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President's Leadership Lecture Series begins at UFV

First speaker at the Abbotsford university campus is Dr. Patsy George, a social worker and women's rights activist.
Rick Collins is an editorial, lifestyle, portrait and wedding photographer working in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest -
Dr. Patsy George

Dr. Patsy George returns to the University of the Fraser Valley next week as the first speaker in the 2012 President’s Leadership Lecture Series.

She will speak on Monday, Feb. 20, in room B121 at 4:30 p.m. on the UFV Abbotsford campus on King Road. Admission is free and the public is welcome.

George is a social worker, women’s rights activist, and community volunteer. Although retired, she remains a social activist with a keen interest in social justice and a strong desire to see improvement in the conditions of marginalized people, particularly those from Aboriginal communities.

She has received many honours and accolades including the Order of British Columbia (2002) and the Order of Canada (2007). And just last year, she received an honorary doctor of laws degree from UFV.

As a social activist with many decades of experience in the trenches, she’s not surprised by the Occupy movement that erupted in 2011, and sees it as the manifestation of a long-simmering frustration on the part of ordinary people.

George cites the Caterpillar Corporation’s recent decision to pull out of Ontario and relocate to Indiana when workers would not take a wage cut as an example of the disproportionate balance of power in an era of free trade.

George also hearkens back to the 1970s, when “there was more respect for social policies.”

At the heart of what George seeks is the dignity of the individual.

“We all deserve respect, whether we’re at home as a mother, cleaning someone’s yard, or working in a factory. And we all deserve a real living wage, not a minimum wage that can’t support a family.”

For more information and event details visit www.ufv.ca/plls or contact betsy.terpsma@ufv.ca.