Historian, author named to the Order of Canada
One of Saskatchewan’s top historians is being recognized with a national honour.
Bill Waiser, a respected historian and writer from Saskatoon, is one of this year’s appointments to the Order of Canada. Established in 1967, the Order of Canada is one of the highest honours that can be given to a civilian.
Waiser is one of 99 inductees for the 50th anniversary of the order, and one of only two from Saskatchewan.
“It didn’t really sink in at first, but I was truly thankful,” Waiser said.
Waiser was a professor in the department of history at the University of Saskatchewan for 30 years before retiring in 2014, serving as head of the department for four years of his tenure. Waiser was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal before being elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2007.
He has written or co-written more than a dozen books that focus on different aspects of the province’s history, with his most recent being A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan before 1905. Waiser calls it and his book Saskatchewan: A New History published in 2005 the two hardest things he’s had to write, but noted he’s the most proud of them.
“The recognition in many ways confirms what I’ve been doing and the importance of that to the province and its people,” Waiser said. “I appreciate the opportunity to tell the people of Saskatchewan about the history of their province ... and I’ve had the support of a lot of people along the way.”
His citation for the Order of Canada lauds him “for his contributions to Canadian scholarship as Saskatchewan’s pre-eminent provincial historian.” But Waiser sees himself as more of a “storyteller” that still has more stories in the works. He said in an interview that he loves history, and tries his best to make sure all of his stories are “rigorously researched.”
And with help from Marley, his wife of 42 years and his “toughest critic,” Waiser has left his mark on the province and the country.
“I don’t write celebratory history. I write about the good, the bad and the ugly,” Waiser said. “Saskatchewan today faces a number of challenges, and I think that people would be better equipped, better armed to deal with some of the challenges we face today with an understanding of our history.”