History of Nova Scotia
with special attention given to
Communications and Transportation
Chapter 66
2000 September 1-12
Index with links to the other chapters
2000 September
Oldest Car in Atlantic Canada
1902 Columbia Electric
98-year-old car to be featured at Sherbrooke show
This 1902 Columbia Electric automobile, owned by
Willard Saulnier of Meteghan, Digby County, Nova Scotia,
is the oldest operating car in Atlantic Canada.
Note the acetylene headlights.
There are old cars, there are antique cars and there is the car Willard Saulnier will take to the annual Sherbrooke Show and Shine in September.
The Meteghan man's 1902 Columbia Electric Car, the oldest operating car in Atlantic Canada, will be featured among 200 vehicles from around the Maritimes Sept. 9th and 10th. "It's one of the first cars made after the horse-drawn carriage," Mr. Saulnier said. "It's the only one I know of in Canada."
The mostly wooden vehicle runs on six six-volt batteries, which will last for about 14 hours after a complete charging. But it will never set any speed records. "It will go about 20 miles (30 kilometres) per hour," said Mr. Saulnier, who bought the two-seater treasure six months ago from a Yarmouth man.
"It would probably take me about a month to drive" to Show and Shine, which will be held on the ball field at historic Sherbrooke Village from 11am to 5pm Saturday September 9th and from 10am to 4pm Sunday September 10th.
Drivers and owners will be available both days to talk about their vehicles.
The cars will parade through the streets of Sherbrooke at 5:00pm Saturday as they begin a drive to Sonora. They'll return to Sherbrooke later in the evening.
Mr. Saulnier's car, with a rudimentary 18-horsepower motor, has been a hit at a dozen car shows this year. This winter, he hopes to fully restore the vehicle, which was salvaged from an old barn in Ontario several years ago.
[Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 30 August 2000]
References — History of Electric Automobiles
Advertisement for the 1897 Columbia Electric Car, by the Pope Manufacturing Company
http://detroitlocal.com/museum/room2.html
Good photograph of a 1901 Columbia Electric
http://motionalmemories.com/1901-Columbia-Electric.htm
A History of Early Electric Cars, by Paul A. Hughes
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/6111/electcar.htm
History of Electric Cars, 1834 - 1987, by Frank Didik
http://www.didik.com/ev_hist.htm
Columbia Chronology
http://www.columbiamfginc.com/historydoc.htm
Columbia Chronology
http://rusty-spokes.com/facts.html
2000 September
E-Commerce Diploma Program Launched
at Community College Lunenburg Campus
BRIDGEWATER — Lunenburg campus is the first community college in Nova Scotia to offer students e-commerce. Business Department head Ruth Williamson had a dream to launch a new program, one particularly relevant to the times. E-commerce fit the bill perfectly.
"It isn't growing," she says. "It's exploding." According to AT&T Canada, 21 million people used the internet in 1996. By 2003, it will be 181 million.
"We need to train people to work in the field," she says. Business Administration E-Commerce Marketing is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to help businesses sell their products through the internet. Courses will include Web Site Development, Project Management, Multi Media Design, Web Based Marketing, Advertising and Sales. Employment opportunities are widespread and include tourism, real estate and unique markets in specialty goods and services. Because of advances in technology, workers may actually choose to live and work far from their employer.
Entrepreneurially inclined graduates can contract their skills in areas of planning, designing, creating and enhancing the e-commerce aspects of business. Graduates can expect to find employment in the field of traditional and web-based marketing, sales, promotion, advertising, market research, customer service and product-brand management.
Most businesses could benefit from e-commerce. A solid market plan is all important, says Ms Williamson. And so is a well-designed site including secure methods of payment which generate consumer confidence. As more entrepreneurs realize this, trained employees will have more and more value.
Ms Williamson heads a four-person team dedicated to launching e-commerce in Bridgewater. Each brought their unique abilities to the venture, blending traditional business practices and today's fast-changing electronic advances.
