Five “trailblazing” Nova Scotians will be presented with the Order of Nova Scotia at a ceremony on Nov. 26 at Province House in Halifax, Lt.-Gov. Arthur J. LeBlanc announced Friday.
The Order of Nova Scotia is the highest honour that can be awarded by the province and recognizes those who have distinguished themselves in many fields and brought honour and prestige to themselves and their province.
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The recipients include Francis Dorrington, Dr. Noni MacDonald and Ann MacLean. The honour is also being posthumously bestowed upon Elizabeth Cromwell and David McKeage.
“These five outstanding Nova Scotians have worked hard to improve the lives of all our citizens through their exemplary dedication and commitment,” said LeBlanc, chancellor of the Order of Nova Scotia, in a media release.
Cromwell was an African Nova Scotian and a Black Loyalist. On the province’s website, Cromwell’s biography says she spent the majority of her career as a caseworker supervisor with the Shelburne County Children’s Aid Society. She was also dedicated to volunteering for organizations across the province.
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In the 1980s, Cromwell fought against environmental racism and a proposed landfill in her community, which led to the formation of the Shelburne County Cultural Awareness Society in 1989. The society successfully blocked the proposed landfill, which would have destroyed valuable African Nova Scotian archaeological items and records.
McKeage was a four-time cancer survivor who helped mobilize a team of Nova Scotians to join him in his pursuit of opening Brigadoon Village. The facility is now a year-round medical recreation facility in the Annapolis Valley for children and youth living with chronic health conditions and other life challenges as well as their families.
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Another recipient, Dorrington, grew up in a racially segregated Nova Scotia in the 1930s and ’40s. One of his first permanent jobs was working as a Via Rail porter, one of the few rail jobs available to black men at the time. His public service career sets him apart as a trailblazer as Dorrington was the first African Nova Scotian elected to public office in New Glasgow.
According to the province, MacDonald is considered a pioneer in the medical community in Canada and internationally. She was the first pediatrician in Canada to be certified in pediatric infectious diseases by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
MacDonald has also penned over 400 peer-reviewed publications and was the founding editor-in-chief of the journal Pediatrics and Child Health, the first Canadian pediatric journal, from 1996 to 2016.
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MacLean is a mental health therapist, social worker, addictions treatment supervisor and director. She has worked to provide community-based workshops, group homes and support services to those in need.
According to the province, 99 recipients have been given the Order of Nova Scotia since it was established in June 2001.
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