Karl Bélanger was elected President of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation by its Board of Directors yesterday evening in Ottawa.
A native of Quebec City, Karl Bélanger is a long time social-democrat activist and a former National Director of the New Democratic Party of Canada. He joined the ranks of the NDP at 18 years old and ran twice for a federal seat. He held several positions within the NDP and joined the Parliamentary wing shortly after the 1997 Federal election. During his political career, Karl Bélanger served as a senior advisor to successive NDP Leaders Alexa McDonough, Jack Layton, Nycole Turmel and Thomas Mulcair.
"I am truly honoured to follow in the footsteps of the DCF's Founding President, Tommy Douglas. I aim to help keep alive his work and those of other progressive pioneers such as J.S. Woodsworth and M.J. Coldwell," stated Karl Bélanger. "It is essential to do more to support research and study in the fields of progressive politics and social policy in order to preserve this important part of Canada's history."
Established in 1971, The Douglas-Coldwell Foundation provides support for six annual scholarships at various colleges and universities in Canada. Over the past decade, the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation has provided more than $300,000 in financial aid to ventures that support its mandate to promote education and research into social democracy.
The Foundation has helped to fund the publication of biographies of Tommy Douglas, M.J Coldwell, Stanley Knowles, Clairie Gillis and Grace MacInnis. A registered charity, the Foundation has made substantial financial contributions in assisting the publication of a number of books and magazines concerned with current and important issues from a progressive perspective as it relates to our mandate.
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For more information, please contact [email protected] (613) 232-1918
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Today is International Women’s Day; a day which I am truly thankful for all the women who have worked tirelessly, past and present, towards a more equitable world where all voices are heard. I take this day to reflect on the women that came before me and the work that we have to continue to do in their honour.
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As promised we’ve got lots of news to share with you this month. The Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation had a banner year in 2023. We produced more special events, original content, research projects, and educational materials than ever before!
This year we’re building from that success. You’ll see us in more places with more exciting programs for you to participate in throughout the year. All of this growth is thanks to our supporters like you.
We hope you enjoy our update this month.
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We hope you have had a good start to the year. We’ve got lots of important information and event announcements to share with you this month.
Thank you to those who supported us last year with a donation and helped us advance social democracy! You allow us to continue the important work we do, being the only charity in Canada to promote social democracy and carry on our founders' legacies. With your support we were able to create new research, establish an annual lecture series, new scholarships, new training for activists, and an interview series with social democrat leaders. And, this year we have even more content to deliver and special event plans to share with you.
Your charitable tax receipts are on the way!
