City of Toronto recognizes achievements in human rights

TORONTO, Nov. 26, 2014 /CNW/ - The City of Toronto honoured seven people this evening at the Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards event held in the City Hall council chamber. The annual ceremony celebrates advances in human rights in Toronto.

Councillors Janet Davis (Ward 31 Beaches-East York), Frank Di Giorgio (Ward 12 York South-Weston), Paula Fletcher (Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth), Joe Mihevc (Ward 21 St. Paul's) and Gord Perks (Ward 14 Parkdale-High Park) and Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale) – who represent the award recipients' home wards – joined City Manager Joe Pennachetti in presenting the awards.

"We salute the work that tonight's honorees have done – and continue to do – to improve life in Toronto," said Pennachetti. "They are shining examples of what can be done to create a more equitable city, free of discrimination."

Recipients of the 2014 awards:
Aboriginal Affairs Award: David Abbott
Access Award: Luke Anderson
Constance E. Hamilton Award: Dr. Rosemary Moodie; Anne Rochon Ford; Valerie Mah
Pride Award: Keisha Williams
William P. Hubbard Award for Race Relations: Ritu Bhasin

Biographies of each of the award recipients are available on the City's Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards web page at http://bit.ly/11uHRPH.

In recognition of the 25^th anniversary of the École Polytechnique Montreal massacre, the Raging Asian Women Taiko Drummers (also known as RAW) performed a tribute to the 14 female engineering students who were killed in 1989.

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.

SOURCE: City of Toronto

Media contact: David Clark, Strategic Communications, 416-392-7542, [email protected]