Richler, Jackson among City's honourees

They are also the four Westmounters who have earned a place in the City's prestigious Vin d'honneur — the posthumous honour that recognizes local residents whose lives and accomplishments had an impact on the world beyond Westmount's borders.

The honour role was established in 1990 by Mayor May Cutler, who promised to increase Westmount’s participation in the arts and culture, and is now in its 13th edition.

On Tuesday, April 7, the City will host the 2009 Vin d'honneur ceremony at Victoria Hall to recognize four outstanding former residents. Two are familiar household names. Two are perhaps not so recognizable — but all four were chosen by the nominating committee for their impact on Canadian society.

A.D.P. Heeney (1902-1970) was a Montrose Avenue resident who had a long and distinguished career with the Government of Canada and is remembered especially for the advancement of relations between Canada and the United States.

Dedicated paediatrician and distinguished professor Jessie Boyd Scriver (1894-2000), who lived at 188 The Boulevard, is being recognized for her contributions to the field of paediatric medicine and ground-breaking sickle-cell anaemia research.

A.Y. Jackson (1882-1974), one of Canada's best-known landscape painters and beloved characters, lived at 69 Hallowell Street before moving to Toronto in 1919 to help form the Group of Seven — Canada's most famous art movement.

Mordecai Richler (1931-2001) was one of Canada's most celebrated authors, who lived at 218 Edgehill Road in the 1970s after he had returned to Montreal from England, where he had written the now-classic novels The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and St. Urbain's Horseman, as well as many essays and film scripts.

The April 7 ceremony will be attended by the honourees’ family and friends, as well as city officials and invited guests. The event will be MC'd by well-known Westmounter Richard Pound.

The nominating committee, chaired this year by Alan Aiken, included Councillor Nicole Forbes, who acted as secretary, Nancy Wright, Connie Moisan, Peter Holland, Juliette Fortier and Vanda Potrykus. The committee accepts nominations from the city at large and then suggest names of their own to be considered.

After the ceremony, at which representatives from the families will be given a certificate of honour, plaques will be hung on the city’s Honour Roll in City Hall.

Former mayor Cutler is pleased to see this special event still going strong after 19 years. "I'm very proud of it," she said last week.