Massimo Bergamini

Northern Ontario aviation legend Harvey Friesen grew Bearskin Airlines into one of the leading regional carriers in Canada — he may be gone, but his legacy has not been forgotten.  A group of Canadian airline executives, current and retired, have initiated an online petition campaign to boost support for Harvey Friesen’s posthumous induction to Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame. 

An aviator and philanthropist

Harvey Friesen passed away suddenly on February 2, 2014, days after announcing he was stepping away from most of his professional responsibilities to embrace a well-deserved (partial) retirement.

Friesen was first and foremost a pilot, but he was also a visionary and a builder.He took Bearskin Lake Air Service, a small air charter operator serving remote First Nation communities in Northwestern Ontario and built it into one of the most successful regional carriers in Canada.

By the late 90s Bearskin Airlines was providing scheduled service to all the major northern Ontario communities and not long after, expanded operations to northern Manitoba.

As president and CEO of Bearskin Airlines from 1977 to 2011, he did not just help connect communities and families across the North and with the rest of Canada, but he opened new markets and created new job opportunities for thousands of Canadians.

He also built a sense of community and giving among all those around him that continues to this day.

His vision for Bearskin Airlines extended beyond its role as a good and reliable mover of people and goods, it involved also being a good and reliable corporate citizen. Not only was he personally heavily invested in the good works and activities of local service organizations, but he encouraged his employees to do the same in each of the communities they served.

Seven years after his passing, much of what Harvey Friesen built, from the Bearskin Airlines brand to charitable sporting events, to a generous sense of community stand as a reminder of his extraordinary achievements as an aviator, a business and community leader and as a philanthropist.

Now his many friends, former industry colleagues as well as people across Northern Ontario and Manitoba believe that his legacy should be recognized and given pride of place in Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.

If you want to support Harvey Friesen’s posthumous induction into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame, please visit and sign the petition posted on Change.org by clicking here.