History of Nova Scotia
with special attention given to
Communications and Transportation

Chapter 55
2000 March 20-31


Index with links to the other chapters


2000 March 20

Duke Energy Buys Into "Prodigious"
Sable Island Natural Gas Field

Houston, Texas, and Calgary, Alberta — March 20, 2000
Duke Energy Corporation and Canadian 88 Energy Corporation announced today that the two companies have entered into an agreement whereby Duke Energy will make a strategic investment in Canadian 88 forming an ongoing alliance between the two companies. Under the terms of the investment Duke Energy will assume marketing of Canadian 88's natural gas production and seek to optimize the value of Canadian 88's gathering and processing assets. Duke Energy will acquire approximately 25 million common shares of Canadian 88 from treasury at a price of C$2.00 per share. After the investment, Duke Energy will hold approximately 20 percent of the common stock of Canadian 88. Duke Energy will make the investment through its Duke Energy Hydrocarbons (DEH) subsidiary.

Canadian 88 has a world-class exploration inventory of natural gas plays in some of the highest impact regions of North America including the Alberta Foothills and the prodigious Sable Island deepwater areas.

Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline

In Canada, Duke Energy is a leading provider of industrial energy services, has one of the largest natural gas marketing and trading operations and through a joint venture, operates a sizable Canadian midstream business. Duke Energy is also part owner and an operator of the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline that delivers Sable Island gas to market.

As part of the agreement, Joseph Pritchett III, current executive vice president of DEH, will resign that position and become president and CEO of Canadian 88, and the Canadian 88 board of directors will be reconstituted. James D. Raymond will remain chairman of the new board and Greg Noval, current Canadian 88 president and CEO, and John Panneton will remain board members. Joining the board in addition to Pritchett will be Don Gardner, current Canadian 88 chief financial officer, and John Burns Q.C., a senior partner at the law firm of Bennett Jones. Duke Energy will appoint two directors to the board and an additional independent director will be jointly appointed taking the new Canadian 88 board of directors to a total of nine.

Duke Energy Corporation

Duke Energy is a diversified multi-national energy company operating an integrated network of energy assets. Duke Energy manages a dynamic portfolio of natural gas and electric supply, delivery and trading businesses — generating revenues of nearly $22,000,000,000 in 1999. Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a Fortune 100 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK.

Canadian 88 Energy Corporation

Canadian 88 Energy Corp. is an independent public oil and gas company with its head office in Calgary, Alberta. The shares of Canadian 88 Energy Corp. are traded on the Toronto and American Stock Exchanges under the symbol EEE.

Source:
Press release, 20 March 2000,
by Duke Energy Corp. and Canadian 88 Energy Corp
    http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/
        micro_stories.pl?ACCT=257451&TICK=DUK&STORY=/www/
        story/03-20-2000/0001168832&EDATE=Mar+20,+2000

Reference:
Duke Energy Corporation website at
    http://www.duke-energy.com/
Maritimes and Northeastern Pipeline website at
    http://www.duke-energy.com/internet/businesses/gastransmission/mne.asp

2000 March 20

Train Derailment Blamed on Vandals

NEW WATERFORD — The chief of Devco security is appealing to the public for information regarding vandalism of railway switches which resulted in a train derailment Monday evening, March 20th. Kevin Murrant said a Devco train was derailed about 7:20pm in an area between Plummer Avenue and the Nova Scotia Power office, near the Phalen Mine site. "Six switches were tampered with, all left in the half open position," he said. Murrant said a train passed through the area without difficulty at about 5:30pm. At about 7:20pm a train, with the same crew, went off the track at the first switch they encountered. As a result investigators have been able to place a time on the when the vandalism occurred. Murrant said the next five switches had also been vandalized. The derailed train was pulling 25 cars with a crew of three. No one was injured. The incident caused damage to the track and minor damage to the locomotive.
[Cape Breton Post, 22 March 2000]

2000 March 22

Canada Payphone signs agreement with CBC
to provide free access to CBC's On-Line Content
on Internet Kiosks

Burnaby, British Columbia
In a ground-breaking announcement for both companies, Canada Payphone Corporation and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) today announced an agreement to promote CBC's on-line content on Canada Payphone's public Internet kiosks installed across Canada. As a cornerstone of the agreement, Canada Payphone will provide users across the country with free access to the CBC's up-to-date online news and information service. Canada Payphone will receive revenues from the CBC as a paid sponsor. The Company continues to install the AT&T Canada branded Internet kiosks in hotels and other high profile locations frequented by business travelers, tourists and consumers. Wherever these terminals are installed, Canadians will be able to check local, national and international news, entertainment, sports, program schedules and more. For CBC, this is a new way to connect with the millions of Canadians who are using the public access communications network. The Internet kiosk delivers connectivity to CBC's trusted journalism through an easy to use touch-sensitive full-colour screen. Each kiosk will offer users free access buttons to CBC's website, and a multi-card reader for access to other areas of the Internet, email and e-commerce. "This agreement represents a significant opportunity for Canadian companies to reach thousands of users daily through paid sponsorships," said Stephen Niven, Executive Vice President at Canada Payphone. "Our company is now changing the way the traditional payphone is viewed, not only by providing public access Internet services, but also by moving to paid sponsorships with companies such as the CBC." "We've always believed that people should be able to access CBC's high-quality online content, whether they have a computer at home or not," says John Lewis, Executive Director of CBC New Media. "Our relationship with CPC creates one more opportunity for CBC to serve the Canadian public."

About CBC

With over 50,000 pages of online content, CBC.CA is an important resource for Canadians seeking up-to-the-minute headlines and in-depth coverage of news, business, sports, weather, entertainment, consumer affairs, and more. The CBC's journalistic leadership is one of its greatest strengths. The CBC is Canada's largest news organization, employing over 800 people in different journalistic functions in Canada and abroad. By providing immediate updates, background and analysis, with audio and video, CBC.CA showcases the CBC's extraordinary journalistic ability to provide up-to-the-minute news headlines and in-depth coverage simultaneously.

About Canada Payphone

Canada Payphone (CPC) is Canada's leading national competitive pay telephone service provider in the recently deregulated Canadian pay telephone market and is marketing and installing AT&T Canada branded payphones and public Internet terminals across the country from Victoria to Halifax. CPC is installing state-of-the-art AT&T Canada branded payphones, Grapevine Network Terminals and Interactive Internet Kiosks. The AT&T Canada branded payphones accept all coins, credit and calling cards, as well as provide full operator services and flat rate long distance charges across Canada and to the United States. With the Grapevine Network Terminal and e-Prism software, advertising content and community information is intelligently targeted to user communities on a terminal by terminal basis. Canada Payphone Corporation is a public company traded on the CDNX under the symbol CPY.

