Central bank announces advisory council to select women for new bank notes

The Bank of Canada has announced a seven-member advisory council to help draw up a short list of Canadian women who could be featured on the next series of bank notes.

The council of authors, academics, athletes and activists will work with historical experts and the results of a public opinion survey to provide Minister of Finance Bill Morneau with a list of potential candidates.

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The council members include:

Margaret Conrad, a professor of history at the University of New Brunswick. Author of Canadians and Their Pasts, and A Concise History of Canada, Conrad has written extensively on women's history.

Perdita Felicien, a world champion and Olympic hurdler who represented Canada for more than a decade. Felicien now works as a broadcaster and will be in Rio de Janeiro as part of CBC's Olympic broadcast team.

Merna Forster, a historian and author. She has written two books about Canadian women, 100 Canadian Heroines: Famous and Forgotten Faces as well as 100 More Canadian Heroines.

Francine Descarries, an academic and founder of the Institute of Women's Studies at the University of Quebec in Montreal. Descarries is an expert in the history of the women's movement in Quebec.

Dominic Giroux, president and vice-chancellor of Laurentian University. Giroux is a former assistant deputy minister in the Ontario Ministry of Education.

Michael Redhead Champagne, an aboriginal youth activist. Champagne is the founder of AYO! (Aboriginal Youth Opportunities) a Winnipeg-based advocacy group focused on helping aboriginal youth in the city's North End.

Gurjinder Basran, an author. Basran's first book, Everything Was Good-bye, was the winner of the BC Book Prize

"When I was initially approached, I was very hesitant, because I'm not a woman," Champagne said. "So I was very pleased when they told me that five of the seven panellists were indeed women."

"Some of the women who we might be considering aren't necessarily as well-known as somebody such as Nellie McClung, but I would really like people to think realistically about who they think has made a lasting impact on Canada," Champagne said in an interview with CBC News.

"And this gives us as citizens an opportunity to shout from the rooftops a thank you to someone for their contribution."

Nominations can be made on website

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last month on International Women's Day that the Bank of Canada was launching public consultations to help select an iconic Canadian woman to feature on the new series of bank bills.

Until April 15, Canadians can visit the Bank of Canada's website to submit nominations for the woman they think should appear on the bill.

The nominees can be any Canadian woman, either by birth or naturalization, who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, achievement or distinction in any field.

The nominees cannot be a fictional character and must have died prior to April 15, 1991. Once the nomination period is over, the advisory council will begin reviewing the submissions before presenting its short list to Morneau.

Banknote-able Canadian women

9 years ago

Duration 8:26

Margaret Conrad and Michael Redhead Champagne, members of the advisory council tasked with creating a shortlist of women who should appear on a new banknote, discuss their criteria for selecting a woman to appear on Canada's money.