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Lifetime Achievement Award
William ( Bill ) Knight
Photo credit : Don Hall
William ( Bill ) Knight B . A .’ 69 , B . Ed .’ 70 is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award . Trained as a teacher , Mr . Knight ’ s career spans 40 years as a parliamentarian , civil servant , and business leader including more than six years as President and CEO of Credit Union Central of Canada . Knight is the recipient of the 2012 Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award , which recognizes an alumnus for a lifetime of achievement and for giving back to society on a regional , national or international basis .
After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1968 and a Bachelor of Education ( Dist ) in 1970 , Knight took a teaching position in Weyburn , Saskatchewan . Though active in politics , he had no plan to run for political office until he was persuaded to seek the New Democratic Party ( NDP ) nomination in the federal seat of Assiniboia when it became vacant . He won the seat in a by-election in 1971 and was re-elected in 1972 , but defeated in subsequent elections ....
In 1989 , Knight left politics to join Credit Union Central of Canada and in
1995 became its President and CEO , a position he held until he was appointed the first commissioner of the newlycreated Financial Consumer Agency of Canada in 2001 . ... He is a designated Corporate Director and currently serves on a number of Canadian boards , as well as playing an advisory role both in Canada and internationally .
Though he has not lived in Saskatchewan for many years , Knight still has strong ties to the province and the University of Regina . He credits his Saskatchewan roots , his parents and the influence of the University of Regina for providing him with the strong underpinnings on which to build his career .
Reprinted in part with permission from http :// www . uregina . ca / alumni / aa-aca-wk . htm
Distinguished Humanitarian and Community
Service Award
Vera Tourangeau B . Ed . ( IND Ed ) ‘ 90 is the recipient of the Distinguished Humanitarian and Community Service Award which recognizes an individual who has contributed service that has made a difference to the well-being of others . In her book Miss , It Hurts , Vera Tourangeau shares the heartbreaking journal entries of the First Nations students she taught . ... She later used the manuscript as the text for her first-ever public speaking engagement , a short address at the opening of a national conference on bullying in 2005 , and moved the audience to tears . It was a role she had never imagined for herself , but it was the beginning of her emergence as a voice for First Nations people , especially the children . Today , she is widely known as an inspirational speaker , educator , literacy worker , community volunteer , writer and , most recently , a playwright .
She received her Bachelor of Education in 1990 from the University of Regina . This was the first step on a path that has allowed her to make a difference , first as a teacher and administrator at Peepeekisis First Nation , then as a community engagement consultant with the Treaty 4 Student Success Program and more recently as a writer and motivational speaker . She says the University provided a good foundation of knowledge , skills and best practices that she could apply to any classroom or organization .
Tourangeau says Miss It Hurts began in 2003 with a cry in the night , as if someone was calling to her , and a vision of the plight of the First Nations people from historical times to the present . The next morning , she learned that a boy she had taught 10 years earlier had committed suicide .
' This cry literally woke my heart to feel , and it challenged me to fulfill what I was called to do for my people , my nation ," Tourangeau says . Though she had little public speaking experience , she began speaking out on behalf of First Nations children ....
Tourangeau says she tells young people to hold on to their dreams , to believe they can do anything they want to do , to have the courage to resist when tempted by alcohol , drugs and gangs and to fight the fight of a true warrior . ( Reprinted in part with permission from http :// www . uregina . ca / alumni / aa-aca-vt . htm )
Vera Tourangeau
Vera will deliver a public address on Oct . 9 , 10:00 - 11:15 a . m in the Education Auditorium .
Photo credit : Don Hall