Community says goodbye to Suzanne Rochon-Burnett

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Suzanne Rochon-Burnett, a Metis broadcaster and businesswoman who's passion for her work and her people earned her both awards and respect, died in Welland on April 2 at the age of 71.

Rochon-Burnett was born on March 10, 1935 in Ste. Adele near Montreal. She began her broadcast career in Quebec as host and producer of a daily women's radio program, then expanded into print journalism. She eventually moved to Ontario where she developed the popular radio program Chanson a la Francaise and also worked for the CBC. In 1997 she became the first Aboriginal woman to be granted an FM radio broadcasting license by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Rochon-Burnett was the founding vice-chair of the Metis Nation of Ontario and was president and founder of Kakekalanicks Inc. a Native art consulting firm that helped launch the careers of many Aboriginal artists. She sat on the boards of a number of organizations including TV Ontario, the Ontario Arts Council and the Canadian Council of the Arts.

In 1987 Rochon-Burnett was presented with an eagle feather in recognition of her efforts to save a totem pole carved by Squamish carver Chief Mathias Joe and in 2001 she received a Meritorious Service Award in recognition of her contributions to Native Friendship Centres in Ontario. In 2002 she was inducted into the Order of Canada and received an honorary doctorate of letters from Brock University.

In 2004 she received that National Aboriginal Achievement Award in the media and communications category.

Rochon-Burnett was named to the Order of Ontario, received the Governor General's Medal, the YWCA's Women of Distinction Award and the Royal Bank Initiative of the Year Award.

Earlier this year she became the first woman inducted into the Aboriginal Business Hall of Fame by the Canadian Council of Aborignal Business.