Industry leaders to receive Diamond Jubilee medals

Two repair shop owners are among 38 automotive professionals who will receive Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medals this year.

John Cochrane, owner of Cochrane Automotive in Toronto, Ont., and Bruce Eccles, owner of Eccles Auto Service in Dundas, Ont. were among the first round of recipients announced by the Automotive Industries Association of Canada (AIA) yesterday.

AIA was given 38 medals to distribute within the industry, in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee. Yesterday AIA president Marc Brazeau introduced the first 27 recipients. The rest wil be announced later in the year.

Recipients announced yesterday are:

* Dan Bell

* Marie-Noëlle Bonilcazi

* Jean Bouchard

* Ed Coates

* John Cochrane

* Ken Coulter

* Dennis DesRosiers

* Dale Devlin

* Yvan Domingue

* Jean Douville

* Jean Duchesneau

* Bruce Eccles

* John Jackson

* Jean-Marc Laroche

* Darryl Moroz

* Brad Morris

* Matt O’Brien

* Jacques Parent

* Rémy Rousseau

* Bob Sinclair

* Malcolm Sissmore

* Michel Tremblay

* Gaston Trudel

* John Vanstone

* John Watt

* Zara Wishloff

* Casey Wnuk

They will be among 60,000 Canadians in total who will receive the prestigious medal in honour of the Queen’s jubilee year.

“This is an incredible honour bestowed upon AIA Canada to enable us to recognize the significant contributions of professionals in our industry that make their communities and Canada a better place to live,” Brazeau said. He said the medals will be presented to automotive aftermarket industry professionals who have distinguished themselves as highly respected community leaders.

Recipients will be awarded their medals at various AIA events throughout the fall of this year.

For more information on the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, please visit the Governor General of Canada’s website.

To nominate additional deserving recipients from the industry, please forward your submissions to Didina Kyenge at Didina.Kyenge@aiacanada.com.

The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal is a new commemorative medal created to mark the 2012 celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the Throne as Queen of Canada.

The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal is a tangible way for Canada to honour Her Majesty for her service to this country. At the same time, it serves to honour significant contributions and achievements by Canadians. To be eligible for this honour, a person must have made a significant contribution to a particular province, territory, region or community within Canada, or an achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada. To ensure that a variety of fields of activity are recognized, partner organizations were invited to nominate candidates from their community or organization for this national honour.

The Automotive Industries Association (AIA) of Canada is the national trade association representing the automotive aftermarket industry in Canada. The aftermarket is an $18.49 billion industry that employs more than 420,200 people. The industry is composed of companies that manufacture, distribute and install automotive replacement parts, accessories, tools, and equipment. AIA represents manufacturers, re-builders, manufacturers agents, warehouse distributors, national distributors, buying groups, wholesalers, machine shops, retailers, and through its councils, the interests of collision repair shops and automotive service and repair outlets. AIA’s mandate is to promote, educate and represent members in all areas that impact the growth and prosperity of the industry. Visit us on the web at www.aiacanada.com.