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Carleton Graduate Phillip Bernard Turcotte to Receive the Dr. John Davis Burton Award

Carleton University Human Rights graduate, Phillip Bernard Turcotte, has won the prestigious Dr. John Davis Burton Award. Turcotte is being recognized for his outstanding contribution to awareness, equality and integration of people with disabilities in the educational community. Turcotte will speak about his experiences at the award ceremony on Nov. 6, 2014.

When: Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Where: Room 2017, Dunton Tower, Carleton University
Registration: http://carleton.ca/pmc/john-burton-award/

Turcotte has focused his academic and extra-curricular work on disability issues, specifically on how social understandings of disability in Canada have shifted over time. He has written a book chapter based on his research, which examines the social, legal and political framework that motivated the sterilization of people living with disabilities in Alberta from 1928 to 1972. This chapter will be published as part of a book on disabled histories in Canada.

“I hope that through my work, I can help others come to understand disability as an essential component of human diversity, something that can be celebrated, embraced and lived with pride,” said Turcotte.

Outside of his academic activities, Turcotte completed Carleton’s intensive Allies in Equity Program, through which he and other program graduates launched a poster campaign to raise awareness and understanding about unconscious biases within the Carleton community.

Turcotte is a strong advocate for the rights of students living with disabilities, and has participated in the Paul Menton Centre’s Make the Cut program, a college/university transition program for high school students with learning disabilities. He has volunteered since 2013 with the City of Ottawa as a member of the Accessibility Advisory Committee. In this role, he works with fellow committee members and city staff to build a more inclusive and accessible city.

In his second year as a student in the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, Turcotte is studying social justice, law reform and non-adversarial conflict resolution.

The Dr. John Davis Burton Award was established to recognize those who strive to make a contribution.  It is awarded annually, when merited, to a student in good standing who has made a significant contribution toward awareness, equality and integration of persons with disabilities within the educational community. The recipient is also enrolled, at the time of the presentation, at Algonquin College, Carleton University, La Cité Collégiale or the University of Ottawa. Carleton University’s Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities administers the award.

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