Ottawa—The Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages, as part of the official visit of Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to Montreal, will open a luncheon hosted by the Conseil des relations internationales de Montréal on Saturday, September 23, 2006.

Media are invited to attend Minister Verner's and President Karzai's speeches. The Minister will also be available for interviews after the luncheon.


IMPORTANT: Media representatives who wish to cover the events must contact the Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office at 613-995-1874 by 3:00 p.m. EDT today, Thursday, September 21, 2006. Representatives must leave their name, agency and phone number, specifying that their accreditation request is for the Ottawa and/or Montréal events. They will subsequently be contacted by Mr. Alain Cacchione to confirm participation and will be given information on how to obtain an accreditation pass.

Confirmed media are requested to present themselves at least one hour prior to each event with the following accreditation criteria:

1. Media accreditation from the Parliamentary Press Gallery or any provincial legislature, along with one piece of photo identification. Temporary Press Gallery accreditation holders will be required to register with the Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office at 613-995-1874.

2. In the absence of suitable gallery accreditation, an assignment letter from the responsible editor at the media outlet must be faxed to the Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office at 613-995-1405 by 3:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, September 21. Only applications from known media outlets as listed in commercial media directories will be accepted.

Media are required to present one piece of photo identification at registration. All media will be subject to searches and screening at sites.

DATE:
September 23, 2006

TIME:
12:15 p.m.

LOCATION:
Hilton Montréal Bonaventure Hotel
Salons Westmount and Outremont, level F
900 de la Gauchetiere West
Montréal, Quebec