Mr. Speaker, the sixth edition of the Canada snow sculpture competition at the Ottawa Winterlude festival was held from February 3 to 9.
I am very proud to say that this year's Alberta team was represented by individuals from my riding of Red Deer. Dawn Detarando, Will Truchon and Brian McArthur, captain of the team, had 43 hours to sculpt their block of snow. It was judged on technical merit and artistic impression.
The Winterlude theme was the spirit of Canada. Dawn's, Will's and Brian's proposal, called “The Magic Canoe”, certainly captured this theme. The sculpting of this unique canoe used by the voyageurs to represent Canada's fur trade history, and many other Canadian depictions, were all part of the presentation.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate team Alberta for being selected to participate in this celebrated event and applaud them for taking second place in the contest. I would like to thank them for sharing their artistic talents so that all Canadians could enjoy them.