Longtime Winnipeg Harvest volunteer Dave Mouland mourned
Mouland remembered as tireless advocate for poor, fighting transit fares and ambulance fees
A longtime Winnipeg Harvest volunteer is being remembered as a tireless advocate for low-income people living in the city.
Dave Mouland, 67, died on Saturday, according to Donald Benham, manager of hunger and poverty awareness at Winnipeg Harvest.
Mouland volunteered at Harvest for the last seven years in the organization's call centre, but also made a big impact at city hall, speaking to council in a relentless pursuit of justice for the poor, Benham said.
"He really made an impact," he said.
Benham recalled a time when Mouland fought the city against a proposed 20-cent Winnipeg Transit fare hike, which he argued would have a profound impact on low-income people in the city.
After Mouland teamed up with other poverty advocates and students, the city relented and pulled the plug on the hike, Benham said.
"Dave was a champion of all those issues," he said.
Even a heart attack didn't slow Mouland down. In fact, it sparked another fight for reform.
Mouland suffered the heart attack in the Winnipeg Harvest call centre a few years ago. Staff were going to call an ambulance but he stopped them because he couldn't afford the cost, Benham said.
The ordeal led Mouland to advocate for affordable ambulance fees for low-income Manitobans and triggered a political discussion about high ambulance fees in the recent Manitoba election.
with files from the CBC's Courtney Rutherford