David Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, speaks at the annual Making a Difference Awards celebration.

The 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Games has changed the country’s vision of people with disabilities, said David Onley, Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor, at a Brock event last week.

David Onley, left, enters Pond Inlet with Murray Knuttila, Provost and Vice-President Academic.

The pride and athletic prowess displayed at the Games captivated Canadians, and “much more than the ubiquitous blue sign with a white wheelchair, disabilities have become increasingly symbolized in this country by athletic competition,” he said in a speech at Pond Inlet on March 30.

“The impact of the Games cannot be overstated.”

Onley was the guest speaker at the 10th annual Making a Difference Awards luncheon, which was held by the Student Development Centre and Services for Students with disABILITIES. Accessibility, he said, is an “overreaching theme of my term of office.”

He presented awards to four members of the Brock community who have helped make the University more accessible. Lorne Adams, director of Athletics and the event’s Master of Ceremonies, received a special award for his contributions. Three faculty members — nominated by students whose lives they touched — received Making a Difference awards. They were:

• Craig Hyatt, Sport Management
• Lauren McNamara, Child and Youth Studies
• Cristina Santos, Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures

“We are becoming a more inclusive and accessible society and all of you here are a part of it now,” said Onley, whose son attends Brock. “Successful people with disabilities — successful students with disabilities — are changing the face of disability.”

Lorne Adams, special award winner and the event's Master of Ceremonies, receives an emotional tribute.