2012 Order of New Brunswick recipients

Calixte Duguay is one of New Brunswick’s, Acadia’s and Canada’s greatest artistic treasures. Born in Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer (today Sainte-Marie–Saint-Raphaël) on Lamèque Island in 1939, Duguay has been a multi-disciplinary fixture in the arts and letters of Acadia since the 1960s.

Throughout his more-than four decade career as an author, musician, composer, producer, playwright and television host, Duguay has brought the sounds and spirit of Acadia to audiences throughout New Brunswick, Canada, the United States and Europe.

Duguay’s body of work has brought him much acclaim and many awards.  He received the prestigious Prix littéraire quinquennial Antonine-Maillet-Acadie-Vie in 2008 and in 2009 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada for his multifaceted career and his impact on Acadian and Canadian music. He was also honoured with the Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for High Achievement in the Arts (Music) in 2010.

For his incredible body of work across many artistic disciplines and especially to Acadian literature and music, Calixte Duguay is receiving the Order of New Brunswick for 2012.

Raymond Fraser is one of the most prolific and distinct voices in Atlantic Canadian literature. Born in Chatham, Fraser attended St. Thomas University and was co-founder of the student literary magazine, Tom-Tom. After graduation, he worked in a range of professions from lab technician to high school teacher, and as an editor and freelance newspaper writer.

Fraser has lived and worked in Montreal, Paris, Dublin, Spain and New Brunswick, but his writing is centred in his Chatham upbringing and New Brunswick experiences. He currently lives in Fredericton. To date, Fraser has written and/or edited twenty-two books, including numerous works of fiction, two biographies, a memoir and six books of poetry.

His stories and poetry has been prominently featured in a number of Canadian literature anthologies and he was an editor for the Atlantic Canadian poetry anthology, East of Canada. In 2009 he received the inaugural Lieutenant-Governor's Award for High Achievement in English Literary Arts.

Raymond Fraser is receiving the Order of New Brunswick for his distinct contributions to literature and New Brunswick’s cultural life.

Early in 1999, Cindy Hewitt, owner of Hillsborough Fashions, organized the first Hillsborough Fashions Gala Event to raise funds for the Katherine Wright Wellness Centre and the breast health programs of the Horizon Health Network.

Through the dedication and hard work of Hewitt and her team of committed volunteers, 2012 marks the Gala's 14th year in funding vital breast cancer services, education and treatment.  The event has raised a total of more than $450,000. The gala is as much about music and entertainment as it is in drawing awareness to breast cancer and the need to raise monies to combat this deadly disease.

Her level of dedication is shown by the singular fact she organized the 2012 event while continuing her own battle with cancer for the third time, planning her treatments around her work on the gala.

Cindy Hewitt is receiving the Order of New Brunswick for her dedication to her community and to the cause of ending breast cancer for the women of our province.

Arthur Irving grew up in Saint John and attended Acadia University before joining Irving Oil in 1951. He worked with his father, K.C. Irving, and his brothers Jim and Jack in the Irving companies, becoming president of Irving Oil in 1972. He is now Chairman of the oil company.

Throughout his career, Irving has demonstrated a strong enthusiasm for business, people, the environment, education and his community. Irving Oil grew into new markets while retaining a strong customer focus as well as a commitment to improving the environment. Under his leadership, Irving Oil was the first oil company to receive a US Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Excellence Award.

He has a strong interest in wetlands preservation and has served for 30 years on the board of directors of Ducks Unlimited, also serving for two years as president. Under his presidency, the organization reached a significant milestone in signing the North American Waterfowl Management Plan in 1986.

Arthur Irving’s deep commitment to his province is evident in every region of New Brunswick. His strong leadership, interest and enthusiasm for the environment and for New Brunswick’s history led him to partner with Acadia University and Ducks Unlimited in the creation of the Beaubassin Research Station in Aulac, which officially opened this summer. 

In 2002, Arthur Irving was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Arthur Irving is receiving the Order of New Brunswick for his lifelong work as a builder of our province’s economy and for his devotion to preserving our natural environment.

Audrey Lampert is a career educator in Moncton and for more than four decades has been a tireless community volunteer and advocate for the rights of others.

As a young Jewish mother serving on the Moncton District School Board as an elected representative of the public, she challenged the district’s employment of a well-known teacher who wrote anti-Semitic books. Despite being marginalized and harassed herself, she persevered and the teacher was eventually removed from the classroom. Her struggle to be heard shaped her drive to work for those who are targets of harassment and discrimination.

In her career as an educator, Lampert has worked tirelessly to make education a safe, welcoming and effective environment for all children in her care.  For many years, she has fought in support of minority language rights and for the retention of the Early French Immersion program in the Greater Moncton region and in the province.  For many years in School District 2 she worked in a variety of roles - as a principal, vice-principal and teacher, having previously worked as an instructor in the New Brunswick Community College.

Lampert has participated in many public speaking engagements focusing on education and human rights issues, and has been an active volunteer for numerous community and human rights organizations. In 2007, she was appointed to the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission and was honoured for her work on behalf of human rights by the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center of Toronto.

Audrey Lampert is receiving the Order of New Brunswick for her career as an educator and her deep commitment to promoting human rights here at home and across Canada.

