MADD Canada announces selection of its next National President
Nova Scotia mother Margaret Miller to become new lead spokesperson in September

February 16, 2007 – A Nova Scotia mother of three will be Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada’s next National President, representing the organization’s victims and volunteers in its over 90 local Chapters across the country.

The new president-elect is from Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, where she is an active volunteer member of the MADD Cobequid Chapter. Margaret Miller’s two-year term will commence in September, when she will take over from the current National President Karen Dunham.

“I am thrilled to be selected to represent MADD Canada to Canadians,” says Mrs. Miller. “I feel that, at this time, there is nothing more important for me to do in my life. I look forward to the challenges of this position and want to make a difference in the fight against impaired driving.”

Margaret and Robert Miller’s son, Bruce, was killed at age 26 on May 16 in Prince Edward Island.  Bruce was a police constable working in the Nova Scotia community of Springhill. He was returning to a lodge from a hunting dog competition when his car was involved in a head-on collision with an impaired driver who had crossed over the centre-line. Bruce was killed in the crash and, today, he is fondly remembered by the Maritime police community and in the communities of Springhill and Truro where he served.

“I will be happy to tell Bruce’s story and to continue his work,” says Mrs. Miller. “Impaired driving is something that is 100% preventable. No Canadian should lose their life or be seriously injured because someone gets behind the wheel of a vehicle after drinking or taking drugs.  No family should need to endure the pain and grief that our family has had to endure.”

“For these reasons and more, I look forward to my new role and responsibilities. MADD Canada is a unique organization, giving victims’ families a real place where the voices of their loved ones can still be heard and still make a difference," says Mrs. Miller.

Last year, the Miller family and MADD Canada representatives worked with the P.E.I. Government to introduce a new roadside memorial program. The Island was the first jurisdiction in Canada to implement a memorial program and the first White Cross Memorial was erected in May 2006 to pay tribute to Constable Bruce Miller.

Margaret Miller is currently a small business owner of a quilt shop in a small community 40-minutes north of Halifax. She is a mother of three children and has been married to her husband Robert for 35 years.  For over 25 years, Robert and Margaret ran a family dairy farm in Hants County, Nova Scotia.

MADD Canada is a grassroots, volunteer-driven organization with over 7,500 active members operating in more than 90 communities in Canada.  The national organization serves as a victims’ voice and raises public awareness to create safer roads from the death and carnage caused in Canada by impaired drivers.  The MADD Canada mission is to stop impaired driving and to support the victims of this violent crime.

For more information, visit www.madd.ca or call:

Andrew Murie, MADD Canada’s CEO
1-800-665-6233, ext. 224

Margaret Miller, MADD Canada’s President-elect
(902) 758-2442