Recently in Canada Category

How many severed feet does it take to make the British news? Six, apparently.

• BBC News: Foot mystery baffles Mounties
• Telegraph: Sixth foot washes up on Canadian beach
• Guardian: Six feet under
• Times Online: Sixth foot washed ashore in Canadian mystery

Canada's not boring today.

A fourth severed foot has been found in British Columbia (see B.C. severed foot mystery continues). When will this bizarre mystery be solved?

From Canada's pacific coast comes an incredible story straight out of a Coen brothers' movie:

Another mysterious right foot floats ashore in Gulf Islands

For the third time in six months, a right foot wearing a sneaker has washed up on the shores of the Gulf Islands, in the Strait of Georgia.

The latest foot was found on the east side of Valdez Island, near Nanaimo. Last August two other right feet, both male and both wearing size 12 sneakers, washed ashore on nearby Gabriola and Jedediah Islands.

Those cases are still under investigation, and so far no links between the three discoveries have been established, police said. The latest appendage has been turned over to the B.C. Coroner's Service, and the RCMP is reviewing missing-persons files that could shed light on its discovery. Police have yet to determine whether foul play had anything to do with the feet.

It's clear from the following interview with the RCMP (no Coen brothers' satire could be better — "We have received a complaint." — "It is unusual to find three right feet.") that … where there's a foot there must be other body parts, right? But surely logic suggests they should simply be looking for three one-legged men?

Sam Javanrouh is an amateur photograph based in Toronto with a very successful photoblog, which features a different photograph every day. In fact, his daily dose of imagery has been my Internet Explorer Home Page for a long time, and at this time of year images such as today's Blowing in the wind always make me thankful for the UK's temperate climate!

Backyard Patriotism

A beautiful Canada Day in London was celebrated with a barbecue, several Sleeman's beers and numerous partriotic decorations courtesy of London's Canada Shop.

Globe And Mail - 28/09/05

There's some good news from Canada today in the form of the swearing in of its 27th Governor-General, Michaëlle Jean. Her appointment appears to have struck a chord with many Canadians, whose vision for their country's future includes many of the principles and values personified by this new head of state.

The following excerpt comes from John Ibbitson's column on the front page of today's Globe And Mail (The remarkable new Governor-General):

Canadians seem to be celebrating this appointment as though it really mattered, as though the Governor-General were something other than merely the Queen's representative, the titular commander of the armed forces, a cutter of ribbons and a deliverer of clichéd speeches whose powers are held mostly in reserve. Why?

In part it is because she is not a politician. Her job, by definition, is to remain above the gritty, grubby business of governing this messy federation.

But there's more to it. Not since the 1960s have our political leaders seemed so irrelevant, so disconnected. Then, it was a society of youth seeking to demolish outdated moral and social strictures. Today it is a society of immigrants seeking to create the world's most cosmopolitan society. Then they turned to Pierre Trudeau. Today they turn to . . ..

There is no one to turn to.

But here is this beautiful young Canadian of Haitian birth, with a smile that makes you catch your breath, with a bemused older husband by her side, and a daughter who literally personifies our future, and you look at them and you think: Yes, this is our great achievement, this is the Canada that Canada wants to be.

And suddenly, the arguments of the nationalists and the sovereigntists and the fire-wallists, of the alienated and resentful and estranged, are so tired, so yesterday, that you just don't want to have to listen to them any more.

Yes, indeed. French and English stop your quarreling. It just doesn't matter any more.

The BBC is reporting that John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, has topped the US dance chart at the age of 71 with a song supporting gay marriage (see Yoko's gay wedding song is US hit).

I can't understand how George W. Bush can argue that he's in favour of greater freedom for people when he "wants to change the US constitution to specify that marriage can only take place between a man and a woman".

Thirty-seven years ago while Justice Minister, a famous Canadian communist declared "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation". The left-wing Liberal Pierre Trudeau was in favour of freedoms that the current "leader of the western world" is unwilling to give his own nation.