Late in 1999, CPC entered into a five year purchase agreement with a payphone manufacturer which provides a right to the Company to purchase a minimum of 45,000 payphones between 15 November 1999 and 31 December 2004. CPC's Internet kiosks, branded with the AT&T Canada logo, are found in hotels and other high profile locations across Canada frequented by business travelers, tourists and consumers. They deliver connectivity to local and national news, sports, financial and retail information services through an easy to use full-colour touch screen. Each kiosk offers users a multi-card reader for access to the Internet, e-mail and e-commerce. Revenues are generated from e-commerce transactions, Internet access and advertising. Under an agreement signed a couple of weeks ago with the Chapters chain of bookstores, each CPC kiosk provides free access to the Chapters.ca website, which features thousands of book, music CD, video, DVD, software and video game titles as well as consumer electronics from around the world with prices stated in Canadian currency.

About AT&T Canada

AT&T Canada is Canada's largest facilities-based competitive provider of local and long distance voice, data and Internet telecommunications services. Created during 1999 from the merger of MetroNet Communications, AT&T Canada Long Distance Services, Netcom Canada and ACC TelEnterprises, AT&T Canada brings together the country's largest competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), three of Canada's leading competitive Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and Canada's pioneer in competitive long distance. AT&T Canada Corporation is a public company with its common stock traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TEL.B and on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol ATTC.

Sources:
Canada Payphone media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/21/c6084.html
Canada Payphone media release dated 21 March 2000
    http://www.sedar.com/dynamic_pages/issuerprofiles_e/i00005352.htm

References:
Canada Payphone website at
    http://www.canadapayphone.com/
AT&T Canada's website at
    http://www.attcanada.com/
CBC's website at
    http://www.cbc.ca/
Canada Payphone documents in the SEDAR website at
    http://www.sedar.com/dynamic_pages/issuerprofiles_e/i00005352.htm

2000 March 22

Bounty Foundering in Sea of Debt, Disrepair

One of Lunenburg's most famous ships is in trouble. The replica HMS Bounty, built at the famed Smith and Rhuland Shipyard for the MGM motion picture Mutiny on the Bounty in 1960, is foundering in a sea of debt and disrepair. At present, the vessel, operated by the Tall Ship Bounty Foundation out of Fall River, Massachusetts, sits at her pier awaiting a much-needed refit. Reports indicate she has a serious leak, as much as 500 to 600 gallons about 2000 litres of water an hour. However this could not be confirmed as foundation officials did not return repeated phone calls. HMS Bounty An interview with president Norman Futoransky that appeared in Fall River's Herald News February 6th did confirm the ship needs about $1,000,000 in repairs in order to receive Coast Guard certification as a sail training vessel. That's the foundation's current plan — to certify the ship so she would be able to carry up to 155 people, crew included, on overnight excursions, he said.

The problem is the foundation is broke; more precisely, it's in debt. At present, it has a marketing consultant who's working on a pro bono basis to find corporate sponsors, if not an outright buyer for the ship and while Mr. Futoransky insists there has been interest, it now appears unlikely the vessel will be repaired in time to participate in this year's Tall Ships 2000 events.

That news greatly disappoints the Nova Scotia-based Society for the Preservation of Bounty. The group, composed primarily of former crews members, formed last spring with the hope of repatriating the vessel in time for tall ships festivities in Halifax. "We kind of thought now was the time, if any time, to raise awareness," says the society's president Cathy Carey of Hantsport. The appearance of the vessel in television commercials advertising the event added to the group's expectations. Representatives contacted the Tall Ships 2000 committee, which at that point was describing, among other things, a fund to establish a Nova Scotia-based tall ship sail training vessel. "We thought that would be perfect," says Mrs. Carey, especially since the group already had agreements with "members in the shipbuilding trade" that would allow the vessel to be refit at a considerable discount. However, Tall Ships 2000 has since abandoned the idea, leaving Mrs. Carey and her cohorts in a search for corporate sponsors — a search which is still ongoing. "What we need is some prominent business or person to take an interest," she says. "Once somebody or some company that's renowned like that comes aboard, other companies will follow. It needs that shot in the arm."

Mrs. Carey says when contacted last spring, officials with the Tall Ship Bounty Foundation were asking $1,700,000 for the vessel. "But that won't be anything near what they'll end up taking, ... not with creditors breathing down their back." And while a reduced price could, on one hand, be a good thing if her group can find the money to buy the vessel, without it, it's a liability. "We've already heard there have been three serious inquiries," she says, "one for use outside a restaurant. None of us want to see her sitting on blocks outside a casino somewhere or rotting at the dock. That's why it's important we act now."

In the meantime, Tall Ships 2000 continues to use the image of Bounty in its commercials for festivities in Halifax July 19-24, 2000. "They obviously know her drawing power," says Mrs. Carey, and must believe it's greater than the province's own schooner, Bluenose II, which does not appear in the commercials. Bounty crew members are also planning a reunion in conjunction with the event. They'll be in Halifax and Lunenburg July 22 and 23 and may take advantage of the occasion to publicize the vessel's plight.

[Lunenburg Progress-Enterprise, 22 March 2000]

References:
The Fall River Herald News website at
    http://www.heraldnews.com/
Map of Fall River, Massachusetts
    http://maps.yahoo.com/py/
        maps.py?&Pyt=Tmap&addr=&csz=Fall+River,MA
Fall River Historical Society website at
    http://www.lizzieborden.org/

The HMS Bounty set sail from England on the 23rd December 1787...
History of the original Bounty
    http://www.tallshipbounty.org/history.html

