Top honours for Dougall

Fraser Dougall is in some pretty elite company these days.

Dougall received the Order of Ontario at a Queen’s Park ceremony Thursday.

The Order of Ontario is the province’s highest honour, with appointees chosen for their contributions to the arts, science, medicine, education, politics, philanthropy, law and media. Started in 1986 by then Lt.-Gov. Lincoln Alexander, it has been awarded every year since 1987.

Past winners include former premier David Peterson, golfer Mike Weir, authors Margaret Atwood and Morley Callaghan, astronaut Roberta Bondar and jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.

Dougall is the eighth person from Thunder Bay to receive this honour. Others include Penny Petrone (1992), William Tamblyn (1993), Dusty Miller (2001), Mary Germain (2003), Sher Ali Mirza (2002), Thomas Dignan (2005) and Marlene Ann Pierre (2007).

Dougall said it’s difficult to put feelings into words.

"The recognition in this case is simply overwhelming," said Dougall, who was joined at the legislature by several family members, including wife Elizabeth, sons Scott and Hector and daughter Kirsten. "When I first heard about it, it took a few days to sink in. It’s just such a wonderful, wonderful way in which to be honoured."

He wasn’t alone on Thursday. Appointed alongside him was a virtual who’s who of philanthropy in Ontario, including Paul Godfrey, who helped bring baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays to life, art enthusiast Shirley Thompson and Sharbot Lake’s Shirley Peruniak, known as the heart and soul of Quetico Provincial Park.

Dougall, who received his medal from Lt.-Gov. David Onley, said giving back to the community is an easy thing to want to do in a city like Thunder Bay.

"I’ve enjoyed doing it so much and it just seems almost strange to be recognized for doing something that I’ve always enjoyed doing so much," he said. "The thing that sticks out so much to me about the city is its very kind humanitarianism towards each other, particularly when there’s a disaster, the way people marshal about and just save the neighbour or save whatever the situation calls for.

"In Thunder Bay people could be called upon to help their friends, their neighbours or people they’ve never known or met before."

Premier Dalton McGuinty, who spoke as the 90-minute ceremony came to a close, said it is people like Thursday’s honourees who make the province such a great place to live.

"Ontario’s greatest resource always has been, and always will be, its people," McGuinty said. "Those we honour today because you represent us at our best. You represent what we aspire to be as a province, a place where we strive to not only thrive at what we do as individuals, but where we serve others so everyone can find their own success."

Born in Thunder Bay in 1943, Dougall earned a BA at the University of Manitoba.

Dougall’s career in the broadcasting industry began in 1958, when he joined his father’s flagship radio station, CKPR, as a junior technician.

By 1963, following his father’s death, Dougall assumed the company’s reins, which by then also included CKPR Television. He spent much of the remainder of the decade working to consolidate his assets, eventually buying out the remaining 50 per cent ownership stake held by shareholders.

In 1971 he sold off radio stations in Dryden, Kenora and Fort Frances, preferring instead to focus his efforts on negotiations with the federal government in an attempt to bring a second signal to Thunder Bay in the form of a new CTV affiliate.

He succeeded in 1972, becoming the first licensee in the country to own two TV licenses in the same market, broadcasting them off a twin-stick antenna.

Among his pioneering accomplishments was the formation of a television advisory committee, a first-of-its-kind in Canada that allowed public input on programming and news coverage.

While broadcasting became his life, Dougall also played a major role in Thunder Bay’s early cultural growth, helping to establish the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium through donations and public support, which many believe helped sway the public into backing the project.

He’s also served on the board of governors at Lakehead University and chaired the school’s Share Our Northern Vision campaign and was appointed a Fellow of Lakehead University in 1990, the highest honour bestowed by the board of governors.

Peruniak, who has spent 35 years devoted to conservation and the promotion of Quetico Park, said she was floored when she found out about the award, even more so when she heard the stories of her fellow inductees.

Working diligently to protect and promote Quetico came naturally, she said.

"It’s a treasure for the province of Ontario to have a protected wilderness that’s that size, that large. We’re so lucky with the geography, the interconnected lakes," she said.