By Jasminee Sahoye

Two Canadians of West Indian origin are the recipients of the 2012 Premier’s awards recognizing the tremendous contribution Ontario college graduates make to the success of the province.

The Premier’s Awards, which was held on November 26, at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel are presented annually in six categories: Business, Community Services, Creative Arts and Design, Health Sciences, Recent Graduate and Technology.

Premier Dalton McGuinty was among the special guests at this year’s celebration, which marked the 20th anniversary of the awards.

Chef, musician and TV host, Trinidad-born Roger Mooking who attended George Brown College received the Creative Arts and Designs awards. Mooking won a Juno Award as a musician before returning to his first love of cooking. He has co-owned award-winning restaurants in Toronto, has TV shows running on food networks around the world, and is the author of an award-winning cookbook.

Guyana-born, Chameli Naraine, who received the Business award is a graduate of the Materials Management and Operations program at Conestoga College in 1983. She has been working with her current employer, Symcor, Inc. since 2008. Her roles have included Senior Vice President and General Manager of Item Processing Services. In addition to leading the item processing business, she had oversight responsibility for Symcor’s enterprise program office, chaired the operating committee and provided strategic support to Symcor’s US operations. In June 2011, she was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer at Symcor, Inc.

Narine is also founder of the Naraine Global Fund envisioned as a means to improve the lives of women and children globally.
“Ontario’s colleges produce graduates that go on to create jobs for others, make lasting contributions in their communities and help to attract new investments to the province. The Premier’s Awards recognize the tremendous contributions they make to the success of the province, ” Premier Dalton McGuinty said in a release.