Well-travelled PM unveils volunteer awards

Prime Minister Stephen Harper travelled Friday to a part of Canada hardest hit by the recession to announce the creation of a new set of awards by his office to honour volunteers and volunteerism.

“Volunteerism should not be an entirely thankless task,” Mr. Harper told a news conference in Welland, Ont., a manufacturing town in the Niagara Peninsula that has seen a long erosion of its industrial sector.

“Today I am announcing a new program that will give outstanding volunteers the recognition they deserve. The Prime Minister’s Awards for Volunteerism will be my personal thank you,” Mr. Harper said. “Our objective is to raise the profile of volunteerism, to help encourage other Canadians to become volunteers.”

The awards will be presented in three categories in each of five regions across Canada, he said. They will go to for community leaders, business leader and social innovators who come up with new ideas.

There will also be two national awards, one to recognize lifelong achievement and one for a young adult. Regional award recipients will receive a $5,000 grant for the not-for-profit organization of their choice, while national award recipients will receive $10,000 for their organization of choice.

The first call for nominations will open in April 2011 during National Volunteer Week and the recipients will be announced later in the year.

Mr. Harper was asked by a reporter to explain why he chose Welland for this announcement and whether this was part of a pre-election campaign.

Welland, the Prime Minister replied, is a perfect example of a community that has had its challenges due to the recession yet is a shining example of volunteerism and volunteer spirit. “You ask me today why Welland? The answer is why not Welland.”

In French, Mr. Harper said he thinks he visits more towns and villages than any other prime minister in history.

“A lot of previous prime ministers seem to make all of their announcements only in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver,” Mr. Harper said, “and I have made a point as prime minister of trying to travel regularly across the country to a wide range of communities, not just east and west but south and north as well. And I think it’s important because, as important as those big cities are, Canada is more than that.”

The Liberals were quick to point out that, while Mr. Harper may travel the country, his office screens the people he meets.

"There has never been a less accessible prime minister in Canadian history. There has never been a prime minister less interested in hearing from Canadians than Stephen Harper,” said Liberal MP Scott Brison. “It is both audacious and mendacious for the Prime Minister to drop this whopper.”