Open this photo in gallery Order of Canada recipients, clockwise from top left: James Cameron, Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg, Xavier Dolan, Donna Strickland, Stephen Harper and Phillip Crawley. RCMP/The Globe and Mail

A former prime minister, a nun, a movie director, a professor of volcanology, an Inuk leader and a ballerina are among the 120 new appointments to the Order of Canada announced Friday by the Governor-General.

The twice-yearly announcement of one of the country’s highest civilian honours elevates Stephen Harper to the award’s highest tier: Companion of the Order of Canada.

He is joined in that distinction by Donna Strickland, the University of Waterloo professor who last year became just the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics for her research on lasers.

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Joan Hollobon, The Globe and Mail’s medical reporter from 1959 until she retired in 1985, was recognized “for her career in journalism focused on increasing the public’s understanding of scientific concepts related to health and medical advances.”

Globe publisher and chief executive officer Phillip Crawley was made a Member of the Order “for his contributions to journalism and for his innovative leadership in the news publishing industry.” He said there were many people who should be sharing the honour with him.

“I’ve been in the business for more than 50 years and have been blessed by the support and guidance of colleagues, some no longer with us,” he said. “I want to thank the staff of The Globe and Mail over the last 21 years ... I stand on their shoulders. And I want to thank especially my wife and family ... success is only possible through them having my back. This recognition is a tribute to all of the above, and to Canada, a land of opportunity and fairness.”

The arts were well-represented by Xavier Dolan, the Quebec filmmaker who has directed critical favourites such as Mommy and Laurence Anyways; and James Cameron, director of movie blockbusters such as Avatar and Titanic.

The Governor-General also recognized the work of many people not previously well known to most Canadians, such as Sister Sue Mosteller, who for decades helped lead L’Arche, the organization for people with intellectual disabilities.

Sister Mosteller said learning of her appointment was a “shock” and that, as an introvert, she considered whether it was possible to turn the distinction down. “One of the beatitudes says ‘Blessed are the poor,’ and it doesn’t say ‘Blessed are those who care for the poor,’ ” she noted.

But the thought of how much she was given by those with disabilities convinced her to accept. “That came to me quickly and it was really in the name of all these people that I was moved to say yes to this.”

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Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg, a distinguished professor at the University of Manitoba, was honoured for decades of work advancing the screening and treatment of rare genetic disorders among Indigenous populations and the Hutterite and Mennonite communities.

“I am completely overwhelmed and humbled by this honour," she said. "In this day and age, as we grapple with the crises of poverty, homelessness and climate change, to be recognized for being a doctor who works to improve the lives of individuals with very rare genetic disorders and their families sends a very important message: that Canada is committed to fairness and equitable access to new diagnostic tests and to new proven treatments for all Canadians.”

Wanosts’a7 ​Lorna Williams of the Lil’wat Nation in British Columbia was appointed to the Order for her work in Indigenous education and cultural revitalization.

“It is an honour to be accepting the Order of Canada,” she said. “I am especially grateful to those who nominated me and those who acknowledge my work with keeping Indigenous languages thriving and Indigenous knowledge systems in action.”

COMPANIONS OF THE ORDER OF CANADA

James Francis Cameron of Saskatoon and Los Angeles

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Raymond A. J. Chrétien of Montréal (This is a promotion within the Order.)

George A. Cohon of Toronto and Moscow (This is a promotion within the Order.)

The Right Honourable Stephen Joseph Harper of Calgary

Donna Theo Strickland of Waterloo

OFFICERS OF THE ORDER OF CANADA

John Amagoalik of Iqaluit, Nunavut

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Annette av Paul of Montreal and Stratford, Ont.

Raymond Bachand of Montreal

David Osborn Braley of Hamilton

Eddy Carmack of Saanichton, B.C.

John J. Clague of Vancouver

Slava Corn of Toronto

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Jean-Charles Coutu of Rouyn-Noranda, Que.

Donald Bruce Dingwell of Corner Brook, N.L., and Munich, Germany

Michael Donovan of Halifax

Alain-G. Gagnon of Montreal

The Honourable Daniel Hays of Calgary and Ottawa

Mark Henkelman of Toronto

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Joan May Hollobon of Toronto

Daniel Jutras of Montreal

Shoo Kim Lee of Toronto

Thomas E. H. Lee of Victoria and Ottawa

Noni MacDonald of Halifax

Robie W. Macdonald of Victoria

Robin McLeod of Toronto

André Ménard of Montreal

Karen Messing of Montreal

Christine M. Morrissey of Vancouver

Sister Sue M. Mosteller of Toronto

Donald Kenneth Newman of Ottawa (This is a promotion in the Order)

Caroline Ouellette of Montreal

François Paulette of Denendeh (Fort Smith), N.W.T., and Fitzgerald, Alta.

