Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes

Current winners

Joséphine Bacon (Arts)

Joséphine Bacon is an Innu poet from Pessamit, born in 1947. A filmmaker and speaker, she is considered a beacon of Quebec literature and a great cultural ambassador for First Nations. Heavily involved in the Indigenous literary and artistic scenes, she has inspired younger generations to take pride in their Indigenous heritage and to defend their languages and their culture. She has published four collections of poetry with publisher Mémoire d’encrier: Bâtons à message · Tshissinuatshitakana (2009), Nous sommes tous des sauvages (2011, written with José Aquelin), Un thé dans la toundra · Nipishapui nete mushuat (2013) and Uiesh · Quelque part (2018). In collaboration with Institut Tshakapesh, she has also published the anthology Nin Auass · Moi l’enfant (2021, written with Laure Morali). Joséphine Bacon has received numerous awards and distinctions.

Françoise Baylis (Social sciences and humanities)

Françoise Baylis is a bioethicist, professor and philosopher who holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Western Ontario. She is currently with the International Science Council and Distinguished Research Professor Emerita at Dalhousie University. She is renowned for her academic research in healthcare ethics at the intersection of policy and practice. Her advocacy and activism are grounded in a commitment to “make the powerful care.” Baylis is the author of Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing. In 2022, she was awarded the Killam Prize for the Humanities. 

For more information about Françoise Baylis’ work, visit her website.