It appears the lieutenant governor of Ontario has joined the masses and caught a case of Sens fever.
“It’s great to be back in Ottawa, especially the day after the Sens win,” said James Bartleman while addressing a group of walkers, volunteers and their families at the 23rd annual World Partnership Walk, where he was the guest of honour yesterday.
About 1,000 people were in attendance for the 5-km walk, which raises funds and awareness for programs that improve education, health care and rural livelihoods in Third World countries.
The walk is an initiative of the Aga Khan Foundation Canada — a not-for-profit non-denominational development agency.
HIT $200G TARGET
The event, which was held at Confederation Park, was one of nine similar walks across the country, which have raised more than $36 million over the past 23 years.
Aly Alibhai, the event organizer, said they hit their target of $200,000, one of the highest amounts raised in the event’s 23-year history.
“Poverty is at the root of all global problems,” he said. “We help people all over the world with rural development, health care and education.”
This year’s theme was “making education count” and it was the first time a lieutenant governor was the guest of honour at the event, said Alibhai.
The day started at 11 a.m. with an address from Bartleman, who drew parallels between Third World countries and some of the conditions people in northern Canada face, such as overcrowding in houses, poor education and constant water-boiling advisories.
“I have seen, in the course of my life, the tremendous impact efforts such as yours can have on poor people around the world,” he said, while recalling some of the many postings around the globe in his career.
Ismailimail 