 The awards are administered by Status of Women Canada and may be presented to persons of either sex; in 2008, Ben Barry became the first man to win the award.The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards are the foremost honours presented for excellence in the performing arts, in the categories of dance, classical music, popular music, film, broadcasting, and theatre.They were initiated in 1992 by Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn and the first recipients were William Hutt, Gweneth Lloyd, Dominique Michel, Mercedes Palomino, Oscar Peterson, Léopold Simoneau, Norman Jewison, and Gilles Maheu and CARBONE 14.