Katrina LeBlanc is one of eight British Colombians named to the Order of Canada this week in the list of 99 Canadians added to the Order, four as members and four as officers.
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Karina LeBlanc’s achievements as a star goalkeeper with Canada’s innovative women’s soccer team and her post-career leadership in the sport earned her an appointment to the Order of Canada as Governor General. Mary Simon End of Year Honors List.
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As significant as that award is for LeBlanc, who came to Canada from Dominica as a shy eight-year-old and rose to fame after finding a community in the sport, her 2½-year-old daughter Paris, presented him with a more moving award just the other day.
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“In fact, she said to me yesterday, ‘Mommy, you’re my superhero,’ and I was like, ‘OK, I win, I’m good,’” LeBlanc said. “I got some amazing texts yesterday, but that’s probably my best (compliment).”
Simon named LeBlanc, who grew up in Maple Ridge, as a member of the Order of Canada, one of eight British Columbians named this week to the list of 99 Canadians added to the Order, four as members and four as officers.
“It was an absolute shock,” LeBlanc said of receiving the confidential email from the Office of the Governor General, then a phone call, about two weeks ago.
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“I dreamed of winning a medal and being on the podium, hoping to go to the Olympics and the World Cups for Canada,” LeBlanc said, which are things he accomplished during an 18-year career that included five appearances. in the Cup and three Olympic Games. , including with the team that won a historic bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
“So to be recognized in this way is really special,” LeBlanc said.
And something that wouldn’t have been possible if her parents hadn’t made the decision to trade a comfortable life in Dominica for less secure opportunities in Maple Ridge.
“To me, if this means that there are young girls who see a woman of color, or maybe an immigrant in this country or someone who was shy and bullied and (she says), ‘Wait, if that happened to her, then it could happen. to me’, I think that’s what’s amazing about it. It’s beyond sport.”
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The Order of Canada recognizes the service of Canadians who “have shaped our society, whose innovations have ignited our imaginations, and whose compassion has brought our communities together,” according to the annual announcement.
BC members installed as Officers, the second-highest tier in the three-tier award, were University of Victoria geographer Budd Hall, for his contributions as a pioneer in community research; Vancouver radiologist Dr. Paula Gordon; Dr. Allen Eaves, founder and health researcher at Stemcell Technologies; and the renowned geographer from the University of BC, David Ley.
Pitman Potter, Professor Emeritus at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, a leading scholar in Chinese law studies, was listed as a LeBlanc Fellow and along with award-winning Vancouver film director and cinematographer Vic Sarin , like Gary Segal, philanthropist and scion. of the late Joseph Segal’s family business, Kingswood Capital.
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A medical imaging innovator and tireless advocate for better breast cancer detection for nearly four decades, Gordon certainly fits the definition of recognition, but she was still caught off guard.
She was invested in the Order of BC in 2013, but had also made a habit of providing references for others to be assessed for the Order of Canada.
“I was speechless, frankly, which is not like me at all,” Gordon said of the notification that she was being inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Gordon cried a little at first, thinking, “Wouldn’t it be nice if my parents knew” about the honor that she characterized as the “second to last” recognition of a career of hard work?
“It’s a great honor, especially when you think about the caliber of the other members,” Gordon added.
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Her next thought, however, was how she could help highlight the need for better breast cancer screening across Canada.
“I’ve been wrestling with, well, everyone who is in a position to make change, so the second thought that came to mind was maybe this will help with the promotional effort,” Gordon said.
For Eaves, 81, being made an Officer of the Order was “the honor or a lifetime” in a career that included co-founding the Terry Fox Laboratory for hematology and oncology research before starting Stemcell Technologies as a means of fostering leadership. . research and provide opportunities for scientists outside of academia.
Eaves said his life’s goal has been “to do science in a positive way that helps patients.”
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“But what’s really energizing is going to have my meetings with all these smart young people who love science and are really good at it,” Eaves said. “And just facilitating what they want to do. So it keeps me young.”
Ley, a professor emeritus at UBC, said he has “accepted” the big surprise of being admitted as an officer.
“I am an immigrant, even though I have lived in Vancouver for 50 years, and it is a feeling of gratitude to the nation that has given me the opportunity to prosper here,” Ley said of receiving the honor. “I think that’s my most fundamental answer.”
As an urban geographer, Ley has researched gentrification in communities. His work to understand the impacts of wealth migration under Canada’s business immigrant program culminated in the book Millionaire Migrants: Trans-Pacific Life Lines, the publication of which coincided with the end of that program.
“I’m not sure I’m prouder of that, but it was an area of impact,” Ley said.
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