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Guest Speakers
Gregg Thomson
Stan's Father
In the summer of 1999 Gregg lost his 18-year-old son, Stan (and four of his friends) in a drug-impaired crash.
Since that summer, Gregg has dedicated his time to impaired driving education and awareness locally in Ottawa and other jurisdictions around Canada and the US. In addition, he has served on the National Board of Directors for Madd Canada for 12 years, including 3 as Chair with a focus on preparation for the legalization of cannabis in late 2018.
This gives Gregg a unique perspective in understanding the practicalities of eliminating impaired driving at the community level, while participating in policy and program development provincially and federally.
His real passion is directly supporting the families of victims and survivors as they navigate the devastating impacts of impaired driving.
Stan Thomson
Alison Collard deBeaufort
Alison works across various organizations as a global youth road safety advocate. She is the North American representative on the Youth Leadership Board for the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, and the founder of the Vision Zero Youth Council (VZYC). Alison created the VZYC in 2014 after having lost three of her friends and classmates to reckless drivers in separate crashes over the span of fourteen months. The VZYC is a fully youth-led organization that educates youth on traffic safety, empowers them to become vocal activists for safer streets, and engages them in working with local schools, non-profits, and elected officials to reach their traffic safety goals. VZYC chapters can be found in the U.S. (New York, Massachusetts), Rwanda, Jordan, and the U.K, and has partnerships with other non-profit organizations in Mali and Gambia.
Sylvia Larke
Weed out the Risk
Sylvia Larke is the Project Coordinator for Springboard's Weed Out the Risk (WOTR) program.
WOTR is an educational program which educates youth on the legal, social and financial consequences of cannabis impaired driving. Sylvia has delivered over 600 WOTR workshops in high schools and community centres across Canada. Her work is focused on developing the program’s content and training new facilitators to deliver the program
Sgt. Kerry Schmidt
OPP
Sergeant Kerry Schmidt has been with the Ontario Provincial Police for 20 years.
He began his career as a front line traffic enforcement officer and later specialized as a commercial vehicle inspector and collision Reconstructionist. These roles sent him throughout the Greater Toronto Area attending and investigating hundreds of fatal or serious injury collisions. Kerry was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 2011 and worked at the Port Credit Detachment before he moved into the role of media relations. He is active on social media and is often seen and heard throughout the region updating the media and public, speaking about traffic safety.
Hosted by
The OSAID Provincial
Youth Advisory Team of 2022
