Source: http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/info/trivia_e.php

Most Common Place Names in Canada

Most Common Feature Names in Canada

source: CNN

Bush in 2004:

(source: http://www.spike.com/video/bushs-victory-speech/2655088)

Obama in 2008 (note: YouTube playlist has 3 videos):

Two years ago the World Bank’s environmental economics department set out to assess the relative contributions of various kinds of capital to economic development. Its study, “Where is the Wealth of Nations?: Measuring Capital for the 21st Century,” began by defining natural capital as the sum of nonrenewable resources (including oil, natural gas, coal and mineral resources), cropland, pasture land, forested areas and protected areas. Produced, or built, capital is what many of us think of when we think of capital: the sum of machinery, equipment, and structures (including infrastructure) and urban land.
But once the value of all these are added up, the economists found something big was still missing: the vast majority of world’s wealth! If one simply adds up the current value of a country’s natural resources and produced, or built, capital, there’s no way that can account for that country’s level of income

Read the entire article here: http://www.reason.com/news/show/122854.html

The current military coup appears to be mostly about the “Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill”:

The Reconciliation and Unity Commission is a proposed government body to be set up if the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, which was introduced into the Fijian Parliament on May 4, 2005, is passed. The legislation proposes to empower the Commission to grant amnesty to perpetrators of the Fiji coup of 2000, and compensation to victims of it from 19 May 2000 through 15 March 2001. The Fijian President will retain a veto over the granting of amnesty.

Good Wikipedia articles about the proposed bill (all articles appear to have been written prior to the coup) :

• About the Bill
• Foreign Reaction
• Supporters of the bill
• Opponents of the bill

I hope that there isn’t any violence in Fiji, and that (somehow) good governance can take hold.

• Widen Highway 1 all the way from McGill (by the Second Narrows Bridge) to Langley. This includes twinning the Port Mann bridge from the current 5 lanes to 10 lanes.
• North Fraser Perimiter Road improvements, including replacing the Pitt River bridge, and upgrading the Mary Hill bypass.
• Adding a new South Fraser perimiter road.

For the provincial government’s perspective on this project, there’s this lovely video.

The GVRD has long had issues with this project, including the motion from Oct 1, 2004

“That the GVRD Board express its concerns with the province’s unilateral approach to regional transportation planning and urge the province to return to a regional transportation planning process that involves the collaboration of municipalities, the GVRD, the GVTA and the province.”

Two of the most telling questions asked by the GVRD to the province include:

• “Based on what evidence will twinning the Port Mann Bridge and widening the #1 freeway solve the congestion problem?”
• “How does this project fit with the priorities in TransLink’s Strategic Transportation Plan, the GVRD Livable Region Strategic Plan, the GVRD Sustainable Region Initiative, the Vancouver City Transportation Plan and the Vancouver Climate Change Action Plan?”

My take on all this is that the province is trying to go completely around the GVRD, Translink, and all the regional municipalities and push through their own agenda of “bigger is better”. I think that the Livable Region Strategic Plan – which pushes for regional centers and less automobile use – is being completely trounced upon by the province.

Even the province acknowledges some of the problems associated with this “bigger is better” approach (but for some strange reason they still want to go through with it):

If the improved highway is not effectively managed through tolls and/or other congestion-reduction measures, analysis shows that it would reach current levels of congestion 5 to 10 years after project completion. Additionally, without these measures, the level of congestion in the corridor would make it difficult to offer improved transit services along the route.

Strangely enough, the province hasn’t even appointed any board members to Translink (they are allowed 3) – wouldn’t using Translink be a more appropriate way to bring this project forward?

The province is doing some public consultation. I know I will try to be at one or more of these:

• Feb 18 2006: Langley (10am-1pm @ Walnut Grove Community Centre)
• Feb 25 2006: New Westminister (10am-1pm @ Centennial Community Centre)
• March 4 2006: Burnaby (10am-1pm @ Eight Rinks)
• March 8 2006: Burnaby (6pm-9pm @ Bonsor Recreation Centre)
• March 25 2006: Vancouver (10am-1pm @ Hastings Community Centre)
• March 29 2006: Vancouver (6pm-9pm @ Roundhouse Community Centre)
• April 8 2006: Surrey (10am-1pm @ Guildford Recreation Centre)
• April 11 2006: Surrey (6pm-9pm @ North Surrey Arena)
• April 22 2006: Coquitlam (10:30am-1:30pm @ Coquitlam Library, Poirier Branch)
• April 25 2006: Coquitlam (6pm-9pm @ Planet Ice)
• April 29 2006: Abbotsford (11:30-2:30pm @ Abbotsford Recreation Centre)

Awesome job Barb!