Twelve British Columbians honoured with Order of B.C., province's highest honour, on B.C. Day
Recipients include forensic entomologist Gail Anderson, heart transplant survivor Marc Bains, and former Chief Justice Robert Bauman, recognized for decades of service across fields.
Sources · local media reports
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Twelve British Columbians received appointments to the Order of B.C. — the province's highest honour — on August 4, recognized for community service, professional achievement, and contributions to sports, science and the arts.
Gail Anderson, a professor in the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University and Canada's first academic forensic entomologist, was among the recipients. Anderson developed the world's first comprehensive database of insects and has spent her career using forensic entomology — the study of insects in criminal investigations — to help determine time of death and support convictions or exonerations. She fell in love with B.C. at 17 during a gap-year visit from England and returned to study insects at SFU, where she created a cure for "sweet itch" in horses before pivoting to forensic work. "It's amazing," Anderson said of the honour. "I'm not from Canada originally. This is the province and country that I chose, and that I love."
Other honourees named Monday include Robert Bauman, former Chief Justice of B.C. and the Yukon, honoured for strengthening access to justice and modernizing B.C.'s legal system; Marc Bains of Vancouver, a three-time cancer survivor and heart transplant recipient who co-founded the HeartLife Foundation and has raised tens of millions for cardiac care; Bristol Foster of Salt Spring Island, a naturalist and filmmaker whose work has advanced environmental stewardship; and Patrick Kelly (T'esóts'en) of Victoria, a member of the Leq'á:mel First Nation within the Stó:lō Nation, named for his work strengthening reconciliation across B.C. The full group of 12 also includes Selen Alpay (Prince George), Jill Bodkin (public service and finance), Stephanie Cadieux of Surrey (Canada's first chief accessibility officer), Dr. Jim Christenson (emergency medicine), Marianne Ignace of Savona (Indigenous language revitalization), and Elio Luongo of Burnaby (business and public service).
The facts
How many British Columbians received the Order of B.C. on August 4, 2026?
Twelve British Columbians received appointments to the Order of B.C. on August 4, 2026, the province's highest honour.
What is Gail Anderson known for?
Gail Anderson is Canada's first academic forensic entomologist and a professor at Simon Fraser University. She developed the world's first comprehensive database of insects and uses forensic entomology to help determine time of death and support convictions or exonerations in criminal investigations.
What has Marc Bains accomplished?
Marc Bains of Vancouver is a three-time cancer survivor and heart transplant recipient who co-founded the HeartLife Foundation and has raised tens of millions for cardiac care.
