Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my congratulations to a constituent of mine and a resident of Markham. Mr. Don Attridge has received the prestigious Adrien Pouliot award. The award recognizes individuals or teams of individuals who have made significant and sustained contributions to mathematics.
The 1997 award was given to Mr. Attridge as part of a team including Edwin Anderson, Ronald Dunkley and Ronald Scoins. The team was honoured because of its creation and development of the Canadian mathematics competition which began in 1962 with 300 children from 19 schools in rural Ontario participating.
The original mathematics competition was created for students in grades 9, 10 and 11 in order to better prepare them for more senior competitions. Mr. Attridge, in addition to being a major contributor since the first Canadian mathematics competition was launched, taught mathematics for 37 years. Until his retirement in 1992 he was also the mathematics consultant for the York region board of education.
Mr. Attridge's award is just another example of the tremendous contribution that Markham residents and businesses make to Ontario and Canada.
Thanks to Mr. Attridge for making Markham proud.