Elaine Buck is a website developer. Chartered accountant Denise Dodson took on program management. "It's an industry-based project," she explains. "We first look at what they want the students to do — to bring technology and market skills together. To plan a project, to design, implement and evaluate a project." Cam Seamone is the facility's resident marketing expert.
Their department is one of the few around offering role-play challenges in the sales program. These will be joined by screen-to-screen presentations for people with on-line capabilities. Last year, each student gave nine taped presentations — an excellent tool for improving their abilities. "Role-playing builds confidence," he says.
Ms Williamson and Ms Dodson researched the market — before a relevant new curriculum is offered, market research is a must. They visited a variety of businesses involved with challenges faced by going online. People who are buying and selling products on the internet. For example, Clearwater sells lobsters online. Another Halifax entrepreneur sells cheesecakes.
Mr. Seamone and Ms Buck brainstormed with marketing and technical people such as computer software developers and consultants. The team attended the Atlantic Canada Roundtable on e-business opportunities. It set out to create a sense of awareness and urgency for Canadian companies to adopt e-business by re-engineering their business models to compete effectively in a networked world. "As consumer confidence in the internet grows," says Ms Williamson, "it will be customer-driven as more homes with PCs make more demands."
The program becomes available in the college curriculum this month, September 2000. Students who feel they already have significant learning from life and work, which may be equivalent of college courses, are encouraged to apply for PLAR, Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition. It's a way of obtaining credit for college-level knowledge and-or skills mastered outside the classroom or through other educational training programs. It compares prior learning gained from education, training, work, life experiences and personal study to the learning achieved in college.
Courses can be taken on a full-time or part-time basis. For example, a student may want to focus on web page development or multi-media design. In January 2001, students will work with business partners at least one day a week on a web-based project. In May, they'll set out for a four week work experience.
The Lunenburg campus business department is proud to deliver the pilot project to students in Bridgewater. "We're really excited," says Ms Williamson. "We've worked really hard. "There's a lack of awareness among small business in Atlantic Canada," says Mr. Seamone. "We hope our students will fill that need blending market and technical skills."
[Bridgewater Bulletin, 12 July 2000]
2000 September
New Glasgow Opens New Water Treatment Plant
In September 2000, New Glasgow completed a modern filtered domestic water supply system capable of meeting Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines, with the opening of a new water treatment plant capable of handling 3,000,000 gallons 13,000,000 litres a day. The first water supply and distribution system for New Glasgow began operation in 1887. In the beginning the system took water straight from the East River in Plymouth, a kilometre or so upstream from New Glasgow. In 1912 the town built a dam on Forbes Lake — near Churchville, Pictou County — and a pipeline connecting this new source to the Plymouth pump house. The town began adding chlorine to the water in 1941, and began fluoridation in 1959. In 2000, the New Glasgow water system maintains about 127 km of transmission and distribution pipeline in New Glasgow, Westville, parts of Trenton, and some areas in the Municipality of the County of Pictou.
[The Pictou Advocate, 27 September 2000]
2000 September 1
Website Lists 1,415 Nova Scotia Names
A dramatic reminder of the toll the sea can take
More to come
Sheevaun Nelson suspects the poltergeists.
Perhaps the spirits of the fishermen who once inhabited her Blue Rocks house are pushing her to record the names of fishermen who died at sea, she suggests.
"I live in a house where four of the men were lost. They were all Tanners, and they were all lost," says Ms. Nelson, who moved to Lunenburg County from Toronto in 1992.
Three Tanner brothers — Irving, 34, Wilfred, 26, and George, 15 — all died in the notorious August gale of 1927 while crewing aboard the schooner Mahala. Another brother, William Fenton Tanner, died in a 1943 storm as the 39-year-old captain of the salt-banker Arthur J. Lynn.
The casualty list from Mahala, which is contained in Ms. Nelson's memorial-like website, is a dramatic reminder of the toll the sea can take.
All 20 crew on Mahala perished — 17 of them from the tiny community of Blue Rocks. Two men listed their homes as Lunenburg, while the last was from nearby First South. "There's a very definite attachment to each and every one of these thousands of people," Ms. Nelson, 61, says of the lists of fishermen she began compiling three years ago.
