Mr. Daniel Poliquin

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Order of Canada

Officer of the Order of Canada
Awarded on: 2015-11-19
Invested on: 2016-09-23
For his contributions to Canada’s literary scene as an acclaimed author and established translator. This is a promotion within the Order. Both a renowned novelist and established literary translator, Daniel Poliquin is one of the few bicultural and bilingual writers of our country. With a scholarly and vivid style, he has published several works that explore matters of identity and otherness, including La Kermesse. Through his novels, considered emblematic of the Franco-Canadian minority experience, and his translations, which have garnered prestigious awards, he is helping to strengthen ties between the two solitudes and to bring the Canadian experience to international readers.
Member of the Order of Canada
Awarded on: 2004-05-13
Invested on: 2005-03-11
Novelist and short story writer, Daniel Poliquin has spent many years fighting for the rights of Franco-Ontarians. Even as a teenager, he lent his voice and his pen to the fight for French schooling and administrative and health services in Ontario. His works, including L'Écureuil noir, confirm the existence of the Franco-Ontarian identity and express its complexity. As a translator, he exposes Francophone readers to important works of Anglophone, and especially Canadian, authors. He is also known for his political and social commitment to Canadian unity. As an author and citizen, he challenges us to think and to broaden our horizons.