Up Close and Personal with the Stars on Canada’s Walk of Fame

Inductee Roberta Bondar is the first Canadian woman astronaut in space. Madalina Hubert/The Epoch Times

During an intimate night in the heart of Toronto, six great Canadian talents received their very own stars on Canada’s Walk of Fame. Among the inductees were comedian Russell Peters, astronaut Dr. Roberta Bondar, tennis player Daniel Nestor, singer Burton Cummings, actress Sandra Oh, and the late Mordecai Richler.

“It’s closer than I’ve been to the stars in a long time,” joked Bondar, the first Canadian woman and first neurologist in space.

Bondar has perhaps one of the most extensive resumes. She’s an author, photographer, philanthropist, speaker, researcher, and innovator.

“I think it’s a wonderful event that we recognize the culture in Canada,” she said.

The night of the event, the inductees and other prominent Canadian guests walked the red carpet toward the stage set up in front of the Elgin Theatre entrance. They smiled and waved at the fans crowded around the fence and kept the atmosphere warm and friendly.

Singer, songwriter, and producer Burton Cummings is the first Canadian to receive a second star on the walk. He was inducted for the first time in 2001 as part the The Guess Who. This year he was honoured personally.

“I’m very, very proud. I don’t take this for granted at all. I know how lucky I’ve been to have had a career for almost 50 years now,” Cummings said.

Comedian Russell Peters walked down the red carpet with his daughter Crystianna in his arms and wife Monica by his side.

“It’s very surreal, because when I said I wanted to be successful I just meant ’make a living.’ I didn’t really think ‘get a star,’” he said on stage later.

Actress Sandra Oh was amazed both with the crowds of fans who greeted her and the star dedicated to her achievements. When asked if this was typical for her, she exclaimed “Are you kidding me?” She waved at the crowds, overwhelmed.

Chantal Kreviazuk arrived with husband Raine Maida who, along with composer Stephan Moccio, wrote and produced a song for the evening—“I’m Here (A Song for Canada).” The lyrics were inspired by 19-year-old Alberta-born Calum Graham. The singer-songwriter team was the winner of Canada’s Walk of Fame’s A Song For Canada competition.

“How do you embody this incredible country and how do you pack it into a song?” said Moccio.
“I think lyrically, Chantal and Raine came up with something that we’re very proud of.”

Kreviazuk added that it was “an absolute honour to help write a song about my beautiful country.”

“It’s over my head,” said Graham about his experience working with accomplished Canadian artists.

“Very proud, incredible experience, I’ll never forget it,” Moccio agreed.

Being Canadian

For 14 years, Canada’s Walk of Fame has presented stars to a vast array of professionals in science, film, music, sport, writing, innovation and the visual arts, but the one thing all these talented individuals share is their homeland—Canada.

When asked about what it means to be a Canadian, Moccio replied: “Canada’s about discipline, it’s about your values.”

Cummings said that even with all his success and acclaim, he always remained proud of his Canadian heritage.

“I’m Canadian through and through, even when we’ve had our initial success and we were the first Canadian group to go to Australia and Japan, and New Zealand and Hawaii and all. We used to have a Canadian flag draped behind us all the time,” he said.

“I was born and raised in the prairies of Manitoba—you can’t take that out of me, ever.”

Mordecai Richler’s son, journalist Noah Richler, and Richler’s wife Florence, accepted the star on Richler’s behalf.

“Right now our artists and writers and painters photographers are doing really well, all over the world. It’s because we encourage them at home,” said Richler. “We’re exporting our culture to the rest of the world and that’s really important.”