OTTAWA – Seaside Communications owner Irving Schwartz has been named to the CCTA Honour List.
It’s the highest award bestowed by the Canadian Cable Industry and was created in 1973 to recognize individuals who have made leadership and excellence the hallmark of their career in the cable television industry and the Communities they serve.
The Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association had intended to honour Schwartz (right) a couple of weeks ago in Gravenhurst during its Galaxi Awards presentations at Cable Week.
However, Schwartz was feeling under the weather that week and didn’t make the trip from Cape Breton Island, which is the region Seaside serves its 12,000-plus customers. CCTA senior vice-president Harris Boyd asked everyone in attendance to keep the news under their hats until he had the chance to notify Irving himself.
So, now that Schwartz knows about – and has received – the award, we can honour him. “His cable company, while small, has not shied away from new technologies and was an early provider of high speed internet and has also introduced digital service, in most of his systems,” said Boyd. “He has been a member of the CCTA Board of Directors and is a founding member of the CCSA (Canadian Cable Systems Alliance).”
“A man of tremendous energy and community spirit, he has also made major contributions outside our industry not only in Canada but in other parts of the world. He is a Member of the National Capital Commission in Ottawa, a Board Member of the Nova Scotia Community College and a Founding Vice President of Junior Achievement of Cape Breton. I could go on for some time,” added Boyd.
He’s also an Officer of the Order of Canada the owner of Schwartz and Company, a five-store furniture chain with outlets in Atlantic Canada.
I think most importantly though and perhaps much less known to you is that he is chairman and co-founder and major benefactor of the Canadian International Demining Corps, whose mission is to rid the world of land mines which kill and maim so many people who have lived in the shadow of war,” explained Boyd.
Schwartz, concluded Boyd, “is a tireless supporter of good causes and charitable work and puts those of us who are much younger to shame by the schedule he keeps.”
