Mark DeMontis
Mark DeMontis is the founder of the Canadian Blind Hockey Association and political candidate for the 2018 Ontario general election in the riding of York South-Weston.
Early life
DeMontis was born and raised in Weston, Ontario and went to University of Western Ontario where he studied Media and the Public Interest.
Career
In 2004 DeMontis was diagnosed with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), an eye condition which causes the neurons in one or both eyes to fail, ultimately leading to a decrease or even out right loss of vision. At the time he was 17 and he had signed a AAA contract and was interested in playing hockey professionally but his sight loss had prevented him from pursuing hockey professionally.
4 years later, wanting to continue his passion for hockey, Mark travelled 5’000 km across Canada wearing inline skates to raise awareness and donations for blind hockey. He was honoured by the then Prime Minister Stephen Harper for his achievement as well as Queen Elizabeth II. DeMontis subsequently used the money to found Courage Canada, a charity dedicated to helping visually impaired play hockey. Today Courage Canada (now the Canadian Blind Hockey Association) is the governing body of blind hockey in Canada and promotes the sport around the world.
After his work with Courage Canada DeMontis began working as a host for the show Sports Access for AMI-TV, a channel with regular programming for those with hearing visual impairments.
Political Life
During the 2018 Ontario general election, DeMontis ran for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in the riding of York South-Weston but was narrowly defeated by the NDP's Faisal Hassan. In 2018, he was nominated as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the 2019 Canadian Federal Election. Mark stepped down on June 2, 2019 as the Conservative Party of Canada's candidate in York South—Weston due to his preference to keep his job as an MPP liaison to Minister Raymond Cho.
Election results
Early life
DeMontis was born and raised in Weston, Ontario and went to University of Western Ontario where he studied Media and the Public Interest.
Career
In 2004 DeMontis was diagnosed with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), an eye condition which causes the neurons in one or both eyes to fail, ultimately leading to a decrease or even out right loss of vision. At the time he was 17 and he had signed a AAA contract and was interested in playing hockey professionally but his sight loss had prevented him from pursuing hockey professionally.
4 years later, wanting to continue his passion for hockey, Mark travelled 5’000 km across Canada wearing inline skates to raise awareness and donations for blind hockey. He was honoured by the then Prime Minister Stephen Harper for his achievement as well as Queen Elizabeth II. DeMontis subsequently used the money to found Courage Canada, a charity dedicated to helping visually impaired play hockey. Today Courage Canada (now the Canadian Blind Hockey Association) is the governing body of blind hockey in Canada and promotes the sport around the world.
After his work with Courage Canada DeMontis began working as a host for the show Sports Access for AMI-TV, a channel with regular programming for those with hearing visual impairments.
Political Life
During the 2018 Ontario general election, DeMontis ran for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in the riding of York South-Weston but was narrowly defeated by the NDP's Faisal Hassan. In 2018, he was nominated as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the 2019 Canadian Federal Election. Mark stepped down on June 2, 2019 as the Conservative Party of Canada's candidate in York South—Weston due to his preference to keep his job as an MPP liaison to Minister Raymond Cho.
Election results
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