iMatr

The Purpose of iDiscover/iQed

The dawn of a new era of education is now upon us. iQed is democratic technology in education for the digital age: convenient, relevant, immediate, interactive, and dynamic. iQed enables students to use their personal devices to explore, investigate, and become informed on issues of governance and global matters, so that their voices can positively impact local and global communities. iQed empowers students and educators to adequately prepare for the emergence of a fundamentally different world. We believe that by educating the youth of today, we nurture the leaders of tomorrow.

Prominent Canadians

Alphabetical Order

Lincoln Alexander

Lincoln MacCauley Alexander was a Canadian lawyer who became the first Black Canadian member of Parliament in the House of Comm...ons, the first Black federal cabinet minister (as federal Minister of Labour), and the first Black chair of the Worker's Compensation Board of Ontario. From 1985 to 1991, Lincoln Alexander served as the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

Sir Arthur Currie

Called "Canada's greatest soldier," Sir Arthur Currie was a World War I (1914-1918) general who, in 1917, became the first Cana...dian to command a regiment of the British Empire's armed forces. He is considered an important architect of several allied victories on the war's western front.

Sir James Douglas

Sir James Douglas, a Canadian statesman, was known as “the father of British Columbia.” He became its first governor when i...t was a newly formed wilderness colony. He was instrumental to the resettlement of 35 African Americans known as the Pioneer Committee. They were fleeing a life of racial persecution in San Francisco and arrived in the province aboard the steamship Commodore. In 1863, Douglas was knighted by Queen Victoria for his services to the Crown.

Terry Fox

After losing his right leg to cancer at age 18, Terry Fox decided to run across Canada to raise awareness and money for cancer ...research. With the use of a customized running prosthesis, he set out from St. John's, Newfoundland, on 12 April 1980 and covered 5,373 km in 143 days — an average of 42 km (26 miles) per day. However, on September 1, 1980, Terry Fox had to end the Marathon of Hope outside Thunder Bay, Ontario when cancer had spread to his lungs.

Joseph Howe

An iconic Nova Scotia politician and pro-democracy activist, Howe was considered a key figure in making his colony the first in... British North America to embrace the democratic "responsible government" parliamentary system.

Roberta Jamieson

Roberta Jamieson, a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River, was the first Aboriginal woman to earn a law degree, the firs...t non-Parliamentarian to be appointed an ex-officio member of a special House of Commons committee on Indian self-government, the first Aboriginal Commissioner of the Indian Commission of Ontario, and the first woman appointed as Ontario's Ombudsman.

Tom Longboat

Tom Longboat was a leader in establishing marathon running as an international sport. He won many marathons in record-breaking ...times, beating competitors from all over the world. In 1907, Longboat was the first Indigenous person to win the Boston Marathon, and in 1908, he competed for Canada at the Olympic Games in London, England.

Edith Monture

Often known as Edith Monture, she was a Mohawk First World War veteran and registered nurse. Edith was the first Indigenous wom...an to become a registered nurse in Canada and to gain the right to vote in a Canadian federal election.

Lester B. Pearson

Lester B. Pearson was a Canadian politician and diplomat who served as prime minister of Canada (1963–68). He was prominent a...s a mediator in international disputes, and in 1957, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

Chief Peguis

Peguis was a Saulteaux chief who moved from the Great Lakes area to Red Lake, arriving in what is now southern Manitoba in the ...1790s.

Louis Riel

Louis Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He le...d two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first prime minister, John A. Macdonald.

Chief Tecumseh

Canada’s most famous aboriginal leader, Chief Tecumseh, was head of the Shawnee Nation and a vital British ally during the Wa...r of 1812. As leader of a confederacy of tribes in the Ohio Valley, his opposition to American settlement led to a British alliance. When the Anglo-American war began, his troops helped secure a handful of early British victories. His life was abruptly ended on the battlefield.

$5 Bill - Wilfred Laurier

Wilfred Laurier is best known for his compromises between English and French Canada. Laurier studied law at McGill University and practised as a lawyer before being elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec in 1871. He was then elected as a member of Parliament (MP) in the 1874 federal election.

$10 Bill - Viola Desmond