Today, former MFL President Darlene Dziewit will be inducted into the Order of Manitoba for her 40 years of service to working people.

Sister Dziewit served as President of the MFL from 2004-2009 and has been active in virtually every aspect of the labour movement locally, provincially and nationally since 1970. She spent many years as an organizer, staff representative and negotiator at the United Food & Commercial Workers Union. In the community she served on the Board of Governors of the University of Manitoba, as chairperson of the Manitoba Gaming Control Commission, and on the campaign cabinet for the United Way of Winnipeg.

Along with 13 others, Sister Dziewit will receive the honour  at 4 p.m. today at the Legislative Building. Lt.-Gov. Philip Lee, the chancellor of the order, will conduct the ceremony.

In addition to Sister Dziewitt, the other inductees include Mark Chipman, chair of True North Sports and Entertainment, who brought the NHL back to Winnipeg; Brian Postl, the former founding president and CEO of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority; Al Simmons, a Juno award-winning family entertainer who supports numerous charitable and educational organizations; Pauline Clarke, the Winnipeg School Division’s chief superintendent, for her work in inner-city education; Etienne Gaboury, an architect who designed Winnipeg’s Royal Canadian Mint building, the new St. Boniface Cathedral, and the Esplanade Riel; Crystal Marie Kolt, the musical director of the Flin Flon Community Choir who has helped develop the arts in northern Manitoba; Art Miki, a leader in the Japanese Canadian community, who helped bring forward the country’s historic Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement in 1988; and 6 others.

Including this year’s inductees, there have been 172 members inducted to the Order of Manitoba since its inception in 1999.

Find out more in the Winnipeg Free Press.