Gould named to Nipissing Human Rights Hall of Fame

Nipissing Human Rights Hall of Fame
News Release

********************

The originator of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination activities in the area is being honoured as the 20th anniversary inductee to the Nipissing District Human Rights Hall of Fame.

Gary Gould discovered the federal government, through Canadian Heritage, was going to start marking the March 21 date annually in 1989, when a student in his social welfare class at Nipissing University, Debra Geddes, told him about it. Dr. Gould, a faculty member at Nipissing, was also Dean of Student Services and College Development at Canadore College at that time.

He worked with Ms. Geddes, Don Curry, then Canadore’ s Director of Public Affairs, and several others to plan an event to mark the International Day, and the district-wide project was born.

The project includes the Evening of Applause, Students Who Make a Difference, anti-racism poster and multimedia contest, and the Human Rights Hall of Fame. Photographs of Hall of Fame members are displayed in the main corridor of Canadore College and Nipissing University, outside the library.

Dr. Gould brought a passion for social justice issues with him to Canadore College, where he was recruited from the University of Southern California. While at Canadore he launched initiatives that greatly increased the number of aboriginal students at the college and he created an outreach program for those on social assistance.

He left Canadore in 1992 to start The Canadian Centre for Social Justice, a nonprofit organization with projects across Canada, based in North Bay. It later changed its name to Communitas Canada as it expanded the scope of its activities. Young People’s Press became one of its largest national projects, and took on its own identify. It recently launched the North Bay & District Multicultural Centre.

Anti-racism initiatives were at the heart of The Canadian Centre for Social Justice, but it was also active in the fields of youth justice, youth empowerment and domestic violence.

“I am particularly proud that our International Day project spread across Canada and at its height more than 250,000 young people were involved in Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia. I believe it had a serious impact on the hearts and minds of many people,” Dr. Gould said.

Young People’s Press was launched in 1996 and soon had a busy office operating in Toronto, a weekly section in The Toronto Star and articles and columns appearing in 220 newspapers across Canada and 300 in the U.S.

Designed to give young people from 14 to 25 a voice on social issues of the day, the organization won numerous awards, including the 2001 Award of Distinction from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.

Dr. Gould continues to be active with Young People’s Press and the North Bay & District Multicultural Centre as a member of the board. He will be inducted to the Human Rights Hall of Fame at the Evening of Applause Wednesday, March 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Bishop Carter Auditorium, St. Joseph-Scollard Hall. The public is invited to attend.

********************