Orléans is blessed with a large number of women and girls who each and every day strive to make a difference in their community. On March 4, Orléans MP Marie-France Lalonde held a breakfast and award ceremony to honour 31 of those women as part of this year’s Leading Women, Leading Girls Awards in recognition of International Women’s Day.

Among this year’s recipients are the mother-daughter team of Mélanie and Camille Rochon who successfully lobbied the federal government to approve the use of the Cystic Fibrosis medication Trikafta in Canada; Abiola Agoro who, along with other members of her family, created the Dapo Agoro Foundation for Peace which promotes non-violent conflict resolution in the name of her son who was stabbed to death while trying to break up a fight in 2002; and Carmen Larsen who helped relocate dozens of Afghan refugee families in Orléans last summer.

Among the leading girls who received an award were Olivia Rose Furlong, who has worked tirelessly with the Women Warriors’ Healing Garden in recognizing LGBTQ+ veterans; and Katy Prince who is the founder of the Garneau Black Diversity Association which gives a voice to black students at école secondaire Garneau and especially black LGBTQ2S+ students at the school.

Other recipients include Aliya Karimjee, Angelica Kalubiaka, Brooke Colman, Sayed Anjum, Cassandra Cummings, Jacqueline Loranger, Francine Vinet, Renée Leblanc, Jacqueline Noiseux, Heather Johnston, Huguette Lorrain, Christine Wood, Claudette Potvin, Donna Leith Gudbranson, Danielle DiLollo, Farzana Malik, France Léveillé, Jeannette Bourdeau, Madeleine Henrie, Nenette Ntema Mbudi, Stephanie Nelson, Souad El Mestassi, Tammy Copp, Camylle Tremblay and Madonna Keates.

A number of the recipients are new Canadians who were honoured for their work in supporting their respective cultural communities and for giving back to their adopted country Canada.

Lalonde used the award ceremony to talk about the importance of International Women’s Day in recognizing the achieve-ments of women around the world and in our own backyard.

“International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate the contributions of women everywhere, including those right here in Orléans.,” said Lalonde. “Whether you are a mother, a young entrepreneur, a businesswoman, a caregiver, a health care worker, you have lead your peers and been a role model for all generations.”

Lalonde also took the opportunity to recognize the outstanding job done by front line workers during the pandemic, a large percentage of whom are women.

“I want to acknowledge their work and thank them for everything they went through to keep us safe over the past two years,” she said. “Let’s not forget we are gathered this morning to celebrate each and everyone of you.”