Canadian Pensioners Concerned (CPC) awarded Michael Shapcott with The Jean Woodsworth Award yesterday for his distinguished service to the community and his longevity of effort and commitment in his social activism. The Award honours the memory of Jean Woodsworth for her lifetime commitment and action on social issues and her feistiness in overcoming social barriers.
In presenting the award, CPC’s Howard Watson commended Michael for his leadership on housing issues in Ontario and noted the many ways in which Michael has been instrumental over the years in helping CPC’s housing work in particular. Most notably, Michael has worked with CPC and the Rural Housing Issues Network of Ontario (RHINO)–now the Ontario Rural Housing Network (OHRN)–on housing issues and policy positions and was instrumental in helping the ORHN establish a connection with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
The Jean Woodsworth Award was created by the Board of CPC Ontario Division in 2000 to honour Jean Woodsworth in recognition of her lifetime commitment and action on social issues as well as for her determination in overcoming social barriers. When Jean became involved in seniors’ issues, in typical fashion she became very active, serving on the Executive and as President of CPC for many years and for some time was president of One Voice, a national seniors coalition. A few years previous to her death (in 1995) she had been awarded the Order of Canada.