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Wilfred Gordon Bigelow, OC, surgeon (born 18 June 1913 in Brandon, MB; died 27 March 2005 in Toronto, ON). Dr. Bigelow's special contribution to surgery of the heart was the use of hypothermia to slow tissue metabolism and protect the heart and brain from damage (see Cold Weather Injuries). His research on hypothermia also led to him to co-develop the portable artificial external cardiac pacemaker in 1950. This medical innovation contributed to the development of implantable cardiac pacemakers.

Onyenyechukwu (Onye) Nnorom, family physician, specialist in public health and preventive medicine (born 27 February 1981 in Montreal, Quebec). Nnorom is the associate director of the residency program in public health and preventive medicine at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She also leads the Black health curriculum at the university’s medical school. Her work addresses the health inequities that racialized and immigrant communities face.

Canada’s Walk of Fame is a non-profit organization dedicated to honouring Canadians who have achieved excellence in the fields of arts and entertainment, science and technology, business, philanthropy and athletics. Modelled after the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it stretches along 13 city blocks in Toronto’s Entertainment District. Each inductee’s name and signature are etched onto a plaque embedded on the sidewalk, along with a star resembling a maple leaf. Inductees are honoured at an annual, nationally broadcast gala in Toronto. More than 210 people have been inducted since the Walk was founded in 1998.

Wallace Rupert Turnbull (Rupert), aeronautical engineer (born 16 October 1870 in Saint John, NB; died 26 November 1954 in Saint John, NB). Turnbull is credited with building Canada’s first wind tunnel in Rothesay, NB. He is also recognized for designing the first successful variable-pitch propeller, which he patented in 1922. (See also Aviation.)

Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen, writer, historian, scientist (born 24 February 1848 in Alwington, ON; died 25 Oct 1899 in London, England). Grant Allen spent most of his youth in Canada, and completed his formal education in France and England, where he graduated from Merton College, Oxford, in 1871.

An astronaut is an individual involved in flight beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. Since the National Research Council of Canada held its first recruitment campaign in 1983, 14 Canadians have completed astronaut training and nine have participated in 17 missions to space. Specifically, they have flown as payload specialists, mission specialists, and flight engineers on NASA shuttle flights and expeditions to the International Space Station (ISS). Canadian astronauts have played key roles in repairing satellites and building the ISS using the Canadarm and Canadarm2 robotic technologies, and have advanced scientific knowledge by conducting a variety of experiments in space. (See also Robotics in Canada; Space Technology.)

David Saint-Jacques, OC, OQ, astronaut, engineer, astrophysicist, medical doctor (born 6 January 1970, in Québec City, QC). Early in his career, Saint-Jacques contributed to advances in telescope technology in Japan and Hawaii, and medical technology at Lariboisière Hospital in Paris. (See also Astronomy; Medical Research; Technology in Canada.) He also worked as a doctor and co-chief of medicine at the Inuulitsivik Health Centre in Puvirnituq, Nunavik. In 2009, he was chosen by the Canadian Space Agency to become an astronaut. In 2018, he served on the International Space Station for 204 days, longer than any other Canadian astronaut.

Joseph-Armand Bombardier, entrepreneur, inventor of the snowmobile and Ski-Doo (born 16 April 1907 in Valcourt, QC; died 18 February 1964 in Sherbrooke, QC). While Bombardier’s many inventions demonstrate his mechanical skills, his ability not only to respond to transportation needs but to create them gave rise to his namesake corporation’s record of innovation (see Bombardier Inc.).

Steven Guilbeault, PC, MP, politician, ecologist, author, columnist and lecturer (born 9 June 1970 in La Tuque, Quebec). In 2009, French magazine Le Monde recognized Guilbeault as one of the world’s 50 leading figures in the field of sustainable development. The Cercle des Phénix de l’environnement du Québec also recognized Guilbeault the same year. Guilbeault earned recognition through his work with Greenpeace and as a co-founder of Équiterre. He also served as a columnist for various media outlets, including Métro, Radio-Canada, La Presse and Corporate Knight magazine. During the 2019 federal election, Guilbeault was elected the Liberal Member of Parliament for Montreal’s Laurier─Sainte-Marie riding. Shortly thereafter, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Guilbeault to his Cabinet as minister of Canadian heritage.

