February 1, 2012
To coincide with the celebration of Black History Month in Canada, Canada Post has issued two new stamps to honour cowboy John Ware and civil rights icon Viola Desmond. Desmond, the owner of a beauty parlour in Nova Scotia, bought a ticket to watch a movie in the Roseland theatre in New Glasgow in 1945. After refusing to leave the "white-only" section, she was dragged off to jail. Convicted and fined for defrauding the province of the one-cent tax required to sit in that section of the theatre, Desmond was outraged at the racism she'd experienced and continued to fight her case in court. It was only in recent years that Desmond was pardoned by a rare Royal Prerogative in Nova Scotia.

Viola Desmond was recognized as a Canadian heroine in 2011 by inclusion in the new book 100 More Canadian Heroines.

Rosalee Peppard (Facebook)

Theme Song for Titantic 100

January 28, 2012
With the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic coming up on April 15, 2012, the Titanic 100 committee is gearing up for many special events. Maritime singing sensation Rosalee Peppard, commissioned to write and perform the theme song for the anniversary, performed her new song this week at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. The talented singer and song-writer has also created a half-hour musical tribute to Hilda Slayter, a Haligonian who managed to survive the sinking of the ill-fated ship. Peppard is well-known as a musical oral herstoria, the Voice of Nova Scotia.

More:
Rosalee Peppard, official website.

Sarah Burke (Facebook)

Tragic Death of Sarah Burke

January 19, 2012
Freestyle skier Sarah Burke died today in Salt Lake City, Utah after a serious accident last week. More:

Freestyle skier Sarah Burke dies, CBC

Sarah Burke: Too young, too smart, to go that way, National Post

Freestyle ski icon Sarah Burke ‘lived life to the fullest,’ dies nine days after crash, Vancouver Sun

Bomb Girls Debuts

A new six-part series about Canadian women in World War Two premiered on Global TV on January 4, 2012. Bomb Girls depicts a group of women working in a munitions factory in Toronto during the war. The series features actress Meg Tilly, playing the shop matron who oversees women working on the assembly line. Other cast members include Charlotte Hegele, Ali Liebert, Jodi Balfour and Anastasia Phillips. Bomb Girls was created by Adrienne Mitchell and Janis Lundman.

Global created a cool interactive website related to the series. Be sure to check it out! A wide variety of fascinating videos, such as Life in a Boarding House (interview with Louise Johnson, a woman who lived in one during the war), Fashion File (featuring 48 archival photos), Easy Listening with the Gramophone (explanations from curator Samantha George),The Wardrobe (interview with the costume designer for the series), These Walls Have Ears (interview with the art director, chatting about the rooming house), Signs of the Time, etc. And there is also an opportunity for actual Bomb Girls to share their experiences and WWII stories.

Bomb Girls, from GlobalTV.

Bomb Girls (Global Television)

Top 20 - Canadian Women in the News 2011

Canadian women made headlines across the country in 2011, in some cases making history. This list includes individuals and also groups of women who made news – in everything from arts and entertainment to sports and politics. Random order, from serious accomplishments and deaths to trivia.

Please let me know if you have any comments on the list! You can post on my facebook page or or send an email.

1.

Esi Eduygan (Handout)

Canadian author Esi Eduygan had an incredible year, winning the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize (with a cheque for $50,000) for her novel Half-Blood Blues. The Calgary-born writer was also a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction prize, and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction.

2. Freestyle skier Jennifer Heil was selected by The Canadian Press as female athlete of 2011, winning the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award. Heil earned numerous Olympic medals and World Cup titles during her stellar career and is now an enthusiastic supporter of the Because I am a Girl Campaign. (See the book 100 Canadian Heroines for the story of Bobbie Rosenfeld.)

3. Green Party leader Elizabeth May made history in Canada's general election on May 2, 2011, becoming the first member of her party to be elected to the House of Commons.

4. Ann Southham, a prominent female composer, died in 2011 and willed $14 million to the Canadian Women’s Foundation. This was the largest donation ever made to a women’s organization in Canada.

