Order of Canada for Tricia Smith

Olympic medallist Smith, from Canada, will become a Member of the Order of Canada for ‘her leadership in amateur sport in Canada and abroad and for her advocacy of athletes and women in sport’.

Smith, 53, has a long list of achievements – as an athlete, administratively and in her career as a lawyer. As a rower Smith was selected to represent Canada at four Olympic Games. At the 1984 Olympics Smith won silver in the women’s pair. She took gold at the 1986 Commonwealth Games and has medals from seven World Championships.

Smith finished her law degree in 1985 and in 2001 she received a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from her university, the University of British Columbia. Smith has also been inducted into the University of British Columbia’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Actively involved in sports administration, Smith was Canada’s Chef de Mission for the 2007 Pan American Games. She is on a number of sporting Boards including the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Board of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport. For FISA, Smith is an executive committee council representative and chair of the women’s rowing cross-commission.

The Order of Canada is one of the highest honours that can be received by a civilian in Canada. It recognises a ‘lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to community and service to the nation’.