October 18, 2006
Winnipeg - Canada Post to join national program celebrating academic excellence
CanWest Global Communications Corp. is proud to announce Canada Post is the CanWest CanSpell National Spelling Bee's 2007 Presenting Sponsor.
"Canada Post has been a strong supporter of literacy initiatives across Canada for many years," said Robert Waite, Senior Vice-President of Communications and Stakeholder Relations at Canada Post. "We have celebrated and acknowledged accomplishments in literacy through our Canada Post Literacy Awards, recognizing deserving individuals, exceptional educators, organizations and businesses that have succeeded in changing the literacy perspective in Canada. We have also seen the positive effects of promoting literacy among children through our Letters to Santa program, where Canada Post volunteers help Santa respond to more than a million letters each year."
"When we saw the excitement generated by the first two years of the CanWest CanSpell National Spelling Bee and the way it celebrates academic achievement among Canadian students, we knew CanWest CanSpell was a program that reflected our commitment to literacy. Canada Post, a company built on the power of the written word, is proud to sponsor the Canada Post CanSpell program," Mr. Waite concluded.
David Asper, Executive Vice-President CanWest Global Communications Corp. and Chairman of National Post welcomed the addition of one of the country's most respected companies, Canada Post, to the CanWest CanSpell program. "When you see these students compete across the country and gather in Ottawa to compete for the CanWest Cup, you see an amazing array of talented, well-rounded and accomplished young Canadians who exude confidence and poise. The fact they do it under the intense pressure of competitive spelling is amazing to watch and be part of. Canada Post and its more than 70,000 employees across Canada are going to be proud to be part of this incredible success story."
Canada Post joins the CanWest CanSpell program as the national spelling bee enters its third year and continues to grow at a remarkable rate. In 2006-2007, more than 200,000 Canadian students are expected to participate in the competitions which lead to the CanWest CanSpell finals in Ottawa and the international finals, The Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
The participation rates are expected to soar after Finola Hackett, a Grade eight student from Tofield, Alberta, captured the hearts of Canadians when she won her second CanWest CanSpell National Spelling Bee and came within a letter of winning the internationally renowned Scripps National Spelling Bee live on an international broadcast watched by tens of millions of people.
CanWest CanSpell will begin with thousands of school-level bees leading to regional events from coast-to-coast-to-coast in February and March, 2007.
Regional winners and runners-up are eligible to participate in the Canadian final in Ottawa, Saturday, April 14, 2007, which will be broadcast live across Canada on the Global Television network. For more information, go to www.canspell.com.
CanWest Global Communications Corp., (CanWest) (NYSE: CWG; TSX: CGS and CGS.A, www.canwestglobal.com) is an international media company. CanWest is Canada's largest media company. In addition to owning the Global Television Network, CanWest is Canada's largest publisher of daily newspapers, and also owns, operates and/or holds substantial interests in conventional television, out-of-home advertising, specialty cable channels, Web sites and radio networks in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Canada Post delivers over 11 billion parcels and messages each year to 14 million destinations. Its 70,000 employees and 7,000 post offices the largest retail network in the country serve 32 million Canadians and over 1 million businesses and public institutions from coast to coast to coast. In 2005, net income for Canada Post and its affiliates, which include Purolator Courier Ltd., Progistix-Solutions Inc., Intelcom Courier Canada Inc., epost and Innovapost (jointly owned by Canada Post and CGI), was CDN$ 199 million on revenues of CDN$ 6.9 billion. Canada Post is a world leader, providing innovative physical and electronic delivery solutions, creating value for our customers, employees and Canadians.
For more information:
Bruce Leslie
CanWest Global Communications Corp.
bleslie@canwest.com
Tel: 204.956.2025
François Legault
Canada Post
francois.legault@canadapost.ca
Tel: 613.734.8888
