Attention News Editors:

Canada Stands Proud With Festival Marking UNESCO Honor

    Rideau Canal Festival aims to honor and preserve an iconic Canadian site

    OTTAWA, April 18 /CNW Telbec/ - The Rideau Canal Festival Committee today
announced Ottawa's first celebration of Canada's most recent UNESCO World
Heritage Site - the Rideau Canal. The inaugural edition of the festival is
slated for the August Civic Holiday long weekend (August 1st - 4th, 2008).
    "This festival demonstrates that tourism, leisure, and environmentalism,
and heritage can indeed converge very successfully," said Henry Storgaard, the
first Volunteer Chairman of the Rideau Canal Festival Committee, a group of
prominent local citizens who pooled their time and resources to make the
festival a reality. "It always impresses me to see how friends and colleagues
across Canada speak with such pride about the canal and the activities that
surround it. It's a real Canadian icon and it is wonderful that it will now
become a heritage site for the world to enjoy," he added.
    This free festival will have myriad activities for everyone: Colonel By
Heritage Fair, the first Rideau Canal Night Flotilla, World Heritage Flotilla
starting from Fort Henry in Kingston, the world's largest parade of bicylces
(aiming for a Guinness World Record), Ecosphere - The Green Rendezvous, and
more.
    The Ontario Government was instrumental in bringing the festival to
fruition. "The McGuinty Government is proud to be a partner in this exciting
festival that celebrates our rich culture and heritage and commemorates the
Rideau Canal as Ontario's only UNESCO world heritage site," said Madeleine
Meilleur, M.P.P. for Ottawa-Vanier.
    The festival has partnered with Zerofootprint, a Toronto-based
not-for-profit organization that helps organizations work towards eco-friendly
events and activities.
    "We are excited to be helping the Rideau Canal Festival reduce its
environmental impact," commented Deborah Kaplan, the Executive Director of
Zerofootprint. "As a World Heritage Site, it is important that we help
preserve the Rideau Canal and ensure that those attending this event are aware
of how they can act to help preserve the area for future generations."
    To ensure the sustainability of the festival, organizers are encouraging
people to participate in the Adopt-A-Meter campaign. For a price of twenty
dollars, participants will be able to offset carbon emissions by adopting a
meter of the Rideau Canal for the duration of the festival. This is part of an
effort to minimize the environmental footprint.

For further information: Michel Gauthier, President and CEO, (613)
301-4554; Jackie Bernard, Media Relations, (613) 234-8118