Vianne Timmons, OC (born 1958) is a board member of VIA Rail Canada. She was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2019. [1] She was president and vice chancellor of the University of Regina, [2] from 2008 to 2019, and is also the former president and vice-chancellor of Memorial University of Newfoundland. [3]
She was president and vice-chancellor of the University of Regina, [4] a public university in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, from 2008 to 2019. In 2013, university faculty expressed concerns that non-academic jobs and costs had risen at the expense of academic priorities since her appointment. [5]
Timmons is a researcher, author, and lecturer in the area of educational inclusion. [6] Prior to her appointment at the University of Regina, Timmons served as a professor and vice-president at the University of Prince Edward Island. [7] She was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in the Government House List of 29 December 2017.
In 2018, Timmons was appointed to the independent advisory board for Senate appointments; [8] official documents naming Timmons as a Saskatchewan representative to the board stated she was a member of the Bras d’Or Mi’kmaq First Nation. [9]
In March 2019, she was appointed as a board member of VIA Rail Canada by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. [10]
Timmons became president and vice chancellor of Memorial University of Newfoundland on April 1, 2020. [3] She was removed from that post by the university's board of regents on April 6, 2023. [11] A public report made by the Auditor General following her leave from office noted "expenses considered to be excessive," including $1,792 paid for custom-made chocolates. [12]
Timmons was a recipient of the 2019 Indspire Award, and was described as one of "Twelve Indigenous people honoured for their extraordinary work across Canada." [13]
In 2019 Timmons told media "I wasn't raised in the Mi'kmaq culture but my great, great grandmother was a Mi'kmaq woman from Conne River.... So I am of Mi'kmaq heritage." [14] In 2021 she told media "I’m of Mi’kmaq ancestry." [15] A March 8, 2023 CBC investigation was published with evidence that she is not Indigenous, and that she has claimed to be Indigenous in the past. [16] Timmons released a statement acknowledging that she is not Indigenous. [17] On March 13, Timmons went on a 6-week paid leave while Memorial University began a consultation process with the Indigenous community to discuss the issue. [8] [18] Following this announcement, an Indigenous faculty member stated they had raised concerns about claims to Indigeneity and Memorial's response to identity verification the previous year. [19]
Cape Breton University (CBU) is a public university located in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the only post-secondary degree-granting institution within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and on Cape Breton Island. The university is enabled by the Cape Breton University Act passed by the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. Prior to this, CBU was enabled by the University College of Cape Breton Act (amended). The University College of Cape Breton's Coat of Arms were registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority on May 27, 1995.
Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN, is a public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and in Labrador, Saint Pierre, and Harlow, England. Memorial University offers certificate, diploma, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate programs, as well as online courses and degrees.
The University of Regina is a public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a junior college in 1925, and was disaffiliated by the Church and fully ceded to the university in 1934; in 1961 it attained degree-granting status as the Regina Campus of the University of Saskatchewan. It became an autonomous university in 1974. The University of Regina has an enrolment of over 15,000 full and part-time students. The university's student newspaper, The Carillon, is a member of CUP.
Rita Joe, was a Mi'kmaq poet and songwriter, often referred to as the Poet Laureate of the Mi'kmaq people.
The First Nations University of Canada is a post-secondary institution and federated college of the University of Regina, based in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. FNUniv operates three campuses within the province, in Prince Albert, Regina, and Saskatoon. The university offers academic programs in business, the humanities, social sciences, and sciences; including a number of programs focused around aboriginal practices.
Yukon University is a public university in the Canadian territory of Yukon. The university main campus is based in Whitehorse, although the institution also operates 12 campuses throughout the territory. The university confers bachelor's degrees, diplomas, certificates as well as trades and vocational training and adult basic education. The institution is currently the only university based in northern Canada.
Mary Jeannie May Simon is a Canadian civil servant, diplomat, and former broadcaster who has served as the 30th governor general of Canada since July 26, 2021. Simon is Inuk, making her the first Indigenous person to hold the office.
Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay is a Canadian political scientist and former senior academic administrator. She is an internationally recognized expert on Kashmir and India-Pakistan.
Brigette Lacquette is a Canadian ice hockey player, currently playing for the Calgary section of the PWHPA and the Canadian national team, playing defence. She participated at the 2015 IIHF Women's World Championship. In the autumn of 2015, Lacquette joined the Calgary Inferno of the CWHL.
James (Sakej) Youngblood Henderson is an international human rights lawyer, advocate, and educator.
Sherry Farrell Racette is a Métis-Canadian feminist scholar, author, curator, and artist. She is best known for her contributions to Indigenous and Canadian art histories. She is currently an associate professor of Visual Arts at the University of Regina.
Jo-Ann Episkenew was a Métis writer originally from Manitoba, though she lived in Saskatchewan for much of her life. She held a Masters of Business Administration and a Honours Certificate M.A. from the University of Regina. In 2006, she completed a Ph.D. at Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University in Greifswald, Germany, the first Indigenous Canadian to receive a Ph.D. from a German university.
Jordan Bennett is a multi-disciplinary artist of Mi'kmaq descent from Stephenville Crossing, Newfoundland, also known as Ktaqamkuk. He is married to Métis visual artist Amy Malbeuf.
Raven Sinclair (Ótiskewápíwskew) is Cree/Assinniboine/Saulteaux and a member of Gordon First Nation of the Treaty#4 area of southern Saskatchewan and member of the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Saskatchewan. She is a survivor and expert on the Sixties Scoop, the practice of taking Indigenous children from their families and placing them in foster care or adopting them out to white families. She is a critic of the current child welfare system in Canada, especially as it relates to Indigenous peoples. She is a professor, film maker, author and facilitator. Sinclair is also a founding editorial member of IndigenousVoices in Social Work (UHawaii), and a regional editor for AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples.
Sarah AnalaC.M., is a Canadian social worker, particularly with the indigenous peoples of her country.
Willow Allen is a Canadian fashion model and TikToker, from Inuvik, Northwest Territories.
Claudette Commanda is a Canadian university professor, cultural advisor, indigenous rights activist, and an Algonquin Elder who was appointed the 15th Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, becoming the first indigenous person and fifth woman to serve in the role.
Reanna Merasty is a nihithaw iskwere, an artist, writer, educator, and advocate. Her work centres around the importance of Indigenous representation in Architecture, and advocating for and writing on Indigenous inclusion in design education.
David Garneau is a Métis artist whose practice includes painting, curating, and critical writing.