15 Canadians to be honoured for acts of bravery

An Ontario man who fought with a black bear that attacked his wife,a Vancouver woman who died trying to protect a stranger and a Newfoundland woman killed saving herbrother are among 15 Canadians to be honoured for acts of courage.

Mark Jordan of Mississauga, Ont., will receive a Star of Courage while the others will each be awarded a Medal of Bravery from Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean at a ceremony at Rideau Hall. The date for the ceremony was not released.

The Star of Courage is awarded for "acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril" while the Medal of Bravery is awarded for "acts of bravery in hazardous circumstances," Jean saidin a news release on Wednesday.

Jordanwas seriously injured while trying to fend off the bear in Missinaibi Provincial Park on Sept. 6, 2005.

He and his wife were setting up camp when the bear charged at the woman,dragging her into nearby woods. Armed with only a pocketknife, Jordan confronted the bear, wrestled withit and repeatedly stabbed it until itlethis wife go.Jordancarried her to a nearby beach, put her into their kayak and paddled to a campsite to get help but she did not survive.

Bravery medals will be awarded to the families of:

• Rachel Davis, 23, of Vancouver who was killed after breaking up a gang assault on a teenage boy in the early hours of Jan. 3, 2004. Davis was leaving a downtownnightclub when she saw the fight nearby. She jumped into the middle of it to protect the unconscious victim. Theattack stopped but in the scuffle that ensued, shots were fired and Davis was struck in the head. She died on her way to hospital.
• Jessica Lauren Holman-Price, 21, of Portugal Cove, N.L., who was killed while preventing her 10-year-old brother from being crushed by a snow removal truck in Montrealon Dec. 19, 2005. They were standing on a snowbank at a busy intersection waiting to cross the street, when the light turned green and the truck came around the corner. It caught the edge of snowbank, causingthe boy to slide under the truck. Holman-Price reached for him but lost her footing and also slid under the truck. She pushed her brother to safety before she was fatally injured.

The other recipients are:

• Pte. Jonathan David Olivier Beaudin of Lorraine City, Que., who rescued his team leader trapped inside their submerged armoured vehicle during a night tactical training exercise at CFB Wainright, Alta., on Sept. 20, 2005.
• Matthew Dekoning of Cache Creek, B.C., who disarmed a suicidal man in a local bar in Langley, B.C., on Dec. 15, 2005.
• Rocky Hanson of Edmonton and Bradley Patrick Roy Smith, of Red Deer, Alta., who rescued several senior residents from a burning apartment complex in Edmonton on Nov. 11, 2005.
• Daniel Harold Peacock, 15, of Rimbey, Alta., who rescued a friend from drowning in the Ram River, near Nordegg, Alta., on June 24, 2006.
• Ontarians Robin William Johnstone of Bowmanville, Thomas Murray Martin and
  Acting Sgt. Leon Tadeusz Sowa of Pickering and Det.-Const. Paul Gordon Stuart of Whitby, who rescued a suicidal woman who had set fire to her house in Ajax, Ont., on Oct. 29, 2005.
• Claude Plante of Lambton, Que., who rescued an elderly man from drowning off Margarita Island, in Venezuela on March 14, 2006.
• James Daniel Reilly of Etobicoke, Ont., who rescued a woman from a burning house in Etobicoke, Ont.
• Gerald Alfred Strickland of Newman's Cove, N.L., who saved an elderly couple from their burning house in Newman's Cove on Jan. 23, 2006.