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Ottawa, 8 February 2000 - Kiawak Ashoona, one of Canada's most renowned Inuit artists, and Dr. Thomas Courchene, a distinguished Queen's University economist, have been awarded the 1999 Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes.

Two $50,000 Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes are awarded each year to distinguished Canadians, one in the arts and the other in the social sciences and humanities. The prizes recognize the recipients' outstanding lifetime contribution to the cultural and intellectual life of Canada.

In awarding the Molson Prize in the Arts to Kiawak Ashoona, the jury wrote: "The national and international recognition of Kiawak Ashoona's sculpture and printmaking is a testament to the exceptional quality of his art. His works and artistic vision reflect the rich and vibrant traditions of the Canadian High Arctic. Throughout his 50-year career, Kiawak Ashoona has been a strong and generous role model for young artists and has been an influential force in the development of contemporary Inuit artwork."

In awarding the Molson Prize in the Social Sciences and Humanities to Thomas Courchene, the jury wrote: "Thomas Courchene's cross-disciplinary approach to issues ranging from economics to federal-provincial relations to law and health has often been controversial though seminal in shaping current Canadian public policy. He is a prolific writer whose sharp and versatile intellect has influenced a whole generation of students and stimulated lively and constructive public debate. Thomas Courchene is one of Canada's visionaries and is known as a man of infinite capacity and integrity."

Established in 1964, the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes are funded from the income of an endowment given to the Council by the Molson Foundation and now valued at $2.4 million. The Council administers the awards and, following a nomination process, both laureates are selected by jury. The winner of the 1998 Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize in the Arts was Jeanne Lamon, a baroque violinist and Music Director of Tafelmusik, while the 1998 Molson Prize in the Social Sciences and Humanities was won by University of Toronto law professor Michael J. Trebilcock.

For the 1999 Molson Prizes, Jean-Louis Roux, Chairman of the Council, presided over the procedures leading to the selection of the laureate in the Arts, and Marc Renaud , President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, presided over the selection of the laureate in the Social Sciences and Humanities.

The jurors for the 1999 competition were : John Cripton, impressario, Toronto; Bill Glassco, theatre director, Montreal; Jane Ash-Poitras, visual artist, Edmonton; Jean-Louis Major, professor of French literature, University of Ottawa; Patricia Marchak, professor of sociology, University of British Columbia; and Denis Stairs, professor of political science, Dalhousie University.

The Canada Council for the Arts, in addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts in Canada, administers and awards nearly 100 prizes and fellowships in the arts and humanities, many of which are the result of private bequests and gifts and are named in honour of the donor. Among these are the Glenn Gould Prize, the Killam Prizes and Killam Research Fellowships, the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes, the Governor General's Literary Awards, the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts, and the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Awards.

For more information about these awards, including nomination procedures, contact Carol Bream, Director of Endowments and Prizes, at (613) 566-4414, or 1-800-263-5588, ext. 5041. E-mail :

carol.bream@canadacouncil.ca.

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KIAWAK ASHOONA

You might call Kiawak Ashoona Canada's gift to the world. World leaders like former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Germany's Helmut Schmidt own original Ashoona works of art. Over the years it has become customary to present visiting dignitaries an Ashoona sculpture. His gift was further extended to all corners of the world when his sculpture, Sedna, was reproduced on a postage stamp by Canada Post in 1980.

This self-taught carver, who hails from the Eastern Arctic's Cape Dorset, Nunavut, is one of the last remaining survivors of the original generation of Inuit artists who brought their art form to the world. Ashoona's work is known for its incredible detail, for its depictions of fantastic creatures, which stem from the artist's mythical imagination, and for the works' very power and presence. In the world of Inuit art, the name Kiawak Ashoona is invoked with reverence by the new generation of artists who have followed in his footsteps.

It is impossible for art historians, curators, collectors and students to explore Inuit art without devoting attention to this shy, retiring man who has become one of Canada's greatest artists. Since the 1950s, his carvings have been shown in 75 exhibitions throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. Leading museums and galleries which have his pieces in their permanent collections include New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Montreal Museum of Fine Art and the Art Gallery of Ontario. In 1970, his sculpture The Tornaq and the Young was selected as the cover image for the catalogue of the original "Inuit Sculpture / Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic" exhibition, which toured the world. Hunter Spirit of my Grandfather was part of the "Masters of the Arctic" exhibition, which premiered at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in 1989. Bird creature (1990) is one of the cornerstones of the National Gallery of Canada's Inuit Art Collection.

At age 65, when many are considering retirement, Ashoona continues his work under the light of the midnight sun and the darkness of the Arctic winter. He is a recipient of a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in Arts and Culture for his work in bringing the wonder that is Inuit sculpting to the attention of the world.

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DR. THOMAS COURCHENE

Thomas J. Courchene was born in Wakaw, Saskatchewan, and was educated at the University of Saskatchewan (Honours B.A., 1962) and Princeton University (Ph.D., 1967). From 1965 to 1988 he was a Professor of Economics at the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Courchene spent the fall term of 1986 as a visiting Professor of Economics at l'École nationale d'administration publique ( Montréal). For the academic year 1987/88, he occupied the John P. Robarts Chair in Canadian Studies at York University. In 1988, he accepted the Directorship of Queen's new School of Policy Studies (1988-92). Currently, Courchene is the Jarislowsky-Deutsch Professor of Economic and Financial Policy at Queen's, is a member of the Department of Economics, the School of Policy Studies and the Faculty of Law, and is the Senior Scholar at the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP).

Dr. Courchene is the author of some 250 books and articles on Canadian policy issues. His books include a four volume series on Canadian monetary policy for the C.D. Howe Institute entitled In Praise of Renewed Federalism (C.D. Howe); Social Policy in the 1990's: Agenda for Reform (C.D.Howe); Equalization Payments: Past, Present and Future (Ontario Economic Council); Economic Management and the Division of Powers (Macdonald Royal Commission) and A First Nations Province (Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, Queen's).

A collection of Dr. Courchene's recent articles appears as Rearrangements (Oakville, Mosaic Press). His 1994 book, Social Canada in the Millennium, was awarded the Doug Purvis Prize for the best Canadian economic policy contribution in 1994. Other recent works include Celebrating Flexibility (The 1995 C.D. Howe Benefactors Lecture); Redistributing Money and Power: A Guide to the Canada Health and Social Transfer (1995); and ACCESS: A Convention on the Canadian Economics and Social Systems (1996). His latest book, From Heartland to North America Region State: The Social, Fiscal and Federal Evolution of Ontario (1998, with Colin Telmer) won the inaugural Donner Prize for the best book on Canadian Public Policy. His on-going research interests include, in addition to the above areas, financial deregulation, the political economy of Canadian federalism and comparative federal systems. Most recently, he has advanced the analytical case for a North American monetary union.

Dr. Courchene was Chair of the Ontario Economic Council of Canada from 1982 to 1985. He has been a Senior Fellow of the C.D. Howe Institute since 1980. He was a former member of the Economic Council of Canada, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (elected 1981) and is Past President (1991/92) of the Canadian Economics Association. He received an Honourary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Western Ontario in 1997. In April 1999, Thomas Courchene was invested as an Officer in the Order of Canada.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Michel Corriveau
(613) 992-0694
michel.corriveau@sshrc.ca