Marc Garneau, CC, astronaut, military officer, engineer, politician (born 23 February 1949 in Québec City, QC). Garneau has distinguished himself in three distinct fields. As a naval officer with the Canadian Armed Forces, he spent 10 years as a combat systems engineer. In 1984, Garneau became the first Canadian astronaut to go to space and, from 2001 to 2005, was president of the Canadian Space Agency. As a federal politician, he has served as Liberal house leader, minister of transport and minister of foreign affairs.

Alfred Schmitz Shadd, educator, physician, farmer, politician, pharmacist, editor, civic leader (born 1870 in Raleigh Township, Kent County, ON; died 1915 in Winnipeg, MB).

Frances Gertrude McGill, teacher, bacteriologist, forensic pathologist (born 18 November 1882 in Minnedosa, MB; died 21 January 1959 in Winnipeg). McGill was Canada’s first female forensic pathologist and a pioneer in the field. She assisted police in solving numerous difficult criminal cases and unusual deaths, earning the nickname “the Sherlock Holmes of Saskatchewan.” She is often regarded as the first female member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Her personal motto is said to have been “Think like a man, act like a lady and work like a dog.”

Sir William Osler, physician, writer, educator (born 12 July 1849 in Bond Head, Canada West [Ontario]; died 29 December 1919 in Oxford, England). Osler was a physician and professor of medicine who helped revolutionize medical education. He insisted that medical students spend less time in the lecture hall and more time with patients; he also developed the medical residency program. Osler was a prolific writer whose textbook, The Principles and Practice of Medicine (1892), was published in many editions. He was also a bibliophile and historian of medicine whose collection was donated to McGill University.

Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer of British Columbia (2018 to present), epidemiologist, physician (born 1965 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island). Dr. Bonnie Henry is best known for leading British Columbia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has also worked to eradicate polio and to contain Ebola and SARS. Henry is a family care physician and a specialist in preventative medicine. She is the first woman to serve as BC’s provincial health officer.

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Theodore George Gustavus Harwood Drake, physician, historian, collector (born 16 September 1891 in Webbwood, ON; died 28 October 1959 in Toronto, ON). Drake is perhaps best known for his contributions towards the development of the infant cereal, Pablum.

The Fossmobile was invented by George Foote Foss in 1897. It is the first successful Canadian example of an automobile built with an internal combustion engine. While the Fossmobile was never mass-produced for the Canadian automotive market (see automotive industry), it is an example of ingenuity and innovation. Through Fossmobile Enterprises, the descendants of George Foote Foss have researched and built a tribute/replica of the Fossmobile prototype. The tribute/replica vehicle was donated and inducted into the Canadian Automotive Museum in Oshawa, Ontario in 2022.

Robert Baird McClure, CM, OOnt, medical missionary, moderator United Church of Canada (born 23 November 1900 in Portland, OR; died 10 November 1991 in Toronto, ON). As a medical missionary, McClure provided medical care and services in numerous countries, including China, Egypt and India. He was elected a lay moderator of the United Church of Canada in 1968. McClure received numerous honours and awards in recognition of his services.

Sylvia Olga Fedoruk, OC, physicist, educator, 17th lieutenant-governor of Saskatchewan (1988-94) (born 5 May 1927 in Canora, SK; died 26 September 2012 in Saskatoon). Fedoruk was a medical physicist who helped advance cancer treatment (see Physics; Contemporary Medicine).

Dominique François Gaspard, physician and community builder (born 22 December 1884 in New Orleans, Louisiana; died 6 February 1938 in Montreal, QC). Gaspard was a respected doctor and a trailblazer in Montreal’s Black district. After serving with distinction at a field hospital during the First World War, he devoted himself to medical practice in Montreal. He also worked to create social and intellectual outlets for Black men in the city. A bilingual Catholic, he was unique in the city’s early-20th-century anglophone  Protestant Black community. His story speaks of a complexity of language, ethnicity and migration not often explored in narratives of Quebec’s English-speaking and Black communities.