Awards and Special Recognition

Bev LeFrancois receives the Governor General's Award In 1970, school teacher, mother of four and activist Bev LeFrancois joined the peace and women’s movement. Over the years, she has helped establish community, women’s and rape crisis centres, and shelters for battered women. Bev has advocated for women’s rights in such areas as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms equality clause, the Rape Shield Law and Matrimonial Property Laws, to name just a few. Bev is a founding member of many women’s organizations &endash; for example, the Port Coquitlam and Area Women’s Centre (1975), Women of Halton Action Movement (1980), Canadians In Support of Afghan Women (1998) and Advancement of Women Halton (2008). All of the organizations Bev helped to establish are still in operation. From 1989 to 2003, Bev served as Executive Director of the Halton Rape Crisis Centre, and the Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Services of Halton. Bev and her husband Jim live in Oakville, Ontario. Read more in this article.