Awards

Voice of Courage Awards

The Voice of Courage is an award presented by BOOST. The award was first presented in 1998. The Voice of Courage award recognizes exceptional individuals, who have actively increased public and community knowledge and awareness of child abuse, violence and neglect.

By taking the courageous step of speaking against child abuse and promoting change in how we interact and deal with children, these exceptional individuals take their place in the community of people who believe that all children have the right to be safe from abuse and violence.

This year the Voice of Courage Award is being presented to two individuals who have demonstrated courage in speaking out on behalf of children. The Board of Directors of BOOST is pleased to recognize Dr. Marcellina Mian and Christie Blatchford.

Marcellina Mian, MDCM, FRCPC, FAAP

A graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Marcellina Mian is a general paediatrician who has been active since 1975 in the medical and psychosocial assessment of children suspected of being abused. She was the Director of a multidisciplinary child advocacy team (The Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN)) Program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto from 1984 to 1998 and is still a member of that team. She is currently the Hospital's Director of Undergraduate Medical Education and a Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Mian is a former member of the Board of the BOOST for more than 20 years and is a member of the Executive Council of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) since 1994 and is now its immediate past president. She is also a consultant to the World Health Organization collaborating to develop guidelines on an Intersectoral Approach to Child Abuse Prevention World-wide. Dr. Mian has written numerous articles on various aspects of child abuse and has conducted research into some aspects of child maltreatment. She has been recognized in court, at all levels in Ontario, and other provinces, as an expert in this field and has made policy and academic contributions at the local, provincial and federal levels in Canada and internationally.

Christie Blatchford

Christie Blatchford is a Canadian newspaper columnist and broadcaster.

Born in Québec in the early 1950s, Ms. Blatchford studied journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto, and wrote for the campus newspaper, The Eyeopener. She subsequently worked as a sports reporter for the Globe and Mail, and as a columnist at the Toronto Star, before moving to the Toronto Sun. She remained at the Sun for almost twenty years, first as a lifestyle columnist, and then as a city columnist featured on page five of the paper. She was hired by the National Post when it was launched, until she moved to take up a columnist's job at The Globe and Mail.

Christie has been a voice for children in cases of child abuse, often when they have no voice. She writes the kind of stories that expose hypocrisy and injustice simply by relating several sides of an issue, on subjects that range through discrimination of various kinds, bureaucratic indifference to human hardship, the permanent tragedy of child abuse, the genuine no-holds-barred freedom of speech and much more.

While she is best known as a columnist, she also contributes commentary to radio station CFRB and is frequently heard on the air being interviewed on local issues

The Making A Difference Award

The Making A Difference Award is presented annually by Toronto Child Abuse Centre at the Butterfly Ball. The award was first presented in 2001.

The person or organization who receives this award, through the course of their duties, acts to protect children who are at risk of, or who have experienced child abuse, neglect or violence. In order to ensure that vulnerable children are reached, this exceptional individual or organization has contributed above and beyond the call of his or her duties

This year, the Making A Difference Award is being presented to the Transit Community Watch Program for making a difference in the lives of children and youth in Toronto.