Whenever I hear the Bush Administration arguing rhetorically about freeing foreign peoples, I can't help thinking of Cole Porter (an active homosexual, but at least he married a woman!). Porter hit the nail on the head when he wrote Anything Goes:

The world has gone mad today
And good's bad today,
And black's white today,
And day's night today,
When most guys today
That women prize today
Are just silly gigolos
And though I'm not a great romancer
I know that I'm bound to answer
When you propose,
Anything goes

It seems to me that the people who talk most about freedom, are really opportunistic control freaks who disguise themselves as liberals (i.e. freedom fighters) whenever it helps their selfish cause. Things are not what they seem, and anything goes!

PS - Is dancing allowed in Texas?

In honour of Canada Day, here's a link to a 15-minute discussion on that staple of Canadian food, the butter tart (courtesy of the CBC):

What makes a great butter tart?

Who'd have thought there'd be so much spirituality involved?

The BBC has just broadcast a radio play that contains an embarrassing Canadian error.

In Harry and Gloria by Katie Hims, Harry is a Canadian soldier awaiting the D-Day landings. He writes a letter to his English lover, Gloria, when the time comes to end their affair. In the meantime Gloria fantasizes about walking arm in arm through the streets of Toronto, including Fourth Avenue and Mel Lastman Square.

He doesn't look that old, does he?

Well I don't know if Toronto contains a Fourth Avenue, but I'm quite certain Mel Lastman Square didn't exist in 1944. Mel Lastman was only 11 years old that year, and no one could have mistaken suburban North York for downtown Toronto at that time anyway.

The English equivalent would be referring to a square in Milton Keynes named after London's mayor Ken Livingstone! Looks like BBC Drama needs to improve its fact checking.

Last weekend Kew Gardens held its sixth annual Woodland Wonders Festival, and fortunately we chose the best day weather-wise to visit.

Bluebells behind Queen Charlotte's Cottage

This festival is the one event in the year when Kew opens Queen Charlotte's Cottage to the public, and so we toured the interior of this former royal garden shed along with thousands of others. It turns out that the building is deceptively narrow; really just wide enough for one room plus connecting hallway. It contains two spacious, opposing staircases (very impractical; not even the royals need two ways to go up and down in such a small space), and upstairs the wallpaper of the largest room was designed by one of the Victorian princesses. Apart from a collection of 18th century framed prints (reproductions) which decorate some of the rooms, the cottage is largely unfurnished. All in all it was pretty underwhelming.

Morris dancing at Kew - what's with those handkerchiefs?

On the other hand the rest of the festival was impressive. Many skilled, woodsy folk had set up tents in which they displayed ecologically-friendly activites: bee-keeping, wood carving, archery, etc. A troop of kooky Morris dancers put on several shows, and swings for children were hung from some of Kew's enormous trees, while free samples of Kew Brew (a premium ale brewed with hops grown at Kew) were handed out to their parents.

Some azaleas were in full bloom

The plants and flowers were brilliant as usual. Not only were the bluebells all out, but a few of the azaleas and rhododendrons were also in full bloom (many will need another week I think). By far the most spectacular display, however, was put on by the lilacs, most of which were clearly at their fragrant peak; and in the process of admiring them I discovered a strong Canadian connection.

The lilacs were at their peak

British-born Isabella Preston (1881 - 1964) immigrated to Canada at the age of 31 and became one of the world's foremost lilac hybridists. Working in Guelph, Ontario, she developed lilacs ideally suited to northern climes - late flowering shrubs with prolific blooms. Kew now has several specimens of these eponymous Syringa xprestoniae.

All in all, it was an excellent day out.

Newsmap provides an interesting view of the news media's priorities, as captured and classified by Google News.

The news in Canada, the UK and the US as displayed on Newsmap

Each news item is allocated screen space according to the number of stories published about it. More popular stories appear larger; less popular stories are smaller. The stories are also colour-coded according to the "section" in which they would appear in a newspaper: World - dark brown, Nation (domestic news) - light brown, Sports - olive green, Business - blue, Entertainment - teal, for example. It's also possible to compare several of Google's national versions, all of which means that you can use Newsmap to analyse cultural differences in the world's news media.

