Evan Wiens in Ottawa this week

A Grade 12 student at Steinbach Regional Secondary School has won a large university scholarship for community leadership. Evan Wiens was in Ottawa earlier this week among 20 students from across Canada to get the scholarship from the TD Bank. Wiens says he received it for his efforts to educate people about minority rights through the Bill-18 debate and setting up a Gay/Straight Alliance at the school.

"Community leadership to them is an individual who has made an impact in their community but has also made an impact that is going to last, not just a temporary impact, something that's going to stick with the school or community. The scholarship is valued at up to $70,000.00; $10,000.00 per year for tuition and $7,500.00 a year in living expenses."

Wiens is also guaranteed a summer job while attending university. He plans to study Political Science at the University of Winnipeg next year and then perhaps transfer to either the University of British Columbia or Mcgill University in Montreal the following year. Wiens says the scholarship is quite an honour.

"To think that 3,500 people applied and I was selected as one of 20 recipients, it only really hit me when I got to Ottawa and was actually meeting the other scholars. To sit around the table at the different sessions we did,  it just really started to sink in then. I went, okay, I won this thing and I'm so happy to be part of a group of 19 other individuals who did fantastic things in their communities as well."

Wiens initially applied for the scholarship last November which included an essay on his work on Bill 18 and the Gay/Straight Alliance. Based on that, he was one of 80 students invited to Calgary in April for an interview and was then selected as one of 20 winners across Canada.