Longtime Peterborough activist, feminist and teacher Rosemary Ganley will be appointed to the Order of Canada at some point later this year.
Ganley was notified of the pending honour via a phone call from the office of Governor General Mary Simon. The ceremony will be held at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall.
Well known for her advocacy on behalf of numerous organizations and cause, Ganley, with her late husband John, founded Jamaican Self-Help that, from 1980 to 2012, took hundreds of Peterborough students and teachers on cultural exchanges to the Caribbean country. Asked for her reaction to her pending appointment, Ganley says “they really reached into the grassroots for this one.”
Ganley has never shied away from being a role model to young people and isn’t about to start now.
At 87, Ganley has slowed down a bit but she’s fine with that.
In 2018, Ganley received the YMCA Peace Medal, followed in 2022 by an honourary degree bestowed by Trent University.
(Written by: Paul Rellinger)
