Reports

CCD Awards: NEADS recognizes outstanding service to the Canadian disability movement!

I would like to inform all NEADS members, and our partner schools/organizations, that MaryAnne Duchesne and Chris Gaulin are the recipients of the 2000/2001 Council of Canadians With Disabilities (CCD) Awards. Each year, the Council presents awards to deserving representatives of its member groups for outstanding service to the Canadian disability movement. MaryAnne and Chris were recognized for their accomplishments at the meeting of the NEADS board of directors on the first weekend of May. They were presented with beautiful plaques by Susan Vida, our Quebec Representative and member of the CCD national council.

MaryAnne Duchesne, Secretary/Treasurer and Territories Representative on the NEADS board of directors, has served on the association's board since 1998. She is enrolled in the Business Administration program at Aurora College and has actively represented NEADS nationally and in the Northwest Territories. MaryAnne was a member of the conference planning committee for the NEADS 2000 national conference. At the end of March 2001, she hosted a very successful Student Leadership Forum in Yellowknife at Aurora College, with the assistance of the NWT Council for Disabled Persons.

Since 1998, she has been a member of the advisory committee for a needs assessment study on persons with disabilities in the NWT. This study resulted in the report Living With Disability..Living With Dignity, released in October 2000. Working as a strong advocate in the Territories, with the assistance of the NWT Council, her efforts contributed to the establishment of the Northwest Territories Study Grant by the territorial government. This grant is available to full and part-time post-secondary students with disabilities to offset the costs of their disabilities while in college and university study. MaryAnne was also recently the Co-Chair of Count Me In, a highly successful conference held in Yellowknife, that saw the participation of persons with disabilities from the Northwest Territories in January.

Chris Gaulin is the Website Architect for NEADS, and the tremendous skill and commitment to his work have led to the development of www.neads.ca , a highly informative and accessible resource for students and graduates with disabilities. Chris provided outstanding onsite support to delegates during our national conference last November. A great contributor to all of our work, Chris is now providing ongoing support in reviewing the Association's publications and research. Currently studying at Dawson College in Montreal in a pre-university Commerce program, he is also extremely involved with a number of disability organizations. Chris is President of the National Federation of the Blind: Advocates for Equality, Greater Montreal Chapter and Co-Founder and Coordinator of the Montreal Association for the Blind's Recreational Goalball League. He was the recipient of many awards and honours in 2000 including: Quebec Federation For the Blind Bursary, Wayne and Walter Gretzky Scholarship, and the Lieutenant Governor's Award.

Congratulations MaryAnne and Chris! Many thanks for your hard work and dedication to our Association and the issues of post-secondary students with disabilities in Canada.

Frank Smith, National Coordinator