Skate Canada members honoured at 2019 Ice Summit in Ottawa

OTTAWA, ON: This past weekend, Skate Canada honoured 20 award winners during its annual Awards Banquet at the 2019 Ice Summit held in Ottawa, Ont.

The winners received their awards on Saturday night in front of a crowd of over 350 of Canada’s top skating delegates. The evening was co-hosted by 2019 Canadian ice dance silver medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. The awards were given out by 2019 junior ice dance world champions Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha.

The Skate Canada Awards program honours dedicated members of the skating community who have donated their time to help contribute to improving the quality of skating in Canada.

The 2018-2019 recipients were:

Skate Canada Club and Recreational Coach Award of Excellence
Joanne Godin

Skate Canada Competitive Coach/Choreographer Award of Excellence
Marie-France Dubreuil

Skate Canada Officials Award of Excellence
Jean Senft

Skate Canada Event Volunteer Award of Excellence
Susan Taylor

Elizabeth Swan Memorial Award
Jennifer Betts

Billie Mitchell Award
Sally Rehorick

Skate Canada also presents a volunteer award to one member of each of the Skate Canada sections. The following exceptional volunteers were awarded the 2018-2019 Skate Canada Section Volunteer Award of Excellence:

British Columbia/Yukon Section
Margaret Warwick

Alberta/NWT/Nunavut Section
Laurie Finney

Saskatchewan Section
Marg Auringer

Manitoba Section
Don Brown

Ontario Section
Paul Mallet

Quebec Section
Guylaine McSween

New Brunswick Section
Patsy Henderson

Prince Edward Island Section
Lynn MacLeod

Nova Scotia Section
Terry Ackles

Newfoundland and Labrador Section
Eleanor Scott

Three additional host section awards were recognized in the CanSkate, STARSkate and CompetitiveSkate athlete areas, as representatives of all section winners across the country in those categories:

Skate Canada Section CanSkate Athlete Award
Bryden Strachan

Skate Canada Section STARSkate Athlete Award
Kira Christie

Skate Canada Section CompetitiveSkate Athlete Award
Lily Wilberforce, Aidan Wright

In addition, Olympians Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon were inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in the athlete category. One of Canada’s most loved dance teams, they paired up in 1995. They went on to win the Canadian ice dance title five times (2000, 2004-2007). Dubreuil and Lauzon retired in 2008 and began a successful coaching career in Montreal.

Leanna Caron, President, Skate Canada, and ISU Council member Benoit Lavoie handed out the ISU Gold Award of Merit to Skate Canada BC/Yukon’s Susan Heffernan, and Skate Ontario’s Joanne Shaw for their valuable contributions to the ISU. This award may only be made to Office Holders and other individuals who have served the ISU sport disciplines.

Skate Canada congratulates all award winners, nominees and countless invaluable volunteers!