12-05-2025
Order of Manitoba appointees announced
The Manitobans announced as the next recipients of the province's highest honour include a hypothermia expert, the co-owner of a production company, the head of St. Boniface Street Links, an Indigenous elder, a business executive and philanthropist, and a former senator.
Twelve Manitobans will receive the Order of Manitoba in a ceremony at the Manitoba Legislative Building on July 17. The order honours people 'who have demonstrated excellence and achievement, thereby enriching the social, cultural or economic well-being of the province and its residents.'
One of the twelve incoming members is former University of Manitoba professor Gordon Giesbrecht, a leading authority on hypothermia, ice safety and cold-water immersion survival dubbed Professor Popsicle. Rebecca Gibson — the co-owner of Eagle Vision and an award-winning actor, writer, director and producer — will also be joining the order. Marion Willis is also being appointed. She created St. Boniface Street Links, which helps homeless people, and founded Morberg House, a transitional home for men dealing with homelessness, addiction and mental-health issues.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES
Gordon Giesbrecht. a.k.a. Professor Popsicle, beside water tanks in his office and research lab at the University of Manitoba in December 2023. Giesbrecht, who retired soon after, is being appointed to the Order of Manitoba.
Ken Paupanekis, an elder from Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation (also known as Norway House), has 'tirelessly worked toward Indigenous language revitalization,' a Monday news release said. He has helped develop language programs through his fluency in Cree, Anishinaabe, English and French. Business executive and philanthropist Walter Schroeder has pledged more than $500 million to support educational causes through the Schroeder Foundation. Another appointee, Maria Chaput, was the first franco-Manitoban woman in the Senate.
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The other six appointees are:
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