June 21, 2004

Aboriginal Groups Partner with MADD Canada
to Deliver Sobering Message

Ottawa – To honour National Aboriginal Day, the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres (OFIFC) and the Ontario Aboriginal Health Advocacy Initiative (OAHAI) have announced a joint campaign with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD Canada) to raise the awareness to the dangers of drinking and driving amongst aboriginal communities across Ontario.

Today the organizations have launched a public awareness campaign that includes radio public service announcements, a television PSA, and a series of four posters that depict the tragic impact of families losing a loved one in an impaired driving crash. The awareness campaign will be Ontario-wide through the next twelve months.

“MADD Canada is very pleased to be partnering with the OAHAI and OFIFC,” says Wanda Kristensen of MADD Canada’s National Office. “Drinking and driving is the cause of too many tragedies – too many unnecessary deaths and injuries. We hope that, together, we will be able to reduce the numbers of Aboriginal people involved in this needless and 100% preventable crime.”

The posters depict families who are coping with an impaired driving tragedy. In one of the posters, a father speaks: “Why? Every minute that I exist I ask. I ask myself every night when I go to bed. I ask myself every morning when I wake up. Why was my daughter killed by a drunk driver?”

The Honorable Minister Bryant will share his support of the Initiative at the National Aboriginal Day Celebrations on Victoria Island in Ottawa on June 21, 2004 at 4 p.m. OAHAI and MADD Canada will also have a display at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau on the morning of June 21, 2004.

To view all four of the posters, and hear the radio PSAs visit MADD Canada’s website – www.madd.ca.
.
For further information, call:

Wanda Kristensen
MADD Canada 1-800-665-6233, ext. 229

Jo-Anne Miller
OAHAI (416) 956-7575