Dr. Margo Greenwood, Order of Canada recipient (Photo credit: UNBC)

By Pete McIntyre

National honour

Vernon resident honoured with Order of Canada

Dec 30, 2021 | 10:21 AM

A Vernon resident is one of the latest recipients of the Order of Canada, recognizing outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.

Dr. Margo Greenwood, who has been a professor at the University of Northern B.C. in Prince George for 25 years, was honoured for her contributions over thirty-plus years in early childhood care and education of Indigenous children and public health.

Greenwood, an Indigenous woman of Cree ancestry, told Vernon Matters in an interview, she was pleasantly surprised when she was told by a government official that she was to receive the award.

“I was just shocked, I was so surprised, I was almost speechless. I said ‘I honestly don’t know what to say to you, other than thank you.'”

Her bio at UNBC said Greenwood’s academic work crosses many disciplines and sectors, but she is particularly recognized regionally, provincially, nationally and internationally for her work in early childhood care and education of Indigenous children and public health.

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“Margo has served on numerous national and provincial federations, committees and assemblies, and has undertaken work with UNICEF, the United Nations, and the Canadian Reference Group to the World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants,” the bio stated.

Greenwood said she is proud to be standing in the company of the other Order recipients.

“It’s an amazing group of individuals, and in my journey, there are many people who have supported me, believed in me, helped me, so when I have this award and this honour, I don’t see it as just for me, I see it for all of those people that were a part of my journey in this work.”

Greenwood said her work has always focused on the health and well being of children and families — First Nations, Inuit and Metis children and families specifically — but not exclusively.

“And I’ve also done a lot of work in anti-Indigenous racism through better help policy, so on the early childhood front I’ve certainly been part of the co-authoring of the [United Nations] General Comment No. 11 for the convention on the rights of the child, so that’s a policy that’s been used around the world.”

More recently, Greenwood was part of creating the Indigenous early learning and child care that supports child care in First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities across Canada.

“Really exciting piece of work in that it emphasized distinctions-based initiatives and also focuses on self-determination, really bringing that decision making closer to home so that families and communities have a greater voice in what happens for their children,” Greenwod remarked.

At one point in her career, Greenwood moved from Vernon to Prince George to be able to work at the university, but she now lives in Vernon and commutes to her job, or works virtually.

“My connection to Vernon is long. I’ve lived here on two or three different occasions in my lifetime. I used to work at the school district…for five years, so Vernon is home to me since I’ve been in British Columbia.”

The Order of Canada began in 1967, and recognized 135 people this year.

“Those who bear the Order’s iconic snowflake insignia have changed our nation’s measure of success and, through the sum of their accomplishments, have helped us build a better Canada,” a government news release stated.

Click here to see the full list of recipients.