Monday October 3rd – Tuesday October 4th
Our Ottawa events were already fantastic, and we were generating quite a bit of awareness for Courage Canada and blind hockey, and then Mark received the most prestigious invite of the campaign: Mark was invited to a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Besides the honour of meeting with the PM, when Mark arrived for his meeting Prime Minister Harper had a special treat for him, 4 members of the 1972 Summit series championship team were there – Paul Henderson, Ron Ellis, Yvan Cournoyer, and Dennis Hull. He had the opportunity to meet them all. Mark spoke with the PM about Courage Canada, the campaign, and the sport of blind hockey, and then posed for pictures with Prime Minister Harper and the hockey greats. Mark was truly honoured – thanks very much!
For dinner the team and all of our family and friends were treated to dinner at the Boston Pizza on Carling Ave in Westborough. While we were there the Boston Pizza Foundation made a generous donation to Courage Canada. Thanks for all of the support.
Despite the rain over the last couple of days we knew we needed to get in some skating in order to be sure we will arrive at Weston arena on time on the 15th, so Mark and Matt put on their Reebok Hockey tracksuits and skated out to Stittsville where we left our marker. It was slow going in the rain, and we hit almost every red light as we cruised down a brand new bike lane, but the biggest plus of the skate was a photographer for the Metro Newspaper snapped a pic of Mark and Matt in the rain, and the paper ran a story the next day.
On Tuesday we had a jam packed day, starting with Mark giving a very early interview at 6:00 am with CBC Radio Ottawa, then Mark had a call of encouragement from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario David C. Onley mid morning, and then a live appearance on the Rogers french language talk show “Entre-Nous” with Matt at 11:00 am – and this was just the start of our day!
In the afternoon the team regrouped, changed into dress clothes, and headed to Parliament where we had been invited by the Prime Ministers Office to sit in the speaker’s gallery during question period. The experience provided an interesting look at Canadian politics where the various MP’s raised different issues, but the reason we were invited was because NDP Critic for Persons with Disabilities Manon Perreault read a very flattering statement about Mark and the campaign to the house:
“Mr. Speaker, today is World Sight Day and I would like to highlight the contribution of a very courageous and determined individual. Mark DeMontis is a young man who lost his sight at the age of 17 as a result of a rare illness, Leber optic neuropathy. Nevertheless, he does not hesitate to devote his time to Courage Canada. Since 2009, Mark has been in-line skating from Halifax to Toronto to raise money to start blind hockey clubs, such as the Montreal Hiboux.
Through his campaign, he hopes to raise the public’s awareness of Courage Canada’s objectives, which include giving visually impaired people the opportunity to participate in our national sport. Today is the 52nd day of his annual journey. I invite the members of the House to meet Mark and congratulate him this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. on the steps of Parliament. I would like to warmly congratulate Mark DeMontis on his involvement and on his remarkable accomplishments.”
Thank you very much for the kind words of encouragement and for helping spread awareness about Courage Canada and the great sport of blind hockey!
After the session in the House of Commons Mark, Cam and Matt returned to the Rv where they changed into skating gear for our big skate up on the Hill where we would be officially welcomed to Parliament. We were led from the gates of Parliament Hill by an RCMP escort while we skated past the eternal flame, past the Victorian gothic east block, to the main entrance under the Peace Tower where we were greeted by a group of 50 – 75 distinguished Ministers, MP’s, media, family, friends and onlookers. During the final few strides Mark led the team in the singing of our national anthem, which eventually led to the whole group joining in.
Mark was officially welcomed to Parliament by MP Mike Sullivan of York South-Weston, Mark’s home riding. We were greeted by many MP’s such as longtime Courage Canada supporter Minister Julian Fantino, Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae, Interim NDP Leader Nycole Turmel, MP Justin Trudeau amongst many others. We were very touched by the incredible level of support and appreciated the event which was organized by MP Sullivan – thank you very much for coming out! Disability Critic Manon Perreault followed up her touching endorsement from the House by presenting Mark with a Canadian Flag, Mark said a few words about his journey and the Courage Canada cause, and we mingled and were greeted with fantastic questions from some very curious people. The MP’s even took it upon themselves to contribute financially as they took Cam’s helmet and passed it around in an impromptu fundraiser.
It was an exceptional event, however we had to end it eventually as we had to head into the Senate where we were welcomed at the Vision 2020 World Sight Day reception where Mark was one of the guest speakers. He had been invited by MP Paul Calandra and Senator Consiglio Di Nino. We had a great time and we’re very honoured to be part of the cause.
A very big thank you to the Best Western Victoria Park Suites, the Best Western Plus Macies Hotel, and the Best Western Plus Gatineau-Ottawa who all sponsored the campaign with rooms throughout the Ottawa weekend which was very much appreciated and allowed us to easily attend all of our many events and promote the cause.
A big thank you as well to Matt’s parents Rob and Wendy who came out to support the team at our many events, and hosted the team for meals and accommodations.
It was a long day, with many incredible events, but we had to retire to the hotel as tomorrow it is back to skating. Mark and the team will use all this support as extra inspiration to skate even harder for the remaining 10 days to finish the campaign.
Stay tuned…
