At an event to be held today in Banff, our Minister, the Honourable Jim Prentice will officially launch Parks Canada’s two years of National Celebrations, marking the 125th anniversary of national parks in Canada, in 2010, and the 100th anniversary of the world’s first national park service, in 2011.  Work on these celebrations has been ongoing for several months now and, today, the Minister will invite Canadians from all across the country to come celebrate with Parks Canada by revealing the first of many exciting activities to come during these two years.

The Minister will also announce two major initiatives that will take place during the celebrations of the 125th anniversary of national parks in Canada:

1.     Canada’s Greatest Summer Jobs
As part of a broader initiative to engage youth and to increase their awareness, appreciation, connection and support for Parks Canada and its heritage places, the Agency is recruiting a team of 32 college and university student videographers as summer student employees, who will work in each of the field units. Their job will be to record on video their national park, national historic site and national marine conservation area experiences. These videos will be shared with the public via the Parks Canada Web site and video-sharing channels, including YouTube, Yahoo and MySpace.  The job posting will be available on Workopolis after the announcement.  Check out the front page of the Agency's Web site:
laterthis afternoon to find it.

2.     Gates Open Parks Canada
As part of its Parks Day celebrations, Parks Canada will be holding a series of Open Doors across the country on Saturday, July 17, 2010.
All across the country, visitors will be welcomed into their national parks, national historic sites and NMCAs for free, where they will be invited to enjoy a wide range of interpretation and recreational activities throughout the day.