September 25, 2019
OTTAWA –
Operation Lifesaver Canada (OL), a national organization dedicated to promoting rail safety, is pleased to announce that CP Police Service Constable Brad Bidulka will be awarded its prestigious 2018 Roger Cyr Award.
Announced annually during Canada’s Rail Safety Week (September 23-29, 2019), the Roger Cyr Award recognizes Rail Safety Ambassadors who have made exceptional contributions to promoting rail safety in Canada.
“Brad is proof that through passion and commitment, each of us can make our communities safer places to live,” said Sarah Mayes, OL Canada’s National Director. “Whether he’s knocking on doors to speak directly with community members, or hosting a mock-collision in minus-30 weather to highlight the importance of obeying railway signs and signals, Brad goes above and beyond to get the rail safety message across. He’s a true Rail Safety Ambassador, and very deserving of the Roger Cyr Award.”
“Constable Bidulka is a Rail Safety Ambassador in every sense,” said CP’s Chief of Police Al Sauve. “His constant and tireless efforts do make a difference in the lives of people in Saskatchewan, and we couldn’t ask for a better rail safety advocate. On behalf of everyone at CP, congratulations Brad.”
Constable Bidulka became an RCMP officer in 2005, serving three different communities with the service before joining CP’s Police Service in 2015. In 2017, he worked to establish and chair a new OL provincial committee in Saskatchewan, to help coordinate rail safety education and outreach efforts in the province. Since that time, Constable Bidulka has built up the committee’s membership and secured the support of more than a dozen key organizations in the region. He leveraged those connections in planning a successful snowmobile-train mock collision, followed by two days of coordinated rail safety enforcement in Yorkton, Sask. in February 2018, to support the launch of OL’s new snowmobile safety virtual reality video.
Constable Bidulka is passionate about preventing railway crossing and trespassing incidents before they occur. He regularly liaises with Mosaic Stadium in Regina – located next to CP’s mainline – to ensure that the 35,000 people who come and go from Saskatchewan Roughrider games and concerts at the stadium do so safely. He and his team achieve this by communicating train schedules to stadium staff, by airing rail safety PSAs during stadium events, and by working with CP crews to avoid rail traffic at peak event times.
Constable Bidulka also understands the value of one-on-one rail safety conversations. After footage recently surfaced on social media of some Regina children climbing under a stopped train at a crossing, he identified the community and reached out to its local association. Along with parent discussions, school presentations and a rail safety open house at the community centre, Constable Bidulka and his team knocked on doors throughout the community to spread the rail safety message. He still visits the area weekly to speak with community members, and he oversaw the installation of 12 new “no trespassing” signs along rail lines in the area.
Operation Lifesaver wishes to extend its congratulations and thanks to Constable Bidulka for his outstanding efforts in promoting rail safety in Canada. OL looks forward to awarding him the Roger Cyr Award in person at a ceremony in Ottawa in early October.
About the Roger Cyr Award
Named after the founder of Operation Lifesaver Canada, the Roger Cyr Award for Public Rail Safety was first awarded in 1981 and is a joint initiative of OL, the Railway Association of Canada and Transport Canada. The award is open to all active Operation Lifesaver partners and volunteers who are making efforts to improve railway safety and encouraging others to follow suit.