And what do you find if you do?

Here are the top three priorities (as of earlier today) for three countries with which I'm familiar:

• Canada: World, Sports, Business
• UK: World, Sports, Business
• US: Sports, World, Nation (domestic news)

A closer examination reveals some even more interesting differences. World news receives two and half times as much coverage in the UK than in the US, and even Canada publishes approximately 30% more World news (proportionally) than the US. Instead of World news the US devotes its attention to Sports (2.5 times more than the UK) and domestic news (Nation).

Domestic news (Nation) is lowest in Canada, which also gives the most space/time to Entertainment. Business and technology are very similar in all three countries. Health is the smallest category everywhere.

So what does this tell us? Well, it would seem that the stereotypical cliches are all true. America is obsessed with itself; nothing much happens in Canada; and Britain still believes it can punch above its weight on the world stage.

Last week the US Congress scared the living daylights out of Americans by denouncing Canada as a welcoming haven for terrorists (see Terror groups flourish in Canada: U.S. report).

Now there's equally scary news for Canukistanis as it appears Texans have been caught taking all their bad habits into God's Country accidentally. According to the BBC (Grenade closes US-Canada border):

There are two Vancouvers - one is a small American town, the other is the large Canadian city. On Monday, a woman from Texas trying to find the small town ended up at the Canadian border.

When officials there searched her vehicle, they found a hand grenade in the glove compartment. Within minutes, the border was evacuated and the bomb squad was on the scene.

Once the woman explained her story though, things quickly calmed down. A Canadian police spokesman says they are satisfied that the woman was simply lost and had never meant to go to Canada. They soon released her and reopened the border.

As for the hand grenade, police say, the woman had no idea it was in her vehicle.

I think that makes both countries even. I mean, terrorists or crazy Texans … which would you prefer?

Last week I read that Canadians were cool. Now I know it's true!

Salon.com reports that American immigration to Canada may be increasing (see Salon.com Life | Discontented Americans consider Canada).

It's amazing how irrational human beings can be. Most cite Canada's health care system as a positive reason for immigrating, and yet until recently hospitals in Toronto were one of the best places in the world to catch SARS. Others like Canada's gun control laws, and yet in recent months Canadians have been up in arms (excuse the pun) about the country's exceedingly expensive gun control registry. One Minnesotan even wants to go for the Canadian climate! She dreamily described Vancouver as "Green all year, no mosquitos".

Given that more Canadians continue to move to America each year than vice versa, I guess the grass really is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Some people claim that Canada becomes more like the United States every day, but the Washington Post published an article on Canada Day that argues against that trend: Whoa! Canada! Legal Marijuana. Gay Marriage. Peace. What the Heck's Going On Up North, Eh?.

It refers to a best-selling Canadian book titled Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values which includes a New Yorker cartoon showing a man and woman enjoying drinks before dinner. The man says, "You seem familiar, yet somehow strange -- are you by any chance Canadian?"

For more on the reaction to this book see The Christian Science Monitor and The Nation.

Last February my Canadian high school hit the headlines around the world, but for all the wrong reasons. Seven students were killed by an avalanche while on a school skiing trip in the Rocky Mountains to the west of Calgary.

This week a consultant's report into the school's Outdoor Education programme was released, and it makes interesting reading. While describing the programme as one of the best in Canada and praising the skill and character of the students on the trip, it criticises the school for failing to systematically assess the unavoidable risks involved and communicate them to parents. However, the parents were also criticised for complacently abdicating their responsibility for their children's well being.

In February the disaster made the news internationally (even the BBC reported it), but the consultant's report appears to be of more local interest. The headline in the Globe & Mail on Wednesday was Report into avalanche deaths faults school planning, while CBC Calgary susbsequently reported School to drop some outdoor trips.

