Kevin Cameron is the executive director of the Centre for Trauma Informed Practices and one of the newest members of the Order of Canada.
“It actually was an odd introduction because violence risk assessment work and trauma response work, so when my office called, I literally did think that the governor general’s office was calling because they wanted a second opinion on a threat,” said Cameron.
“When I made the call the next day and they told me it was for the Order of Canada, I do confess, I was actually in shock.”
Part of his work is helping people deal with loss and grief. His organization was founded in the aftermath of the 1999 W.R. Myers High School shooting in Taber, Alta.
“When Taber happened, and it’s hard to believe but this April will be 26 years since Columbine occurred, eight days later, 26 years since the Taber tragedy. Keep in mind, me and my colleagues, we were all young pups back at that point,” Cameron recalled.
“The work that we were doing was just trying to be helpful, without a clear script or schematic about how to do it. It was really lessons learned from that tragedy and also trying to understand how somebody could take a weapon into their school, or their former school and actually do something like that.”
Along with supporting victims, Cameron deals with violence prevention.
“We also understand that if somebody is traumatized for a variety of reasons and doesn’t get the support, it can also beget violence.”
His wife and colleague, Kerry Cameron, says the prevention side of the operation aims to take the thoughts of violence out of people’s minds before they ever pick up a firearm.
“Hopefully we’re getting to these individuals of concern long before they ever get to a point of feeling like they need to pull a knife, pull a trigger or do something extreme,” said Kerry.
The work done by the Camerons and their team is shaping the world, not just the Alberta prairies.
“It applies to here in the south, for sure, to the city of Toronto, to Tuktoyaktuk in Northwest Territories. These are all places where we see communities really nourish a violence prevention model that’s unique and it really enhances a lot of the good work people are already doing, but 100 per cent, we’re seeing some really positive results out of that,” said Pat Rivard, the Canadian director of operations at the Centre for Trauma Informed Practices.
Cameron was quick to say his accomplishment is more of a group effort as his team helped him along the journey.