Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medals were handed out Tuesday night for Portage la Prairie residents who've given back to the community in a big way. Portage MLA Ian Wishart was there to make the presentations and says MLAs have the privilege to also initially make the nominations.

"There were a number of people involved with that, and I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to recognize their contributions in various ways to our community," says Wishart. "Bob Oldford was one, Cornell Pashe, Roberta Christianson, Rose Carrierre, James Kostuchuk, Blair Geisel, Angela Roulette, Bob Jones, Sandra Duchak, and David Koroscil were the ones that we had chosen, and received the medals last night."

He says criteria for nominations include a variety of things, adding it's about contributions to our city in a major way, whether it's now or in the past, and they continue to do so.