OTTAWA—A Wiikwemkoong First Nation resident is one of 39 persons Canada-wide who will be invested into the Order of Canada this week.
Jeannette Corbiere Lavell was invested as a member of the Order of Canada. Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada, invested eight officers and 31 members into the Order of Canada on Thursday, September 6 at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.
“Jeanette Corbiere Lavell has dedicated decades of her life to raising the status of Indigenous women in Canada,” a release explains. “After losing her legal status following her marriage to a non-Indigenous man, she brought forward a court challenge to the Indian Act. Her touchstone case served as a catalyst for activism on the issue of gender discrimination against Indigenous women. She has helped build strong support systems for women as a founding member and president of many organizations, including the Ontario Native Women’s Association and the Native Women’s Association of Canada.”
The Order of Canada is one of our country’s highest honours. Its companions, officers and members take to heart the motto of the Order: Desiderantes Meliorem Patriam (“They desire a better country”), the release notes.
Created in 1967, the Order of Canada recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. Close to 7,000 people from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order. Those who bear the order’s iconic snowflake insignia represent the ever-evolving definition of this country and continue to push back the limits of the impossible.
Appointments are made by the governor general on the recommendation of the Advisory Council for the Order of Canada.
