Six persons of C’bean/African heritage invested into the Order of Ontario

TORONTO:

The 25 individuals who were appointed to the Order of Ontario for 2023 and three from previous years were invested with their insignia at an investiture ceremony at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto on Monday.

Among them were six members of the Caribbean and African communities in the province: Dr Gervan Fearon, Dr Herbert Ho Ping Kong, Dwayne Morgan and Hazelle Palmer – all of whom are of Jamaican heritage – Florence Ngenzebuhoro, and Olympian Andre De Grasse who was appointed in 2022 but unavailable to attend the ceremony then.

Edith Dumont, lieutenant governor of Ontario and Chancellor of the Order of Ontario, announced the new appointments to the Order of Ontario for 2023 on January 1, 2024.

The Order of Ontario - the province’s highest honour – recognises outstanding persons who have made exceptional contributions to help build a stronger province, nation and world. Members of the Order come from all walks of life and represent various sectors of society including public service, business, journalism and health care.

“Your achievements are remarkable and meaningful to all of us in Ontario. It strikes me that each of you in your own way is a builder. Some of you quite literally have built infrastructure on which we depend, others have built research programmes, companies, organisations and institutions. And all of you have built bridges between people within your communities and well beyond,” said the lieutenant governor.

Dr Fearon, a former president and vice-chancellor at Brock University, Brandon University and currently president of George Brown College, has a vision for equity, inclusion and community empowerment. A veteran educator, he leads efforts to provide transformative education opportunities that benefit learners, industry and the greater community.

He co-founded the Canada-Caribbean Institute connecting scholars across Canada and the Caribbean to collaborate on vital economic, environmental and social issues.

Dr Fearon introduced scholarships for graduate students from under-represented groups. His collaborative influential White Paper, “ Towards a Vision for the Black Community,” pioneered ideas for positive change.

Dr Ho Ping Kong is a pioneer in medical education. His book, The Art of Medicine: Healing and the Limits of Technology, is a must-read for students around the world. He has been the go-to source of diagnostic expertise, with an uncanny ability to ferret out the underlying causes of illnesses that have mystified other experts.

Known as a true “renaissance man”, he walks with great humility, a calm and quiet demeanour and genuine care for everyone. The University Health Network named an educational centre – The Ho Ping Kong Centre for Excellence in Education and Practice – to honour his lifetime contributions to medical education and exemplary legacy of diagnosing diseases.

Morgan, who while in high school discovered a love of writing, launched “Up From The Roots Entertainment” producing opportunities for other racialised artistes when few doors were open. As a black teenager in Scarborough, he lobbied the League of Canadian Poets to include performance poets, produced North America’s two largest spoken-word events and has performed globally. Morgan was unable to attend the investiture ceremony and will be invested at another in the future.

Under Palmer’s tenure as president and CEO of Sherbourne Health, it has dramatically expanded critical programmes for Toronto’s underserved populations. A senior executive with more than 30 years of experience in the non-profit sector, she has fought to advance minority rights throughout her career. Her vision of a more just society is enabling others to thrive.

As the managing editor of Healthsharing Magazine in the 1990s, she championed stories tackling difficult issues. As the former executive director of the AIDS Committee of Toronto and then Planned Parenthood Toronto, she used her platform to break down barriers and improve social conditions, including creating a mobile clinic that brought clinical services to women in shelters.

As the CEO of the Centre Francophone du Grand Toronto, Ngenzebuhoro is helping tens of thousands of Francophone immigrants annually.

She arrived in 1994 as a refugee from Burundi. She has been recognized as one of Canada’s most influential minority rights advocates whose efforts have helped Ontario become a more inclusive and welcoming place.

“Andre De Grasse first raced into our hearts through the Rio 2016 Summer Games winning three Olympic medals. At the Tokyo Olympics, he won three more and running with an injured hamstring at the Paris Olympics Andre anchored Canada to a stunning victory in the men’s 4x100 metres relay,” noted an introduction video of De Grasse’s achievements.

The Andre De Grasse Family Foundation seeks to empower youth through improved access to support, education and healthcare. The athlete has also written two books.

Jamaican Michael H. Tulloch, Chief Justice of Ontario, is the Chair of the Advisory Council to the Order of Ontario.