Fourteen Manitobans to receive province’s highest honour

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This article was published 12/07/2012 (4923 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Leslie Spillett, an advocate for Winnipeg’s inner city and aboriginal community and the principal founder and executive director of Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc., is one of 14 individuals receiving the province’s highest honour today.

Spillett, along with 13 others, will be inducted into the Order of Manitoba at 4 p.m. at the Legislative Building.

Lt.-Gov. Philip Lee, the chancellor of the order, said earlier this year that normally 12 people would be able to receive the honour, but special legislation allows for an increase to 14 “in recognition of a particularly noteworthy year.”

Besides Spillett, the other inductees are:

– Mark Chipman, chair of True North Sports and Entertainment, who brought the NHL back to Winnipeg

– Randy Moffat, the former CEO of Moffat Communications Ltd., and the philanthropist who donated $100 million to the Winnipeg Foundation in creating the Moffat Family Fund

– Brian Postl, the former founding president and CEO of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority

– Bob Silver, the president and co-owner of Western Glove Works, co-owner of the Winnipeg Free Press, and the chancellor of the University of Winnipeg

– Al Simmons, a Juno award-winning family entertainer who supports numerous charitable and educational organizations

– Pauline Clarke, the Winnipeg School Division’s chief superintendent, for her work in inner-city education

– James Coyne, the second governor of the Bank of Canada from 1955 to 1961, who helped promote the autonomy of the central bank

– Darlene Dziewit, former president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour, for helping working people for 40 years.

– Len Flett, a former vice-president of the North West Company, who created employment for aboriginal people

– Etienne Gaboury, an architect who designed Winnipeg’s Royal Canadian Mint building, the new St. Boniface Cathedral, and the Esplanade Riel

– Crystal Marie Kolt, the musical director of the Flin Flon Community Choir who has helped develop the arts in northern Manitoba

– Art Miki, a leader in the Japanese Canadian community, who helped bring forward the country’s historic Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement in 1988

– Deborah Thorlakson, a volunteer who has helped numerous foundations, organizations and boards across the province.

This year’s ceremony raises the number of members named to the Order of Manitoba to 172 since its inception in 1999.