Canada

Canada Post will pay tribute to a former Governor General whose lifelong pride in his country and steadfast belief in the potential of Canadians inspired a long and distinguished career in public service.

The late Right Honourable Roméo LeBlanc was born in 1927, in Memramcook, New Brunswick. He began his career as a teacher before turning to journalism, working as a foreign correspondent for Radio-Canada. In 1965, LeBlanc became founding president of the CBC Radio-Canada Foreign Correspondents Association. He went on to serve as Press Secretary for Prime Ministers Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau.

“If I am to be known for anything, I would like it to be for encouraging Canadians, for knowing a little bit about their daily, extraordinary courage. And for wanting that courage to be recognized.”

In 1972, LeBlanc took his first step into the political arena when he was elected to the House of Commons, representing New Brunswick’s Westmorland-Kent riding. He served as Minister of Fisheries in three of Prime Minister Trudeau’s cabinets, becoming Canada’s longest serving minister in this position. During his tenure, LeBlanc oversaw the expansion of Canada’s coastal fishing zone from a 12-mile limit to its current 200-mile limit and helped shape the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. He was appointed to the Senate in 1984 and Speaker of the Senate in 1993.

Title: The Right Honourable Roméo LeBlanc
Date of Issue: 8 February 2010
Country: Canada
Denominations: 57c

If you like this post, please say it in the comment!!!

Related posts:

1. Canadian Diplomacy
2. Montreal Canadiens, 100th Anniversary
3. Canadian Recording Artists
4. Flag over Historic Mills
5. William Hall V.C.

During the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Canada Post will issue a set of commemorative stamps that celebrate the exhilaration and binding power of the Olympic Spirit.

“For fans and athletes alike, the Games are an emotional event,” explains Alain Leduc, Manager of Stamp Design and Production at Canada Post. “The Signals Design Group, the design team behind the issue, had as a goal to create a visual that could represent both the experience and memory of that emotion.” Inspiration for the design was derived from the Olympic Movement’s core goal: “To contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic Spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.” Leduc explains, “The designers wanted to reflect this spirit through the reaction in the eyes and faces of Canadian youth. Their idea was that we, as Canadians, have our own unique way of celebrating, supporting and displaying our national pride; it doesn’t necessarily include marching bands and balloons. It’s often more subtle. It’s commonplace to see young Canadians in toques and painted faces cheering on their favourite teams and athletes. And the iconic maple leaf, along with the red and white colour scheme, tell the viewer immediately that this is a Canadian event.”

The backgrounds of the two stamps feature photographs of four events: men’s four-man bobsleigh, women’s cross-country sprint, men’s short track relay speed skating, and Canadian cross-country skier Chandra Crawford as she accepts her gold medal at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Italy. “The designers chose these particular images from hundreds of contenders because they contained gender representation, individual and team events, colour, form, and energy,” Leduc notes.

The graphic patterns in the background of the first day cover, souvenir sheet and booklet extend the energies within the stamp in abstract ways that can be read as movement, ice, snow, carved lines from blades and skis, and indoor and outdoor environments. “The success of this design relies heavily on the arrangement of its components,” says Leduc of the design team’s vision. “Each element contains energy arcs that we carefully layered to make it dynamic, yet accessible. By overlapping parts of each scene and altering their planes of axis, they work individually and together in a motion-filled circulating collage.”

Title: Celebrating our Olympic spirit
Date of Issue: 22 February 2010
Country: Canada
Denominations: 57c x 2

If you like this post, please say it in the comment!!!

Related posts:

1. XXI Olympic Winter Games – USA
2. Games of the XXIX Olympics – United Nations
3. Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games
4. Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Mascots and Emblems
5. Winter Olympic Games 2010 Vancouver