So she weeps each time she adds one of their names to her website, www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/7527.
It now holds 1,415 names gleaned from Nova Scotia fishermen's memorials and another 2,167 Nova Scotia names not appearing on memorials. Ms. Nelson still has a few hundred names to add to the Nova Scotia database.
She also lists lost fishermen from across Canada, 16 U.S. states (with a special Gloucester section) and 19 other countries from Puerto Rico to Russia. The names are divided into place of origin and include — as much as possible — the date lost, the vessel, site of the death, the man's age, nature of death, and whether he was married and had children.
Ms. Nelson, the Irish-born granddaughter of an Irish mariner lost at sea, dedicates the site to "Atlantic Canada fishermen and mariners lost at sea, their families and survivors. And to all those from the U.S. East Coast and other countries who were also lost at sea."
The idea began at the ceremony Lunenburg stages annually to remember its lost fishermen. Ms. Nelson discovered close to 700 names are etched on the Lunenburg memorial, another 232 names are on Shelburne's and many more are listed on smaller cenotaphs around the province. Yet she realized many more lost fishermen were unsung.
Even cenotaphs could be suspect. Collecting names for memorials "was done from people's recollections. There was no ability to double- and triple-check everything before it went up," she says.
In her research, Ms. Nelson used Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic files, old fishermen's magazines, newspapers, archives, e-mails from interested members of the public and much of the data collected by Roberta Sheedy, her cohort in Gloucester.
Ms. Sheedy, who says Ms. Nelson nagged her to start her website, marvels at the amount of work Ms. Nelson has done.
For her part, Ms. Nelson says her website is a work in progress. "It is, probably in some way, my legacy. It'll never be finished."
[Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 1 September 2000]
References:
Sheevaun Nelson's website
http://www.lostatsea.ca/
Roberta Sheedy's website
http://www.downtosea.com/
2000 September 1
Commuter-Rail Groups Seek Deadline Extension
CN Plans to Rip Up Track Any Time After Friday, September 1st
In the last week of August, with a September 1 deadline just four days away, groups investigating the viability of a Halifax-Annapolis Valley commuter-rail service want Canadian National to give them more time. Bedford Councillor Peter Kelly, who sits on a committee spearheading a drive to establish a rail link from Beaver Bank-Windsor Junction to downtown Halifax, said the issue needs further study. "We want to know if it is viable," said Kelly. "The issue is still very much alive."
Months ago, the railroad set September 1st as the date Halifax Regional Municipality would have to decide if it wanted a commuter-rail line. Otherwise, CN said it would begin ripping up the tracks.
Kelly and members of the committee have approached CN, as well as federal Transportation Minister David Collenette, for a deadline extension. Nova Scotia Sen. Bernie Boudreau supports an extension. "There is recognition of the need for a full review before we can go forward," said Kelly.
The first step would be to examine the need for a rail service and whether or not the region could acquire the rails and rolling stock needed, he said. "An extension would give HRM some breathing space," said Kelly.
Commuter-rail advocates hope that if the region decides a suburban rail service is in its future, it could serve as a springboard to a commuter service to the Annapolis Valley. There have been calls for a rail service as a way to ease traffic pressure on Highway 101.
A deadline extension is supported by Transport 2000, a rail advocacy group, which says a commuter-rail system would calm traffic congestion and help ease air pollution in Halifax.
"A commuter-rail service is needed and will draw passengers to it," said John Pearce, a spokesman for the group. Pearce said the cost of setting up a rail service would be far cheaper than alternatives such as widening the Bedford Highway or building new roads into metro.
"We can't afford to dither on this much longer," he said.
[Halifax Daily News, 28 August 2000]
Track Safe — For Now
The railway track for a possible commuter-rail line between Halifax and the Annapolis Valley is still intact — for now. Canadian National threatened to begin ripping it up yesterday, but has instead agreed to continue talks with Halifax Regional Municipality, company spokesman Scott Roberts said yesterday.
