Greater Sudburians to receive Order of Ontario today

Three Sudburians — Gerry Lougheed Jr., Peter Crossgrove, and Jean Gagnon — will become members of the Order of Ontario today, Jan. 28.

The announcement was made Jan. 25 by the office of Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

The Order of Ontario is the province’s highest honour, according to the website for the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.

“These individuals have opened their minds to new possibilities and, as a result, have gone above and beyond to change our province, our country, and the world for the better,” Onley said in a press release.

Being named to the Order is “pretty exciting, pretty humbling,” Lougheed said. “I’d like to think I represent an awful lot of Sudburians and Canadians who get up every day and decide to make a difference.”

Lougheed has chaired the Heart and Soul Campaign, raised funds for Easter Seals, co-chaired the Crash 69 Committee, and also co-chaired the It’s Time Committee with Rick Bartolucci, Sudbury MPP, regarding Greater Sudbury’s one-site hospital.

Helping others is something that Gagnon began doing when he started working as a labourer at INCO’s Sinter plant in Copper Cliff in the 50s.

“From the first day he set foot in the building and could hardly see his fellow worker through the thick haze of nickel oxide, he recognized a ticking time bomb,” local author Adelle Larmour wrote in a recently published book about Gagnon’s life.

She wrote his memoirs, Until the End, and chronicled Gagnon’s work as a worker’s rights and compensation activist.
Gagnon lives in Sturgeon Falls, and continues to work compensation cases today.

Crossgrove, who once lived in Sudbury, is the past chair of the Canadian Association of Provincial Cancer Agencies.

According to the Ministry new release, Crossgrove has helped raise millions of dollars for Ontario’s health care and cancer care organizations.

The Order of Ontario consists of people who have been selected from a list of nominees. Anyone can nominate people for the Order, and the Ministry names about 25 people a year. These people are chosen for their work in volunteerism, community support, and social activism.