Contest Rules

The Democracy & Me Poetry Contest is now closed. Thank you for your participation!

Contest Rules

  1. The Democracy & Me Poetry Contest (“Contest”) is jointly administered by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia and the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (jointly, “Sponsors”).
  1. The Contest is open to students in British Columbia in Kindergarten through Grade 12 (“Participant”). Entries must be submitted by the Participant’s parent or legal guardian (“Parent/Guardian”) who shall act on the Participant’s behalf in all aspects of the Contest, unless the Participant is 18 years or older.
  1. All decisions with respect to any aspect of the Contest, including selecting the winning entry, is final and at the sole discretion of the Sponsors.
  1. The Contest opens at 9:00 a.m. PT on October 27, 2021 and ends at 11: 59 p.m. PT on February 28, 2022 (“Contest Period”).
  1. The entry must meet the following submission guidelines:

WRITTEN WORD

SPOKEN WORD
Original work of Participant Original work of Participant
The work of one individual The work of one individual
Any poetic style Any poetic style
Maximum length: 350 words (must use “Enter” key/line breaks) Maximum length: 3 minutes
Written in English or, if submitted in a language other than English, must be accompanied with a typed translation (if selected, a verified translation will be required from the Participant) Spoken in English or, if submitted in a language other than English, must be accompanied with a typed translation (if selected, a verified translation will be required from the Participant)
Not plagiarized, previously published or simultaneously submitted to another contest Not plagiarized, previously published or simultaneously submitted to another contest
Typed and printed or saved as a MS Word doc or PDF Audio/visual and saved as MP3 or M4A or mailed on an unlocked USB
No accompanying illustrations
No copyrighted material (e.g., literary work, photographs, clip art) No copyrighted material (e.g., artistic, dramatic or musical works, or performer’s performances or sound recordings)
No trademarks (e.g., product names, company names, symbols, logos, insignia, marks) No trademarks (e.g., product names, company names, symbols, logos, insignia, certification mark)
No offensive, harmful or demeaning language, imagery or content No offensive, harmful or demeaning language, imagery or content
  1. The Participant must complete the Official Contest Application Form and submit their entry during the Contest Period in one of the following ways:
      • by mail to Parliamentary Education Office, Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Rm. 104, 614 Government Street, Victoria, BC V8V 1X4; or  
  1. By entering the Contest, the Participant (or Parent/Guardian on behalf of the Participant) automatically accepts and agrees to the following:

a. The Participant (or the Parent/Guardian) consents to the use and disclosure of their (the Participant’s) personal information provided on the Official Contest Application Form as described in these Contest Rules. The Sponsors will not sell, share or otherwise disclose personal information of the Participant or their Parent/Guardian to third parties except as permitted or required by law.

b. The Participant’s name, grade, city/town and school will be publicly disclosed by the Sponsors to the general public for the purposes of publicizing the Contest.

c. The Participant (or the Parent/Guardian) warrants and agrees that the Participant’s submission is an original and unpublished work of the Participant.

d. The Participant (or the Parent/Guardian) agrees to release and hold harmless the Sponsor and each of their respective agents, employees, directors, successors, and assigns against any and all claims based on publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trade-mark infringement or any other intellectual property related cause of action.

e. The Participant’s submission will not be returned and becomes the property of the Legislative Assembly.

f. The Participant (or the Parent/Guardian), if the Participant’s submission is selected, grants to the Sponsors, jointly and severally, a non-exclusive license in perpetuity to, at its sole discretion, publish, use, adapt, display, reproduce, modify, edit or otherwise use the Participant’s submission, in whole or in part, in any media, for advertising or promoting the Contest or for any other reason, including on or as part of promotional materials such as items in the Parliamentary Gift Shop or future programming. Wherever used by the Sponsors, the Participant’s submission will be attributed to the Participant.

g. The Participant (or the Parent/Guardian) acknowledges that they have read  and understands and agrees that they shall be bound by these Contest Rules.

For a PDF of the Poetry Contest rules, click here!