Terry Fox, not Nunavut artist Ashoona, wins place on new $5 bill

Kinngait artist was shortlisted from among 600 contenders chosen by Canadians

Pitseolak Ashoona is shown here in an undated photo. She was among eight Canadians shortlisted to appear on the new $5 bill. (Photo courtesy of Dorset Fine Arts)

By Daron Letts

Pitseolak Ashoona, the late Kinngait artist, received many honours during her lifetime, but appearing on the $5 bill will not be one of them more than 40 years after her death.

Instead, the image of Terry Fox, the Canadian icon known for his fundraising efforts to find a cure for cancer, will appear on the bill’s next design.

The plan to redesign the $5 bill with Fox’s image was outlined in Monday’s fall economic statement, tabled in Parliament by Liberal House leader Karina Gould.

Fox and Ashoona were among eight finalists shortlisted for the honour in 2020 by an advisory council for the Bank of Canada, working from a list of 600 nominees submitted by Canadians.

The late Kinngait artist Pitseolak Ashoona appeared on a stamp released by Canada Post in 1993. She received the Order of Canada in 1977. (Image courtesy of famouscanadianwomen.com)

In 1980, with one leg amputated due to cancer, Fox embarked on an east-to-west cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research, starting from St. John’s, N.L.

He died in 1981 at age 22, after reaching Thunder Bay, Ont., a distance of more than 5,300 kilometres.

“By February 1981, the Marathon of Hope had raised $24.7 million or $1 for every Canadian,” Monday’s economic statement said.

“Through his efforts, the 22-year-old showed Canadians the difference that an ordinary person could make through sheer willpower and determination.”

Ashoona, a Nunavut artist, was in her late 70s when she died in 1983. In 1971, the National Film Board produced a film about her titled Pitseolak: Pictures Out of My Life.

In 1974, she was elected as a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and received the Order of Canada in 1977. Canada Post honoured her with a stamp, issued in 1993.

Other contenders to be on the $5 bill included Francis Pegahmagabow, the most highly-decorated Indigenous soldier in Canadian history, who died in 1952; and Isapo-muxika, a Crowfoot leader of the Blackfoot Confederacy who died in 1890.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Canada’s seventh prime minister, will move from the $5 bill to appear on the next version of the $50 bill.

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(16) Comments:

  1. Posted by Annoyed on

    Who wrote this headline? It seems like it was designed to enlist anger.
    not “hey terry fox is on the 5 dollar bill” but “hey it COULD HAVE BEEN this person instead get mad”

    Dumb. but typical

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    • Posted by Bluffy St. Marie on

      Nunatsiaq continues to diminish itself for some unclear, short term calculus. Disgraceful.

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  2. Posted by John Ell on

    Why these people ignored world war l famous sniper, Francis Pegmagabow is beyond me.

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    • Posted by Top Choices on

      He wasn’t ignored; he didn’t win. He was one of the top choices.

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  3. Posted by Nunavimiuk on

    I vote for Terry.

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    • Posted by Eskimos Fan on

      Kudos to MR. Terry Fox.
      Mahsi ❤️

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    • Posted by Colin on

      ‘Asoona’ vote for Terry than some unknown person

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  4. Posted by Interesting headline on

    The masks are off this morning I see, pure rage farming hey Nunatsiaq. Trying to boost engagement for the year end?

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  5. Posted by Nature is another name for God on

    They should just remove people from bills and put animals instead.

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  6. Posted by 867 on

    Rage baiting head line. Terry Fox was the obvious choice all along. There were 600 shortlisted entries, most of which were relatively unknown. Terry Fox is a national hero and icon and glad to see his face instead of Old Macdonald.

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    • Posted by Alan Klie on

      Sir John A. Macdonald was on the $10 bill. Sir Wilfred Laurier was on the $5 bill.

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  7. Posted by Kenn Harper on

    Terry Fox is the best choice. The amount of money he raised for fighting cancer is reason enough, not to mention the positive role model he is for young Canadians.

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  8. Posted by John K on

    Respectfully, Terry Fox is the better choice. Not because Ashhona is a bad choice, just less good.

    DISrespectfully, this is rage-farming garbage and you should be ashamed that you published this with the title it has.

    Be better.

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  9. Posted by Northern Inuit on

    All respect to Ashoona, Terry Fox was the only choice here

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  10. Posted by Game it on

    Um… let’s think for a minute here. A HERO that raised MILLIONS towards saving people from cancer, vs an artist? I think the proper individual won.

    Not to diminish anything Ashoona has done, but it is NOT on the same payfield. Honor them with a coin design.

  11. Posted by Stewart Burnett on

    I understand the criticism of the headline as rage bait.

    For some consideration though, it makes sense in a journalism context.

    Nunatsiaq covers Inuit/Nunavut/Nunavik subjects. They wouldn’t report on the design of a bill if it had nothing to do with these things. So the connection here is that the design of the bill has been announced, but it’s not of the Inuk who was one of the options.

    That’s why the headline is the way it is: it’s making the connection to Inuit/Nunavut, though it’s not really an Inuit/Nunavut story otherwise.

    Ultimately, it was probably the wrong headline to use with how it’s been taken, so a lesson to learn. But I can see where it came from, and the intention was unlikely to be rage bait.

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