

“I suppose it’s a recognition of a bunch of things I’ve been able to do with many other people,” he said in a telephone interview. “It’s not because of what I did, it’s because of what I was able to do with others who helped always along the way.”

“I was a little bit thunderstruck,” said Allan Wachowich, former chief justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. Wachowich said he was happy to receive the award and thought of his immigrant parents, who received little education after arriving in Canada as children at the turn of the century. “It was a moment of reflection — how’d I get here?”

“I always felt I owed something to my country, my province, my city,” he said in a phone interview Monday.

Reg Basken is a longtime labour leader who previously served on the Alberta Labour Relations Board. Besides 40 years of involvement in the Oil Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union and its successors, Basken has also served for numerous years on various boards, including the United Way and the Edmonton Community Foundation.

But Basken was quick to answer when asked what makes him most proud.

“Probably negotiating agreements in the oil industry with the major companies for 34 years without taking a strike vote.”

Like other recipients, Basken was surprised at his selection and was initially speechless. “Then I calmed down and said, ‘My God, I’m on Cloud 9.’ ”

Another recipient is Ralph Young, who rose from entry-level employee to CEO of Melcor Developments before retiring in 2012. He then served as chancellor of the University of Alberta from 2012 to 2016. He had previously been on the alumni council and business advisory council, among others.

“I’m certainly a great advocate and supporter of the University of Alberta,” he said.

“It was a very pleasant surprise — it wasn’t something I expected,” Young said in a phone interview. “I was incredibly humbled and honoured to even be considered.”

“You feel a little numb,” he said. “I’m certainly aware of many people who have received the Order of Excellence and I know what a tremendous honour it is to be in that group of people.”

Another recipient, Rosella Bjornson, was the first female pilot for a commercial airline in North America. In 2016, Bjornson was honoured at the Alberta Aviation Museum in recognition of her persistence against the sexism she experienced throughout her career. She could not be reached for comment in time for publication.

The investiture ceremony will be held Oct. 18.