Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the House of the launch of an exciting new cultural event, the first McLuhan International Festival of the Future. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. William Marshall, the executive director of the festival and also the co-founder of the Toronto International Film Festival, the organizers held a successful kickoff on October 8, 2004.
To honour the diverse fields that Marshall McLuhan has influenced, on Friday night the festival presented visionary awards for community, culture and commerce. As the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, I had the honour of presenting the culture award to CHUM Ltd. Former Toronto mayor, David Crombie, received the community award and Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, received the commerce award.
The McLuhan International Festival of the Future runs until October 17. It ambitiously attempts to cover the diverse areas of McLuhan's work with a 10 day festival that includes fora and performances in multimedia, new media, public arts, media literacy and sustainable living.