I can’t remember the last time I looked into my wallet and saw Money. I might, however, need to start carrying around one of these Spanky new $5 Bills. Each and every one of these deserves the Honorific.
There are now 8 Finalists for the Honor. – you can find pics HERE.
Pitseolak Ashoona – born in the first decade of the twentieth century, was a self-taught artist whose drawings and prints have been internationally exhibited and which are held by museums and galleries throughout Canada. Her work, which reflects her own lived experiences following a traditional Inuit semi-nomadic lifestyle, provides a lively and vivid record of the ‘old ways’ once followed by the Inuit of the Eastern Arctic.
Robertine Barry – (also known by her literary pseudonym, Françoise) was the first female French-Canadian journalist, and a relentless advocate for many social justice causes, especially women’s equality in society. Both in her written works and public speeches, Barry was a staunch activist who championed the causes of women’s suffrage; women’s access to a university education; shelters for the poor and for female victims of domestic violence; the regulation of child labour; and the establishment of a secular Quebec ministry of public education.
Binaaswi – (Francis Pegahmagabow), a veteran of the First World War, was the most highly-decorated Indigenous soldier in Canadian history. Following that conflict, he assumed leadership positions with the Wasauksing First Nation (Parry Island, Ontario) and later participated in regional and national advocacy movements to promote Indigenous rights in Canada.
Won Alexander Cumyow – was the first known Chinese-Canadian born in Canada. Fluent in both Cantonese and English, he used his language skills to bridge the divide between Vancouver’s English-speaking and Chinese communities. Working as a police interpreter, and actively involved in key Chinese community organizations, he was a voice for a disenfranchised people, and a positive influence in helping transform racialized attitudes toward Chinese people in Canada.
Terry Fox – After losing part of his right leg to cancer, Terry Fox campaigned to raise national awareness and funding for cancer research by running his Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada 42-km daily run, on his prosthetic leg. By February 1981, $24.7 million had been raised—or $1 for every Canadian. His run was interrupted just past the half-way point when the cancer reached his lungs, and ultimately took his life. Today, annual Terry Fox Runs are held all over the world to raise money for cancer research. In 2020, the Marathon of Hope marks its 40th anniversary.
Lotta Hitschmanova – Lotta Hitschmanova was one of Canada’s earliest grassroots humanitarians. She came to Canada in 1942 as a Czech-born refugee and founded the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada in 1945. Recognizable from her Canadian television appeals for support, she devoted her life to helping people in need around the world, especially children, and inspired others to give generously to relief and development projects in Europe, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, South Vietnam, Palestine, India, Nepal, Indonesia and Africa.
Isapo-Muxika – a leader of the Blackfoot Confederacy, was known for his judicious use of diplomacy and for being an advocate for peace between Indigenous nations and with settlers. He was instrumental in the Treaty 7 negotiations, and in preventing the Blackfoot Confederacy from participating in the North-West Resistance of 1885. Later in life, he also fostered peace with neighboring Indigenous peoples.
Onondeyoh – (Frederick Ogilvie Loft), a Mohawk chief, First World War veteran, and political and social activist, founded the first pan-Canadian Indigenous organization in December 1918, to advocate for both the protection and expansion of Indigenous rights. In doing so, he helped lay the groundwork for contemporary regional and national Indigenous rights organizations in Canada.
