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Ice dance gold medallists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, of Canada, pose during their medals ceremony at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Feb. 20, 2018.Charlie Riedel/The Canadian Press

Lawyer William (Bill) Macdonald, a nonagenarian who is one of the latest appointees to the Order of Canada, believes the most significant contributions he made to the country’s public policy came when he blocked others from getting their way.

Mr. Macdonald spent more than 55 years advising federal and provincial governments as well as business on major policy initiatives in taxation and in the resource sector. He has also written extensively on public policy and the idea of mutual accommodation in The Globe and Mail.

“I did an awful lot of work fighting bad legislation,” Mr. Macdonald said, citing competition laws and the National Energy Program as examples. “I think I did good work in stopping the worst of what they were trying to do.”

Governor-General Julie Payette on Friday made Mr. Macdonald a Member of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honours, alongside 113 other appointments. Mr. Macdonald credited his late wife, Molly Anne, for his achievements, which range from championing the resource sector to donating an extensive collection of 17th-century Japanese porcelain to the Gardiner Museum.

“I’m almost 93, so most of the big feelings in life, I’ve already had. But to be recognized by a country is as good as it gets,” he said. “I’m a lucky boy to get the call.”

The new appointees range from Olympians such as Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir to human-rights advocates such as Doreen Spence, an elder who was once one of the first Indigenous women to obtain a practical nursing certificate. Tom Jackson, an actor and philanthropist, was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada. Eugenia Kumacheva became an Officer of the Order of Canada for her contributions to chemistry. Sarah Milroy was made a Member of the Order of Canada for promoting Canadian artists and their work.

“I have both a passion for Canadian art and a confidence in its excellence,” Ms. Milroy, a former art critic at The Globe, said. “Sometimes Canadians underestimate the sophistication and complexity and beauty of our culture and the profound nature of the stories that we have to tell.”

More than 7,000 people have been invested in the Order, which was created in 1967. The Governor-General makes appointments twice each year. Last week’s appointments also included Darcy Bear, Chief of the Whitecap Dakota First Nation in Saskatchewan, for his economic and social leadership; Harvey Andrew McCue (Waubageshig), for his leadership in education and contribution to the health and well-being of Indigenous youth in Canada; and the promotion of Thomas King, a writer, professor and the first Indigenous person to deliver a series of Massey Lectures.

COMPANIONS OF THE ORDER OF CANADA

Howard Alper of Ottawa (This is a promotion within the Order).

The Honourable Monique Bégin of Ottawa (This is a promotion within the Order).

Janette Bertrand of Montreal (This is a promotion within the Order).

Denise Filiatrault of Montreal (This is a promotion within the Order).

Tom Jackson of Calgary (This is a promotion within the Order).

Thomas King of Guelph, Ont. (This is a promotion within the Order).

Phillip James Edwin Peebles of Winnipeg and Princeton, N.J.

Mark Roger Tewksbury of Calgary

OFFICERS OF THE ORDER OF CANADA

Alice Benjamin of Montreal

Philip Benjamin Berger of Toronto

Martha Gertrude Muriel Billes of Calgary

The Honourable William Alexander Blaikie of Winnipeg

Jeffery Dahn of Halifax

Jan den Oudsten of Toronto

The Honourable William C. Graham of Toronto (This is a promotion within the Order).

Sandra Kirby of Winnipeg

Marcia Vaune Jocelyn Kran of West Vancouver

Eugenia Kumacheva of Toronto

Linda Jane Leith of Westmount, Que.

Sheldon Levy of Toronto

Claude Meunier of Montreal

John E. Peller of Grimsby, Ont.

The Honourable François Rolland of Montreal

Guy Rouleau of Montreal

John David Runnalls of Ottawa

Sara Seager of Toronto and Concord, Mass.

Elder Doreen Spence of Calgary

Marc Tessier-Lavigne of Toronto and Stanford, Calif.

