The National Union's scholarship winners for 2007

"What makes Tommy Douglas the greatest Canadian are the values and character that drove his accomplishments. His sense of community, compassion and charity were all delivered with conviction and courage. Every Canadian, regardless of political stripe or regional bias, intuitively recognizes those values and that character as the core of our Canadian identity.”

“A number of years ago who would have dreamt that people with disabilities could be living independently, and doing things like driving cars, working full time jobs, raising children, using public transit, skiing, playing hockey, and swimming…. Pity has turned to acceptance and pride. Without quality public services none of this would have been possible.

“Public services would be nothing though without the strength, commitment, knowledge and skill base of the thousands of workers delivering these services. Archbishop Desmond Tutu summed this up when he said, ‘The fundamental law of human beings is inter-dependence. A person is a person through other persons.’”

“Picture yourself as a small child, maybe five or six years old. Life was grand; you were the center of your parent’s world, you had no responsibilities, no worries, and no cares. Now picture being taken away from this world, from your parents. Imagine being told your culture is not good enough, your way of life, your language, your parents, and you are not good enough. Can you picture it? Unfortunately, there are some who do not have to try, as these are their only childhood memories.”

“The toughest objective as a visible minority is to identify within one’s own culture and adopt a conventional western lifestyle. Often, the forcible coalescing of these two motives causes a struggle within one’s identity. Quality public service not only exists to benefit the masses but to allow visible minorities to more effectively integrate themselves amongst society and become more actively involved citizens.”