Dear fans of celebrated humanitarian, Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova, CC (1909-1990), I have some disappointing news to share.

A couple of years ago, I started a “Let’s put Lotta on a Stamp” petition that has now grown to include 1,420 signatories. In June of 2020, I made a proposal to the Stamp Advisory Committee of Canada Post as follows:

That Canada Post create an ongoing “Refugees to Canada Who Made a Difference” commemorative stamp series, launching this series in 2022 with a stamp honouring Dr. Lotta.

Today I have received an official response from Canada Post thanking me for my proposal and announcing Canada Post’s 2022 Stamp Program.

Unfortunately, Dr. Lotta was not included on the 2022 Stamp Program list and it does not appear from the form letter that her nomination would stay on file. So as a result, with much sadness, I will be closing down the online petition.

To be clear, I have no objections whatsoever with the excellent choices that the Stamp Advisory Committee has recommended for 2022.

That said, this is the second time that Lotta has been nominated, without success. It is truly remarkable to me that an individual of her stature –

• one of the most prominent women in Canadian history,
• one of our greatest refugee success stories,
• twice honoured by the Governor General,
• twice nominated to appear on a Canadian bank note,
• and, with her iconic uniform, one of the most recognizable Canadian faces ever,
• and thus a perfect image for an iconic commemorative stamp –

has somehow not been honoured in this way.

If you feel the same way, then I encourage you to check out the Canada Post online information on how you can resubmit Lotta’s name for consideration.

Hopefully sometime in the future, Canada Post will arrive at a different decision.

For now, all I can do is to send my sincere thanks to all of you who supported this petition!

David Rain