Three Guelphites have been appointed to the Order of Canada for their work in research and philanthropy.
Among them are Louise MacCallum and Michael Barnstijn, two local philanthropists who have donated more than $80 million to various causes, particularly environmental and cultural initiatives.
According to a Globe and Mail article from 2000, they made millions as employees and stockholders at Waterloo-based tech company Research In Motion Ltd.
In 2000, they made charity history by donating $13 million to a Kitchener-Waterloo foundation and local children’s museum – the largest gift ever made by a living donor to a Canadian community foundation at the time. They are also the founders of the Musagetes foundation for the arts and the rare Charitable Research Reserve urban land trust.
Based in Guelph, Musagetes promotes the arts and artistic creativity as tools for social transformation.
Barnstijn and MacCallum regularly contribute to the Guelph Hiking Trail Club, as well as the Stonefields and Musagetes bridges that span Hopewell and Cox creeks, intersecting the Kissing Bridge Trailway between Guelph and the Grand River.
The third appointee is Carlton Gyles, a professor emeritus at the Ontario Veterinary College who helped the university achieve its status as a top training centre worldwide.
According to the University of Guelph, Gyles is a distinguished professor of veterinary pathology “who has made a lifetime of outstanding contributions to understanding how” E. coli causes disease in both animals and people.
“He is one of the world’s authorities on this topic,” the U of G’s website says. “His advocacy for science and the wise counsel for which he is known is shown in his ongoing leadership role in the Canadian Research Network on Bacterial Diseases of Swine and in the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety.”
Gyles was awarded the prestigious Canadian Veterinary Medical Association President’s Award for his tireless contributions in 2021.
He graduated from the OVC in 1964 and earned a PhD in the UK and Denmark in 1968. He joined the OVC faculty the following year, where he taught students and conducted research for 36 years. He’s also held roles like chair, dean of graduate students and interim dean of the OVC.
Gyles represented veterinary medicine as a founding Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2005 and served on the board for years. He was the editor-in-chief of the Canadian Veterinary Journal from 2008 to 2020.
The Order of Canada is one of the nation’s highest honours, recognizing people across all sectors of society who have made extraordinary contributions to the country.
You can see the full list of new appointees here.
