Direct Energy

2025 Volunteer Citizen of the Year Award (“Award”)
Official Rules & Regulations

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. ODDS OF WINNING DEPEND ON THE NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE ENTRIES RECEIVED. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. ALL PROVINCIAL, LOCAL, AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN TO ANY INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS RESIDING OR WORKING IN ALBERTA.

By entering this Award, the nominee affirms that he/she has reviewed these Official Rules & Regulations ("Official Rules") and hereby agrees and accepts all terms and conditions contained herein. The Nomination Period begins at 12:01:00 a.m. MST on February 24, 2025, and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. MDT on March 31, 2025 (the "Award Closing Date").

    1. Eligibility: Award nominations are open to any individual or group of individuals (the “Nominators”) residing or working in the Province of Alberta, Canada (the “Eligibility Area”) and who are at least eighteen (18) years of age at the time of nomination. Nominee(s) must be legal Canadian residents currently residing or working in the Eligibility Area and be at least eighteen (18) years of age at the time of nomination. The nominee(s) must be actively supporting their community in an unpaid / volunteer capacity. 

Employees of Direct Energy Marketing Limited (the “Sponsor” or “Direct Energy”) or the Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association (“AWNA”), along with their respective parents, divisions, affiliates, subsidiaries, promotional or marketing agencies, and their immediate family members (parent, child, and spouse) and persons living in the same households of each such employee of the Sponsor or AWNA (whether related or not) are not eligible. Participation in the Award constitutes entrants full and unconditional agreement to, and acceptance of, these Official Rules. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

The recipient of the donation must be a non-profit organization incorporated under the federal or provincial laws of Canada or a charity registered with the Canada Revenue Agency (the “Designated Non-Profit”) 

The winner(s) must also complete all release forms and conduct an in-person interview with the Sponsor prior to the announcement on June 11th.

    2. Award Entry: Nominations may be submitted during the Nomination Period using the method outlined below. No nominations will be accepted by any other means.

To nominate an individual, Nominators will need to fill out and submit the form found at directenergy.ca/vcoy. To be considered, the form must have the following fields completed:

• Nominator first name and last name
• Nominator email address
• Nominator phone number.
• Nominee first and last name
• Nominee email address
• Nominee phone number
• Nominee profile
• Name of Designated Non-Profit
• Designated Non-Profit profile

Nomination forms will not be returned to nominating parties and will become the property of the Sponsor. 

    3. Prizes: Three (3) potential award recipients (the “Recipients”) will each receive a commemorative award along with an article, video interview and photo to be published by AWNA at its discretion, and the Recipients’ Designated Non-Profit will receive a donation of $5,000, made by Direct Energy on behalf of the Recipient (the “Prize”). The Recipient will not be issued a tax receipt. 

Sponsor is not responsible for any inability of Recipients or Designated Non-Profits to accept or utilize any prize. Designated Non-Profits must complete Direct Energy’s verification and registration process to receive the Prize.

Any depiction of prizes in Award materials or otherwise are for illustrative purposes only. All taxes or fees arising from participation in the Award or award of the Prizes, including, without limitation, income taxes, are the sole responsibility of the Prize winners. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value for any reason. If applicable, lost or stolen Prize will not be replaced. Winners are solely responsible for compliance with any restrictions. Sponsor will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, misdirected, damaged, inaccurate, deceptive, or illegible entries. Any questions regarding the number of entries submitted shall be determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion, and the Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entries determined to be false, fraudulent, or deceptive or that are submitted by person(s) determined to be tampering with or abusing any aspect of the Award.

    4. Recipient Selection: Potential Recipients of the Prize will be selected by an adjudication panel (the “Panel”), composed of designated representatives of the Sponsor. Selection factors considered by the Panel include, but are not limited to, the perceived contribution made by the Nominee to their local community, the perceived contribution made by the Designated Non-Profit to its local community and its proposed use of the Prize by the Designated Non-Profit. All decisions made by the Panel are final and binding. A maximum of three (3) Recipients will be awarded the Prize.

    5. Odds: Odds of being awarded the Prize depend on the total number of eligible nominations received and participant’s merit in meeting the selection factors.

Recipient Notification and Acceptance. The potential Recipients will be contacted by the Sponsor by April 8, 2025 by telephone using the phone number(s) provided on the nomination form and then followed by an email to the email address provided on the nomination form within a reasonable period after the completion of the adjudication period. If there has been no response from the potential Recipient within three (3) days of the notification by email or telephone, or if arrangements for designation of the Prize have not been made by the potential Recipient within week (1) week of the potential Recipient’s response, or if the Designated Non-Profit does not meet the Eligibility criteria, the potential Recipient will forfeit the Prize and the Sponsor has a right to select another potential Recipient from the remaining nominations. 

By participating, both Nominators and Nominees agree to be bound to the decisions of the Sponsor, which will be final and binding in all respects.

