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Â鶹AV MBA student Noah Billick has been named one of 10 finalists in Magna International's 2003 As Prime Minister Awards program. Noah was selected as a finalist from over 500 entrants nationwide for offering among the most innovative visions for the country, demonstrating his ability to defend his ideas in front of a national panel of judges, and for his background and contributions to community and volunteer organizations. He has won $10,000 and a paid four-month internship at Magna International Inc., Canada's largest supplier of automotive systems and components.

As a finalist, Noah will compete for the top prize — national winner of the 2003 As Prime Minister Awards — and could receive an additional $10,000 and a one-year paid internship with Magna International Inc. The national winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in Ottawa on November 22. Essays of the finalists and the invitational writers will be published in a book called @Stake "As Prime Minister I Would…"

Noah is in his third year of studies and is working toward a combined MBA and law degree. He is president of the Â鶹AV Business Law Association, and founder and vice-president of the Â鶹AV MBA Investment Club. Noah is very active in the MBA Student Council and is assistant editor of both the MBA and law student newspapers. In his essay, Noah argues that the Canadian system is objectively the best way to structure a society, and that Canadians can increase global security and prosperity by sharing best practices with countries that need assistance.

Along with 46 other semi-finalists, Noah presented his prime ministerial advice before an independent panel of national judges in Toronto at the beginning of August. The judges included notable Canadians Mike Duffy (CTV), Joan Crockett (national political commentator), Mike Harris (author/journalist), Major General Richard Rohmer and Jean Charpentier (former Radio-Canada correspondent/former press secretary to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau/federal official).

"Empowering youth to express their views and opinions is critical to our democracy and as a nation," said George Marsland, executive director of the Magna for Canada Scholarship Fund. "This year's finalists impressed the judges with their exceptional ideas and solutions."

Each year, the Magna for Canada Scholarship Fund invites full-time undergraduate or graduate students from colleges, universities and CEGEPs across Canada to submit their written solutions on making Canada a better place to the As Prime Minister Awards. This year's essays responded to the question "If you were the Prime Minister of Canada, what political vision would you offer to improve our living standards and ensure a secure and prosperous global community?"

The Magna for Canada Scholarship Fund was established in 1995 by Magna International Inc. to empower students to express their solutions for building an even better Canada. The company placed $1 million in a charitable trust on behalf of the scholarship fund. The program is also sponsored by the Fair Enterprise Institute, a non-partisan and non-profit organization founded to provoke dialogue and debate and to offer solutions for improving the living standards of Canadians.

To view Noah's essay, .

For more information about the As Prime Minister Awards program, visit .

Â鶹AV Reporter article on this award.