[Halifax Daily News, 2 September 2000]
Bedford Ferry Not a Very Good Idea: Expert
Walter Fitzgerald's Opposition to Commuter Rail
Produces Unworkable Alternative Proposal
Mayor Walter Fitzgerald's idea for a ferry from Bedford to Halifax is just a political "red herring," says a transportation expert who doesn't think the idea will float. "If money is poured into a ferry, it's going to be a complete waste of time," Larry Hughes, a Dalhousie professor and transportation activist, said yesterday.
Fitzgerald said Wednesday the city should look at operating a high-speed ferry to reduce congestion on the Bedford Highway and in downtown Halifax.
Hughes believes Fitzgerald's proposal is just a tactic to rattle mayoral opponent Peter Kelly. The Bedford councillor has been a longstanding supporter of an Annapolis Valley-Halifax commuter train. Hughes thinks Kelly was diplomatic about the ferry suggestion because he didn't want to alienate voters.
But the idea sank with Hughes, who sits on a subcommittee that will present Halifax regional council with a commuter-rail report this week. Hughes said a ferry wouldn't "make a dent" in the city's traffic problems. The boat wouldn't be an option for people making long commutes off the Highway 101 and 102 corridors, he said.
"If somebody has driven for half-an-hour, it's unlikely they're going to stop, get out of their car, get on a ferry, wait for a while longer to take a ferry in, when they could just stay in their car," Hughes said. "It doesn't make any sense."
[Halifax Daily News, 2 September 2000]
2000 September 1
N.S. Businesses Embrace Internet
Survey Places N.S. Second in All Canada
Small businesses in Nova Scotia have jumped on the Internet bandwagon big time.
A national survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found that 73 per cent of the province's 32,000 small and mid-size businesses are Internet users.
"It's a demonstration that the economy is shifting dramatically," said Peter O'Brien, the federation's regional vice-president. "We're moving into the knowledge economy at an accelerated rate."
Nova Scotia trails only British Columbia, at 74 per cent, in the percentage of small businesses using the Internet.
The survey found that Internet use among small and mid-size businesses has increased nationally from 61 per cent to 69 per cent in the last year. More than a third of the firms surveyed have moved into e-commerce, where businesses maintain a website and use the Internet to market their services or make transactions online.
In Nova Scotia, only 26 per cent of small and mid-size businesses are involved in e-commerce, but Mr. O'Brien said he expects that to reach the national average within the next year. "We're not that far off."
He said that many Nova Scotia businesses got into computers early, but were sold a lot of unnecessary bells and whistles that put them off the potential of the new technology. "We're now seeing a change," he said.
The survey found that Internet use and e-commerce applications were more prevalent in the business services, finance, insurance and real estate sectors, and the lowest rates of adoption were found in the construction, fishing, forestry and mining sectors.
Mr. O'Brien said those figures might hold nationally, but he said a number of regional fisheries businesses, and not just large ones like Clearwater Fine Foods, are using the Internet to market their products internationally. "Some of them are pretty darned sophisticated," he said.
Mr. O'Brien said the natural resource industries that have traditionally been the backbone of Nova Scotia's economy — the fishery, forestry and mining — aren't infinite, as evidenced by the decline in certain fish stocks and the closure of Cape Breton coal mines.
But he said the province's strong public and private IT education sector puts it in a good position to develop a new knowledge-based economy. "This creates a much more stable future for the province," he said, noting that information technology also allows businesses to operate from anywhere in the world. "The need to be in large centres isn't as significant," he said. "A lot of things can be done out of the kitchen."
Mr. O'Brien said the government could better assist in the development of a local knowledge-based economy by lowering taxes, rather than handing out grants to entice businesses to locate and stay in the province. "We'll succeed by using new technology, but we need to create an environment where these businesses can grow," he said.
He said the government has to get a handle on its debt problem, but it still has to maintain key programs, including education, to nurture that environment.