Yosef Wosk of Vancouver

HONORARY MEMBERS OF THE ORDER OF CANADA

Alfred E. Slinkard of Saskatoon (This is an honorary appointment)

Ella Yoelli Amir of Montreal

Cristina Amon of Toronto

Ronald Duncan Barr of Hamilton

Christian Barthomeuf of Frelighsburg, Que.

Chief Darcy Bear of Whitecap Dakota First Nation, Sask.

B. Lynn Beattie of Vancouver

Yves Beauchamp of Varennes, Que.

Izak Benbasat of Vancouver

Daniel R. Bereskin of Toronto

Judy Birdsell of Calgary

Max Blouw of Victoria

Allan Borodin of Toronto

George Brookman of Calgary

Alain Chartrand of Montreal

Robert Anthony Clark of Vancouver

Ronald Ivan Cohen of Manotick, Ont.

Liliane Colpron of Montreal

Joseph Michael Connors of Victoria

Jean Marc Dalpé of Montreal

B. Denham Jolly of Toronto

Sandra Djwa of Vancouver

Michel Doucet of Dieppe, N.B.

James M. Drake of Toronto

Roger Dubois of Drummondville, Que.

Donald Gordon Duguid of Winnipeg

Hoda ElMaraghy of Windsor, Ont.

Philip Michael Epstein of Toronto

John S. Eyking of Millville, N.S.

William Fast of Winnipeg

Edward Finn of Ottawa

Jackie Flanagan of Calgary

William John Fox of Toronto

The Honourable Joan Fraser of Montreal

Timothy Frick of Pender Island, B.C.

Ross William Glen of Calgary

Robert Godin of Vaudreuil-sur-le-Lac, Que.

Priscilla Edson Greenwood of Vancouver

David Grimes of Ottawa

Charles Roy Guest of Calgary

Stanley Hamilton of Vancouver

Anthony Olmsted Hendrie of Nottawa, Ont.

Carol Pearl Herbert of Vancouver

Gordon Hicks of Uxbridge, Ont.

Jagmohan Humar of Ottawa

Peter Daniel Alexander Jacobs of Westmount, Que.

The Honourable Janis Guðrún Johnson of Winnipeg

Maria Labrecque-Duchesneau of Marieville, Que.

John R. Lacey of Calgary

Elizabeth Langley of Montreal

Gérard Raymond Le Chêne of Outremont, Que.

Michele Leering of Kingston

Jacques Légaré of Montreal

Elliot Lifson of Côte Saint-Luc, Que.

William Macdonald of Toronto

Judy Matthews of Toronto

Harvey Andrew McCue (Waubageshig) of Ottawa

Brian McFarlane of Stouffville, Ont.

Lucy Lynn McIntyre of Calgary

John H. McNeill of Vancouver

Sarah Milroy of Toronto

Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont.

Menka Nagrani of Montreal

Jacques Nantel of Saint-Placide, Que.

Peggy Nash of Toronto

Glenn O’Farrell of Toronto

Marietta Orlov of Toronto (deceased)

Marc Parent of Saint-Laurent, Que.

Serge Payette of Saint-Jean-de-l’Île-d’Orléans, Que.

Christina Petrowska Quilico of Toronto

Crystal Pite of Vancouver

Anthony Robin Poole of South Lancaster, Ont.

Brian Postl of Winnipeg

Tom Radford of Edmonton

The Honourable Allan Michael Rock of Ottawa

Lorio Roy of Saint-Laurent Nord, N.B.

Vera Schiff of Toronto

Stefan Glenn Sigurdson of West Vancouver

Lara St. John of London, Ont., and New York, N.Y.

Dave William Thomas of St. Catharines, Ont., and Oak Park, Calif.

Tessa Virtue of London, Ont.

Peter Warrian of Toronto

David P. Wilkinson of Vancouver

Kenneth L. Wilson of Halifax

Roger Wong of Vancouver

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