Raymond Lagacé has been synonymous with the Village of Atholville for more than four decades. Until he stepped down as mayor this spring, he was the only mayor many of its citizens had ever known. First elected to the village’s highest office in 1971, Lagacé has devoted his entire life to making the place he loves better and stronger.

With the support and cooperation of generations of Atholville residents and his fellow councilors, Lagacé presided over the development of his village into a retail and commercial centre for the entire Restigouche Region. He has been lauded by the business community and for his collaborative spirit by regional leaders who have worked with him over the decades. The people he served with on council and those he worked with both within the village, in the community and the broader region know him as a man of great integrity, energy and spirit.

For this lifetime of service to his village and region, Raymond Lagacé is receiving the Order of New Brunswick.

Salem Masry completed his PhD studies in photogrammetry and surveying at University College London. He immigrated to Canada in 1966 and joined the University of New Brunswick, becoming an Assistant Professor in 1970.

In 1975, Masry initiated a series of graduate and undergraduate courses in digital mapping, which became the basis for UNB's Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Program. He became a full professor in 1979. 

That year, Dr. Masry developed a prototype for digital mapping software. The software was called CARIS, or Computer Aided Resource Information System. He found Universal Systems/CARIS to take his vision of digital mapping into the private sector.

Dr. Masry left UNB in 1982 to concentrate on his growing company. For more than 30 years, CARIS has designed and built marine and coastal mapping software for a broad base of clients operating in the marine, land and aviation sectors worldwide.

Dr. Masry was appointed to the Order of Canada earlier this year for his contributions as an innovator and entrepreneur in geographical information and digital mapping. He is receiving the Order of New Brunswick as a New Brunswick innovator and pioneering entrepreneur in digital mapping technology who built his firm CARIS into a world leader in the field.

Philip Sexsmith is a career educator who founded and lead Characters Incorporated, a youth-based performance troupe which produced high-quality music and theatrical productions. Under his leadership and guidance, Characters Incorporated represented New Brunswick and Canada internationally throughout the 1980s and 90s. In addition, he has worked on numerous other youth productions with Leo Hayes High School and the Theatre New Brunswick Theatre School.

Over the decades, countless young people have benefited from his mentorship in theatre. His approach to creating and developing Characters Incorporated not only resulted in the production of high-level performances, but also developed discipline, social skills and artistic development in its young members. The “Characters” legacy includes numerous professional artists, arts educators and administrators working in the creative arts today in the province and across Canada.

Sexsmith began his career as an educator with School District 18 in Fredericton before moving on to teach in the Faculty of Education at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. He received the Canada 125 Medal in 1992, the Fredericton Distinguished Citizen Award in 1994, the 2006 Allan P. Stuart Award for Excellence in Teaching at UNB for his academic achievements and was named the 2010 recipient of the Playhouse Honours.

As a decorated, career educator, for his work as a founder of Characters Incorporated, and as a teacher and mentor of young theatrical talent, Philip Sexsmith is being invested into the Order of New Brunswick.

Ann-Marie Tingley has devoted more than 50 years of her life to the betterment of life in New Brunswick, devoting her great energy especially to improve the lives of the intellectually challenged.

It was after her marriage and move from her hometown of Quispamsis to Campbellton that she became aware of the needs of the intellectually challenged, living near a school for the intellectually challenged and working with and getting to know its students. Her lobbying of the government lead to the establishment in 1976 of group homes on the Miramichi to house de-institutionalized young intellectually challenged young people and to help them learn skills to reintegrate into their communities.

During her five decades of service, Tingley has been elected or appointed to a number of senior positions of leadership at the local, provincial and national levels with the Canadian Association of Community Living and has received a number of awards and honours for her work. 

Her advocacy, vision and fundraising abilities have contributed to and advanced programs, services and education opportunities for the intellectually challenged here and across Canada.

She has also contributed greatly to her community through fundraising and volunteer work for her church, home and school associations, Theatre New Brunswick the Victorian Order of Nurses, the Restigouche Art Gallery, New Brunswick Museum and more.

Ann-Marie Tingley is receiving the Order of New Brunswick for her lifetime of work as a community volunteer and crusader for those with intellectual challenges.

Drummond's own Ron Turcotte is one of the greatest jockeys to have ever worn racing silks. Turcotte began his career in Toronto in 1960, but he was soon wearing the silks and winning races. As an apprentice jockey he rode the great Northern Dancer to his first victory. He gained prominence with his victory aboard Tom Rolfe in the 1965 Preakness Stakes. In 1972 he rode Riva Ridge to victory in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes.

Turcotte became internationally famous in 1973 when he rode Secretariat to win the first Triple Crown in 25 years. He became the first jockey to win back-to-back Kentucky Derbys since 1902 and is the only jockey to ever have won five of the six consecutive Triple Crown races. He was inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame in 1974.

Turcotte's career ended in 1978 after his horse fell at the start of a race at Belmont Park which left him a paraplegic. He was immediately inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1979 and in 1980 was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Turcotte saw victories in more than 3,000 races during his career.

Following his accident and retirement from racing, Turcotte became a tireless advocate for persons with disabilities and fundraiser for disability programs. In addition to becoming the first member of the racing community appointed to the Order of Canada, he has been inducted into a number of racing halls of fame and has received many prestigious awards for his racing and for his work for persons with disabilities.

For his remarkable career on the track and his advocacy on behalf of others, Ron Turcotte is being inducted into the Order of New Brunswick.