Published Monday, January 25, 2021 7:24AM EST MONTREAL On January 25th, 2020, Canadians were still living their lives like they always had: commuting to the office, visiting friends, dining out, hugging loved ones, vacationing. But the announcement that day of Canada s first COVID-19 case set in motion a chain of events that would soon change everything. By March, with cases climbing, health officials began implementing a series of measures that would fundamentally alter how many Canadians live. Lockdowns and calls for physical distancing led to companies shifting to work from home, travel restrictions, mask-wearing rules, cancellation of major events, and video meetings replacing in-person interactions as people were asked to avoid seeing anyone, even loved ones.
Racialized Canadians who could bring diversity to the country’s Order of Canada in the future include, top row, from left, Murray Sinclair, Afua Cooper, Winnie Ng, Adelle Blackett, Lynn Jones, Vivek Shraya, Debbie Douglas; middle row, from left, Akua Benjamin, Maryka Omatsu, Baldev Mutta, Avvy Go, Paul Taylor, OmiSoore Dryden, Amy Go; bottom row, from left, Alan Tai-Wai Li, Susan Eng, M. NourbeSe Philip, Grace-Edward Galabuzi, Angela Marie Macdougall, Gary Yee and Ingrid Waldron.
Toronto Star Composite Earlier this week, the BlackNorth Initiative made a point that seemingly too few people had realized: the 114 people named to the Order of Canada this year were overwhelmingly white and men.