St. Catharines woman, Niagara-on-the-Lake man receive Order of Canada honours

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Published December 29, 2021 at 1:32 pm

The Order of Canada award. Photo: Governor General of Canada Twitter

A St. Catharines woman long dedicated to local heritage conservation-preservation and a Niagara-on-the-Lake man who’s a Canadian music industry icon were both selected as Order of Canada recipients announced yesterday (December 28) by the Governor General of Canada Mary Simon.

St. Catharines resident Pamela J. Minns and NOTL’s David Mostoway (aka “Duff Roman” from his radio days) were among the 135 appointment who were honoured on the 2021 list.

Minns was singled out for “her contributions as a passionate volunteer and advocate of heritage preservation and revitalization in the Niagara region” while Mostoway was honoured for his “contributions to the Canadian music industry as a broadcaster and executive, and for his steadfast promotion of Canadian talent.”

While Minns, 92, is best known for her work for heritage preservation in Thorold, her name is known throughout Niagara Region for her long-standing commitment to the cause. When Minns started, there were just seven Thorold buildings designated under the Ontario Heritage Act. Now there are close to 60.

Her 90th birthday celebration drew a huge number of local officials, including Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey, who noted, “In 2017, we celebrated Canada’s 150th anniversary and what were we celebrating? We were celebrating people like you. We celebrated the people who make up what Canada is all about; our values that were earned through the generations.

Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley, also at the celebration, said, “It is more difficult to not sit on the sidelines but to take a leadership role and, over nine decades, we have an individual being honoured here today who has played the very central role of heritage preservation and in other areas as well.”

Mostoway was most famously associated with CHUM-AM in the 1970s, before becoming operations manager of the station in 1984. During the 1990s, he served as chairman of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, and oversaw Digital Radio Research, a joint consortium of the CAB and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to review and develop policy around the emergence and development of digital radio in Canada.

He was the head of Roman Records, an independent record label most noted for releasing early singles by The Hawks, The Paupers and David Clayton-Thomas.

Roman was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2006. He was also named by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences as the winner of the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the Juno Awards in March 2019 for his contributions to the Canadian music industry.


Above: Pamela Minns receiving International Women’s Day Award from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce in 2016 and David Mostoway during his “Duff Roman” days on the radio.

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