Canada's 1st female astronaut reflects on growing up in northern Ontario
CBC
It was 30 years ago this weekend that Canada's first female astronaut went to space.
The Space Shuttle Discovery blasted into space on Jan. 22, 1992, and on it was Roberta Bondar from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
Bondar now now lives in Toronto, but said her childhood in northeastern Ontario impacted her life greatly.
Speaking with CBC's Morning North program, Bondar said many teachers in Sault Ste. Marie helped get her on her path, including her Grade 7 science teacher, Mr. Brown.
"He was a real favourite," she said.
From John Flemming who taught her math and made ""made trigonometry come alive" for her in Grade 10, to her homeroom teacher, Don Walimaki, Bondar said she had educators who taught her things that still "stick with" her today.
She also recalled her physics teacher, a woman named Helen Harshaw, as well as Audrey Bayles, her physical education teacher.
Bondar's family home in Sault Ste. Marie has long been sold, but before it was, she made sure to take a piece to remember it. At her current home, she has a centre floor tile from that childhood home, framed and hanging on the wall.
"It is a quarter moon with a star," she said.
"Now, it's really not scientific because the star is the place where the light from the sun would come from the planet."
Bondar is no stranger to receiving awards for her work, but she said some given to her while living in her hometown of Sault Ste. Marie still stand out.
"As a personal thing, I think the Order of Canada and the leadership and sportsman awards that I had in high school have to remain some of my most cherished," she said.
Reflecting back on her mission 30 years ago, she wondered what had changed in that time to allow more people to get into her field.
"Certainly in Canada we have had more calls for astronauts, specifically, but having said that, there's not that many of us," she said.
The Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs says about 80 per cent of volunteer firefighters in the territory are wearing expired protective equipment, putting them in danger and in violation of occupational health and safety regulations when they respond to emergencies.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault will be given a new portfolio in Mark Carney's cabinet, a source with knowledge of the decision told Radio-Canada.
The Alberta government has suspended a loan program at Picture Butte Feeder Cooperative, the province's largest cattle financing cooperative, after an inspection alleged a number of financial mismanagement and regulatory issues.
If you look up at the sky late, late Thursday in the Toronto area, there's a chance you'll be able to see a total lunar eclipse and what's called a blood moon.
When wintertime calls, go where it's warm.
Colby Leamon had lost a close family member, and was looking for a dog to provide emotional support.
The cost of a 24-pack of beer could increase $3 to $5 because of 25 per cent tariffs on aluminum exported to the United States, according to a craft brewery in northern Ontario.
Fire tore through a seafood processing plant in Cape John, N.S., on Wednesday night.
Another of New Brunswick's new municipal councils has become embroiled in drama and bitter conflict.
Tardiness is nothing new at Via Rail, but late arrivals are reaching historic levels in a key corridor since passenger trains have been forced to slow down at hundreds of rail crossings operated by CN Rail.
Walmart Canada will stop selling machetes — a type of weapon frequently used in violent crimes — in stores across the country, after Manitoba's government pressured the retailer to restrict online sales.
The parents of two 15-year-old girls at Evan Hardy Collegiate in Saskatoon say they went to police and the school multiple times between June and August 2024 with concerns about escalating online threats from the student now accused of setting one of the girls on fire in a school hallway.
After more than two years of developing an official plan, the City of Charlottetown is getting close to voting on adopting it. Some residents have concerns with higher density housing the plan could make way for, but others are welcoming it.