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Awards Banquet
Friday, April 5, 2002
OPSEU President Leah Casselman hosted the OPSEU Awards Banquet at Convention 2002. The evening was well received by more than 600 delegates and guests.
“It is an opportunity to get together a more relaxed setting to celebrate the contributions of the people who make our union the great organization it is today,” Casselman said.
OPSEU paid tribute to activists who work for justice and fairness in the workplace and in society, and honoured those who work for health and safety in the workplace. We also acknowledged our members for their lifetime achievements.
The OPSEU Stanley Knowles Humanitarian Award was presented, honouring persons who have achieved great things for humanity. A grant was given to the Canadian African Legal Clinic in the name of esteemed OPSEU activist, the late Rainford Jackson.
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 Sharon Armes, widow of longtime OPSEU activist Gord Armes, gave a moving address to the banquet, flanked by her daughter Nicole. |
| Leah Casselman opens the banquet, dedicating the evening to the memory of Gord Armes, former chair of the OPSEU Ambulance Division, who died in January after a battle with cancer. |
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Honourary Life Members |
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| Mike Burke received an honourary life member award for his work with Local 310 in Newmarket. |
Jamie and Kelly Coombs of Thunder Bay, children of Barb Coombs, former Region 7 Vice-President who died a few weeks before Convention. |
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| Martha Haggett received a life membership on behalf of her late husband Ron Haggett, a Region 4 Executive Board Member and Ottawa staff representative, who died in 2000. |
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Health and Safety Award |
Rainford Jackson Education and Development |
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| Nancy Labadie of Local 130, Chatham, accepted the health and safty award for her work promoting workplace safety among high schoolers. She is flanked by Leah Casselman, Region 1 Vice-President Ron Elliot (left), and Gino Franche, president of Local 130 (far right). |
Leah Casselman and OPSEU Human Rights Officer Bev Johnson congratulated Evelyn Myrie, chair of the Canadian African Legal Clinic in Toronto, who recieved $5,000 for her organization from the Rainford Jackson Education and Development Fund. The fund, established in 1989, supports
organizations that reduce racism and improve the condition of minorities through education or action. |
Human Rights Award |
Musical Interlude |
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| Tim Brown, Chair of OPSEU’s Aboriginal Circle and the Ontario Federation of Labour vice-president for aboriginal persons, accepted the OPSEU Human Rights Award. |
A musical interlude was performed by the Angelic Sounds trio, featuring OPSEU staffer Marnie Niemi on flute, Victor Batemen, bass and Kim Radcliffe on guitar |
Stanley Knowles Humanitarian Award |
| The annual award honoured Dr. Sima Samar, a woman who has been involved in the struggle for basic human rights and the rights of women against one of the most repressive regimes in the world – the Taliban in Afghanistan. Dr. Samar is a medical doctor who set up clinics and girls' schools inside Afghanistan
and Pakistan. Now the deputy prime minister of her country, Dr. Samar could not attend the presentation, but delegate viewed a brief news clip from CNN that showed some of her work. |
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Convention 2002 Index
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