Debra Pepler of Toronto

Heather Maxine Reisman of Toronto (This is a promotion in the Order.)

Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg of Winnipeg

Marcel Sabourin of Montreal

The Reverend Dr. James V. Scott of Ottawa and Toronto

Alain Simard of Montreal

Gilles Ste-Croix of Montreal and Mexico City

Joseph Svoboda of Toronto and Baker Lake, Nunavut

Lorna Wanosts’a7 Williams of Victoria

James V. Zidek of Vancouver

Bernard Zinman of Toronto (This is a promotion in the Order.)

MEMBERS OF THE ORDER OF CANADA

Pita Aatami of Kuujjuaq, Que.

Brian Ahern of Halifax and Nashville, Tenn.

Mathew Baldwin of Edmonton

T. Robert Beamish of Mississauga

Ronald Duncan Besse of Toronto

Paul Born of Waterloo

Maurice Brisson of Montreal

Omer Chouinard of Moncton

Diane Clement of Vancouver

Mitchell Cohen of Toronto

John Collins of Hamilton

The Honourable James Cowan of Halifax and Ottawa

Phillip Crawley of Toronto

Valerie Lynn Creighton of Regina and Toronto

Anne Innis Dagg of Waterloo, Ont., and Hoedspruit, South Africa

Mary Eberle Deacon of Toronto

The Reverend Dr. Cheri DiNovo of Toronto

Xavier Dolan of Montreal

Hugo Eppich of Vancouver

Wayne John Fairhead of Toronto

Ronald Charles Fellows of Toronto

Thomas J. Foran of St. John’s

Eric D. Friesen of Toronto and Ottawa

Berna Valencia Garron, C.M., and Myron Austin Garron of Toronto

Hana Gartner of Toronto

Marie Giguère of Montreal

Katherine Govier of Toronto and Canmore, Alta.

Brigadier-General the Honourable John James Grant (Ret’d) of Halifax

Ken Greenberg of Toronto

Roger D. Grimes of St. John’s

Arshavir Gundjian of Montreal

Sarah Hall of Toronto

Pavel Hamet of Montreal

Peter Harrison of Ottawa

Joyce Louise Hisey of Toronto

Gordon J. Hoffman of Calgary

Steve E. Hrudey of Edmonton

John S. Hunkin of Toronto

Johnny Nurraq Seotaituq Issaluk of Igluligaarjuk and Iqaluit, Nunavut

Peter Kendall of Woodbridge, Ont.

Hal Philip Klepak of Ottawa

Alcides Lanza of Montreal

Cathy Levy of Ottawa

Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia of Vancouver

Derek Lister of Chalk River, Ont., and Fredericton, N.B.

Julie Macfarlane of Windsor

Isabelle Marcoux of Montreal

R. Mohan Mathur of London, Ont.

Donald S. Mavinic of Vancouver

Denyse McCann of Montreal

Séan McCann of Ottawa and St. John’s

Brian Theodore McGeer of Vancouver and Bingen, Wash.

Stuart M. McGill of Waterloo

Anthony Bernard Miller of Toronto

Nadir H. Mohamed of Toronto

Susan Helena Mortimer of Toronto

M. Lee Myers of London, Ont.

Paul Nicklen of Victoria and Kimmirut, Nunavut

The Honourable Donald H. Oliver of Halifax and Ottawa

Brian Stuart Osborne of Kingston

Louis-Frédéric Paquin of Saint-Boniface, Man.

Ralph Pentland of Ottawa

Michael U. Potter of Ottawa

Robert Dick Richmond of Toronto and Montreal

Larry Rosen of Toronto

Janice Sanderson of Winnipeg

Kourken Sarkissian of Toronto

Duncan Gordon Sinclair of Kingston

Harry Sheldon Swain of Ottawa

Beverly Thomson of Toronto

Darren Dennis Throop of Halifax and Toronto

Jennifer Tory of Toronto

Gordon W. Walker of Toronto

Mel Watkins of Toronto

Sheri-D Wilson of Calgary and Vancouver

Lynn Margaret Zimmer of Peterborough, Ont.