B.C.’s highest honour recognizes 13 British Columbians

Press Release

Aug. 3, 2020

VICTORIA – Thirteen exceptional people will be appointed to the Order of British Columbia, the Province’s highest form of recognition, Lt. Gov. Janet Austin, chancellor of the order, has announced.

“As the representative of the Crown in British Columbia and chancellor of the Order of British Columbia, I am delighted to welcome 13 new members to the order,” Austin said. “They have helped us to grow as a province, taught us to care for our environment, enriched our lives with literature and art, helped us to address past injustices and inspired us to become a more caring and inclusive society. To recognize these remarkable people, who are changing our communities for the better in many ways, is an honour of great personal significance to me.”

This year, 160 British Columbians were nominated. The deadline for nominations was March 6, 2020. Since its inception, 460 British Columbians have been appointed to the Order of B.C. Members have been appointed from all regions of the province and in numbers generally proportionate to a region’s population.

“As we celebrate B.C. Day, I want to recognize the efforts, achievements and accomplishments of this year’s Order of British Columbia recipients,” said Premier John Horgan. “Congratulations on receiving this well-deserved honour. Your many contributions have enriched the lives of British Columbians and helped make our province an even better place.”

This year’s recipients are:

• Shashi Assanand of Richmond
• Ryan Beedie of West Vancouver
• Michael Bublé of Burnaby
• Shirley Chan of Vancouver
• Neil Cook, MGC, of Cranbrook
• Paul George of Gibsons
• Rusty Goepel of Vancouver
• John Malcolm Horton of Delta
• Mel Krajden, PhD, of Vancouver
• Janet Nadine Mort, PhD, of Brentwood Bay
• Tracy Porteous of Vancouver
• Carole Taylor, OC, of Vancouver
• Ruth Williams of Kamloops

Over the years, the B.C. government has worked to increase awareness of the Province’s highest honour to ensure that outstanding people from all walks of life and from all parts of the province have an opportunity to be honoured. The Province has received more than 5,900 public nominations for the Order of B.C. over the past 31 years.

Recipients of the Order of B.C. are selected by an independent advisory council. The 2020 advisory council consisted of:

• Robert J. Bauman (chair), Chief Justice of British Columbia
• Darryl Plecas, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
• Philip Steenkamp, PhD, president and vice-chancellor, Royal Roads University
• Bobbi Plecas, deputy minister, Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat
• Maja Tait, president, Union of British Columbia Municipalities
• Lynda Farmer, OBC
• Susan Tatoosh, OBC

The Order of B.C. investiture ceremony will be postponed for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions and held for recipients and invited guests at Government House in Victoria in 2021.

Learn More:

The Order of British Columbia: http://www.orderofbc.gov.bc.ca

To learn more about the Province’s other honour, the Medal of Good Citizenship, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/medalofgoodcitizenship

Anyone can submit a nomination. More information, nomination forms and submission instructions are available online, by telephone at 250 387-1616, or by email: bchonoursandawards@gov.bc.ca

Two backgrounders are available online:
Biographies of recipients: http://news.gov.bc.ca/files/8-3-20_obc_bios.pdf
Order of British Columbia background: http://news.gov.bc.ca/files/8-3-20_obc_BG.pdf

Contact:

Karen van Marum
Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat
Karen.vanMarum@gov.bc.ca
250 889-3664

ILR4