Three Black business leaders have been appointed to the Order of Canada.

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri was among a total of 85 appointees to be inducted. G. Lynn Jones, a civil rights activist and leader in the Canadian labour movement from Halifax and Mary A. Tidlund, a maverick in Calgary’s oil and gas industry and philanthropist, also received the honour.

“Today, we recognize individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to our society. A group of individuals who, through dedication and ajuinnata—perseverance—make our communities and our country better every day. At the same time, we must also acknowledge that work remains to ensure that Canadian honours better reflect the full diversity of our country. Nominations continue to fall short of representing the excellence achieved by women, Francophones, persons with disabilities, and people from culturally diverse backgrounds,” Gov. Gen. Mary Simon said in a statement.

“We want to learn more about the contributions from Indigenous peoples, Black and 2SLGTBQIA+ communities, to truly honour the richness of our country. We encourage everyone to have a say in how we honour our fellow Canadians by nominating individuals that reflect the very best of who we are and want to be.”

Since its creation in 1967, the Order of Canada has honoured more than 7,800 people and honours those who have served the country in many areas.

See more of the appointees below:

Masai Ujiri

The president of the Toronto Raptors has achieved a lot with the franchise since arriving in 2013.

In May 2013, Ujiri was appointed general manager and executive vice president of the Raptors. As the team made the playoffs every year from 2014 to 2020, highlighted by a championship in 2019, his entrance coincided with the most successful period in the franchise’s history.

The 52-year-old has also been a director for the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders Africa initiative, which promotes basketball across the continent.

G. Lynn Jones

Raises in Truro, Nova Scotia, she came to Halifax in the early 70s to study at Dalhousie University through the Transition Year Program (TYP) and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.

After that, she worked at the Canadian Employment Centre for a considerable time as a federal public service employee. At this time, Jones started to support and participate in unions actively.

She also became the first Black person to hold an executive position inside the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). Her role in the Canadian Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU) included national vice president.

In 1994, Jones went to South Africa as a member of the CLC group to monitor the country’s first free elections, which resulted in Nelson Mandela’s victory. When Jones ran for the New Democratic Party (NDP) in the Halifax seat in the 1993 Canadian federal election, she made history as the first African Canadian woman born in Canada.

Since retiring from public service in 2011, She is currently the chair of the Global African Congress (Nova Scotia Chapter), which seeks reparations for the Atlantic Slave Trade.

Mary A. Tidlund

Mary Tidlund is a seasoned philanthropist and businesswoman from Canada with vast worldwide experience.

She was a co-founder and CEO of Williston Wildcatters Oil Corporation, a publicly traded oil and gas exploration and service firm that invented horizontal drilling. Mary made the move from the energy sector to philanthropy in 1998.

She established and oversaw the international not-for-profit organization, The Mary A. Tidlund Charitable Foundation. The Foundation ran 90 distinct programs in 29 countries between 1998 and 2018, all of which aimed to give women and children the tools they needed to improve their health, access to education, and ability to escape poverty.