Vim Kochhar | |
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Senator for Ontario | |
In office January 29, 2010 –September 21, 2011 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Lahore, British Raj | September 21, 1936
Political party | Conservative |
Vim Kochhar (born September 21, 1936) is a Canadian businessman and former Senator, the first person of Indo-Canadian heritage appointed to the Senate of Canada on January 29, 2010. [1] Vim Kochhar obtained an engineering degree from the University of Texas and came to Canada in 1967. He acquired Canadian citizenship in 1974. He retired from the Senate on September 21, 2011, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.
Rotary Cheshire Homes (RCH) was founded in the early 1980s by Joyce Thompson and Vim Kochhar. RCH offers housing to persons who are deaf-blind. Vim Kochhar set the wheels in motion to develop housing for physically disabled persons. In October 1983, Kochhar and his fellow Cheshire Homes Foundation directors discussed how to build more accessible housing for persons with physical disabilities.
As a member of the Toronto-Don Valley Rotary Club, Kochhar enlisted the help of his fellow Rotarians in organizing the first Great Valentine Gala in February 1984. Over 1,200 people attended, raising over $239,000. Due to the success of the Gala and the need to distribute the funds raised, Kochhar founded the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons (CFPDP). CFPDP continues to organize successful events each year, providing support to persons with disabilities. A portion of the funds raised was allocated to the Rotary Club to develop the Rotary (Don Valley) Cheshire Homes.
In 2014, Kochhar was inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame. [2]
Ronald Joseph Morel "Ronnie" Turcotte, is a retired Canadian thoroughbred race horse jockey best known as the rider of Secretariat, winner of the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973.
Terrance Stanley Fox was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, having had one leg amputated due to cancer, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research; over C$850 million has been raised in his name as of September 2022.
Richard Marvin Hansen is a Canadian track and field athlete, activist, and philanthropist for people with disabilities. When Rick was 15, he was riding in the back of a pickup truck after a fishing trip with his friend, when the driver lost control and the vehicle rolled over. Hansen was trapped on the inside of the roll and thrown to the ground, along with the equipment from the truck. As a result of the crash, Hansen broke his back, sustained a spinal cord injury and became paralyzed from the waist down.
Chantal Petitclerc is a Canadian wheelchair racer and a Senator from Quebec.
David Charles Onley was a Canadian broadcaster and writer who served as the 28th lieutenant governor of Ontario from 2007 until 2014.
Edward Verne Roberts was an American activist. He was the first wheelchair user to attend the University of California, Berkeley. He was a pioneering leader of the disability rights movement.
Robert Daniel Steadward, is a Canadian retired sports administrator, professor, sports scientist, and author. Steadward helped organize the first Canadian wheelchair sport national championships in 1968, and later coached Canada in wheelchair basketball at the Summer Paralympics. He became a professor at the University of Alberta in 1971, later served as chairman of the Department of Athletics, and published more than 150 papers about disability sport. He was the founding president of the Alberta Wheelchair Sports Association in 1971, founded the Research and Training Centre for Athletes with Disabilities in 1978, served as president of the Canadian Paralympic Committee from 1984 to 1990, and later became a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
The Canadian Disability Hall of Fame, recognizes "outstanding Canadians who have made extraordinary contributions to enriching the quality of life for people with physical disabilities". It is run by the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons and located at Metro Hall, 55 John St., in downtown Toronto. The Hall is named after Terry Fox, a cancer research activist who attempted a run across Canada, dubbed the "Marathon of Hope".
Colette Bourgonje (ber-gon-yah) is a Canadian Paralympic cross-country skier and athlete of Métis heritage. She has won four bronze medals in Summer Paralympics and medals in Winter Paralympics for skiing.
Chris Williamson is a Canadian alpine skier and Paralympic Champion. His father, Peter, was a speed skater for Canada in the 1968 Winter Olympics and subsequently coached stars such as Mike Ireland and Clara Hughes.
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Mona Winberg,CM was a Canadian journalist and disability rights activist. Concerned over policies that discuss disabilities or promote accessibility and independence, Winberg began writing for the Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy and eventually became the first disabled person to serve as president of the organization. In the 1980s, she approached the Toronto Sun about the lack of media coverage on disability issues and they hired her to write a weekly column. She was honored with the King Clancy Award and was inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame by the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons and a recipient of the Order of Canada.
Margaret Laleah McLeod was the founder of the Cheshire Homes in Canada which provided housing for people with disabilities. Outside of the Cheshire Homes, McLeod was a co-founder of the Ontario Federation for the Physically Handicapped. McLeod was awarded the Order of Canada in 1979 and inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame in 1993.
David Shannon, CM, OOnt is a Canadian disability/human rights activist, lawyer, politician, actor, university lecturer, author, and adventurer. After breaking his neck in a rugby scrum at the University of Waterloo in 1981, he was rendered a quadriplegic. Subsequently, Shannon finished law school and became a disability rights activist. His Dave Shannon Cross-Canada Tour in 1997 gained national media attention as he became the first quadriplegic to trek across Canada in a motorized wheelchair. Shannon has held positions in academia, law, social services, and human rights in both Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. In the late 2000s, Shannon became the first quadriplegic to reach the North Pole and to parachute out of an airplane at an altitude of over 25,000 feet. Shannon has won numerous prestigious awards and honours, such as the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada for his work advancing the rights of the disabled and other minority groups in Canada and abroad.
Joanne Berdan is a Canadian medallist in Paralympic athletics. During her Paralympic career, Berdan won a total of 10 Paralympic medals. She was inducted into both the Canadian Paralympic Committee Hall of Fame and Canadian Disability Hall of Fame in 2003.
Marni Abbott-Peter is a Canadian retired wheelchair basketball player and current head coach of the Canadian senior women's wheelchair basketball team. As a member of Team Canada, she won three gold medals and one bronze during the Paralympic Games as well as four World Championship titles. She was inducted into the Canadian Paralympic Committee Hall of Fame in 2015. She is married to fellow Paralympic athlete Richard Peter.
Audrey Aanes is an American disability rights activist sometimes referred to as Mother of the Independent Living Movement in Alaska. Aanes received both a Bachelors and Master's in Special Education from the University of Northern Colorado following spending two years in the Peace Corps. Her other career focus was in the physical disability field. She founded the community, Access Alaska, which allows people with physical disabilities to live independently.
Leslie "Les" Lam is a Hong Kong-Canadian former Paralympian who won para table tennis medals, first at the 1972 Summer Paralympics representing Hong Kong and, four years later, at the 1976 Summer Paralympics representing Canada. He also competed in athletics, wheelchair basketball, and swimming in Paralympic Games from 1972 to 1984.
Elisabeth Walker-Young is a retired Canadian Paralympic swimmer, an assistant chef de mission at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and a former chef de mission for the Canadian team at the 2015 Parapan American Games. She received an Order of Canada in 2018 because of her services to the sport within the Paralympic movement at the age of 41. In 2014, Walker-Young was inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.
Beryl Potter was a British-born Canadian disability rights activist. She was involved in many disability rights organizations in Ontario including the Trans-Action Coalition, the Scarborough Recreation Club for Disabled Adults, the Ontario Action Awareness Association, and the Coalition on Employment Equity for Persons with Disabilities (CEEPD). Potter was a triple amputee and was blind in one eye as a result of complications due to a fall at work.