45 Citizens Receive BC Community Achievement Awards

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
2007OTP0054-000510
April 25, 2007

Office of the Premier

VICTORIA – Forty-five British Columbians representing 25 communities throughout the province were honoured today at the fourth annual BC Community Achievement Awards ceremony held at Government House in Victoria.

Lieutenant Governor Iona Campagnolo and Premier Gordon Campbell presented each recipient with a medallion designed by B.C. artist Robert Davidson on behalf of the BC Achievement Foundation.“The success of our province is built on the strength of its communities, and that strength is rooted in the spirit, ideas and passion of the people we recognize each year with the BC Community Achievement Awards,” said Campbell. “In their stories, we see the remarkable diversity of British Columbia and the potential of each and every individual to truly make an impact in their communities. It is an honour for me to recognize their achievements and celebrate their contributions to making B.C. the best place on Earth.”

“This year’s recipients demonstrate that British Columbians are making a difference in every area of our province,” said foundation chair Keith Mitchell. “Whether they live in smaller communities such as Atlin, Klemtu and Mayne Island or the major centres like Victoria, Prince George and the Lower Mainland, they have found ways making each of their communities a better place to live.”

The recipients are:

Garry Anderson of Cranbrook
Darian Arman of North Vancouver
Pauline Arnouse of Victoria
Chuck Bailey of Surrey
Kuldeep Bains of Vancouver
Edward (Ted) Barsby of Nanaimo
Don Benson of New Westminster
Wayne Carlick of Atlin
Lois Carson Boyce of Richmond
William (Bill) Christie of Prince George
Isabelle Diamond of Vancouver
Art Flaterud of Vanderhoof
Margo Fryer of Vancouver
Christopher Gaze of Vancouver
Lois Godfrey of Burnaby
Sandra Heydon of Chemainus
Kerry Jang of Vancouver
Martin and Esther Kafer of Vancouver
Barbara Kaminsky of Vancouver
Gilbert Lam of Vancouver
Lily La Mer of Vancouver
Alison Leamy of Victoria
Ben Wah Lee of Kelowna
Bill Lynch of Prince George
Munro MacKenzie of Vancouver
Gordon Mackie of Sicamous
Edna Mason of Klemtu
Sharon McCoubrey of Lake Country
George McLean of Burnaby
Jim McMynn of Midway
Mike Murray of Maple Ridge
John Nightingale of West Vancouver
Doris Paul of North Vancouver
Frédérique Philip of Sooke
Hitoshi Saito of Mayne Island
Audrey Salahub of Pitt Meadows
Baljit Sethi of Prince George
Phyllis Simon of Vancouver
Jim Taylor of Mission
Steve Tuck of Kelowna
Al Tysick of Victoria
Ellen White of Nanaimo
Liza Wolf of Fort Nelson
Alexander Yule of North Vancouver

The recipients were selected by an independent advisory council including Brenda Binnie, president of the Union of BC Municipalities and councilor of Castlegar; Jack Talstra, mayor of Terrace; May Brown, Member of the Order of British Columbia; and past Community Achievement Awards recipients Rob Reid of Victoria and Grace Wong of Vancouver.

The British Columbia Achievement Foundation is an independent foundation established by an initial endowment of $6 million from the Province to recognize and celebrate B.C.’s spirit of excellence. The Community Achievement Awards, launched in 2003, were the first initiative of the foundation, followed by the launch in 2004 of the Creative Achievement Awards recognizing outstanding work in the field of applied art and design, the BC Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, recognizing literary excellence, the Creative Achievement Awards for Aboriginal Art recognizing Aboriginal artists affiliated with B.C. First Nations, and Time to Read, an award initiated for 2007 for early literacy.

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A list of BC Community Achievement Award recipients and a summary of their achievements is posted on the foundation’s website at www.bcachievement.com.

Media contact:

Nora Newlands
BC Achievement Foundation
604 261-9777

Mike Morton
Press Secretary
Office of the Premier
250 213-8218

~ Recipient Backgrounder