Viola Leger, Former Canadian Senator - Part 1/2

Viola Léger, actress, former Canadian senator
Honorary Doctor of Laws
Glendon College
Saturday, June 19, 2010 - 2:30pm
Viola Léger occupies a unique place in Canadian cultural, social and political life. She is known nationally as an actor who for decades has played the lead character in Antonine Maillet's play La Sagouine. While she has also performed with distinction in plays by Michel Tremblay, Tennessee Williams and many others, she has become indelibly identified with La Sagouine. Léger has also become a cultural ambassador for the Acadian people. In 1999, she set up the Fondation Viola Léger for the promotion and development of theatre in Acadia. Léger, who began her career as a high-school teacher in the Moncton area, is a recipient of the New Brunswick Francophone Teachers' Association's Award of Merit in recognition of her contribution to the advancement of French-language education and the teaching profession in that province. Léger is the recipient of many other awards and honours, including Chevalier de L'Ordre de la Pléiade, the Dora Mavor Moore Award, the Médaille du Conseil de la Vie Français en Amérique, and The Award for Excellence in Theatre from the Government of New Brunswick. Léger is an officer of the Order of Canada and in 2001 was appointed to the Canadian Senate, a post from which she retired in 2005.