A pair of legendary athletes are being recognized nationally.
Among the new officers of the Order of Canada announced Friday is Yvan Cournoyer, who won 10 Stanley Cups in his 16 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, ending in 1979.
The 82-year-old skated in 968 games with the Habs, earning the nickname ‘Roadrunner’ for his legendary speed and compiling 428 goals and 435 assists en route to Hockey Hall of Fame induction in 1982.
Soccer star Christine Sinclair is being promoted to a companion of the Order of Canada, with Rideau Hall calling her “one of the most influential athletes in Canadian history.”
“She is a powerful advocate for the advancement of women’s sport and has inspired generations of athletes globally,” her citation from governor general Mary Simon reads.
Michael J. Fox, like Sinclair, is also being promoted.
The actor and Parkinson’s advocate has worn the white pin for 16 years, since he was first named an officer of the Order of Canada. But he’ll soon be able to upgrade to the red version of the snowflake-shaped insignia as he’s promoted to companion, a higher rank within the order, whose living membership is capped at 180.
He wears the little white pin on talk shows; he wears it to meet up with friends — his fellow Canadian New Yorkers Martin Short and Lorne Michaels make sure of it, he quips. And he wore it when he accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the final days of Joe Biden’s presidency.
“My intrinsic Canadianism is a bigger part of me than my relationship with the States,” he says on a video call from New York, Emmy Awards lined up on the shelf behind him.
The “Back to the Future” star, along with Cournoyer and Sinclair, is among 61 people newly appointed to or promoted within the Order of Canada, including journalist Stephanie Nolen and infectious disease specialist Caroline Quach-Thanh.
It’s the last tranche of members chosen by Simon, who was succeeded in the role by Louise Arbour earlier this month.
Fox loves the United States, he clarifies. It’s where he launched his career, met his wife and raised his family. But Canada comes first, he says, and the Order of Canada is an honour he doesn’t take lightly.
“What it seems to me this represents is being an ambassador or a representative of Canada: representing Canada in the things I do. Canada’s sense of community, its awareness of fellow Canadians and fellow people, and their situation is something I relate to,” Fox says.
Rideau Hall says Fox is being promoted for his “powerful global advocacy and unflinching honesty about Parkinson’s.”
The actor, now 65, was diagnosed with the progressive disease in 1991 when he was 29 years old.
Parkinson’s is classified as a movement disorder, and it happens when the brain cells that make dopamine stop working or die. The disease can cause tremor, stiffness and slowness, or problems walking and moving. It’s also linked to depression, memory problems and other symptoms that aren’t related to movement.
After his diagnosis, Fox went on to found the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which funds research into the disease and spreads awareness about the varying experiences of people who have it. It’s raised $2.5 billion for the cause so far.
“There was a feeling when I first got involved of being kind of on an island, waiting for the boat to come save us,” he says. “They said: don’t look for a boat, build a boat and take it where we want it to go.”
After he went public with his diagnosis, Fox decided he’d only take parts that integrate his Parkinson’s symptoms into the role.
In 2023, he released “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” a documentary chronicling his life in Hollywood and his experience with Parkinson’s disease.
And earlier this year, he had an arc on “Shrinking,” the Apple TV Plus show with a storyline about a therapist played by Harrison Ford who’s diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
In it, Fox’s character talks about having the disease and what Ford’s character can expect.
In both cases, Fox says, he pushed his advocacy to another level.
“In the last year, it was … the advocate and the actor coming together.”
Niv Fichman, a film producer and founder of Rhombus Media, is also being promoted. His credits include “The Red Violin” and “BlackBerry.”
Children’s TV producer Roger Damon Price, meanwhile, is a newly minted member of the Order of Canada.
Charlie Watt, a former senator and an influential Inuk leader, said receiving the award is something he can be proud of for the rest of his life.
Watt founded both the Northern Quebec Inuit Association and the Makivvik Corp. He also played an important role in negotiating the landmark James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, Canada’s first modern land claim agreement.
–with files from Sportsnet Staff
