SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Ian Duncan

Honourable senators, today I wish to recognize Ian Duncan, an extraordinary educator and innovator from my hometown of Toronto. He was one of the recipients of the 2025 Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching for his remarkable initiative, the Historytellers Project.

This prestigious national award celebrates those who bring Canada’s past to life in classrooms across the country and inspire students to think critically about the past and its relevance today.

I was privileged to serve as a project editor, with Senator Cormier, on the Historytellers Project. That close involvement gave me a first-hand view of the care, rigour and creativity that went into its development as well as the profound impact it had on its students.

Created in partnership with the ArQuives, Canada’s 2SLGBTQIA+ archive and the largest independent queer archive in the world, the Historytellers Project invites students to explore and tell the histories of 2SLGBTQIA+ people in Canada whose stories have often been overlooked, erased or misunderstood.

By engaging directly with archival records, photographs, letters, oral histories and community documents, students are challenged to confront the realities of discrimination, resilience, activism and belonging that have shaped generations.

Through this project, young people do not simply learn about the past; they become historians themselves. They analyze primary sources, ask critical questions and present narratives that broaden our national story. They come to understand that Canadian history is richer and more complex when all voices are included.

His research guide for students is outstanding. It demystifies the research process while encouraging curiosity and critical thinking and empowers students to transform evidence into meaningful stories that deepen our understanding of the past.

In forging a partnership with the ArQuives, Mr. Duncan has built an inspiring bridge between classrooms and community institutions, demonstrating how collaboration can deepen learning while preserving lived experience and collective memory.

Mr. Duncan joins other winners from Toronto, such as Katy Whitfield, who won in 2015 for her project, Historical Thinking Missions, through which students conducted historical research and fieldwork to learn about the history of Toronto’s St. John’s Ward.

On behalf of this chamber, I extend my warmest congratulations to Ian Duncan, as well as the other winners, on this well-deserved national honour.

His leadership in education, commitment to inclusive storytelling and dedication to his students remind us that teaching can shape not only minds but our shared future. Thank you.