At the request of the Governor General of Canada, a well-known local volunteer received one of our country’s highest honours in the place her hard work and determination helped create.
Friday afternoon at Nipissing Serenity Hospice, the Honourable Edith Dumont, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, invested Mathilde Françoise Gravelle-Bazinet into the Order of Canada (see video below), which recognizes people across all sectors of society who have made extraordinary and sustained contributions to Canada.
Gravelle-Bazinet called it a "privilege to receive the highest honour in Canada in our Serenity Hospice, surrounded by my family, close friends, our extraordinary palliative care team and many of our dedicated volunteers."
"This is beyond my wildest dreams. I have to pinch myself. Is this real? Or, have I already gone to my eternal reward?" she asked.
Gravelle-Bazinet, who remains Serenity Hospice's director emeritus, shared with the dozens assembled that the next patient admitted would be the hospice's 400th since its inception in 2020.
"It was my ambition to build a residential hospice in a peaceful, park-like location for the benefit of our Nipissing and East Parry Sound people," she continued. "No one should die alone. And thanks to our compassionate and dedicated staff, no one does in our hospice."
Introduced by Lucie Moncion, the Canadian senator who nominated Gravelle-Bazinet, the Lieutenant Governor saluted her decades of service and contributions to health care, justice and education.
"It's a great honour for me to stand up this afternoon with all of you, and especially with you," Dumont said with a nod to Gravelle-Bazinet.
"As the representative of the Crown in Ontario, it's a real privilege to join citizens, friends, and your family during important moments in the life of our province. Moments in which we can honour and draw inspiration from people who have truly made a difference. Those who have positively impacted the lives of others. Those who have uplifted the people around them ... and are an inspiration to many."
In June 2023, Gravelle-Bazinet was one of 60 Members appointed to the Order of Canada by Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, who also announced the appointment of three Companions and 22 Officers. One appointment is a promotion within the Order.
Since its creation in 1967, the Order of Canada has honoured more than 7,800 people whose service has shaped our society, whose innovations have ignited our imaginations, and whose compassion has united our communities.
See related: Chair of Nipissing Serenity Hospice receives prestigious Senator's Award
This is not the first accolade for the hard-working local volunteer. In 2017, Gravelle-Bazinet was one of 12 Franco-Ontarians nominated by Senator Moncion to receive a prestigious award from the Senate for their work in "helping to improve the lives of their fellow citizens and promote their communities beyond their borders."
Gravelle-Bazinet is no stranger to volunteer work, as was pointed out during that 2017 ceremony.
"I was a commissioner with the ONTC from 2004 to 2011. I've done a lot of volunteer work in the nursing field, being on various committees," she said then.
"When I was in Ottawa, I did a lot of volunteer work with women who had been abused. And, as a young nurse, I did a lot of volunteer work in a very poor section of Gatineau. We had set up a network to be able to provide care to families that were not getting the medical care they needed."
— With files from Chris Dawson.