5. Kathy Dunderdale led the Progessive Conservatives in Newfoundland and Labrador to an impressive win in the province in October, returning the party to its third consecutive term. Dunderdale became the first woman in the history of the province to lead her party to electoral victory in the house of assembly.

6.

Avril Lavigne

Napanee’s Avril Lavigne beat out Justin Beiber for her rate of racking up followers on Facebook, placing first for Canadian performers in the music industry – and third around the globe, after Rhianna (in first place) and Bob Marley (second). Avril Lavigne’s new CD, “Goodbye Lullaby,” reached number 4 on the Billboard chart in 2011.

7. Canadian women ski jumpers will be competing in Japan! After years of lobbying and legal wrangling that failed to get women jumping at the 2010 Vancouver Games, the International Olympic Committee announced it will permit women to compete in ski jumping in the 2014 Sochi Games.

Canadian athlete Kate Willis was among the many women who was ecstatic at the news. "I still can't believe it in some ways …This has been a long fight to get here," she said.

8. Activists are still fighting for investigations relating to hundreds of missing and murdered aboriginal women. The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) and the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) announced in December that the United Nations will conduct an inquiry. Hearings for the British Columbia Missing Women Commission of Inquiry began this year, but many organizations refused to be involved because of the lack of public legal funding.

9. Women are making waves in politics in Alberta. On October 1, 2011, Alison Redford was elected leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party. She became Alberta's 14th premier. When Redford runs in the next provincial election in Alberta, she’ll be facing another powerful woman: Danielle Smith. Elected leader of the Wildrose Party back in 2009, the popular politician claims that under her leadership membership has risen from 11,000 to 30,000.

10. A native woman who lived in Kahnawake in the 17th century is nearing sainthood. An announcement from the Vatican in December 2011 indicated that Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) will soon become North America's first aboriginal saint. (Read about Kateri Tekakwith in the book 100 Canadian Heroines.)

Kateri Tekakwitha

11. Betty Fox, who continued her son Terry’s crusade to raise money for cancer research, died in June.

12. Christy Clark succeeded Gordon Campbell as leader of the BC Liberal Party, and was sworn in as Premier of British Columbia on March 14th, 2011.

13. Dr. Monique Dubé received Canadian Geographic’s 2011 Environmental Scientist of the Year Award in recognition of her important research regarding aquatic ecosystems.

14. Female presenters of the news were themselves making headlines this year. Dawna Friesen, at Global TV, and then CTV’s Lisa LaFlamme became the first two women to anchor weeknight national newscasts in Canada on a regular, full-time basis.

15. Scientist/astronaut Dr. Roberta Bondar and Canadian actress Sandra Oh were among the 2011 inductees for Canada’s Walk of Fame. Sandra Oh can be seen on Grey’s Anatomy, a television show which Canadians rated as the third most popular program they watched in 2011 (after The Big Bang Theory and American Idol.)

16. Canadian singer Meaghan Smith won a 2011 Juno Award for Best New Artist, and her new album was named Best Pop Recording of the Year at the 2011 East Coast Music Awards. (Check out her music at http://www.meaghansmith.com.)

17. Remember Maria Aragon? This pint-sized fan of Lady Gaga loves to sing like her idol, and posted one of her songs on YouTube: Born This Way. Maria’s rendition of the popular tune became the third most-watched YouTube video for Canadians in 2011. YouTube

More than 45 million people have viewed this video! Lady Gaga was so impressed with Maria that she arranged for the two to perform a duet together during a concert in Toronto.

18. Canadian actress Meg Tilly returned to the stage after a 15-year break to focus on family and writing. Popular in The Big Chill (1983) and nominated for an Oscar in Agnes of God, she now lives in Victoria and performed there in Blue Bridge’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? this year. In January 2012 the actress will be starring in Bomb Girls, a new drama series for Global TV about women working in a World War Two munitions factory.

19.

Michelle Thrush

Calgarian Michelle Trush won the 2011 Gemini Award for Best Performance by an actress in a leading dramatic role. The First Nations actress stars in the series Blackstone, which appears the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

20. Canada lost the country’s first prima ballerina, when Lois Smith died in Sechelt, British Columbia at the age of 81. (Read about Lois Smith in the book 100 More Canadian Heroines.)