Patrick Dion, vice-chair Mental Health Commission of Canada, will deliver a free lecture about tackling the stigma of mental health issues, as well as courageously standing up against associated discrimination, at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, in the Great Hall. Complimentary pizza and refreshments will precede the lecture at 5 p.m.; a question-and-answer session follows the lecture.
Dion, a Western Engineering alumnus, has become a nationally recognized voice for mental health and wellness, ands is frequently invited to speak on reforming Canada’s mental health system.
While admission is free, tickets are required and available on a first-come first-served basis. Order them online at the event website.
Dion was appointed Ontario’s representative on the Board of the Mental Health Commission of Canada in 2007. For the past two years, he has served as vice-chair.
In 2009, he was recruited by Ontario’s Minister of Health to serve on the advisory group guiding the Government of Ontario’s review of its mental health and addictions system and was recently invited to chair the Champlain Local Health Integration Network’s Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Committee on Improving Consumer Flow.
As a partner of Greenbridge Group, Dion is a leading government-relations professional, recognized for helping clients solve strategic issues and enhancing their reputation and brand with federal, provincial and municipal governments. He was named to the Ottawa Business Journal’s FortyUnder40, its annual list of top young business leaders in Ottawa; awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and inducted to the Order of Ottawa, both in 2013; and recently chosen as The Royal Ottawa’s 2014 Leader in Mental Health.