Walter Learning (BA'61, MA'63) has been named a member of the Order of Canada for his “leadership in shaping and expanding the scope of theatre in New Brunswick and across Canada, notably as an artistic director.”
"Mr. Learning has spent a career and a lifetime dedicated to artists and to theatre both in New Brunswick and across Canada. He founded Theatre New Brunswick – the province’s leading professional anglophone theatre company – 50 years ago in 1968. His vision was to create a theatre company that toured to all corners of our province. Prior to the establishment of Theatre New Brunswick, professional theatre companies, such as the Canadian Players, only came to New Brunswick every few years. This meant the only opportunities to experience live theatre in the province were through amateur productions put on by schools, universities, and community groups.
Under Mr. Learning’s leadership, the Theatre New Brunswick Young Company was established. The Young Company continues to bring live theatre to schools throughout the province and to give young actors the opportunity to discover and develop their own talents.
Mr. Learning served as artistic director of Theatre New Brunswick from 1968 to 1978 and again from 1995 to 1999. In the years between, he served as head of the theatre section of the Canada Council in Ottawa, and as artistic director of both BC’s Vancouver Playhouse and PEI’s Confederation Centre of the Arts.
Mr. Learning is an artist in his own right – a director, an actor, and a playwright who has worked throughout North America and in Australia for more than half a century. Among many celebrated productions are his collaborations with the late governor-general’s award-winning poet Alden Nowlan, with whom he wrote plays including The Dollar Woman, Frankenstein: The Man Who Became God, and The Incredible Murder of Cardinal Tosca. The plays have been produced many times by companies across the continent, and The Dollar Woman is currently part of the grade 11 English curriculum for anglophone school districts in New Brunswick. They also wrote scripts for television and adapted their plays for CBC radio.
Mr. Learning still regularly directs at Canberra Repertory Society in Australia, and continues to act and direct at theatres across Canada." (Source: Government of New Brunswick Order of New Brunswick website)
"Patricia Bernard (BEd'96, LLB'99) is a Wolastoqey woman, grandmother, lawyer and chief of the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation in northern New Brunswick. She was inducted into the Order for her outstanding achievements in uniting the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick and for her work in the economic development of the Madawaska region.
Her commitment to resolving a 250-year-old specific land claim dispute, for the benefit of her community, has been ongoing for the past 23 years, but this major file is only one of many of her accomplishments.
Focusing on Aboriginal history and law, she earned a degree in education and became the first Wolastoqey woman to graduate with a law degree. She was called to the New Brunswick bar in 2000.
Along with her focus on the land claim, she has served as a councillor for her community since 2007, becoming chief in 2013. While a councillor and legal and governance adviser to her community, Chief Bernard focused much of her time on developing and implementing policies and bylaws that promote transparency, accountability, fairness and good governance.
As chief, she was instrumental in bringing unity to the Wolastoqey Nation. In her first year as chief, Ms. Bernard held the first meeting in her community towards uniting the Wolastoqey communities and was the leading promoter until a unified organization was structured.
Ms. Bernard continues to be instrumental in advocating for the advancement of all Indigenous people of New Brunswick by having Aboriginal and Treaty rights recognized and implemented within this province and in advancing the important work of reconciliation. Self-determination and self-government are continuous goals for Ms. Bernard. Madawaska First Nation’s Grey Rock Power Center is a major economic driver in the region and contributes revenues for not only her community, but also for the local municipality and for the province. The Power Center employs over 300 people from the surrounding region. Ms. Bernard’s exemplary leadership has been recognized by winning numerous awards for their success." (Source: Government of New Brunswick Order of New Brunswick website)
"Robyn Tingley is in her second term as vice-chair of UNB’s Board of Governors. She received the honour for her extraordinary achievements in leadership and her commitment to women’s equality in New Brunswick.
She is an internationally renowned expert whose passion for equity, diversity and inclusion is helping to support gender equality and challenge stereotypes, in New Brunswick and around the world.
Born and raised in Campbellton, she spent many years working abroad as an international executive for a Fortune 100 Company before settling in Rothesay and founding GlassSKY Inc., an organization that works with major employers to support equity, diversity and inclusion strategies.
Along with her work at GlassSKY, she is the honorary lieutenant colonel with the Canadian Armed Forces 37 Service Battalion, and a founder and driving force behind Women for 50%, an initiative that focuses on increasing female representation in the New Brunswick Legislature.
Her work promoting gender diversity has been recognized by Oxford University, where she was one of 30 women globally to pilot a new program on how women can transform leadership and where she keynoted their 2015 International Women’s Day forum. King’s College has recognized her with the Judge J. Elliott Hudson Distinguished Alumni award for her community service, and she was named St. Francis Xavier University’s young alumni of the year.
For her outstanding work driving change in the corporate world, Ms. Tingley was named to the Women Worth Watching list of top female executive trailblazers in Europe and North America, and was selected as one of the 20 Most Powerful & Influential Women in California. She was named by WXN as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women for speaking up and driving change. She is also an author and sought-after speaker who has engaged audiences around the world on topics like women in leadership, embracing young talent, and bias-free workplaces." (Source: Government of New Brunswick Order of New Brunswick website)
"Abraham Walker was a lawyer and journalist whose commitment to civil rights continues to inspire today.
Born in Belleisle in 1851, Mr. Walker was the son of William Walker and Patience Taylor. Mr. Walker’s loyalist ancestor was among the first blacks to settle on the Kingston Peninsula, upriver from Saint John.
It is believed Mr. Walker was educated in the school operated by William Elias Scovil, Anglican rector of Kingston, whose method of shorthand he mastered. As a young man, he worked as a stenographer and secretary for a touring lecturer in various provinces of Canada, the US and Europe. After a studentship in the office of lawyer George Godfrey Gilbert, supporting himself as a shorthand reporter, he attended the National University in Washington, DC, returning to Saint John, law degree in hand.
He was admitted as an attorney of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick in June 1881. He was called to the bar in June 1882.
Mr. Walker opened a law office in Saint John, but the practice struggled and he faced racial discrimination from his white colleagues. This resulted in a decision to move to the United States, heading to Georgia. Within two years, he returned to Saint John and, in October 1892, he was the first student to enrol at the newly organized Saint John Law School – now the University of New Brunswick faculty of law.
He served as the librarian for the Saint John Law Society between 1893 and 1899, was active in federal politics working for both the Conservative and Liberal parties, and, in 1903, he became the first black New Brunswicker to publish a magazine with the publication of Neith, which ran five issues before it ceased publication.
After the collapse of Neith, Mr. Walker founded and promoted the African Civilization Movement, which aimed to recruit educated and skilled blacks from Canada and other developed nations to build a model colony for blacks in Africa. Mr. Walker died of tuberculosis in 1909.
Abraham Beverley Walker received the Order of New Brunswick for his inspiring achievements as one of Canada’s first black lawyers admitted to the bar and for his commitment to civil rights in New Brunswick and across North America." (Source: Government of New Brunswick Order of New Brunswick website)
An official investiture ceremony will be held at Government House in Fredericton this month.