1993 — Ted Turner Donates Bounty
to Tall Ship Bounty Foundation

The Bounty was built in 1960 for MGM studios' Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando. Since then, the new Bounty has starred in several feature-length films and dozens of TV shows and historical documentaries. The studio commissioned the ship from the shipwrights of Smith and Rhuland in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to commission a new Bounty to be built from scratch. Completely seaworthy and built just the way it would have been 200 years before, the new Bounty was constructed from the original ship's drawings still on file in the British admiralty archives. After filming and a worldwide promotional tour, MGM berthed the ship in St. Petersburg as a permanent tourist attraction — where she stayed until the mid-1980s. In 1986 Ted Turner acquired the MGM film library and the Bounty with it. He used it to promote his enterprises, and filmed Treasure Island with Charlton Heston in 1989. In 1993, Turner donated the ship to the Fall River Chamber Foundation, which established the Tall Ship Bounty Foundation to operate the ship as an educational venture. A 501(c)3 public charity, the Tall Ship Bounty Foundation is dedicated to keeping the ship sailing and using her as a vehicle for teaching the nearly lost arts of square rigged sailing and seamanship. The Foundation operates a variety of programs on board including sail training programs for the general public, group leadership and teamwork training, a teen cadet leadership program, and dockside educational programs for elementary and secondary school children.
Source:
    http://www.tallshipbounty.org/us.html

2000 March 22

Developments in Digital Radio in Canada

"It is widely anticipated that digital broadcasting
will, over time, replace the existing technologies
of AM and FM analog transmission" — CRTC

New transitional digital radio undertakings

EUREKA-147 is the Canadian standard

1.   The Commission approves the applications by CHUM Limited for broadcasting licences to carry on four new transitional digital radio undertakings (DRUs) to serve Windsor, Ontario.

2.   The applicant is the licensee of two AM and two FM radio undertakings in Windsor. The transitional DRUs proposed by the applicant will operate in association with these existing radio undertakings; each DRU will simulcast the programming of its associated AM or FM station, together with no more than 14 hours per week of other, non-simulcast programming. The technical parameters of the proposed transitional DRUs and the call letters of the existing AM or FM stations with which they will be associated are identified in the appendix to this decision.

3.   The transmitters for the new undertakings will be installed at the CIMX-FM / CIDR-FM site in Windsor and will employ the EUREKA-147 digital audio broadcasting system. This technology was first developed in Europe and has been confirmed by the Department of Industry as the standard for digital broadcasting in Canada. It is widely anticipated that digital broadcasting will, over time, replace the existing technologies of AM and FM analog transmission.

4.   The Commission is satisfied that the applications, as filed, conform fully with the requirements set out in CRTC Public Notice 1995-184 entitled A Policy to Govern the Introduction of Digital Radio. Accordingly, and subject to the requirements of this decision, the Commission will issue licences expiring 31 August 2002.

5.   The licence term granted should allow the Commission sufficient time to establish and implement a long-term policy and licensing regime for digital radio undertakings following completion of an appropriate public process.

6.   ... the proposed transitional DRUs will serve to introduce the public to this new technology. By refining various technical, marketing and other issues associated with the introduction of digital radio broadcasting, these undertakings will also provide the broadcasting industry with valuable operational experience, and will assist the Commission in developing an effective and comprehensive regulatory policy.

...

8.   The licence of each transitional DRU will be subject to the conditions in effect under the current licence of its associated AM or FM station. The Commission recognizes that, in some cases, these conditions may restrict the ability of transitional DRUs to experiment with new and innovative forms of programming that make use of the unique features of digital radio technology. The Commission's policy on the introduction of digital radio is to encourage the maximum amount of experimentation during periods of separate programming. Licensees who consider that additional flexibility is required in order to make full use of the periods of separate programming for this purpose should file applications to amend their licences. Such applications will be processed expeditiously.

9.   Further to being subject to the conditions in effect under the current licence of its associated analog station, as well as to the terms and conditions set out in the licence to be issued, the licence for each transitional DRU is subject to the following conditions:
... 
                 Appendix to CRTC Decision 2000-83
                      Licensee:  CHUM Limited

         Associated AM or     Proposed DRU   Effective isotropic
           FM station &        frequency       radiated power
        Application number                         (watts)

        CKWW     199912712    1484.208 MHz          4,369
        CIMX-FM  199912697    1484.208 MHz          4,369
        CKLW     199912671    1484.208 MHz          4,369
        CIDR-FM  199912738    1484.208 MHz          4,369

Source:
CRTC Decision 2000-83, 22 March 2000
    http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/Decisions/2000/DB2000-83.htm

CHUM Limited — the "applicant" above — owns and operates
several broadcasting stations in Nova Scotia, including
— Halifax radio stations CJCH and CIOO-FM
— ATV (Atlantic Television System), consisting of
      CJCH-TV Halifax
      CJCB-TV Sydney
      CKCW-TV Moncton
      CKLT-TV Saint John
— ASN (Atlantic Satellite Network) a satellite-to-cable broadcaster
Source: CRTC Decision 95-417, 7 July 1995
    http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/bcasting/decision/1995/d95417.txt


2000 March 22

A New Phone Directory for Halifax

EastLink announced today that it has partnered with Phone Directories Company (PDC) to provide a new telephone directory to the Halifax area. The partnership agreement offers new advertising options to businesses through the bundling of directory, Internet and broadcast advertising. The new phone directory, which will be distributed free of charge to Halifax area households and businesses during the summer of 2000, will provide business owners with their first-ever alternative directory advertising option. This new choice in directory advertising represents yet another entree into an area traditionally marketed by MTT and other partners. In November 1999, EastLink began offering Halifax residential consumers a new choice in telephone service and, more recently, expanded its reach to include business customers. Both EastLink and PDC predict that the new directory will continue to make the marketplace even more competitive by bringing lower prices, convenience and improved service.

About EastLink

The EastLink organization is a group of Maritime owned and operated companies providing a range of communication, entertainment and advertising services to business and residential customers across the Maritimes. The company is privately owned and operated with its head office in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

About Phone Directories Company Limited

Phone Directories Company (operating as Western Phone Directories Company in Canada) is a privately held corporation publishing more than 125 telephone directories in communities throughout the Western United States and Canada. Established in 1971, Phone Directories Company employs more than 500 people and contracts with 185 independent sales representatives in Canada. The Company is the largest independent publisher of phone directories in Canada growing from zero to 47 books in less than four years.