"We have to invest in education," he said, calling on the government to make rational, long-term tax changes to benefit the provincial economy.
Ted Mallett, the federation's chief economist and director of research, said although more small businesses are moving towards e-commerce, a lack of online customer demand was identified in the survey as a key constraint to fully embracing the concept.
Businesses already engaged in e-commerce had other concerns, including Internet security, technical requirements, costs and the need for strategic advice. "This suggests there is a huge learning curve involved in becoming an e-business," he said.
[Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 1 September 2000]
2000 September 1
CBH-FM-1 Licence Attached to CBH-FM
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Middleton, Nova Scotia
CRTC Decision 2000-258
11 July 2000
Effective 1 September 2000
1. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approves the application to amend the broadcasting licence for the radio programming undertaking CBH-FM Halifax, by including the authority for the transmitter CBH-FM-1 Middleton, operating on frequency 93.3 MHz (channel 227) with an effective radiated power of 8,000 watts.
2. The CBC currently holds a separate licence for CBH-FM-1 Middleton, which expires 31 August 2000. Rather than submitting a licence renewal application for this undertaking, the CBC requests that it be added to the list of transmitters of CBH-FM Halifax.
Source: CRTC website
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/
The above is an excerpt only. For the complete text,
see CRTC Decision 2000-257
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/Decisions/2000/DB2000-258.htm
2000 September 1
CIHF-TV Halifax
Licence Amendments Become Effective
Global Communications Limited, licence amendments for
CIHF-TV Halifax and CIHF-TV-2 Saint John
CRTC Decision 2000-229
6 July 2000
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approves the applications to amend the licences for the television programming undertakings noted above by adding the following conditions of licence:
(a) Effective 1 September 2000, the licensee (Global Communications Limited) shall broadcast, at a minimum, in each broadcast year, an average of eight hours per week of Canadian programs in the priority program categories between 7:00pm and 11:00pm.
For the purpose of this condition, the priority program categories are as follows:
Canadian drama programs (category 7);
Canadian music and dance (category 8a) and variety programs (category 9);
Canadian long-form documentaries (category 2b);
Canadian regionally-produced programs in all categories other than News and Information (categories 1, 2 and 3) and Sports (category 6);
Canadian entertainment magazine programs.
(b) For the purpose of fulfilling the above-noted condition, the licensee may claim the new dramatic programming credit set out in Public Notice CRTC 1999-205, as may be amended from time to time.
As of 1 September 2000, the licensee is no longer entitled to claim the dramatic programming credit set out in the appendix to CRTC Public Notice 1984-94 and appendices I and II to CRTC Public Notice 2000-42.
Source: CRTC website
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/
The above is an excerpt only. For the complete text,
see CRTC Decision 2000-229
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/Decisions/2000/DB2000-229.htm
Reference — CRTC Public Notice 1999-205: Definitions for new types of priority programs; revisions to the definitions of television content categories; definitions of Canadian dramatic programs that will qualify for time credits towards priority programming requirements
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/BCASTING/NOTICE/1999/P99205_0.txt
2000 September 1
CJCH-TV Halifax and CJCB-TV Sydney
Licence Amendments Become Effective
CTV Televsion Incorporated, licence amendments for
CJCH-TV Halifax, CJCB-TV Sydney,
CKCW-TV Moncton, CKLT-TV Saint John
CRTC Decision 2000-239
6 July 2000
Effective 1 September 2000
1. The Commission approves the applications to amend the licences for the television programming undertakings noted above by deleting the condition relating to exhibition requirements for Canadian programming set out in CRTC Decision 97-527, and adding the following conditions of licence:
(a) Effective 1 September 2000, the licensee (CTV Televsion Incorporated) shall broadcast, at a minimum, in each broadcast year, an average of eight hours per week of Canadian programs in the priority program categories between 7:00pm and 11:00pm.
For the purpose of this condition, the priority program categories are as follows:
Canadian drama programs (category 7);
Canadian music and dance (category 8a) and variety programs (category 9);
Canadian long-form documentaries (category 2b);
Canadian regionally-produced programs in all categories other than News and Information (categories 1, 2 and 3) and Sports (category 6);
Canadian entertainment magazine programs.
