Gov. Gen. Mary Simon announces 78 new appointments to Order of Canada

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon has announced 78 new appointments to the Order of Canada — a list that includes activists, authors, artists, Indigenous leaders and other accomplished Canadians.

Simon's office announced three new appointments of "companions" — the highest level of the Order of Canada — 15 officers, including one honorary officer, and 59 members.

A number of journalists were inducted into the order this year, including two whose work took aim at the presidency of Donald Trump.

Susanne Craig began her career at the Calgary Herald before moving on to the Globe and Mail, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. She was made a member of the order for her work as an investigative reporter.

Craig, David Barstow and Russ Buettner won the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2019 for their joint investigation into Trump's finances.

The Pulitzer Prize website says their 18-month investigation debunked Trump's "claims of self-made wealth and revealed a business empire riddled with tax dodges."

Reached in New York, Craig told CBC News that when she got the call from the Governor General's office, she thought they had the wrong person.

"I don't live in Canada but I am a Canadian through and through, and I started crying when I got the call ... I couldn't believe it," she said.

Craig said she hopes the award draws attention to the work of journalists, whom she described as a "dying breed" across the globe.

"Our work ... particularly on Donald Trump and his finances, it shows that one reporter or a small team of reporters can really make a difference," she said.

"When reporters are laid off, or they're just not there to bear witness, things do go uncovered. We all benefit from a healthy press."

Michael de Adder, an editorial cartoonist based in Moncton, New Brunswick, joins Craig on the member's list for his "artistic contributions and pointed commentary" over the years.

De Adder's freelance contract with Brunswick News Inc. (BNI) was terminated days after he shared a cartoon depicting U.S. President Donald Trump playing golf next to the face-down bodies of two Salvadoran migrants.

While BNI did not publish the cartoon, it went viral online. While his freelance gig with BNI came to an end, de Adder was employed by the Washington Post two years later, a position he still holds.