Sources:
Media release by EastLink and Phone Directories Company Limited
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/22/c6323.html
Phone Directories Company Limited media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/May1999/10/c2446.html

References:
EastLink website at
    http://www.eastlink.ca/
Phone Directories Company, Inc. website at
    http://www.phonedir.com/

Phone Directories Company Named
1999 Publisher of the Year

Orem, Utah, May 10th, 1999
The Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) named Utah-based Phone Directories Company, Inc., as the "1999 Publisher of the Year" during it's Golden Book Awards Ceremony held April 24th, 1999, in Orlando, Florida. The honor is the industry's highest achievement and was given as a result of Phone Directories Company's outstanding performance in five of nine award categories considered by the ADP. Specific recognition given to Phone Directories Company included four first place honors: Directories with 20,000 or less distribution (phone directory for Whistler, British Columbia); Directories with 20,000-35,000 distribution (phone directory for Jackson Hole, Wyoming); Cover Art and Design (phone directory for Sudbury, Ontario); Cover Branding (phone directories for Provo/Orem, Timpanogos, and Mt. Nebo, Utah). Phone Directories Company received a second-place recognition for its Innovative Product (Provo/Orem phone book on CD-ROM).

Phone Directories Company (operating as Western Phone Directories Company in Canada) is a privately held corporation publishing more than 125 telephone directories in communities throughout the Western United States and Canada. Established in 1971, Phone Directories Company employs more than 500 people and contracts with 185 independent sales representatives in Canada. The Company is the largest independent publisher of phone directories in Canada growing from zero to 47 books in less than four years. In 1996, Phone Directories Company was named in Utah's Top 100 Fast Growing Companies. In 1998, the Company experienced a 45 percent growth rate overall and is projected to grow 56 percent during 1999. The Association of Directory Publishers is an international trade association founded in 1898 to promote the establishment and maintenance of high industry standards in areas such as quality and service. Its membership includes more than 180 directory publishers and 80 support organizations, making it the largest organization representing

Source:
Phone Directories Company Limited media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/May1999/10/c2446.html

References:
Western Phone Directories, Burnaby, British Columbia
    http://www.northlangley.com/northlangley/members/westernphone.htm
Western Phone Directory Recycling Collection
    http://www.crd.bc.ca/rls/rlseng17.htm

2000 March 24

360networks Deploys Marconi Technology
For Global Fibre Optic Network

First Canadian commercial deployment of Marconi's OC-48 technology

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Vancouver, British Columbia
March 24th, 2000
Marconi, a leading global supplier of advanced communications solutions, today announced that 360networks, Inc., based in Vancouver, (formerly known as Worldwide Fiber, Inc.) is deploying Marconi's industry-leading asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) multiservice networking solution in the North American portion of its fibre optics network. With switches already installed and fully operational, this multi-million dollar project marks the first Canadian commercial deployment of Marconi's high-speed OC-48 technology, which enables voice, data and multimedia traffic to be transported at speeds of up to 2.488 gigabits per second. "We selected the Marconi solution because it boasts the fastest ATM switches in the industry, and it is the first vendor to offer OC-48 links, an important capability that will help us build an advanced global network," said Steve Baker, vice president and Chief Technology Officer at 360networks. The Marconi solution is comprised of the industry leading ASX(TM)-4000 switch, as well as the ForeView(R) management and accounting software. The ASX-4000's capability to offer PNNI implementation is a key feature to the successful rollout of 360network's global network. 360networks has also contracted Marconi to provide professional services and high-end DC power systems.

About the ASX-4000

Designed specifically to meet the stringent, dynamic networking requirements of progressive ISPs, interexchange carriers (IXCs) and emerging service providers, the Marconi ASX-4000 is an advanced, multiservice networking solution with carrier-class redundancy, capacity and advanced traffic management features. It enables the delivery of a wide range of broadband services and is scaled to meet the future networking requirements of service providers. It is the core backbone component of a complete networking solution that also includes edge and workgroup switches, multi-layer local area network (LAN) switches and wide area network (WAN) devices.

About 360networks

360networks Inc. (until recently known as Worldwide Fiber, Inc.) designs, builds and operates high-speed fibre-optic networks and offers broadband capacity to telecommunications companies, Internet service providers, application service providers and large organizations with enterprise network needs. 360networks is currently completing a 60,500-kilometre (37,800-mile) network in North America and Europe, including a trans-Atlantic network that comes ashore in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 360networks and its predecessors have been constructing communications networks since 1988.

About Marconi PLC

Marconi plc is one of the world's fastest growing communications and IT companies with a strong record of innovation and technological breakthroughs. It is a world leader in smart broadband optical networks and it supplies the key technologies and services for the New Public Network and the Internet. With 45,000 employees worldwide and sales in over 100 countries, it is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol MNI. The headquarters of Marconi Communications is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

ForeView is a registered trademark of FORE Systems, Inc. ASX is a trademark of FORE Systems, Inc. All other brands or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.

Source:
Marconi media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/24/c7050.html

References:
360networks Inc. website at
    http://www.worldwidefiber.com/
FORE Systems, Inc. website at
    http://www.fore.com/

2000 March 24

CRTC Approves CTV Acquisition of NetStar
With Conditions

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has approved an application by CTV Inc. (CTV) to acquire an 80% voting interest in NetStar Communications Inc. (NetStar). NetStar owns 100% of The Sports Network (TSN) and le Reseau des Sports (RDS), 80% of The Discovery Channel (Discovery), as well as a non-controlling interest of 24.95% in Viewers Choice Canada Inc. (Viewer's Choice). The approval of this acquisition is subject to a number of conditions dealing with ownership concentration in Canadian sports broadcasting; the degree of potential influence exercised by NetStar's non-Canadian partner, ESPN Inc. (ESPN); and some of the proposed benefits. The Commission is requiring CTV to divest itself within one year, of its interest in SportsNet, which it has operated since fall 1998; to make changes to the shareholder and trademark licence agreements between CTV, NetStar and ESPN; and to revise the proposed tangible benefits package. The conditional approval of this transaction is consistent with the goals of the Commission's recently issued television policy, which are, in part, to continue to encourage the growth and expansion of Canadian broadcasters so they are more financially solid and more able to compete in the changing world broadcasting environment. At the same time, the Commission aims to promote the health of the Canadian broadcasting system and the interests of the viewing public.

SportsNet

Unconditional approval of this proposal could have given CTV control of several different broadcasting services offering sports programming, including TSN, RDS, SportsNet and Outdoor Life. This could have allowed CTV to dominate sports programming in Canada to the detriment of other broadcasters and ultimately Canadian audiences. To avoid this, the Commission has required CTV to file an application to divest itself of its interests in SportsNet within one year. CTV must also confirm that it no longer manages SportsNet and no longer votes the shares of other shareholders.

