Kevin Weedmark
Encyclopedia
Kevin Weedmark is a Canadian-born journalist. He is editor of the World-Spectator
, a community newspaper based in Moosomin, Saskatchewan
, and of Plain and Valley, a regional publication covering southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba. While based in rural Saskatchewan
, he has reported from Afghanistan
, Vietnam
, and the Philippines
. He is known for his work on international development
and human rights
.
He twice won the Canadian International Development Agency's Award for Excellence in Writing on International Co-operation. These awards led to CIDA-sponsored trips to report on development projects in the Philippines and Vietnam. In 2004, the World-Spectator and the Canadian International Development Agency embarked on a special project through which Weedmark spent six weeks in Afghanistan. His award-winning stories and photos from Afghanistan can be seen at www.world-spectator.com He has presented a PowerPoint presentation on Afghanistan to dozens of groups since the trip.
His interest in human rights developed early. He twice won the Media Human Rights Award presented by the League for Human Rights of B'Nai B'rith Canada. This was an open award for all print media in Canada. One of the awards was presented for “Freedom of Speech vs. Freedom from Hatred,” which examined the relationship between the right to free speech and laws against hate speech in Canada. The other was for an investigation into the history of the Ku Klux Klan in Saskatchewan, a little known episode in the province's history until Weedmark's article. He has been guest speaker at the annual meeting of the Saskatchewan Association for Human Rights, and was invited to speak on the Media and Human Rights at a special conference held to mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In 2010, his investigative reporting on the Sun Country Health Region led to the resignation of Sun Country vice-president of finance Hal Schmidt after the World-Spectator reported that Schmidt had been fired from a previous job as CEO of IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia for falsely claiming to have earned his Chartered Accountant Designation, and that Schmidt had borrowed $75,000 in public funds from St. Mary's Health Centre in New Westminster, B.C. and failed to repay the loan. Based on Weedmark's reporting, the provincial health ministry investigated hiring practices in the Sun Country Health Region, and CEO Cal Tant was fired by the board the day it received the report.
Weedmark is president of Weedmark Communications Ltd. and McKay Publications Ltd., secretary of the Moosomin Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Moosomin Housing Authority board of directors, and a member of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. Kevin has two daughters, Kristen Liberty(born March 4, 1995) and Emily Joy-Ann(born June 11, 1998).
World-Spectator
The World-Spectator is a weekly newspaper in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, serving the communities of Moosomin, Rocanville, Wapella, Wawota Langbank, Kelso, Welwyn, Spy Hill, Tantallon, Fleming, Fairlight and Maryfield. It also serves the Manitoba communities of St...
, a community newspaper based in Moosomin, Saskatchewan
Moosomin, Saskatchewan
-Climate:-Moosomin in popular culture:* The Guess Who has a song called "Runnin' Back to Saskatoon"; it also mentions Moose Jaw and Moosomin.-Notable people from Moosomin:...
, and of Plain and Valley, a regional publication covering southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba. While based in rural Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, he has reported from Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. He is known for his work on international development
International development
International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...
and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
.
He twice won the Canadian International Development Agency's Award for Excellence in Writing on International Co-operation. These awards led to CIDA-sponsored trips to report on development projects in the Philippines and Vietnam. In 2004, the World-Spectator and the Canadian International Development Agency embarked on a special project through which Weedmark spent six weeks in Afghanistan. His award-winning stories and photos from Afghanistan can be seen at www.world-spectator.com He has presented a PowerPoint presentation on Afghanistan to dozens of groups since the trip.
His interest in human rights developed early. He twice won the Media Human Rights Award presented by the League for Human Rights of B'Nai B'rith Canada. This was an open award for all print media in Canada. One of the awards was presented for “Freedom of Speech vs. Freedom from Hatred,” which examined the relationship between the right to free speech and laws against hate speech in Canada. The other was for an investigation into the history of the Ku Klux Klan in Saskatchewan, a little known episode in the province's history until Weedmark's article. He has been guest speaker at the annual meeting of the Saskatchewan Association for Human Rights, and was invited to speak on the Media and Human Rights at a special conference held to mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In 2010, his investigative reporting on the Sun Country Health Region led to the resignation of Sun Country vice-president of finance Hal Schmidt after the World-Spectator reported that Schmidt had been fired from a previous job as CEO of IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia for falsely claiming to have earned his Chartered Accountant Designation, and that Schmidt had borrowed $75,000 in public funds from St. Mary's Health Centre in New Westminster, B.C. and failed to repay the loan. Based on Weedmark's reporting, the provincial health ministry investigated hiring practices in the Sun Country Health Region, and CEO Cal Tant was fired by the board the day it received the report.
Weedmark is president of Weedmark Communications Ltd. and McKay Publications Ltd., secretary of the Moosomin Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Moosomin Housing Authority board of directors, and a member of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. Kevin has two daughters, Kristen Liberty(born March 4, 1995) and Emily Joy-Ann(born June 11, 1998).