[WSIS CS-Plenary] Paving the Road to Tunis - WSIS II: The Views of Canada's Civil Society

[Robert Guerra]

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release


Paving the Road to Tunis - WSIS II: The Views of Canada's Civil  
Society on
the Geneva Plan of Action and the Prospects for Phase II


Winnipeg, May 12, 2005. Representatives of civil society, academia  
and the private
sector of all provinces and territories will gather in Winnipeg this  
week-end to discuss
issues related to building information societies in Canada as part of  
a conference
organized by the Canadian Commission for UNESCO in preparation for  
the second
phase of the World Summit of the Information Society (WSIS).

The conference entitled Paving the Road to Tunis - WSIS II: The Views  
of Canada's Civil
Society on the Geneva Plan of Action and the Prospects for Phase II   
taking place from
May 13-15 will bring together approximately 200 participants to  
obtain their views on the
Geneva Plan of Action from the perspective of Canadian civil society.  
Participants will
examine the status of major elements included in the Plan of Action:  
infrastructure, cost
of access, public domain, open source, community networking, adapted  
technologies,
education, traditional media, freedom of expression in both  
traditional and new media,
cultural diversity, preservation of indigenous languages,  
partnerships with developing
countries, Internet governance and applications.

The first phase of WSIS took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from  
December 10-12,
2003, and addressed a broad range of themes concerning the  
information society.  It
also adopted a Declaration of Principles and a Plan of Action.  The  
second phase will
take place in Tunis, Tunisia, from November 16-18, 2005 and will  
assess the
implementation of the Action Plan adopted in Geneva.

“This is a unique opportunity for civil society to assess the  
Canadian situation on matters
related to information and communication technologies and traditional  
media and to
reflect on future orientations. The key word is access to information  
and knowledge. This
has become a critical issue if we want to keep pace socially and  
economically in our
global world. But there are essential conditions to fulfill if we  
want to guarantee genuine
access to all citizens. This is what this conference is about and we  
hope that the ideas
and suggestions made by civil society will be taken in consideration  
for future policy
initiatives,” said Max Wyman, President of the Canadian Commission  
for UNESCO.

The conference will open on Friday night with a keynote address by  
Ann Medina, one of
the North America’s most well known and respected broadcast  
journalists and
producers. Medina is the host of “History on Film” on History  
Television. Her speech will
address the question:  Has Canada become a genuine knowledge society?

The Honourable Reginald B. Alcock, President of the Treasury Board  
and Minister
responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board, and the Honourable David  
Walter Chomiak,
Manitoba Minister of Energy, Science and Technology, will participate  
in the opening of
the conference.

The role of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO is to act as a forum  
for governments
and civil society, and to mobilize the participation of Canadian  
organizations and
committed individuals in UNESCO's mandated areas: education, natural  
and social
sciences, culture and communication and information.

The results of the conference will be presented to the Government of  
Canada so that the
accomplishments made by civil society can be shared with other  
delegations at the
Summit.  The final report of the conference will be prepared and  
distributed at the 33rd
UNESCO General Conference in October 2005 in Paris, France, and at  
the Summit in
November 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia.

The conference received financial support from Foreign Affairs  
Canada, the Department
of Canadian Heritage, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada,  
Industry
Canada and International Development Research Centre. The Canadian  
Commission
also gratefully acknowledges the co-operation and support of the  
Canada Council for the
Arts.



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Source:  Pauline Dugré
Programme Officer
Communication and Information
Canadian Commission for UNESCO
+1 613-293-3806