Hon. Janice C. Filmon, C.M., O.M.

A visionary leader and a champion of humanitarian causes, Janice Filmon is Manitoba’s 25th lieutenant-governor, only the second woman to serve as the Queen’s official representative in the province.

To honour the profound influence of the early suffragists, Filmon served as the founding chair of the Nellie McClung Foundation, successfully leading the campaign to install a monument of the organization’s namesake on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislative Building.

She has earned the respect and admiration of the community in advancing causes that enhance the entire community and beyond, including health, education, human rights and voluntarism

Long dedicated to her community, she took on leadership roles benefitting a variety of major organizations including the Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice, CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, Winnipeg Airports Authority, Manitoba Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Manitoba Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer.

Filmon’s extensive experience in the non-profit sector strengthened her respect for the importance of voluntarism, and the vital contributions that volunteers make to our society and provincial identity. She was co-chair of Leadership Winnipeg and the founding chair of Manitoba A.L.I.V.E. (A Leadership Initiative in Voluntary Efforts).

The inaugural chair of the Winnipeg Festival of Trees, she also served as president of the Junior League of Winnipeg, and co-chair of the Federation of Junior Leagues of Canada. Always mindful of the impact of dynamic, large-scale community projects and keen to support them, Filmon was the chair of festivals for the 1999 Pan American Games and a member of Toronto’s 2008 Olympic Bid Committee.

Despite her long record of achievement, Janice Filmon is not one to court the spotlight, but her contributions to the betterment of her community have earned many prestigious awards and inspired the establishment of others. The Manitoba Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation (now CancerCare Manitoba) awarded her its Guardian Angel Award and partnered with Great-West Life to create the Janice C. Filmon Award, presented to a Manitoba health care professional who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in cancer care.
She was the 2006 recipient of the Variety Club’s Gold Heart Humanitarian of the Year award. She was awarded an honorary doctorate in canon law by St. John’s College in 2007 and an honorary doctorate of law by the University of Manitoba in 2011.

For her exceptional contributions to Manitoba and beyond, Filmon received the Order of Manitoba in 2007 and the Order of Canada in 2013.