Wholehearted applause for IW supporters.

• Position: Brief Article

Clarity sometimes comes in the most unlikely form at the most unlikely time. Such was the case recently when a northern community leader was applauding the business success of a local entrepreneur. The community leader acknowledged the entrepreneur in a public venue by pointing him out to the audience and highlighting his success.

The only problem with the accolade was the omission of the identity of the entrepreneur's business partner. She was there, sit ting next to her business partner (who is also her husband), but she was not asked to stand before this business audience to benefit from the recognition. Her name was never mentioned and her contribution to the success of this business was never acknowledged.

This slight was not intentional, but I couldn't help but shake my head, yet again.

Clarity. We may have come a long way, baby, but we still have a long way to go.

However, this year's Influential Women of Northern Ontario nominators gave me a ray of hope. Some of this year's IW Award winners were nominated by men, and most of these men wrote the best endorsement letters I have ever seen.

Our mission is to seek out, profile and honour women who have contributed to economic wealth, job creation and growth in Ontario's north and to honour women who have made a difference.

The dozens of nominations we received this year are testament to the growing recognition that women are a leading force in our region and to the quality of their leadership.

Lila Cyr from Blind River, Tracey Vigars from North Bay, Margaret Thomson from Thunder Bay and Sandy Dickson from Atikokan are this year's IW winners. They are inspiring examples of what this program is all about. Their stories are included in the pages of this special report.

Also included are profiles of the winners of this year's inaugural Special Recognition Awards. We introduced this new category to acknowledge and thank the on-going support of our alumni, sponsors and supporters who have helped us to promote women's economic development and the IW mission and mandate.

Maggie Milne from Thunder Bay and Louise Paquette from Sudbury are the first winners of this very special award.

This year's judges had the inevitable task of selecting the 2001 IW winners from the incredible nominations we received. Gisele Chretien, Karen Lacasse, Patricia Lang and Deborah Kraft receive our warmest thanks.

The IW Awards ceremonies could not have been possible without the commitment of our partners, sponsors...