Cartoonist Lynn Johnston, creator of the For Better or For Worse comic strip, will receive Manitoba's highest honour in July when she's inducted into the Order of Manitoba.

Johnston lived in the northern Manitoba community of Lynn Lake, 815 kilometres north of Winnipeg, for six years in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  She now lives in northern Ontario.

When she heard she'd been nominated, Johnston said she tried to turn it down.

"I said, 'I think this is wonderful, and I appreciate it, but I think it should go to somebody who lives in Manitoba and has lived all their life and, you know, people would probably complain,' " Johnston said.

"Then, I have a friend who lives in Winnipeg … and she phoned me and said, 'You know, it's not really about how long you lived in Manitoba. It's mostly about the story line you did on the native community.' "

The story featured in the comic strip saw one of the family's daughters, Elizabeth, travelling to a northern aboriginal community as a student teacher.

"I could never have done that story if we hadn't lived in Lynn Lake, because really it is all about the people who lived in the North, and the commuting and the relationship, just the banter and all that kind of stuff," Johnston said. "I really wouldn't have done that if it wasn't for our time in the North."

Johnston's strip is published in about 2,000 newspapers around the world and is translated into eight languages.

Almost a dozen other people will recieve the Order of Manitoba at a ceremony July 12 at the legislature. They include:

• Human rights advocate Gail Asper.
• Janice Filmon, wife of former premier Gary Filmon and community leader.
• Aboriginal elder and volunteer Ed Wood.
• CFL Hall of Famer Ken Ploen, who led the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to Grey Cup titles in 1958, '59, '61 and '62.

Established in 1999, the Order of Manitoba recognizes excellence or achievement in any field of endeavour that benefits the social, cultural or economic well-being of Manitoba and its residents.