{"id":569893,"date":"2026-03-30T03:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T03:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/569893\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T03:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T03:02:09","slug":"stratfords-newest-order-of-canada-member-reflects-on-recent-investiture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/569893\/","title":{"rendered":"Stratford\u2019s newest Order of Canada member reflects on recent investiture"},"content":{"rendered":"

STRATFORD, Mar. 28, 2026 \u2013 Patricia O\u2019Malley, the most recent Stratforder to become an Order of Canada member, pointed out that for a moderately-sized city, it has certainly left its mark on the nation.<\/p>\n

“I think it\u2019s interesting for people to know how unusual this city is in terms of the number of people who live here and who are members of the Order of Canada,\u201d O\u2019Malley said, highlighting that she [joined] seven other local members \u2014 all women no less \u2014 to share their stories at the Iris Collective event Voices of Distinction at 2 p.m. on March 28, located at the Stratford Public Library.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Malley made that connection at the most recent Stratford city council meeting on March 9, having been invited into council chambers to share her experience and be congratulated by council in-person. She pointed out that while her investiture was publicized Dec. 31, 2025, she found out in the fall.<\/p>\n

“The day was a long time coming,\u201d O\u2019Malley shared. \u201cI got a phone call in the middle of October from an email saying \u2018please call,\u2019 and it was from the Office of the Governor General. I actually thought that it might be somebody that I knew that had been nominated … The first thing he said was, \u2018I wanted to tell you that you went into the Order of Canada.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201c… That was very interesting because at that point it wasn\u2019t announced until the 31st of December and the whole rule was you can\u2019t tell anybody. So that the longest secret I\u2019ve ever kept.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Malley, a chartered accountant and long-time Stratford resident, originally hails from Winnipeg, Man. As noted in the Governor General\u2019s announcement last year, over the course of her career she \u201credefined financial reporting and standard setting. Her leadership in developing and implementing the International Financial Reporting Standards ensured greater consistency and transparency in accounting practices.\u201d O\u2019Malley is a trailblazer, known worldwide and flourishing in senior roles traditionally held by men.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t think of a better time to acknowledge a strong woman in leadership doing things that were once thought only men\u2019s jobs,\u201d Mayor Martin Ritsma said, referencing International Women\u2019s Day on March 8. \u201cSo at this time I\u2019m going to be honoured to recognize Patricia on behalf of the City of Stratford.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After receiving a certificate from the city, O\u2019Malley went around the horseshoe, receiving handshakes and congratulations from each councillor.<\/p>\n

Connor Luczka is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with the Stratford Times in Stratford, Ontario. Ms. O’Malley was inducted into the Canadian Accounting Hall of Fame in 2022. Read her full biography here<\/a>. Title image:\u00a0Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma stands with Patricia O\u2019Malley in council chambers on March 9 (contributed photo).<\/p>\n

\"Canadian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STRATFORD, Mar. 28, 2026 \u2013 Patricia O\u2019Malley, the most recent Stratforder to become an Order of Canada member,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[219243,49,48,195326,101727,219242,219244,44,219239,162940,219236,219241,5043,219238,219240,219237,173836],"class_list":{"0":"post-569893","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-accounting-practices","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-chartered-accountant","12":"tag-financial-reporting","13":"tag-international-financial-reporting-standards","14":"tag-mayor-martin-ritsma","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-office-of-the-governor-general","17":"tag-order-of-canada","18":"tag-patricia-omalley","19":"tag-standard-setting","20":"tag-stratford","21":"tag-stratford-public-library","22":"tag-stratford-resident","23":"tag-stratforder","24":"tag-trailblazer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}