MAB hopes centenary gets stamp of approval

BY ALBERT KRAMBERGER

editor@transcontinental.ca

The Montreal Association for the Blind (MAB) is requesting Canada Post issue a Braille stamp to commemorate its 100th anniversary — and they are looking for public support.

Pointe Claire resident Alan Dean, who is on MAB’s members committee, spearheaded the drive. He initially made the request about six years ago — and he is hoping Montrealers, past and present, will write Canada Post this month in support of the Braille stamp, which would be the first of its kind issued in North America.

Dean, who lost his vision after suffering nerve damage due to an embolism 10 years ago, said a Braille stamp would be a fitting tribute to MAB and the thousands of English-speaking Montrealers it has served over the years. Today, MAB has about 7,000 clients registered.

“We need support from as many people as we can, this is the last sprint now (before Canada Post makes a decision),” Dean said. “MAB has done a lot for blind people. I would like to have a lot of people write the stamp advisory board (at Canada Post) endorsing a stamp with Braille on it.”

New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton, who grew up in the West Island, already sent a letter last year to Canada Post. His grandfather, Philip Layton, was one of the founders of MAB in April 1908.

Lac St. Louis MP Francis Scarpaleggia told The Chronicle he also plans to write in support of MAB’s request.

MAB director Christine Boyle, a Pointe Claire resident, said the organization has events planned throughout 2008 to mark its centenary, but a commemorative stamp would be icing on the cake. “It would be wonderful to have it in recognition of MAB and a Braille stamp would be a sign of respect for blind people.

“It’s long overdue, Canada Post has no reason not to approve the stamp,” she added.

She hopes the stamp could be unveiled on April 21, 2008, the 100th anniversary of MAB’s first board meeting.

Canada Post will likely make public what commemorative stamps will be issued in 2008 in late May or June, spokesman Nicole Lemire said Monday. A number of requests are being studied and organizations involved will be officially notified of Canada Post’s stamps advisory committee’s recommendations, she said.

Locally, McGill University’s Macdonald College in Ste. Anne de Bellevue was honoured with a stamp marking the institution’s centenary this year.

A few other countries, such as Brazil and Croatia, have already issued Braille stamps, said Dean, who keeps a collection.

Dean said it took him almost three years to master Braille and thinks MAB deserves to be recognized as the first vision rehabilitation centre in Canada. “If we get the stamp, there’ll be quite a celebration.”

MAB’s main office is located on Sherbrooke Street in Notre Dame de Grâce but it also has satellite offices in Laval and in Pointe Claire, the latter at 180 Cartier Ave.

For more information on MAB, check www.mab.ca">www.mab.ca">www.mab.ca or call 514-489-8201.

To send a letter to the Canada Post stamp advisory committee, mail it to: 2701 Riverside Dr., Ottawa, Ont., K1A 0B1.