Parents behind Do It For Daron among GG's seven local honorees

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From the grieving parents who created the Do It For Daron Foundation to the founding president of the Ride For Dad, people from Ottawa and the surrounding areas will be among the honorees at Rideau Hall Tuesday.

They’ll be in the company of 43 police officers and civilians who will be honoured for bravery and service to others, Gov. Gen. Julie Payette announced Friday. The honours include the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, Decoration for Bravery, Meritorious Service Decoration and Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers.

Here are a few of those who will be honoured.

• After their daughter’s tragic death, former NHL player Luke Richardson and his wife, Stephanie, shared their story and created the foundation to fund youth mental health programs and start conversations about depression and suicide with the help of Daron’s friends and community organizations.

TELUS Ride For Dad organizers and supporters (L to R): Byron Smith, National Ride Captain and Co-Founder; Chris Phillips, Big Rig Brewery; Shannon Gorman, National Director, Community Affairs at TELUS; Garry Janz, President, TELUS Ride For Dad.

• Garry Janz of Carleton Place is the founding president of the Ride for Dad, which has expanded to 44 chapters and thousands of volunteers across Canada. It’s raised more than $20 million for research leading to new treatments for prostate cancer and more personalized care for patients.

In response to the recent suicide of Justin St. Amour while a prisoner at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC) Mothers Offering Mutual Support (MOMS) and the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project held a vigil at OCDC Wednesday December 14, 2016. The group stood side by side as Farhat Rehman spoke to the supporters.

• Farhat Rehman became the driving force behind Mothers Offering Mutual Support after she discovered the lack of support and resources for mentally-ill prisoners after a loved one was incarcerated. She advocates for better care so that inmates can be rehabilitated and reintegrated as contributing members of society.
• An Olympian and “champion for Indigenous arts, culture and sport,” Waneek Horn-Miller promotes healthy living among youth, advocates for the families of missing and murdered women and girls and helps preserve traditional arts while continuing to work with the Canadian Olympic Committee.
• Nathalie Maione is the force behind Helping with Furniture, a registered charity that delivers donated household items to refugees, new immigrants and low-income people in the capital region, aiding more than one thousand families start fresh over a decade.
• Assistant Commissioner Joseph Peter Byron Boucher, a member of the RCMP for more than three decades, will be honoured for his work as the national leader for the force’s Contract and Aboriginal Policing branch, including collaborating on the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

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