Two incredible area musicians were named to the Order of Canada by the Governor General on June 30, 2025.
Below is a video of the entire ceremony
Links: Order of Canada, More Order of Canada Stories, Video above courtesy of Rogers tv
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Donnie “Mr. Downchild” Walsh, founder of the Downchild Blues Band
Was named a Member of the Order of Canada
From the Order of Canada site:
Gilbert Donald Walsh, C.M.
Peterborough, Ontario
Donnie Walsh is recognized as the father of Canadian blues music. This co-founder and leader of The Legendary Downchild Blues Band has been an instrumental figure on the national blues scene for over half a century. His music has inspired generations of acts, including international pop culture icons the Blues Brothers.
Links: Downchild Blues Band, More Downchild Stories, Video above courtesy of Downchild Blues Band
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Mike Stevens - Harmonica Player, Composer, Author (signed to Waterdown's Stony Plain Records)
Was named an Officer of the Order of Canada
From the Order of Canada site:
Mike Stevens, O.C., M.S.M.
Point Edward, Ontario
Mike Stevens is a virtuoso harmonica player, composer and author. For more than 40 years, he has entertained audiences nationally and abroad and won acclaim at the world-famous Grand Old Opry in Nashville. His music tours in Canada’s North are the subject of three documentaries that showcase his philanthropy and prodigious musical gifts.
Links: Mike Stevens, Video above courtesy of Mike Stevens - Topic
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Below is a complete list of honourees - Click here for more details.
Music-related nominees are bolded
Members
- Gilbert Donald Walsh, C.M. (Peterborough, Ontario) - Downchild founder
- Greg Wells, C.M. (Winterton, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.) - record producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
- Miloš J. Krajny, C.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - custodian and promoter of Czech musical heritage
- Ebonnie Rowe, C.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - music industry supporter
- Michael Kevin McMahon, C.M. (Montréal, Quebec) - art song and opera
- Michel Cardin, C.M. (Riverview, New Brunswick) - teacher, lecturer, performer and producer of baroque music
- Timothy Joseph Whelan, C.M. (Hamilton, Ontario) - oncologist
- Alexandra Bugailiskis, C.M. (Oakville, Ontario) - diplomat
- Lorraine Greaves, C.M. (Vancouver, British Columbia and Elora, Ontario) - sex and gender-based research
- Earl Raphael Bogoch, C.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - orthopaedic surgeon
- Bruce Alexander Anderson, C.M. (Ottawa, Ontario) - opinion researchers
- Ronald Bisson, C.M. (Ottawa, Ontario) - advocate
- Brian Anthony Crane, C.M., K.C. (Ottawa, Ontario) - lawyer
- Colonel-Maître® Michel William Drapeau, C.M., O.M.M., C.D. - layer (Orléans, Ontario)
- Allison Audrey Eddy, C.M. (Ottawa, Ontario) - professor and clinician scientist
- Kent Farndale, C.M. (Port Perry, Ontario) - civic leader
- Kenneth Wayne Hindmarsh, C.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - pharmacist
- Paul Hindo, C.M., C.D. (Manotick, Ontario) - business leader, entrepreneur and philanthropist
- Milton Israel, C.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - scholar of South Asian studies
- Nathan Leon Leipciger, C.M., M.S.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - Holocaust education
- Claudette McGowan, C.M. (Aurora, Ontario) - information technology
- Ashleigh Bernard Molloy, C.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - expert on developmental disabilities
- Glenn Kevin Murphy, C.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - leader in the consumer sector
- David F. Pelly, C.M., C.D. (Ottawa, Ontario) - preserving and honouring Indigenous history and customs
- Susan Peterson d’Aquino, C.M. (Ottawa, Ontario) - public servant, arts patron and philanthropist
- Vincenzo Pietropaolo, C.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - social documentary photographer
- The Honourable Robert William Runciman, C.M., O.Ont. (Brockville, Ontario) - politics
- Chris G. Tambakis, C.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - commercial real estate
- Homer Chin-nan Tien, C.M., O.M.M., C.D. (Toronto, Ontario) - trauma surgeon
- Marc-André Blanchard, C.M. (Montréal, Quebec) - lawyer, ambassador
