A former Bank of Canada governor and long-serving judge are among the six Queen’s community members who were recently named to the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest honours.
Dr. Lee Errett, the Honourable Susan Elizabeth Lang, Artsci’71, Dr. Bruce Lourie, Stephen Poloz, Artsci'78, Kenneth Rockwood, MPA 1978, and Vaira Vike-Freiberga, LLD'91, were among the 83 new appointments announced by Governor General Mary Simon on June 27.
“On behalf of the Queen’s community, I want to congratulate the recipients for receiving this national recognition,” said Michelle Fuko, Chief Advancement Officer. “Their contributions and outstanding merit serve as examples of the impact Queen’s alumni have in Canada and around the world.”
Officers
Stephen Poloz, Artsci'78
Stephen Poloz is an economist with nearly 40 years of expertise in financial markets and economic policy. He served as the governor of the Bank of Canada for seven years from 2013 to 2020. Before this role, he held senior leadership positions at Export Development Canada, including chief economist, head of Lending, and president and chief executive officer. Poloz is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Bank for International Settlements.
Kenneth Rockwood, MPA 1978
Kenneth Rockwood has maintained a longstanding interest in the clinical and epidemiological aspects of frailty, dementia, and delirium. Dr. Rockwood has published more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific publications and seven books. He is the Kathryn Allen Weldon Professor of Alzheimer Research at Dalhousie University and serves as a staff internist and geriatrician at the Capital District Health Authority in Halifax. He holds several CIHR grants, including as principal investigator of the Canada China Collaboration on Aging and Longevity and the Canadian Dementia Knowledge Translation Network.
Vaira Vike-Freiberga, LLD'91
Vaira Vike-Freiberga served as the sixth president of Latvia, holding office from 1999 to 2007. She played a crucial role in securing Latvia's entry into the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and served as a special envoy on United Nations reform. Vike-Freiberga has greatly influenced European policy and media freedom. Actively participating in over 30 international organizations, she co-chairs the Board of Trustees of the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre and is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Members
The Honourable Susan Elizabeth Lang, Artsci’71
The Honourable Susan Lang served as an Ontario Court of Appeal judge from 2004 until 2013 and co-founded an all-woman law firm. She was the first woman president of the Canadian Superior Courts Judges Association and led the Motherisk Hair Analysis Independent Review. The review, which found Motherisk testing to be unreliable, led to the creation of the Ontario Forensic Laboratories Act, the first legislation of its kind in Canada, and to the Ontario government establishing a review and resource centre to assist people who had been affected by the testing results.
Bruce Lourie
Dr. Bruce Lourie is a leading voice on climate change issues and environmental issues in Canada. He played a crucial role in Ontario’s phase-out of coal-fired power plants. As president of the Ivey Foundation, Dr. Lourie advocates for a transition to a net-zero economy.
Also on the list is Dr. Lee Errett, who graduated from Memorial University’s medical school and did his surgical training at Queen’s. As chief of cardiac surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Dr. Errett helped turn the institute into a world-class centre for cardiac surgery, teaching, and research.
The Order of Canada was established in 1967. Queen’s alumnus and Member of Parliament John Matheson, Arts’40, LLD’84, was a driving force in its development and the Tricolour Society at Queen’s served as inspiration for the Order of Canada.
