Mark Pickup, a former board member of Campaign Life Coalition and a long-time pro-life supporter, is this year’s winner of the Kurelek award.
Presented annually by Alliance for Life, the Kurelek award recognizes outstanding work in promoting respect for life in Canada.
The presentation took place June 22 at the National Pro-Life Conference at King’s University College in Edmonton.
Alliance for Life president Chuck Smith said Pickup’s commitment to human life is an inspiration to the entire pro-life community.
“Mark, who lives with multiple sclerosis, has been very active for more than 10 years in advocacy for the disabled so that they can take their full and rightful place in Canadian society,” said Smith.
“At a time when cases like Latimer and Bastable suggest to society that it is better to be dead that disabled, Mark’s work sends a message of hope; that disabled persons have gifts that society can ill afford to do without.”
Nearly 300 people attended this year’s National Pro-Life Conference which operated under the theme, “Learn from Yesterday, Prepare for Tomorrow.”
Pickup took part in a panel discussion at the conference on the topic: Rationing Health Care- Individual Autonomy and Social Acceptance of Euthanasia. Other panelists were Dr. Fawzi Morcos, Jason Kenney and Mark Miller.