Source:
CRTC media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/24/c7145.html



NetStar's assets include TSN; Discovery Canada; RDS, an all French-language sports channel; and Dome Productions. CTV purchased 68% of NetStar in March 1999. The remaining 32% is owned by ESPN. NetStar has been held in trust pending regulatory approval.
Excerpted from a CTV media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/24/c7096.html

CTV Accepts CRTC's NetStar Conditions

March 28th, 2000
The CTV Board of Directors yesterday voted to accept the CRTC's decision approving the sale of 68% of NetStar Communications Inc. to CTV Inc. CTV will comply with all conditions of approval. CTV Inc. is a leading Canadian communications company with conventional television operations across Canada and an expanding presence in the specialty television sector. Through its network operations, CTV reaches 99% of English-speaking households, offering a wide range of news, sports, information and entertainment programming. The company owns and operates 25 stations, of which 18 are CTV affiliates, six are CBC affiliates, and one is an independent station, VTV. CTV also owns ASN, a satellite television service in the Maritimes. Specialty channel holdings include: CTV Newsnet (100%); Talk TV (100%); NetStar Communications Inc. (68.46%); The Comedy Network (65.1%); controlling interest in CTV Pay-Per-View Sports; Sportsnet (40%); Outdoor Life Network (33.34%); and History Television (12%). NetStar's assets include TSN (100%); Discovery Canada (80%); RDS, an all French-language sports channel (100%); Viewer's Choice Canada (24.95%); and Dome Productions (100%). CTV Inc.'s shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TV.
Source:
CTV media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/28/c7881.html

2000 March 27

Preston Manning Launches Website

On this day, Preston Manning announced his candidacy for the position of national leader of the new Canadian Alliance. At the same time, he announced the launch of his new website at http://www.pm4pm.com. (The "pm4pm" is derived from Preston Manning For Prime Minister.) The website listed two Nova Scotia members among the National Co-Chairs of the PM4PM National Campaign Committee: Natalie Stirling of Halifax and Leonard Poetschke of Marriott's Cove in Lunenburg County.
Source:   http://www.pm4pm.com/index.html

ICS Comment (written 5:00pm 29 March 2000)
As of March 29th, this website had remarkably little content. The entry page at http://www.pm4pm.com/index.html contained the press release announcing the candidacy, several long lists of names associated with the National Campaign Committee, and a link to a webpage http://www.pm4pm.com/support.html asking for contributions.

That's all. There was no platform, no biography, no question-and-answer section, no FAQ, no background information, no information of any kind about who Mr. Manning is or what his plan for Canada's future might be. Remarkably, there were no links to any other websites, not even to a site for the Canadian Alliance. There was no information about how the leadership would be decided, no description of the voting procedure or dates, no mention of who is in charge of these important details.

Looking at this site, I got the strong impression that it was designed by someone with not the least grasp of how the Internet works or how it might be used to establish communication between a political leader and the people he wants to lead. There was no hint that Mr. Manning or any of his support staff has any comprehension of the current state or the future implications or possibilities of modern electronic information and communications technology as applied to politics or economic development or education or anything else. My impression was that the sole motivation for this website is the current notion that having a website is fashionable. They knew months in advance that this leadership campaign was coming. They had months to make plans and to research how other political leaders or wannabes have used the Internet for political purposes.

They had months to prepare, and this is the best they can do?

Suppose someone should ask: What would you do if a political leader called you tomorrow and asked you to be a member of his/her website design team? My answer is: The first thing I would do would be to get some idea of what resources the Internet currently offers, to provide ideas and inspiration and hints about how a well-designed political website should be put together. At 5:15am, March 29th, I went to the Google search engine and did a search on two keywords:
political website
Google reported hundreds of hits, and many were of considerable interest. I will mention only one (which isn't really a political website, but is a valuable directory to political websites):
http://www.stm.it/elections/election/alllinks.htm
is a collection of links to 1346 political websites around the world, arranged by country from Afghanistan (6 websites) to Zimbabwe (3 websites), including Australia (36 websites), Canada (43 websites), New Zealand (15 websites), United Kingdom (39 websites), and the United States (68 websites). I'd spend a few hours looking at a random selection of these sites and see what others have done. I'd choose the ideas that I thought best, and take them to the design team. It is obvious that nobody in Mr. Manning's team has any notion about using the Internet to find out how a website should be designed. Of course, the weaknesses of Mr. Manning's team are directly attributable to Mr. Manning himself.

And he wants us to choose him to lead us into the future?


"The Internet is to politics in 2000 what television was in 1960: a new technology whose potential not everyone fully grasps. Discerning politicians realize its power to inform, recruit and solicit donations from potential supporters with greater immediacy and depth than any brochure or phone call can hope to achieve."
The Globe and Mail, 11 April 2000

ICS Comment (written 3:30am 22 April 2000)
On 22 April, I looked again at Mr. Manning's website. There have been significant improvements in the last three weeks, but the website is still a very long way from demonstrating that Mr. Manning or his senior staff have any real grasp of how the Internet can be used to further a political cause. There is still a remarkably limited offering in that site.

At this time, Google (the best search engine now available) reports 6,823 webpages containing the phrase "Preston Manning". This search turned up many sites that seem to me should be linked from Mr. Manning's website. For example,
http://www.acmi.canoe.ca/CNEWSNewsmakers/000117_manning_tr.html
contains the transcript of "Preston Manning Chat" in which he answers questions posed by several people, including:
  • "What would you do to unite Eastern and Western Canada?"
  • "When I read the proposed policy document of the UA, I noted that there wasn't a clause dealing with the privatization of the complete Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Is it still the Reform Party's policy to privatize the CBC?"
  • "I have voted for the Reform Party while I lived in Alberta. I was wondering why there doesn't appear to be any Reform representation in Nova Scotia?"
  • "What would you do to change the Young Offenders' Act?"
  • and numerous other questions.
This transcript should be reproduced in, or at least linked from, Mr. Manning's website. There's nothing now in the website that gives this kind of insight into Mr. Manning's views on various matters of interest to citizens.