- Jacques Bouchard, C.M. (La Malbaie, Quebec) - allergies and respiratory illnesses specialist
- Ronald Joseph Bourgeois, C.M., O.N.S. (Halifax, Nova Scotia) - multidisciplinary artist
- Jackson Maurice Brodsky, C.M., S.O.M. (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) - Saskatoon Blades Western Hockey League
- Brian Bronfman, C.M., O.Q. (Montréal, Quebec) - mediator
- Freda Lang Browns, C.M. (Montréal, Quebec) - philanthropist
- Roy Keith Byram, C.M., O.Y. (Marsh Lake, Yukon)- construction & mining engineer
- Donald Wilfred Campbell, C.M. (Vancouver, British Columbia) - former deputy minister
- Marianne Dubuc, C.M. (Montréal, Quebec) - children’s book author and illustrator
- Elizabeth Rollins Epperly, C.M. (Kentville, Nova Scotia) - scholar and administrator
- Robert Thomas Foster, C.M., A.O.E (Edmonton, Alberta) - pharmaceutical industry
- Albert David Friesen, C.M., O.M. (Winnipeg, Manitoba) - biotechnology
- Élise Gravel, C.M. (Montréal, Quebec) - Children’s book author and illustrator
- Sky Dancer Louise Bernice Halfe, C.M. (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) - poet
- Thomas Peter Caven Irving, C.M. (West Vancouver, British Columbia - potter
- Donald Albert James, C.M., Ruth Louise James, C.M., M.S.C. (North Saanich, British Columbia) - philanthropists
- Robert R. Janes, C.M. (Canmore, Alberta) - museologists
- Barry Frederick Lorenzetti, C.M. (Montréal, Quebec) - insurance industry
- Stephen B. Lucas, C.M. (North Vancouver, British Columbia) - public servant and government leader
- The Honourable J. Michael MacDonald, C.M., O.N.S. (Halifax, Nova Scotia) - Former Chief Justice of Nova Scotia
- Sylvain Martel, C.M., C.D. (L’Île-Bizard, Quebec) - medical nanorobotics
- Kathy Mulder, C.M. (Winnipeg, Manitoba) - physiotherapist
- Jacques Parisien, C.M. (Montréal, Quebec) - communications
- Michel Rabagliati, C.M., C.Q. (Montréal, Quebec) - cartoonist
- George Elliot Rodger, C.M. (Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia) - YMCA leader
- Sharon Diane Brown Ross, C.M. (Halifax, Nova Scotia) - social advocacy and inclusion
- Roderick Raymond Senft, C.M. (Vancouver, British Columbia) - business leader and philanthropist
- Mahesh Chandra Sharma, C.M. (Montréal, Quebec) - philanthropist and leader
- Georges St-Pierre, C.M. (Saint-Isidore, Quebec) - mixed martial artist
- The Honourable Claudette Tardif, C.M., A.O.E. (Edmonton, Alberta) - former senator
- Stephen Adrian White, C.M. (Moncton, New Brunswick) - Acadian genealogy
- Ruth Doreen Williams, C.M., O.B.C. (Kamloops, British Columbia) - community-level economic and social development
Companions
- W. Ford Doolittle, C.C. (Halifax, Nova Scotia) - biologist
- The Honourable John Paul Manley, P.C., C.C. (Ottawa and Rideau Lakes, Ontario) - politician, business leader
Officers
- Mike Stevens, O.C., M.S.M. (Point Edward, Ontario) - harmonica player, composer, author
- Peter Leon Rosenbaum, O.C. (Hamilton, Ontario) - child disability care
- Saroj Saigal, O.C. (Hamilton, Ontario) - neonatology
- Cheryl Forchuk, O.C., O.Ont. (Brantford, Ontario) - mental health, poverty and homelessness research
- Adel S. Sedra, O.C., O.Ont. (Waterloo, Ontario) - microelectronics
- Tom Tak Kin Chau, O.C., O.Ont, M.S.C. (Toronto, Ontario) - pediatric rehabilitation engineering
- F. Stuart Foster, O.C. (Toronto, Ontario) - medical ultrasound
- Miriam Toews, O.C., O.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - writer
- Tonya Williams, O.C. (Toronto, Ontario and Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.) - actor & advocate
- David Alexander Jones, O.C. (Ottawa, Ontario) - health leader
- Maureen Anne McTeer, O.C. (Ottawa, Ontario) - lawyer & author
- Theresa Tam, O.C. (Ottawa, Ontario) - pediatric infectious disease specialist
- John Theodore Nolan, O.C., O.Ont. (Garden River, Ontario) - community leader, NHL player/coach
- Fabrice Pierre Brunet, O.C. (Montréal, Quebec) - physician, researcher, teacher and manager
- Alan Charles Evans, O.C. (Montréal, Quebec) - brain imaging research
- Donald William Hayley, O.C. (Peachland, British Columbia) - permafrost engineer
- Bonnie J. Fraser Henry, O.C., O.B.C. (Victoria, British Columbia) - public health and preventive medicine
- David Norman Weisstub, O.C. (Montréal, Quebec)- mental health law and forensic psychiatry
- Karim Zaghib, O.C. (Longueuil, Quebec) - electrochemist and materials scientist

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