Strathcona Tweedsmuir School had an ambitious outdoor education programme even when I was there, and it was the source of many of my best memories of my scholastic career. White water canoeing is the most exhilarating and simultaneously terrifying activity I have ever completed, and yet I would never have experienced it if I hadn't attended STS. I remember one cross-country skiing trip to Lake O'Hara in Yoho National Park on which the return journey was the definition of bliss. [I notice now that the Lake O'Hara Fire Road trail that we skied crosses several avalanche paths, but I don't remember being concerned about this at the time.]

One of the most interesting segments of the report concerns the effect of the school's "instructional style":

Pressure from peers or teachers can affect the decision-making ability of a student or family. It may be subtle or not. A teacher applying pressure to a student may, at the time, feel that a demanding style will "motivate" a student to achieve. Others may disagree and say that the style is inappropriate.

Some parents of OE 25 students have criticized a "coercive" style they say is prevalent among select STS outdoor education staff. The staff describe this style as "having high expectations," and the students interviewed gave no evidence to suggest otherwise. To the contrary, students who were interviewed consider the outdoor education staff at STS to employ appropriate instructional styles and to be positive role models. However, the school needs to be aware of and give serious consideration to this topic.

In the past, parents have talked to the high school principal and outdoor education program staff of their concerns about outdoor education teacher demands and instructional style. As one of his roles, the outdoor education program coordinator should be responsible to facilitate consistent and appropriate instructional styles within the program.

I can certainly appreciate this criticism. I remember some teachers applying pressure and itimidating students to participate in activities that didn't at first appeal. Participating in an activity under duress is unlikely to encourage a positive experience. Everyone would be better off if the motivation to participate was derived from the anticipated rewards of the Outdoor Education programme, rather than fear of the negative consequences of staying at home.

Here's hoping the school community can learn from this tragedy and use the knowledge to benefit future students.

This week's edition of the Economist contains an article about Canada's potential to rival Saudi Arabia as a producer of oil (see Economist.com | Energy | There's oil in them thar sands!).

As the Economist states "there may be more oil trapped in Alberta than under all of Saudi Arabia". Trapped is an appropriate word because the oil is embedded in thick, viscous sand and cannot be extracted without considerable effort and money. The process involves injecting steam into the ground in order to reduce the viscosity of the sand such that you can pump it out of the ground and separate the oil.

Twenty years ago my first summer job after starting university was in the Reservoir Engineering department of Gulf Oil in Calgary. I was a computing major at the time, and my job was to analyse the results of a computer simulation of in-situ oil sand extraction. It was a good summer job and I learned a lot, although it was totally unlike anything I'd done before or since.

Now it seems that after considerable research and investment, it may finally be economically viable to begin developing Alberta's oil sand industry. It's nice to think that Alberta's natural resources may one day lessen the developed world's dependence on the Middle East, although according to the Economist we shouldn't hold our breath.

Given the dot.com boom and bust, the long-term impact of the Internet on business largely remains to be seen, but there's at least one industry where its effect is a huge improvement: the sale of antiquarian books.

Believe it or not, but the impact of the Internet on the sales of used books was far from certain. Would the improved ability to find specific books increase demand and sales sufficiently to offset any decline in prices that might occur if customers could easily shop around? That's the question Björn Frank and Guntram Hepperle asked at the University of Hohenheim in Germany at the end of 2000. In the abstract to their paper entitled The Internet's Impact on the Market for Antiquarian Books: Some Unexpected Empirical Results (click here for the whole paper in PDF format) they concluded:

Though there is a considerable variance in most books' prices, we do not observe the expected negative correlation between price and share of internet sales (in relation to a seller's total sales). We find other factors which have a systematic impact on prices, but with respect to the Internet, our main result is that e-business currently contributes little or nothing to driving prices downwards.