Then I looked in the Hansard Index, the key to information about what is said by Members of Parliament in the House of Commons during the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session (from 12 October 1999 to the present). I went to the Hansard Index at
http://www.parl.gc.ca/36/2/parlbus/chambus/house/debates/indexe/homepage.html and brought up the Index entry for Internet/information highway at
http://www.parl.gc.ca/36/2/parlbus/chambus/house/debates/indexe/i-36-2_1-e.html This is a very extensive list, containing about 140 entries under Internet/information highway. It seems to me Mr. Manning's website should provide a collection of links to Hansard reports of statements or questions by Mr. Manning on an assortment of topics, including the Internet and related topics. This is an obvious opportunity overlooked by the website designers.


2000 March 28

Port Hawkesbury to get More Mailboxes

Canada Post says it will add about 1,200 mailboxes to the Port Hawkesbury post office, pending funding approval. The Crown corporation is beginning a five-year, $55,000,000 program to bring under-serviced areas across the country up to standard. Atlantic Region co-ordinator Terry MacDonald said Port Hawkesbury has been tagged as a priority area. Many customers share boxes, or rely on general delivery. The town has been lobbying for additional boxes for several years. Along with new boxes and updates to rural delivery systems in the Strait area, Canada Post will begin implementing civic addressing and division of postal codes for sections of the town.
[Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 28 March 2000]

2000 March 28

Bell ExpressVu Reports 465,000 Subscribers

Company holds more than 55% of Canadian DTH market

Bell ExpressVu LP, Canada's leading satellite TV company and fifth largest broadcast distributor, announced today it has signed on more than 465,000 subscribers to its national digital TV service and continues to lead the DTH (direct to home) market in Canada with more than 55 per cent market share. As part of the release of its second quarter results for the period ending February 29th, 2000, Star Choice, Bell ExpressVu's principal DTH competitor, disclosed that it had 362,000 subscribers. As of that date, Bell ExpressVu had 451,000 subscribers and has further increased that number to more than 465,000 subscribers as of March 28, 2000. Based on these results, Bell ExpressVu's share of net Canadian DTH activations during the first two months of 2000 is an impressive 60.7% — up from 58.4% for the final four months of 1999. It should also be noted that Bell ExpressVu's monthly average revenue per subscriber is approximately 10 per cent higher than Star Choice.

Bell ExpressVu is the only digital satellite television company in Canada that broadcasts to an 18-inch 45cm dish, the smallest in Canada. The company offers the largest programming line-up and pay-per-view service currently available in Canada with more than 200 video and music channels. Launched in September 1997, Bell ExpressVu has become the largest and fastest growing Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) television company in Canada. Bell ExpressVu is a limited partnership, owned by BCE Inc. and is part of the BCE Media group of companies.

Source:
ExpressVu media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/28/c7940.html

2000 March 28

Telecom Companies Moving Fast

In the past seven months in Nova Scotia,
two crossovers have radically changed the way
consumers view the telecommunications industry

Want a new telephone line into the house? Call the cable television company.

Specialty television channels? Dial the phone company.

For Internet service, call any of the above.

Technology has spawned a revolution in the telecommunications industry, breaking traditional barriers that once kept companies from converging on one another's territories. In the telecommunications world, the crossovers are called convergences. "I think it's logical. Because the borders between the telephone data, the video, they are kind of getting blended together," says Michael Cada, an engineering professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax. "In terms of the actual technology, it's all just a stream of data, a stream of bits, and what you put in there, the line doesn't care."

In the past seven months in Nova Scotia, two crossovers have radically changed the way consumers view the telecommunications industry.

EastLink, which owns cable systems in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, was first out of the blocks in November 1999, offering local residential telephone service in Halifax, rivalling mainstay provider MTT which has dominated that business for most of the last century.

In December 1999, MTT jumped into the TV fray, saying it would bring digital television over the Internet here by the end of 2000. An application is before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the federal regulator.

Nova Scotia Power joined the crowded telecommunications arena early this year with its own phone service in metro, but in a surprise move March 15th, sold the business to MTT.

Despite the sale, industry experts expect many more new entrants into the local phone and Internet markets in the next couple of years.

While it might baffle consumers, the convergences are natural steps for companies because technology has opened the doors to crossover mania, said Mr. Cada, director of the Photonics Applications Laboratory at Dal.

And there's a lot of money to be made, he said. "Now they (phone, cable companies) all realize they have this infrastructure in place, wired houses so to speak, and global Internet is coming, so everybody wants a piece of this business because it's going to be a big business."

While the crossovers might be confusing to some, industry players say the moves were spurred by a CRTC decision in the late 1990s that opened up local phone service to competition. Technology played a lead role in making the convergences possible.

The introduction of the Internet, which allowed vast transfers of digital information over wires, optic fibres, satellites, and any other communications channel, was pivotal in the development of the industry.

David Caldwell, president of EastLink Telephone, said the CRTC decision came at the right time. "We were certainly a company in transition ... The ruling on local service wasn't a total surprise; the industry had been working at that for several years. And it was a natural next step after competition in the long-distance telephone business," Mr. Caldwell said in an interview.

EastLink was already wired into tens of thousands of homes in Nova Scotia and P.E.I., he said. The company had also entered the high-speed Net business, delivering the system over its coaxial cable TV lines. (It recently launched its high-speed Net service in Sydney.) "We were already in the process of making our systems two-way and equipment was becoming available that allowed telephone service to work over cable. It was natural for us to look to business opportunities for that."

EastLink spent millions upgrading its systems to supply phone service, he said.

But despite the cash outlay, the company believes it will do well in the area. So far, there are thousands of customers in the metro area, Mr. Caldwell said, adding he believes it can become a dominant player in this region. "In the Halifax area we currently serve, we reach about 50,000 households. "We began in October 1999. The industry is very new. We really all have to see how that works out over the next two or three years," Mr. Caldwell said, adding the company could take as much as 15 to 30 per cent of the market. EastLink promises more changes, especially in the TV field, he said. Most of the company's customers adapted quickly to the phone service offering, Mr. Caldwell noted. "There's a significant number of customers who are excited by the technology. There are also customers for whom this rate of change has been very new and really, they say, 'How does this work?' That's been one of the challenges of our advertising."

Mr. Cada said consumers will have little trouble adapting. "The average person has enough background, enough intelligence to handle this. It's like driving a car. If you want to drive a car, you can learn it."

MTT, EastLink's largest local phone competitor, believes customers are not only ready, but demanding the technological leaps and bounds. And it won't be hard to turn its phone and Net customers on to its proposed TV service in a couple of months, the company says. "It's not a revolution, it's an evolution. Customers are moving pretty quickly," said Phil Hartling, marketing manager for MTT.

