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John Gignac Named To Order of Ontario

The Executive Director of the Hawkins-Gignac Foundation has been recognized for his tireless efforts to educate Canada about the dangers of CO

BRANTFORD - The man responsible for championing the Hawkins-Gignac Act has been named to the Order of Ontario.

Retired Brantford Fire captain and Executive Director of the Hawkins-Gignac Foundation John Gignac has been honoured for his tireless efforts to educate the public about the dangers of carbon monoxide. Gignac says it's both a proud and sad moment. "When they first contacted me and told me I won the Order of Ontario I was very proud, but I always have mixed emotions because when I get awards like this it takes me back to when the tragedy happened and why this whole thing is taking place in memory of the family. So it was a proud moment for the foundation, but it makes me sad because I remember Laurie and the family."

The ceremony was held on Wednesday and Gignac's family watched him receive the honour.

Gignac says his work with the Hawkins-Gignac Foundation is aimed at avoiding another terrible tragedy like the one here in Woodstock in 2008 that claimed the lives of his niece OPP Constable Laurie Hawkins, her husband Richard, and their children Cassandra and Jordan. "So when I went to the hospital and my brother was there and he said 'I don't understand why you can't do something about this.' I understand he's asking me because he's heartbroken and depressed. I made a promise to him then and there that I would do the very best I could to warn all Ontario and Canada about the dangers, and at the time it was something that nobody knew a lot about."

Although the award is very much appreciated, Gignac says the lives saved through the Foundation's advocacy are the real reward. "Some of our proudest moments are coming from work we do in the community where people call, say they don't have a CO alarm and can't afford it, we go and put one in and find out weeks later that it goes off and saves their lives. So getting out CO alarms to people who can't afford them is a huge heartfelt thing for us because we know we're saving lives."

Gignac encourages everyone to install a carbon monoxide alarm to protect their families. He also says if anyone would like to learn more, or help them protect all families across Canada by offering funding so the foundation can purchase CO alarms they should check out the Foundation's website 

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