I have to say that I'm not surprised. Yesterday a biography of one of my distant cousins arrived in the post from Hoffman's Bookshop in Columbus, Ohio. The third edition of Memoirs of Mrs. Rebecca Wakefield: Missionary in East Africa was published in 1888 and written by the subject's brother, Robert Brewin. I only discovered this book two weeks ago in the course of doing some family history research, and yet thanks to the information superhighway I already have my own copy and Hoffman's Bookshop has another satisfied customer.

Although I purchased the book from Hoffman's, the transaction was brokered by abebooks.com, which "connects those who buy books with those who sell them, providing abundant selection at affordable prices". The Memoirs of Mrs. Rebecca Wakefield was only the second book I have purchased in this way, but I'm in the market for a third, and thanks to abebooks.com's "want list" feature there's every chance that I'll find it eventually.

Last week when I was searching for the Memoirs of Mrs. Rebecca Wakefield there was only one copy to be found, so comparing prices was impossible; but in my limited experience prices on the Internet for books in a similar condition are also similar. So the real benefit the Internet brings is the ability to track the books down in the first place. There's no way I would have found copies of my books without the Internet.

Of course, there's another benefit. I have yet to set foot within 250 miles of Columbus. In fact, I've never been to Ohio at all; and now, fortunately, I don't have to -- at least not to spend time in its bookshops.

Update: For more on the Canadian success story abebooks.com see Giants and behemoths in The Globe and Mail.

When people ask me why I live in Britain, I tell them it's for the wonderful weather. Of course they usually react with disbelief, but here's news of the climate in which I grew up (via Radio Canada International):

CALGARY: ALBERTANS DIG OUT AFTER RECORD SNOWFALL
People in southern Alberta Sunday [27 April 2003] continued to mop up heavy, wet snow after a record-breaking spring blizzard. As much as 30 to 60 centimetres of snow in some areas Saturday left people battling slick roads, power failures, cancelled flights and back-breaking shovelling. Calgary and the surrounding area got blasted with snow throughout the entire day Saturday. The snowfall amount was a record for the date since Environment Canada began recording weather 118 years ago. The storm stranded hundreds of travellers, closed highways, toppled trees and knocked out power to thousands of homes. Two Calgary men, aged 58 and 62, died from heart attacks while shovelling. In all, paramedics responded to six patients suffering such attacks while digging out from under the blizzard. Snow fell as far north as Grande Prairie and heavy snowfall warnings were in effect Sunday night for most of central and north-western Alberta, including the Edmonton area. Forecasters were calling for 10 to 15 centimetres.

It's on record as having snowed in Calgary in every month of the year. I have even experienced snow in August in the Rocky Mountains to the west of the city. I'll take Britain's milder climate over western Canada's extremes any day.

As it happens, we've had fantastic weather in the UK this spring. The gardening correspondent of the Financial Times recently described it as "divine" and the myriad of statistics produced by the Met Office confirms the perception that it's been a beautifully distracting spring.

That's partly why I haven't written much in this virtual space in April. It's been beautiful, and I've been busy tackling real world pursuits.

What do you do on a cold day in Canada? This report from Radio Canada International reveals the answer:

The Manitoba chapter of the Huntington Society of Canada has topped its own world record for the longest continuous line of moving snowmobiles. Officials say 316 of them took to the ice on Lake Winnipeg on Saturday, bettering last year's record of 307 sleds. Although the effort was well short of the 600 organizers had hoped for, spokesman Vern Barrett was happy. He said it was minus-35 Celsius and some people had trouble starting their cars, let alone snowmobiles. The event raised about $32,000 for the Huntington Society. The record-breaking performance will be mailed to Guinness officials, who must certify the record claim. But Manitobans may not hold the record long. The former record holders in Trout Lake, Ontario are rumoured to be planning another run at the title.

What an earth-shattering headline greeted us yesterday morning. According to the CBC...

For the first time in her 50-year reign, Canada's head of state dropped the ceremonial puck at the start of a hockey game.

How could she have been Queen for so long and only now started dropping pucks? Boy, has she got a lot of catching up to do! For more see CBC News: Queen drops puck, raises cheer in arena.