Prix Ronald-Duhamel – Ronald Duhamel Award

Officially launched in March 2005, the Prix Ronald-Duhamel – Ronald Duhamel Award was created to recognize an employee or a group of employees of a governmental or quasi-governmental body at the federal, provincial or municipal level for distinguished service to Manitoba’s Francophone community. This biennial Award is a joint initiative of the Société de la francophonie manitobaine, the Federal Government, the Manitoba Francophone Affairs Secretariat, and the Manitoba Association of Bilingual Municipalities (AMBM).

The award has been named in honour of Ronald Duhamel and his significant contributions, first as a senior public servant in the Government of Manitoba and then as a federal MP, minister and senator. During his career, Mr. Duhamel did much to promote the cultural, educational, economic and political development of the Franco-Manitoban community. He also supported a number of minority Francophone community initiatives at the national level. Furthermore, Mr. Ronald Duhamel played a leading role in representing Francophone minority community interests to his colleagues, for the purpose of raising their awareness and ensuring that the necessary influence was exerted to bring about significant change and normalize the communities’ relationship with the various levels of government.