(b) For the purpose of fulfilling the above-noted condition, the licensee may claim the new dramatic programming credit set out in CRTC Public Notice 1999-205, as may be amended from time to time.
As of 1 September 2000, the licensee is no longer entitled to claim the dramatic programming credit set out in the appendix to CRTC Public Notice 1984-94 and appendices I and II to Public Notice CRTC 2000-42.
2. The Commission reminds the licensee that it is still required to fulfill any benefit commitments made as part of the transaction approved in CRTC Decision 97-527.
Source: CRTC website
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/
The above is an excerpt only. For the complete text,
see CRTC Decision 2000-239
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/Decisions/2000/DB2000-239.htm
Reference — CRTC Public Notice 1999-205: Definitions for new types of priority programs; revisions to the definitions of television content categories; definitions of Canadian dramatic programs that will qualify for time credits towards priority programming requirements
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/BCASTING/NOTICE/1999/P99205_0.txt
2000 September 1
CRTC Redefines Public Service Announcements
CRTC Public Notice 1999-205
23 December 1999
Effective 1 September 2000
31. Broadcasters have expressed concern about the designation of Public Servuce Announcements (PSAs) as programming without a category. They argued that PSAs should continue to be treated as advertising material and should be logged as the same nationality as whatever program they are inserted into according to the Commission's existing policy. They sought clarification that this policy will be retained.
32. The Commission acknowledges that under the current regulations, PSAs are treated as advertising material and are logged as the same nationality as the program into which they are inserted when they are aired within the 12.5 minutes permitted for advertising during a clock hour (12 minutes of advertising plus 30 seconds of PSAs). However, partly because of the lack of a precise definition for PSAs, there have been a number of applications seeking Canadian content certification for messages of this type.
33. The Commission considers PSAs to be a valuable type of programming. The Commission has encouraged licensees to air them through the 30-second advertising "bonus". At the same time, the "30-second rule" also served to limit the amount of clutter aired by broadcasters.
34. However, it may not be possible to control this clutter in the future. With foreign programs getting shorter, conventional and specialty broadcasters are using more interstitials and PSAs to round out their schedules. Therefore, in keeping with the policy set out above for interstitials, the Commission will consider all PSAs that meet the criteria for recognition to be Canadian programs. There will be no need for parties to submit these programs for certification unless specifically requested to do so by the Commission. As a result, the Commission will amend the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987 and the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990 to remove the designation of a PSA as advertising material. A new program category will be created for PSAs.
35. PSAs are now defined as follows:
Messages of less than five minutes duration intended to educate the audience about issues of public concern, encourage public support and awareness of a worthy cause, or promote the work of a non-profit group or organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in local communities or in society or the world at large. These include community billboards. These messages are not intended to sell or promote goods or commercial services. No payment is exchanged between broadcasters and producers for the broadcast of these messages.
36. The Commission reminds broadcasters that advertising material must not be logged as PSAs. It also notes that commercial messages inserted within or adjacent to PSAs and interstitials do not take on the nationality of the interstitial or PSA when the interstitial or PSA appears during a longer program, but rather take on the nationality of the longer program.
The above is an excerpt only. For the complete text, see
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/BCASTING/NOTICE/1999/P99205_0.txt
Source:
CRTC Public Notice 1999-205
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/BCASTING/NOTICE/1999/P99205_0.txt
2000 September 3
Goodbye to Blackboards and Chalk,
A Look Inside a Metro P3 School
4 computers in each classroom
No more chalkboards, no more upside-down overheads and no more tacks on the teacher's chair. The P3 classroom is a marvel of buttons and remotes and small, hard-wired boxes that can take what's on a tiny computer screen and put it on a giant one at the front of the class.
"For us, this is a typical classroom," says Ken Grant, principal at Bedford South. "The teachers can bring their laptops ... hook up here on the Internet, project it up on the screen ... She can be standing in any area of the room and change the screen."
