Family values honored in Canada
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MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — The first Canadian Family Values Awards, presented by the Greater Toronto Public Affairs Council to Canadians who promote family values, were awarded to a 20-year mayor, a Catholic priest and an LDS anti-pornography and abuse activist.
George W. and Doris Haley also received a citation honoring them for their public service and model citizenship. George W. Haley is the brother of Roots author Alex Haley, and former U.S. ambassador to Gambia, the ancestral homeland of the Haleys.
Receiving the values awards were Mayor Hazel McCallion of Mississauga, Father Thomas Rosica and Dolina Smith.
The event was held Jan. 17 at the Mississauga stake center, conducted by Toronto Ontario Temple President C. Malcom Warner, and in attendance were Elder Lawrence R. Fuller, Area Authority Seventy, and Elder V. Dallas Merrell, a former General Authority. The multistake council includes the three Toronto area stakes — Toronto, Brampton and Mississauga, and is led by Brampton Stake President Russell Willmott.
Mayor McCallion, 81, in her more than 20 years in office has done much to promote the family. Seeing the city grow from 270,000 to more than 650,000 during this time, she has been successful in keeping adult book stores and sex shops out of the city, and has been a leading proponent of smoke-free communities.
Mayor McCallion, who is seeking her tenth term in office in November, said "a community is only as great as its people. It's not just the elected people that make the community great. It's not just the mayor. It's the citizens working with the government and the staff of the city that create a great community."
Father Thomas Rosica was the national director and CEO of the World Youth Day and the visit of the pope to Toronto last summer. More than 350 LDS volunteers helped the Catholic event, which attracted more than 1 million pilgrims.
He videotaped his acceptance because he was in Cologne, Germany, where he was part of the early planning for the next World Youth Day. He is also interested in having LDS members from Europe, specifically Germany, helping with the organization in 2005.
Dolina Smith, the wife of former Stake President Bruce Smith, was the only Church member honored. She founded a group called Canadians Addressing Sexual Exploitation almost two decades ago and continues to run an annual White Ribbon campaign to draw attention to the problems of child pornography and child sexual abuse in Canada.
Sister Smith said "The battle (against pornography and abuse) is far from won. The only way to win is to speak out with a righteous voice. For the sake of the children, I will not give up. It takes very few voices to change the world's actions for good or for bad."