The potential Recipient and Designated Non-Profit will be required to sign and return a Standard Declaration and Release form (the “Release”) and Media Release form (the “Media Release”) by the return date specified in the Prize notification email, or both parties will forfeit the respective Prize. Failure to sign and return the required documentation within the specified time in the Prize notification email or to comply with any terms or conditions of these Official Rules may result in the potential Recipient’s disqualification, forfeiture of his or her interest in the Prize, and the award of the Prize to an alternative potential Recipient. The potential Recipient may waive his or her rights to receive the Prize. No Prize transfers, substitutions, assignments, exchange or cash redemptions, or cash equivalents are permitted except at the sole discretion of the Sponsor. In the event of such a forfeiture, or if a potential Recipient is unreachable, the Prize notification email is returned as undeliverable, or if a potential Recipient declines acceptance of the Prize, the Panel has a right to select alternative potential Recipient from among the remaining eligible nominations. The Prize may be subject to taxes. The Designated Non-Profit is solely responsible for reporting and payment of any taxes on the Prize (federal, provincial, state, and local).

The final Recipients and Designated Non-Profits will be announced publicly by June 11, 2025. 

    6. Limitations of Liability/Indemnification: By entering this Award, all participants including Nominators, Nominees and Designated Non-Profits shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless any Sponsor and its parent, its affiliates, subsidiaries, directors, officers, governors, representatives, dealers, advertising and promotion agencies, judging organizations, employees, agents and partners (herein, the “Released Parties”), from and against any and all liability, damages or causes of action (however named or described) with respect to or arising out of either: (i) Participation in the Award; or (ii) the receipt or use of the Prize awarded herein; or (iii) the administration of the Award and distribution of the Prize awarded herein; and (iv) any and all claims, judgments, damages, liabilities, penalties and fines of any kind, stemming from participation in this Award. 

Participants hereby release, waive and discharge any and all claims of damage, loss or causes of action (including, negligence), including (but not limited to) death, personal injury or loss or damage to property, which the participant or any of the participant’s representatives, heirs, next of kin or assignees ("Participant's Representatives") may have or which may hereinafter accrue to the participant or Participant Representatives against the Released Parties as a result of participation in the Award or the receipt or use of the Prize(s) awarded herein.

    7. Internet: If for any reason the Internet portion of the Award is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor or its affiliates that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Award, the Sponsor, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Award and to disqualify any individual who tampers with the nomination process. If the Award is cancelled for any reason before completion, all nominations received up to the point of termination will be adjudicated to award the Prizes. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications-line failure, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access to or alteration of entries. Sponsor is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment or software, or for failure of any automatic entry to be received by Sponsor on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Website, or any combination thereof - including any injury or damage to participant's or any other person's computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in this Award. The use of automated software or computer programs to register or to enter this Award is prohibited and any individual who uses or attempts to use such methods to register or to enter will be disqualified. Sponsor disclaims any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participation in, or accessing or downloading information in connection with, this Award. 

    8. Personal Information: Each participant hereby consents to: (i) the collection, use, and disclosure of the participants personal information by the Sponsor and its affiliates for its and/or their marketing purposes; and (ii) the receipt of commercial electronic messages from the Sponsor and its affiliates for marketing purposes. All information collected from participants is subject to Sponsor’s privacy policy: https://www.directenergy.ca/en/privacy-policy. By participating in the Award, Nominator’s hereby agree to the Sponsor’s collection and usage of their personal information and acknowledge that they have read and accepted the Sponsor’s privacy policy. A copy of these Official Rules may be obtained by sending a written request and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Direct Energy Attn: “Volunteer Citizen of the Year” Award Administrator 2500 - 530 8 Avenue S.W. Calgary, AB T2P 3S8.

    9. Recipient’s Consent: By accepting the Prize, the Recipient hereby consents to use of their name, face, likeness, voice, photography and videography recordings, testimonial and hometown information collected in connection with the Award, without limitation or notice to, or further consent of, and without compensation, worldwide and in perpetuity, except where prohibited by law. By accepting the Prize, Recipient hereby further agrees to release Sponsor and its subsidiaries, affiliates, and related companies and each of his or her respective officers, directors, employees, and agents from any and all liability, loss, or damage of any kind arising out of, or in connection with, winner’s participation in this Award, or with respect to the awarding, receipt, possession, use and/or misuse of the Prize.

    10. Governing Law: The Award and these Official Rules shall be governed according to the laws of the province of Alberta, Canada, without regard to principles of conflicts of laws. All claims, actions or suits must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in the Province of Alberta, Canada. 

    11. Force Majeure: The failure of Sponsor to comply with any provision of these Official Rules due to an act of God, hurricane, war, fire, riot, earthquake, terrorism, act of public enemies, actions of governmental authorities outside of the control of the Sponsor (excepting compliance with applicable codes and regulations) or other force majeure event will not be considered a breach of these Official Rules.

    12. Severability: If any term and/or section in these Rules and Regulations is to any extent illegal, otherwise invalid, or incapable of being enforced, such term/section shall be excluded to the extent of such invalidity or unenforceability; all other terms/sections hereof shall remain in full force and effect; and, to the extent permitted and possible, the invalid or unenforceable term/section shall be deemed replaced by a term/section that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of such invalid or unenforceable term/section.

The Sponsor of the Award is Direct Energy Marketing Limited, 2500 - 530 8 Avenue, S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2P 3S8

Direct Energy Marketing Limited is not affiliated with Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association. Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association is not a sponsor of this Award. 

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