A technology expert has likened the lightning changes in the telecommunications industry to the metamorphosis brought on buy the automobile, Mr. Hartling said. "People took the horse and buggy out of the barn and replaced it with the automobile. That sustained the automobile industry for years." Over the decades, travel prompted the construction of roadside hotels and allowed vacations in places like Niagara Falls, he said. The biggest change was how the vehicle redefined some "fundamental orders of society," Mr. Hartling said. "You could live in Wolfville and work in Halifax. Good and bad, but it was change."

Telecommunications changes have run a similar course, moving people from typewriter to computer and on to the Net, he said. "You could visit the Smithsonian in Washington, or communicate with a friend in New Zealand. Now, what's emerging is the third effect, where society is going to change the way people live and the way people work."

Mr. Cada believes the changes might be even more profound. "This is becoming even bigger, I would say, because you can reach anybody in Australia and China in the split of a second. Because we will be doing more business this way, maybe we won't need to travel on business that much, but we will have more time to travel for pleasure."

All agree that advances have radically affected commerce, to the point where many brick-and-mortar operations are no longer a necessity. "People are saying, 'I see something, I want it. How can I eliminate all of the steps?' It's really collapsing time ... and customers ... are really very demanding about it," Mr. Hartling said.

Recent studies show people with wired homes are dramatically increasing the amount of time they spend on the phone and the Net, as well as watching TV.

But how far will technology go, and will the public absorb it all?

Mr. Hartling, Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Cada foresee fully interactive telecommunications centres in many homes, a merger of the Net, TV other services. "The really exciting thing is people will have more opportunities to interact in different ways, whether that's talking to your grandmother over video, on TV ... or telling your furnace to change a temperature in a room. All of a sudden your world is becoming more interactive," said Mr. Hartling.

Mr. Caldwell acknowledges not everyone will want to have every gadget technology allows, but he believes the public wins in the end. "Choice is always good for the customer."

Mr. Cada predicts a saturation point. "I think it's going to have to stabilize at some reasonable level that an average human being can handle."

But the future is exciting, he said. "You go on a trip, and you forget something. So you just call in to your intelligence system at home, and say ... 'I left the stove on.' The artificial brain in the house will turn it off for you."

[Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 28 March 2000]

2000 March 28

Bell ExpressVu Forms Strategic Alliance
with Canadian Cable Systems

Bell ExpressVu, Canada's leading satellite TV provider, announced today it has signed an agreement with the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance Inc. (CCSA), to provide television signals to CCSA Member Companies. Under its Satellite Relay Distributions Undertaking (SRDU) license, Bell ExpressVu will make available Canadian and U.S. networks, along with specialty programming to the 90 cable companies who are members of the CCSA. "This strategic alliance finally gives CCSA Member Companies across Canada a choice in where they get their television signals," said Michael Beard, Vice President and general manager of Bell ExpressVu's Commercial Division. Bell ExpressVu's head end equipment, which will receive and decode the company's digital satellite signals, offers a cost saving to the CCSA Member Companies. "This enables the smaller cable company to add programming services in a far more cost effective manner." continued Michael Beard. "With Bell ExpressVu as an alternative, our members can reduce their head end costs and still use their existing cable system to deliver signals to their subscribers," said Walter Weckers, President and CEO of CCSA. "This will translate into more flexibility to add more and more programming."

Two cable companies in Nova Scotia are members of the CCSA, and are eligible to participate in this arrangement: EastLink Cable Systems of Halifax and Seaside Cable TV (1984) Limited of Glace Bay. The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance Inc. represents the commercial interests of 90 shareholder companies in group purchases of programming, equipment and services. The CCSA is a federally incorporated Company in which each Member Company is a shareholder. CCSA is operated by broadcasting distributors for broadcasting distributors. CCSA is dedicated to the growth and viability of its shareholder companies and the communities they serve by reducing overhead costs for broadcasting distribution undertakings. CCSA Member Companies annually contribute over $50,000,000 to the broadcasting industry.

Bell ExpressVu is the only digital satellite television company in Canada that broadcasts to an 18-inch 45cm dish, the smallest in Canada. The company alsoboffers the largest programming line-up currently available nationwide with more than 200 video and music channels, including Vu!, its own Pay-Per-View service. Launched in September 1997, Bell ExpressVu has become the largest and fastest growing Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) television company in Canada. Bell ExpressVu is a limited partnership, owned by BCE Inc. and part of the BCE Media group of companies. BCE Incorporated is a large holding company with its head office in Montreal. BCE's largest property is Bell Canada, Canada's largest telephone company. Bell Canada is 80% owned by BCE Inc. of Montreal and 20% owned by SBC Communications Inc. of San Antonio, Texas.

Sources:
Bell ExpressVu media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/28/c7731.html
List of members of the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance
    http://www.ccsa.cable.ca/pages/members.html

Reference:
Canadian Cable Systems Alliance website at
    http://www.ccsa.cable.ca/pages/home.html

Small and Medium-Sized Cable Systems
to Get Help with Launching Digital Television Services

Includes video-on-demand,
high speed Internet access,
email, and e-commerce

Small cable systems can convert to digital
quickly and economically

Customers can simultaneously
watch video and surf the Internet
while conversing on an IP (Internet) telephone call

Horsham, Pennsylvania and Quispamsis, New Brunswick
November 1, 1999
General Instrument Corporation and Canadian Cable Systems Alliance Inc. (CCSA) announced today that they have entered into a digital services agreement to offer national access control and digital network system products and services to CCSA members comprised of small and medium-sized Canadian broadband operators. In addition, GI and CCSA also announced that they have recently entered into an agreement with Westman Communications Group, which has begun deploying national access control to over 15,000 subscribers in Brandon, Manitoba. Mountain Cablevision Ltd. and Southmount Cable Limited are close to finalizing contracts with GI and CCSA and have each placed purchase orders for their systems in Hamilton, Ontario, serving approximately 58,000 subscribers collectively.

As a result of this agreement, members of the CCSA will be able to launch digital quickly and economically as well as take advantage of incremental digital services revenue. Operators may select either a 4-transponder, 6-transponder, or 9-transponder base headend configuration. Once configured, the equipment is tested, delivered and installed within approximately eight weeks.

Two cable companies in Nova Scotia are members of the CCSA, and are eligible to participate in this arrangement: EastLink Cable Systems of Halifax and Seaside Cable TV (1984) Limited of Glace Bay.

