Lieutenant General Roméo A. Dallaire has, over a 35-year career in the military, combined his exemplary humanitarian vision with the highest ethical military principles. He has been honoured on numerous occasions for outstanding professionalism, honour, altruism, resourcefulness and bravery. Dallaire's dedication to world peace, self-sacrifice and courage saved the lives of thousands of Rwandans in 1994, when he led the United Nations (UN) mission in Rwanda. Although he and his UN troops did n...
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Arthur Carty, enterprising scientist, visionary research leader and storyteller par excellence, is president of the National Research Council (NRC). Since it was established during the First World War to promote industrial progress, the NRC has racked up an impressive collection of accomplishments, such as hardy prairie wheat and canola, and key medical work on a vaccine for tuberculosis and radiation therapy for cancer. Under Carty's leadership, the NRC has assumed an important role in the gr...
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David Smith, auctioneer, entrepreneur, philanthropist extraordinaire, gives new meaning to the phrase "Reach for the stars." In addition to the regular patrons of his restaurants, he has fed Canada's political elite, Hollywood stars and the spirit of our society's most famished. The son of a Russian shoemaker ("solesaver," says Smith), and the youngest of 13, Smith was born with business savvy and a propensity to share. In 1960, he and his sister opened Nate's Deli on Rideau Street, today a th...
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As one of Canada's most highly respected lawyers, David Scott has tackled difficult cases, taking many of them as far as the Supreme Court, on behalf of such clients as prime ministers, the chief justice of Canada and justices of the Supreme Court, sometimes on the same day! Beyond his reputation for representing the rich and famous, however, Scott freely gives his time and expertise to such community organizations and charities as United Way, the John Howard Society of Ottawa, the Victorian O...
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Carol Richards is a pioneer in the field of physiotherapy. Through her perseverance and devotion, she has contributed enormously to the evolution of a relatively new profession that has progressed from teaching veterans of the First World War to walk again to its position of prominence in today's health system. After earning her master's and doctoral degrees, in 1980 Richards was appointed professor at the neurobiology research centre at Laval University. During her decade at the helm of that ...
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Walter Prystawski, founding concertmaster of the National Arts Centre orchestra, has contributed more to this national institution than meets the ear. He began his career more than 50 years ago with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the CBC Symphony. He then left for Switzerland to study with the renowned Austrian violinist Wolfgang Schneiderhan. He spent the 60s with the chamber orchestra Lucerne Festival Strings, eventually as first violin, and toured Europe, South Africa and the Middle Eas...
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If Ottawa has gone from a city of 20th century civil servants to a high-tech capital of the 21st century, it is largely thanks to Peter Morand. As a token of his appreciation, one of the streets in the Ottawa Bioscience Technology Park, which he helped to found, was named after him. Prior to becoming CEO of the Canadian Science and Technology Growth Fund, Mr. Morand devoted much of his 40-year career to helping Canadian scientists and engineers. Upon his arrival at the University of Ottawa as ...
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Parliamentary expert Robert Marleau retired in January after 31 years of parliamentary service, 13 of which were spent as clerk of the House of Commons. Marleau left a rich legacy of achievement, including the guide book, House of Commons Procedure and Practice, which he co-authored with then-clerk-assistant Camille Montpetit. A Franco-Ontarian and a graduate of the University of Ottawa, Marleau saw Parliament as more than a building made of stone and mortar — for him, it was a gathering place...
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Denis Desautels' approach to problem-solving has marked him as one of the great auditors general in Canada's history. He took the government to task over its methods of managing the national debt, hectored the minister of finance about being more transparent and forced many government departments to be more accountable. Known as a man who gets right to the root of the problem, Desautels has been nicknamed "super cop of the deficit" and "the most feared man in Ottawa." As well as his extensive ...
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