A Terrace city councillor and prolific community volunteer will be the recipient of a province-wide community service award at a ceremony in Victoria May 26 at Government House.
News of Brian Downie's B.C. Community Achievement Award was released this week by the sponsoring B.C. Achievement Foundation and premier Christy Clark.
In a statement, the foundation remarked that Downie is “committed to making life better in Terrace.”
He is one of 30 people across B.C. to receive the award.
“Whenever a need arises, Brian leads the fundraising to support local service projects and his volunteer commitment is legendary,” the foundation's statement read. “A dedicated and quiet leader, Brian is the heart of his community.”
In addition to 11 consecutive years as a city councillor, Downie has been extensively involved as a volunteer with the Terrace Rotary Club and the Riverboat Days Society – responsible for organizing the city's largest annual event. He was also engaged in raising money for the expansion of the arena into the two-rink Terrace Sportsplex.
But despite his dedication, Downie says that the award was unexpected.
“It's a tremendous honour, I just shake my head about it a bit because I know lots of volunteers are doing great work for their communities and I'm just one of them,” he reasoned. “It really is humbling to be selected for this kind of award.”
The recipients will each receive a certificate and a medallion designed by B.C. artist Robert Davidson.
Downie, who is a retired forest district manager and currently operates a small tour company, plans to keep working for a better community.
“I feel that I've just been fortunate enough to work with some really great volunteers who are doing wonderful things for Terrace,” he noted. “I'm a very strong supporter of our community and I think that we've got a great future.”
The achievement foundation's selection committee included Terrace mayor Carol Leclerc, Abbotsford mayor Henry Brun and two previous award recipients. Leclerc left the room during discussions of Downie's nomination due to a conflict of interest.