More than 40 years after being told that her sexuality made her a danger to Canada, Diane Peter is receiving the country’s highest honor. She is among the 88 new appointees to the Order of Canada announced on Wednesday. Peter has worked on behalf of LGBTQ+ members of the Canadian Armed Forces. In 1980, she was expelled from the military.
The list also includes Deadpool movie star Ryan Reynolds, Holocaust survivor and educator Mariette Dudek, geneticist David Chitayat, curler Kevin Martin, and award-winning band The Rankin Family member Heather Rankin.
Peter expressed her surprise, saying, “I am still shocked. It feels surreal to me. I never expected this.”
After her dismissal from the military, Peter spent decades lobbying for a government apology. That moment came in 2017 when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood in the House of Commons and formally apologized for past state-imposed discrimination against Canada’s LGBTQ+ community.
Douglas Elliott, the lead counsel in the class-action lawsuit related to the “Purge” (the systematic discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals in the military, RCMP, and civil service), has also been appointed to the Order of Canada this year.
Others on the list for their unique contributions include E. coli specialist Carlton Giles, pediatric neuro-oncology researcher Nada Jabado, and speech-language pathologist Aura Kagan.
Among musicians and artists, the honorees include guitarist Don Alder, internationally renowned sculptor Ruth Abernethy, and multimedia artist Stan Douglas.
New officers of the Order of Canada include Detective Murdoch series author Maureen Jennings and music and media executive Randy Lennox.
Pierre Boivin, Chancellor of McGill University and former President of the Montreal Canadiens for 11 years, has been appointed as a Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest level of recognition within the Order.
