The 2010 MARL Youth Leadership in Human Rights Project had a very successful launch on November 4 at the Collège Universitaire de Saint-Boniface. There are nine schools participating in this year’s program. They are : Collège Jeanne Sauvé, Kildonan East Collegiate, Munroe Junior High, Pinawa Secondary School, Collège Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau, Gimli High School, Garden City Collegiate, St.Norbert Collegiate and Argyle Alternative School.

The recipient for the 2009 Sybil Shack Human Rights Youth Award is Anna-Celestrya Carr.  She is creative youth leader who has focused her energy and dedication on her Aboriginal roots, and on advancing the rights of Aboriginal Woman.  Anna-Celestrya has worked with many organizations and institutions to promote the rights of Aboriginal women, including the University of Manitoba when she was vice president of the University’s Aboriginal Students Association. 

On Wednesday December 9, 2009, the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties will jointly present the Human Rights Commitment Award of Manitoba and the Sybil Shack Human Rights Youth Award during a luncheon at the Kum Koon Garden Restaurant.

MARL is welcoming Nadine McCaughan as the new Program Developer for the Human Rights Education Program. Nadine has a bachelors of Education from the University of Manitoba. She also holds a degree in International Relations from the University of British Columbia. Currently Nadine is studying for a Master’s degree in Library Sciences and is also working part-time for the Winnipeg Public Libraries.

Greetings. I am a continuing member of MARL’s board of directors and am happy to be taking on the role of president this year. I am currently the principal of Collège Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau, a French immersion UNESCO high school in Winnipeg. The path that I have journeyed to where I am today has been filled with miracles and wonderful adventures. Almost every step of the way has led me towards children and education and that is what inevitably brought me to MARL. I truly believe it is our responsibility to make sure that the next generation has a voice and informed voice on human rights.

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Teacher, artist, massage therapist, and certified yoga instructor, Catharine Mains was raised in the Northwest Territories, has studied in Winnipeg, New Mexico, the Bahamas and Northern Ireland, and is an international traveler.

She has a broad range of teaching experience ranging across the arctic and southern regions of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, in various positions. Through her volunteer experience in Sierra Leone with the Canadian Teacher Federation’s (CTF) Project Overseas she discovered that working for social justice with teachers in developing nations deepened her sense of professional and global solidarity.