22 - Sunday, December 1, 1991 - North Shore News

HIGH PROFILES

Going straight
to the heart
of the matter

Canadian Red Cross Society
Nat'l President Jon Turpin

LYNN VALLEY’S Jon Turpin is the new nationa!

By Evelyn Jacob
News Reporter

WHEN I arrived at the of-
fice of the new president of
the Canadian Red Cross, I
was expecting that blood
donation would be the heart
of our discussion.

So it came as a surprise when
Jon Turpin, who was elected na-
tional president in September, said
that the plight of civilians during
times of war was the biggest issue
facing the Red Crass today.

“War was always a terrible
thing to happen, and now it’s
gone wrong. At the moment, we
estimate chat for every soldier
killed, 10 civilians die.

“We're getting nice, clean
words that mean total horror like,
‘‘seripheral damage’’ during the
Gulf War — beating up people
you didn’t mean to beat up. Look
al Yugoslavia — you go around
the world and it’s civilians who
are getting bumped off,”’ says
Turpin, 58.

It shouldn’t have deen that
suprising. After all, the world-
wide organization was formed to
provide assistance to the wounded
on the battlefield, and for the past
132 years it has been bringing
Telief to victims of war and
disaster.

ae This year alone the Interna-

NEWS photo Mike Wskelield tional Committee of the Red

NAME: Jon Turpin

AGE: 58

RESIDENCE: North Vancouver
OCCUPATION: National presi-
dent of the Canadian Red Cross,
vice-president and general manag-
er of Canadian Transport
FAMILY: Married to Alyson
Witts; two sons

HOBRIES: Old maps, Canadian:
history, photography

Cross came to the rescue of hun-°
dreds of thousands of sick and
wounded in Ethiopia, Angola,
Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf,
providing food and medicine and
putting prisoners of war in contact. .
with their families.

At the moment, there are 30°
members. of the Canadian Red.
Cross helping more than 320,000
displaced people in Yugesiavia.

Having spent his childhood:
climbing through plane wreckages
and coming face-to-face with
wounded fighter-pilots during the

e@ Battle of Britain, Turpin knows
first-hand the tragedy of war.

He believes the brutal killing of
innocent people is a challenge not
only for the Red Cross, but for
the whole world. :

But as Turpin points out, “It’s -
always more. pleasant .and
glamorous to start helping people
in disaster.’’ It’s different when a
worker has to shut down a project

See more page 23

president of the Canadian Red Cross. His first contact
with the organization was in 1972 - today he heads a
$350-million operation with 2% million volunteers (in-
éluding blood donors) and 6,000 employees.

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