PRESS RELEASE – January 31st 2011

North York, ON - Business Office CVFSA

2011 CVFSA Lifetime Achievement Award ©

The nomination period for the 2011, “CVFSA Lifetime Achievement Award” © will close on
March 11th 2011. This prestigious award was made possible by a partnership between the
Canadian Volunteer Fire Services Association and Commercial Solutions and their partners.
The CVFSA Awards Committee is made up of five individuals from five regions of Canada to
reflect fairness in any selection of the candidates nominated from across Canada. Martin Bell,
National President said, “This is the second year that we have accepted submissions and
nominations to the, “CVFSA Lifetime Achievement Award” © program. Many Canadians may
not realize it, but in more than 3,500 communities across this country, emergency fire
department services are provided by volunteers who give their time and energy to protect the
people and properties of their local communities. This program demonstrates how many
dedicated volunteer firefighters and fire officers are providing exemplary service to their
communities across this nation.” The chairman of the 2011 CVFSA Awards
Committee is retired fire chief John Yates from Cornwall and District Fire
Department, who will chair the selection committee which will select the
2011 winner. John has served for over thirty years as a volunteer firefighter
and medical first responder. He served twenty-three years as Chief before
retiring in 2009, but remains active as a firefighter/MFR. With his broad
knowledge of the fire service he was appointed chair of the CVFSA Awards
Committee. Other members include; Bill G. Higgs, from western Canada,
Michael J. McKeage, from northern Canada, Atousa Pourfard, from central
Canada, and Mark H. Pound, from eastern Canada.

Fire Chief Bill Higgs, CFO heads the Sechelt Fire Department in British
Columbia and has been chief since 1990. Bill Higgs was among one of the
first groups of applicants to receive his CFO designation from the Canadian
Association of Fire chiefs in September of 2005. In 1992, the department
played a significant role as one of the first fire departments in North America
to introduce Compressed Air Foam Systems (CAFS) and class A foam into
the Municipal firefighting arena. In 2008 he was awarded the prestigious,
“Fire Chief of the Year Award” from the CAFC.

Michael McKeage, B.A, (certificate in adult education), calls Whitehorse in the

Yukon Territories home where he is the Chief Operating Officer (COO)
responsible for the efficient operations of Whitehorse General Hospital, the
Watson Lake Hospital and the Dawson City Hospital. Through this role, the
COO provides management oversight for the development of high quality,
cost effective and integrated clinical programs within the hospital. Michael,
who is also an Advanced Paramedic, is a Charter Member of the EMCC and
was invited by IAED Academy to assist in the development of an
international Standards Committee on CBRN Surveillance and international
Alert Development for SARS-like events. This group has subsequently
developed protocols for global activation during the next global alert for Severe Respiratory
Infections (SRI)

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Atousa Pourfard is from Boucherville in Québec where she has called
home for five years. She has been a member of the Ordre des chimistes du
Québec (OCQ) and volunteer for The Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ)
since 2006. She is member and certified as a Protective Coatings Specialist
(PCS) from the society for protective coatings (SSPC). She is also a member
and certified of National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE
International) as Coating Inspector. Atousa Pourfard holds a Bachelor of
Science in Chemistry. She is working towards her Masters program with
Aerospace engineering research concentration - École de technologie
supérieure (ÉTS) – University of Quebec. In her work she has provided fire protection
technology for complex buildings, gas and petroleum plants, refineries, petrochemical plants,
power plants and marine platforms. Her past volunteer work with the Montreal Women’s Center
shows her compassion to others. She has worked with other volunteer and professional
associations and is trilingual in French, English, and Persian. It was her professional attention to
details and her dedicated work with volunteers that caught the attention of president Bell to
appoint her to the committee. Atousa also runs her own business as a Québec stained-glass
artisan and is a member of the CVFSA.
Mark Pound, B.A, B.Ed., calls Kentville in Nova Scotia home and is a
graduate of Acadia University. He is employed as a Health Centre
Coordinator at Forest Heights Community School. Active in his community,
Mark is a volunteer firefighter/MFR with the Kentville Volunteer Fire
Department, and a team leader for the Canadian Red Cross. He also handles
Administration for St. John Ambulance, Waterville Division #497, and is a
volunteer with Valley Search & Rescue.
When Martin Bell, CVFSA President announced the 2011 selection
committee on January 31st he said, “We spent a lot of time choosing
professionals from four different regions of Canada with the highest credentials, all of whom had
achievements themselves. This committee will choose the next "CVFSA Lifetime Achievement
Award" © winner.”
Nominations can be forwarded now and up to March 11th for the 2011 award. The award will be
presented in Ottawa on September 10th. A sincere thank you to Commercial Solutions of
Edmonton and their partners for their support of this prestigious award.

http://www.cvfsa.ca/LifetimeAchievementAward/nomination-form.aspx

http://www.cvfsa.ca

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