Mary Simon gets send-off at Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards, TELUS gala raises funds for youth | Canada Voices

The Governor General’s Performing Arts Award Gala, June 6, Ottawa

Ottawa’s National Arts Centre was on hosting duties on the evening of June 6, for the gala to celebrate the 2026 laureates of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA). The annual to-do, very much Canada’s highest honour in the performing arts, was established in 1992 to recognize artists and volunteers from across the country in disciplines including dance, theatre, film, music and broadcasting. The gathering marked the last major public event for Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Canada’s first Indigenous and 30th Governor General, who has presided over the event since her appointment in 2021. It was the first gala with Annabelle Cloutier in her new role of CEO of the NAC, which is a founding partner and host of the splashy event each year. For a couple of hundred of the award’s key supporters and sponsors, a drinks party kicked things off, and dinner followed. To my right at the table was Robert Tennant, an event benefactor and member of the NAC Foundation Board of Directors, and to my left was Scott Tresham, CEO of Symphony Nova Scotia (a frequent NAC collaborator). At nearby tables: Guy Pratte, chair of the National Arts Centre board of trustees; close by was his predecessor Adrian Burns; the NAC foundation’s board chair Susan Glass and its CEO Juniper Locilento; interior designer Henriette Southam; lawyer Jacques Shore; and Douglas Knight, chair and CEO of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation, and its co-chair Anik Bissonnette. Southam Hall was the locale for the main event, a program of thoughtful tributes and lively performances to honour each laureate. Set designer Susan Benson, filmmaker James Cameron, choreographer Sylvain Émard, singer Daniel Lavoie, actor Tonya Williams and soprano Barbara Hannigan were all honoured with the lifetime artistic achievement award for their contributions which have helped shape the country’s cultural landscape. Writer, educator and past chair of the BC Arts Council Sae Hoon (Stan) Chung was honoured with the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism.

TELUS Friendly Future Foundation hosts the Together for Tomorrow Gala, June 18, Toronto

Since it was established, the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation (an independent charity supported by TELUS) has distributed more than $140-million to support underserved Canadian youth. On the evening of June 18, in the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, the third edition of the Together for Tomorrow Gala was held. The now annual event, consisting of a dinner and concert inside Koerner Hall, this year headlined by Lionel Richie, raised an impressive $3-million. The funds will support young people across the country, through bursaries, mentorship and community programs which aim to remove barriers to education and employment. This latest was the last major event for TELUS President and CEO Darren Entwistle, who in the weeks following the event retired after more than 25 years leading the company. During dinner, a $1-million personal donation from Entwistle and his wife Fiona was announced, funds which will establish the Entwistle Technology Bursary for youth in financial need who are pursuing post-secondary education in science, math and tech. Among them out: event co-chairs Jay McCauley and Christi Himmelheber; my hosts for the evening, philanthropic duo David Garofalo, chairman & CEO of Gold Royalty Corp., and his wife Christie; Porter Airlines CEO Michael Deluce and his wife Laila; CIBC global vice-chair Mark Mulroney and his wife Vanessa; and the foundation’s board chair Juggy Sihota.