National Safe Boating Awareness Week
May 22 -28, 2004

April 5, 2004 * Information Bulletin #1

National Safe Boating Awareness Week will take place across Canada from May 22nd to May 28th, 2004. The purpose of this initiative is to promote a wide range of safe boating practices to the estimated 7 million recreational boaters in Canada.

This initiative is promoted by the Canadian Safe Boating Council, a non-profit organization and its members and partners from all areas of the marine community including manufacturers, boating education organizations, water safety and marine law enforcement sectors. The goal is to ensure that the millions of Canadians who head out on the waters in canoes and kayaks, sailboards and sailboats, fishing boats, personal watercraft, power boats and cruisers are equipped with the knowledge for a safe day on the water.

Over the last several years, the Canadian Safe Boating Council has held a media day for Safe Boating in Canada. For 2004, the Canadian Safe Boating Council will be delivering the program directly to the media, expanding its communication plan over National Safe Boating Awareness Week and beyond. To make this happen they will be providing local media across the county with the tools and information to help the media convey the safe boating message to the public.

As a member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association, your community paper can play a pivotal role in getting the Safe Boating message out to your readers. The Canadian Safe Boating Council is preparing a series of informative articles for publication covering several of the key areas of safe boating practices, with a focus on education and training for all boaters. In addition, content suitable for preparing special Canadian Safe Boating Awareness Week supplements will also be made available, providing newspapers with a revenue (see downloadable document below for sample content). All information, documents and graphics will be available in electronic format for downloading from the Canadian Safe Boating Council’s Web site, www.csbc.ca during the first week of May.

The Safe Boating Council encourages you to utilize these materials and:

- Run the articles and PSA ads in a series commencing May 22

- Publish a supplement with the support of your community’s marine businesses and retailers

To add local content to your papers coverage of National Safe Boating Awareness Week, the Canadian Safe Boating Council will provide contact information for local members of prominent safe boating and training organizations to you for local interviews and information pertaining to your market. Additional information will be provided throughout the month of April.

For further information and details contact:

Mike Gridley
Marketing Manager – Safety
Dual Media Productions
905-989-0948 Ext 235
mikeg@dualmedia.ca

- 30 -