OTTAWA – As Canada hones in on its 150th birthday in five more years, CBC/Radio Canada is stepping up as party planner.
The national broadcaster said that it will host a series of regional conferences starting next January under the ‘2017 Starts Now’ banner, which will bring Canadians together to generate local, regional and national projects to mark the occasion. The networks will also launch a specialized website this fall, concurrent with the announcement of the conference host cities.
The conferences and related initiatives will be produced in partnership with Canadian organizations already at work on planning 2017 celebrations, including YMCA Canada, Community Foundations of Canada, the Institute for the Public Administration of Canada, The Historica-Dominion Institute, imagiNation 150, Prince Edward Island 2014 Inc., the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, and the TransCanada Trail.
Following the final conference, which will be held in Ottawa next June, CBC/Radio-Canada will work with partners to promote and support the best ideas for celebrating the occasion, outlining opportunities to showcase the best in Canadian arts and culture, business, sport, science, community, and youth culture. It will also announce its own programming strategy for the 2017 celebrations.
"We are committed to interacting and engaging with Canadians and to providing a public space where Canadians can meet and exchange with each other and with the country," said CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Hubert Lacroix, in the announcement. "We look forward to being at the forefront of helping Canadians mark this very significant year. We believe this to be at the core of our mandate as Canada's public broadcaster."
