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<\/p>\nVictor Montagliani is president of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football and vice-president of FIFA and is praised in the announcement for playing a \u201cpivotal role\u201d in bring the World Cup to North America this year. <\/p>\n
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This year\u2019s group also includes well-known medical experts, environmentalists, community advocates and experts in Indigenous language revitalization and reconciliation <\/p>\n
They will be officially recognized at a ceremony at Government House in Victoria on Sept. 24.<\/p>\n
Here is a list of the 12 recipients: <\/p>\n
Selen Alpay, a Canadian Tire store owner and community leader who has supported many local organizations in Prince George. <\/p>\n
Gail Anderson became Canada\u2019s first forensic entomologist in 1992 and established forensic entomology as a tool in Canadian criminal investigations. <\/p>\n
Marc Bains is co-founder of HeartLife Foundation and has raised tens of millions for cardiac care. He is a three-time cancer survivor and heart transplant recipient. <\/p>\n
Robert Bauman, KC, served for decades as a B.C. Supreme Court judge before becoming the chief justice. <\/p>\n
Jill Bodkin, public servant, business leader and entrepreneur, she was the founding chair of the BC Securities Commission and B.C.\u2019s first female deputy minister. <\/p>\n
Stephanie Cadieux is a former B.C. cabinet minister; she has spent decades advancing accessibility and became Canada\u2019s first chief accessibility officer in 2022. <\/p>\n
Dr. Jim Christenson led the transformation of emergency care in B.C. through groundbreaking research and innovation. <\/p>\n
Briston Foster, a naturalist, conservation biologist and filmmaker who advanced environmental stewardship in B.C. and beyond. <\/p>\n
Marianne Ignace (Gulkiihlgad) is a professor at Simon Fraser University whose career has been dedicated to revitalizing Indigenous languages, advancing reconciliation and strengthening cultural heritage.<\/p>\n
Patrick Kelly (T\u2019esots\u2019en) is a member of the Leq\u2019a:mel First Nation who has made an impact in B.C. through his commitment to reconciliation, dialogue and public service. <\/p>\n
Elio Luonngo had a 37-year career with KPMG and rose to CEO and senior partner positions. He is widely recognized for his impact to strengthen business, education, and community institutions across B.C.<\/p>\n
Vittorio Montagliani, a sports leader who played a pivotal role in securing the 2026 FIFA World Cup for North America. He serves as president of CONCACAF and vice-president of FIFA. <\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2026. <\/p>\n
The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victor Montagliani is president of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football and vice-president of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[879,49,48,2467,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,2464,2465,2466,82],"class_list":["post-844850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-breaking-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-central-vancouver-island","tag-nanaimo","tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","tag-nanaimo-news","tag-nanaimo-news-now","tag-nanaimonewsnow","tag-news","tag-oceanside","tag-parksville","tag-qualicum","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844850","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=844850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}