The Ottawa conference organization is into its final stages of planning and the program looks very diverse and interesting. Don’t miss it. There is still time and opportunity to register and participate in this special event marking the 100th anniversary of the Atlas of Canada. The
GeoTec final program has been completed and is at the printshop. Please check the website for program and registration information. There is a pdf of the CCA sessions available for download.

All members of the CCA are invited to the official launch of the new publication, Terra Nostra: The Stories Behind Canada’s Maps, 1550–1950, by CCA member Jeffrey Murray, on Tuesday, June 20th, at 6:00 p.m. on the Congress Centre Terrace. The printed invitations will be available for members at the CCA booth in the Exhibit Hall, booth 225.

The CCA special events which are being catered need accurate counts and therefore, if you did not indicate that you will attend them when you registered, and you do want to come, please take a moment to update your registration by sending a note to geotec@microspec.com. We have access to registration counts and this would be very helpful. The catered events are the CCA/ACMLA Icebreaker, the book launch hosted by Library and Archives Canada, and the CCA AGM and Awards Luncheon. Your registration invoice will indicate whether or not you have already said you will attend these events. There are no additional charges to members
for these three catered events. If you want to add something for which there is an additional charge, they’ll need to know how you want to pay for it, whether with the existing payment method or something else.

The Icebreaker on Sunday night is being held at the University of Ottawa in Arts Hall, 509, from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. It follows the Orienteering Event which is a short course on the campus of U of O. If you want to be included in the O-event, add it to your registration or send a note to
Diana Hocking (dhocking@uvic.ca).

There is still space available in the CCA workshops. These two workshops will be excellent and worthwhile presentations by our members David Raymond ("Managing Geographic Names in a GIS"), and Peter Kasianchuk and Rob Jensen ("Planning for and Implementing Cartographic Representation in ArcGIS 9.2"). The venue has moved to Carleton University, the Loeb Building, rooms A237 and A220, and transportation will be arranged for the participants. For those who have their own car, parking is free on campus on the weekend, including parking in the parking garages.

The Gala Dinner at the Museum of Civilization is an event not to be missed. This special occasion, subsidized by Natural Resources Canada, will celebrate the anniversary of the Atlas of Canada in style with a splendid dinner, an after-dinner address by Rex Murphy, and dancing to
Eddie and the Stingrays. CCA members who attended the ICA in Ottawa in 1999 will remember Eddie and the Stingrays with delight and anticipation. Transportation will be provided to the Gala. As with the CCA catered events above, the Gala organizers need an accurate count of
the number of attendees at the earliest possible date. For further information about the Gala, or to purchase a ticket directly, please contact Cameron Wilson at 613-996-6377 or cawilson@ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca.

There is space available on the post-conference tours to the Gatineau Preservation Centre where the National Archives of Canada houses its huge collection, and to the Gatineau Satellite Receiving Station on Thursday, June 22nd. These tours are a great opportunity. I am looking
forward to them, myself. That evening, there is an opportunity to go horseback riding in the Gatineau Hills as an antidote to sitting in lecture theatres and on the tour bus earlier in the day.

So far, more than 50 CCA members have registered for the conference and we look forward to meeting and networking, renewing friendships, and exchanging ideas. Thanks to members for supporting this event and please get in touch if you have any questions we can help with.

Christine Earl
CCA 2006 Organizing Committee