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
VIDEO
Links: Order of Canada , More Order of Canada Stories , Video above courtesy of Rogers tv
---------
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 .
VIDEO
Links: Downchild Blues Band , More Downchild Stories , Video above courtesy of Downchild Blues Band
----------
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.
VIDEO
Links: Mike Stevens , Video above courtesy of Mike Stevens - Topic
---------
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 founderGreg Wells , C.M. (Winterton, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.) - record producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalistMiloš J. Krajny, C.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - custodian and promoter of Czech musical heritage Ebonnie Rowe , C.M. (Toronto, Ontario) - music industry supporterMichael Kevin McMahon , C.M. (Montréal, Quebec) - art song and operaMichel Cardin , C.M. (Riverview, New Brunswick) - teacher, lecturer, performer and producer of baroque musicTimothy 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, authorPeter 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