Great Canadian women to know: 1-5
There are countless women in Canada working to make the world a better place. They're changing laws, founding community programs, donating their time or money, and making a difference on a local, national or global scale. Let's salute the following Canadian women and their outstanding achievements:
1. Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
A Montreal native, Arbour is a former law professor at the University of Toronto, a member of the Supreme Court of Canada and the recipient of more than 27 honorary doctorates. Appointed to her position as the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2004, she was the chief prosecutor in the UN Security Council's tribunals dealing with the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the 1992 to 1995 genocide in the former Yugoslavia.
2. Dr. Sheela Basrur, former Chief Medical Officer of Health for Ontario
Forced to resign from her post as the Chief Medical Officer of Health for Ontario in December 2006 due to her own battle with a rare form of cancer, Basrur was one of the most prominent medical officials on the Canadian landscape.
On June 2, 2008, Dr. Basrur lost her battle to cancer, leaving behind a daughter and a sister, her only sibling.
During her celebrated career, she led one of the largest public-health bodies in North America, managed the 2003 SARS crisis in Toronto, and worked tirelessly to improve health care for women and immigrants.
3. Bonnie Cappuccino, founder, Child Haven International
An Order of Canada recipient, Cappuccino is known as much for her large family as she is for her charitable organization aimed at bettering the lives of disadvantaged women and children. After she and her husband adopted 19 children from around the world, they started Child Haven, a registered charity that operates literacy, employment and housing programs in places such as Bangladesh, Tibet and Nepal. They were also the first Canadian recipients of the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights.
4. Hilda Gregory, founder, Vancouver Oral Centre for Deaf Children
Determined to teach deaf children how to thrive in a hearing world, Gregory founded the Vancouver Oral Centre for Deaf Children school in 1963 and served as its principal for more than three decades. She's received the Order of Canada, our nation's highest civilian honour, and the teaching techniques developed at her school are now used in similar programs across North America.
5. Dr. Samantha Nutt, founder and executive director, War Child Canada
High-profile Canadian performers like Chantal Kreviazuk, Sarah McLachlan and the Barenaked Ladies have lined up behind Nutt, who founded War Child in 1999. The organization's mission statement is to provide humanitarian aid to children affected by war, and that mandate has taken Nutt to war-torn areas worldwide, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda and Sierra Leone.
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