We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

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Ontario Tech faculty member William Thurber receives Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Award

Longtime Faculty of Business and Information Technology Associate Teaching Professor recognized for volunteer service in the community

March 2, 2023

William Thurber, Associate Teaching Professor, Faculty of Business and Information Technology, Ontario Tech University (right) receives Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Award from Colin Carrie, Member of Parliament for Oshawa (December 16, 2022).

Congratulations to Ontario Tech’s William Thurber (Faculty of Business and Information Technology) who received a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Award for his legacy of volunteer service in the Oshawa community. Thurber was one of 70 Oshawa-based volunteers recognized in a ceremony on December 16, 2022 hosted by Oshawa MP Colin Carrie.

The awards commemorate the 70th anniversary last year of the Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne.

Thurber was nominated for the award for his volunteer work, which includes years of involvement and leadership positions on the boards of Epilepsy Durham, Oshawa Public Libraries and the Oshawa Kicks Soccer Club.

Quote

“Receiving the award was very meaningful in so many ways. First because it was awarded in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, posthumously. Secondly, because my late grandmother was a dedicated admirer of Queen Elizabeth, so most of my thoughts were of her and how proud she would have been. Finally, one of the other recipients was a former Ontario Tech student, Mohamed Rizwan Bachani. It was good to reconnect with him and to see his family again.
-William Thurber, Associate Teaching Professor, Faculty of Business and Information Technology, Ontario Tech University

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