The $9,000,000 school for 525 students from grades Primary to 8 opens for the first time on Tuesday, September 5th. It is one of thirteen P3 schools built in metro by George Armoyan's company, Scotia Learning Centres.
Each of the 22 classrooms at Bedford South has four computers, a television, a VCR and an LCD projector, a small black box on the ceiling that takes the feed from a computer or TV and puts it on a screen at the front of the class.
The blackboard is now the whiteboard and the ledge holds markers, not chalk. Take that, allergies.
Each wing, or pod, as school officials like to call them, has four classrooms arranged to form a U. Two classrooms are connected by a room big enough for two teachers' desks, each with a phone on it. "The teacher will have a table that she might want to keep some scribblers on (in the classroom), but for the most part everything is there (in the office)," says Grant.
The tech-ed room is the closest you get to shop class. But before you go there, you design what you want to make on a computer.
The traditional cafeteria is gone too. Now it's a skylit cafetorium, a combination cafeteria and theatre. A stage fills one end and behind it is the music room. Movable walls can separate the lunch crowd from the students rehearsing backstage.
The alphabet, however, remains in its age-old spot — zigzagging above the whiteboard in the Grade 2 class.
[Halifax Sunday Daily News, 3 September 2000]
LCD — Liquid Crystal Display
P3 — Public-Private Partnership
VCR — Video Cassette Recorder
|
2000 September 6
Computer Museum in Annapolis Royal
Annapolis Royal is the oldest town in Nova Scotia, but it is also home to a museum dedicated to one of the newest phenomena of humankind. Emin's of Annapolis — a prominent business in the town ever since 1950 when Bob Emin started his store, bought by the Eisengrubers in 1998 — houses one of the few computer museums in the country. The museum is run by Herbert Eisengruber, son of store owners Josef and Brigitte Eisengruber. A computer fan, Herbert started collecting computers ten years ago as a hobby. When his parents took control of the store, he put some of his collection on display. "It was amazing, the response people had from this," he says. "It's really a success." Admission is free. Herbert's collection includes early computer games. Store customers can try their hand at some of the classic video games from yaers ago. The display has expanded from a couple of pieces to a full array of hardware and software. It includes some of the earliest microcomputers, and the bulky precursors of today's lap-tops. While the in-store museum, at 302 St. George Street, Annapolis Royal, pays homage to the history of computers, it also houses Herbert's website-design and desktop publishing business. The Design Fort offers webpage designing services and does ink-on-paper publishing at competitive rates.
[Middleton Mirror-Examiner, 6 September 2000]
Reference:
The Design Fort website
http://www.designfort.20m.com/
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/design.fort/
<design.fort@ns.sympatico.ca>
The machines in his collection:
- a piece of a Honeywell vacuum-tube computer (1963)
- IMSAI 8080 (1976) (one of the first microcomputers)
- Commodore PET 2001 (1977) chicklet keyboard
- Commodore PET 2001 (1978) normal keyboard
- Commodore CBM 8032 (1979)
- Commodore Super PET
- Radio Shack TRS 80 Model I (1977)
- Radio Shack TRS 80 Model 4
- Radio Shack TRS 80 Model 4p
- Radio Shack CoCo
- Texas Instruments TI99/4a (1979)
- Apple IIe
- Sinclair ZX81
- Sinclair QL
- 2x Osborne I
- Apple Mac 512
- Apple Mac Plus
- Apple Mac Portable
- 5xCommodore VC20
- 10xCommodore 64
- Commodore SX64 (Portable Version of the C64)
- Commodore 116 (sold only in Germany)
- Commodore Plus/4
- Commodore Amiga 1000
- Kaypro 2
- Next Cube
- Tandy 1000
- Atari 400
- Atari 800
- Atari 600xl
- Atari 260 ST
- Atari 520 STm
- 2x Robotron Computers (East German, very rare)
- The first video game ever — an "Odyssey I" by Magnavox, built in 1971.