National access control provides a much-needed low cost alternative for CCSA members when deploying digital. By using GI's national authorization services, much of the costs associated with a standalone cable headend are eliminated through the use of a satellite distributed addressability system. GI's National Authorization Services program along with its interactive digital network system will enable these operators to offer their subscribers expanded digital programming and digital revenue generating services such as near-video-on-demand (NVOD) and pay-per-view events.

"When looking to launch digital quickly and for additional revenue streams, we are not surprised that national access control is becoming the solution for smaller MSOs worldwide," said Ed Ebenbach, Vice President, National Authorization Services for GI. "A smaller operator can start to deliver the latest digital programming, NVOD and PPV to their subscribers in approximately 60 days, depending on the system." CCSA members will also benefit from GI's experience of having delivered digital systems to a large array of MSOs in North America including members of the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC). To date, GI has launched national control digital systems for more than 80 MSOs. Overall, GI has deployed over 960 digital headends and shipped over 5 million digital set-top terminals including GI's DCT-2000 and DCT-5000+ interactive and advanced interactive digital set-top terminals.

CCSA represents the commercial interests of small and medium-sized Broadcasting Distributors. CCSA provides its shareholders with group purchasing benefits in the areas of programming, equipment and services. CCSA is dedicated to the continued growth and viability of its shareholder companies and the communities that they serve.

GI's DCT-2000 interactive digital set-top uses state-of-the-art digital compression technology to provide a wealth of new revenue generating services to the cable industry. It's 64 and 256 QAM, digital processing technology vastly increases channel capacity over existing cable plants, while providing significantly improved audio and video quality. All DCT-2000's support real time interactive applications including video-on-demand, high speed Internet access, email, e-commerce and more. GI's DCT-5000+ advanced interactive set-top provides new levels of broadband networking services without sacrificing traditional analog and digital video services. Through a 300+ MIPS (million instructions per second) processor, 32-bit true color / 3D graphics, integrated DOCSIS cable modem, large memory cache and optional hard drive; the DCT-5000+ delivers PC-like functionality to the home video environment--- enabling operators to offer additional revenue generating services that require dedicated upstream bandwidth. All of this is integrated with GI's unique Triple-Tuner architecture that allows consumers to simultaneously watch video, surf the Internet and hold an IP telephony call using GI's interactive digital cable network. It's rich application environment provides unparalleled flexibility in selecting an operating system for deployment in an interactive network.

General Instrument Corporation (NYSE:GIC) is a leading worldwide provider of integrated and interactive broadband access solutions, teaming with its business partners to lead the convergence of the Internet, telecommunications and video entertainment industries.

Source:
General Instrument Corporation media release
    http://www.gi.com/PRESS/CURRENTNEWS/canadiancable_110199.html

2000 March 29

Planning Future Management of St. Peter's Canal

ST. PETERS — With the help of local residents, Parks Canada hopes to develop a plan to guide the future management of the St. Peter's Canal national historic site. The agency held an open house in the community Wednesday, March 29th, to solicit the views of local residents and organizations, and to help further educate people on the site's historic importance. Parks Canada is developing a plan to guide the canal's use over the next five to ten years. The St. Peter's canal was designated a national historic site in 1929 for its role as a transportation corridor. Carol Whitfield, Parks Canada's field superintendent for Cape Breton, said it's important to solicit the views of the community as the agency considers the canal's future management. The plan will have to address the canal as a cultural resource, Whitfield said, as well as work which will have to be carried out at the site.
[Cape Breton Post, 30 March 2000]

2000 March 29

Stockwell Day Launches Website

On Wednesday, March 29th, Stockwell Day announced his candidacy for the position of national leader of the new Canadian Alliance. At the same time, he announced the launch of his new website at http://www.stockwellday.com/.
The Toronto Star, 30 March 2000 at
http://www.thestar.com/editorial/news/20000330NEW01d_NA-DAY.html
Stockwell Day website statistics
Stockwell Day website statistics, first four days
Source: http://www.stockwellday.com/xxwebstats/index_01_b.htm


2000 March 30

Marine Atlantic Adds Fourth Ferry
on North Sydney - Newfoundland Service

NORTH SYDNEY — Marine Atlantic has purchased a fourth vessel for the North Sydney-Newfoundland run which will increase capacity by 25 per cent. Board chairman Captain Sid Hynes said the vessel will be ready in less than a year. He said full details on the purchase of the new vessel will be available within a couple of weeks. He did confirm that the new vessel is from Europe. While the company awaits delivery, Marine Atlantic will lease a vessel this summer which will increase capacity by about the same amount. Hynes said Marine Atlantic and officials from other government departments did a technical evaluation of the tenders and narrowed it down to three. "We had 27 vessels tenders by 22 bidders and from the final three we were successful in getting the most preferred."
[Cape Breton Post, 30 March 2000]



Wayback Machine
Wayback Machine
http://web.archive.org/index.html

"Use the Wayback Machine to view web sites from the past."


Archive of This Document:
History of Nova Scotia, Chapter 55

The Wayback Machine has copies of this webpage from the early days:
Archived: 2001 July 20
http://web.archive.org/web/20010720125619/http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/300/nova_scotias_electronic_attic/07-04-09/www.littletechshoppe.com/ns1625nshist55.html



Index with links to the other chapters



Go To:   History of Telegraph and Telephone Companies in Nova Scotia
    http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/300/nova_scotias_electronic_attic/07-04-09/www.littletechshoppe.com/ns1625telephone.html
Go To:   History of Automobiles in Nova Scotia
    http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/300/nova_scotias_electronic_attic/07-04-09/www.littletechshoppe.com/ns1625automobiles.html
Go To:   History of Electric Power Companies in Nova Scotia
    http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/300/nova_scotias_electronic_attic/07-04-09/www.littletechshoppe.com/ns1625electric.html
Go To:   History of Railway Companies in Nova Scotia
    http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/300/nova_scotias_electronic_attic/07-04-09/www.littletechshoppe.com/ns1625railways.html
Go To:   Index to other online Nova Scotia History
    http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/300/nova_scotias_electronic_attic/07-04-09/www.littletechshoppe.com/ns1625histindx.html
Go To:   Home Page
    http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/300/nova_scotias_electronic_attic/07-04-09/www.littletechshoppe.com/ns1625index.html

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Latest revision: 2001 April 24