Source: Mr. H. Eisengruber, by e-mail, 26 February 2001
2000 September 9
Cumberland County Trans Canada Trail,
First Section Officially Opened
Includes the longest bridge on the Nova Scotia section
WALLACE BRIDGE — Organizers and volunteers responsible for the construction of the Cumberland County section of the Trans Canada Trail celebrated their first major milestone atop the historic Wallace River Swing Bridge on Saturday, September 9th. A large crowd was on hand to take part in the official opening of the first forty kilometres of the county's section of the Trans Canada Trail. The master of ceremonies was Shelagh Rayworth, long-time trail enthusiast. Cumberland North MLA and provincial cabinet minister Ernest Fage spoke at the opening ceremony on the bridge.
County Warden Gerald Langille spoke on the history of the former railway line whose abandoned right-of-way is the location of this 40-km section of the trail. The railway was an integral part of the aera's industry, he explained. "Thousands and thousands of tons of salt from the Malagash Salt Company's mine moved west along this railway line, thousands of tons of stone from the Wallace quarries moved along this line, logs and even oysters from Wallace were shipped to Montreal from here."
Municipal Warden Ralph Welton described the significance of the date as the national cermony also took place on this day in the Ottawa region, when Trans Canada Trail Relay 2000 representatives poured water, collected earlier in the year from Canada's three oceans, into a newly constructed Trans Canada Trail Fountain.
Provincial Trans Canada Trail coordinator Steve Vines noted the significance of the celebration being held on the Wallace River Swing Bridge and the work volunteers had undertaken to restore it."This bridge is actually the longest bridge on the Nova Scotia section of the Trans Canada Trail," he said. "It was really a barrier to recreational use if you saw it before and there were a lot of people who would have been afraid to cross this bridge, but now when you look around and see what it's been transformed into — it's a destination ... I've had calls in my office from people who heard about the bridge and want to know how to get there."
Vines thanked all the volunteers who had worked on the trail, and specifically mentioned the dedication of Karen Pattington, Cumberland Trail coordinator, Gerald McLellan, president of the Cumberland Trails Association, and members of the Route Six Snowmobile Club.
Currently, the Cumberland County section of the Trans Canada Trail is about one-third completed. McLellan estimated it will take five to ten years to complete the project.
[Parrsboro Citizen, 16 September 2000]
The six-span Wallace River Swing Bridge was built by
the Dominion Bridge Company in 1889 and is 440 feet (134 m) long.
Although the section that swung out many years ago to let tall ships
through is no longer operational, the mechanism is still in place.
In this photograph, the swing span is nearest to the camera.
The swing span is balanced on the foreground pier, and was built
to rotate horizontally to open a space for ships to pass. Of course,
when the swing span was open trains had to wait until the bridge closed.
(In 2001, there are still two railway swing bridges in operation in Nova Scotia).
Source:
http://www.trailtc.ns.ca/CumberlandTrails.htm
The Wallace River Swing Bridge.
The swing span is on the right side in this photo.
Source:
http://www.trailtc.ns.ca/CTAgrandopening.htm
Cumberland County Trans Canada Trail Phase Two
30 November 2000
AMHERST — Interest continues to grow in Cumberland County's Trans Canada Trail as the project enters its second and final stage of development. According to Cumberland County Trail coordinator Karen Pattington, the Cumberland Trail Association (CTA) elected a new executive on November 30th. The association, which consists of a volunteer board of directors, meets monthly. Ms. Pattington wants to ensure that trail development continues once her employment contract ends on December 13th.
The Cumberland County Trans Canada Trail is comprised of two different phases of development, the first of which opened in September. It extends from Oxford to the Colchester County boundary line. "We opened that portion of the trail in September, but some of the signage and gates are still left to be done," Pattington explained during an interview from the CREDA (Cumberland Regional Economic Development Association) office last week.
Phase Two extends from Oxford to the New Brunswick border. The CTA has obtained letters of authority to use all crown- and most privately-owned roads along the trail route. Irving has given oral permission for use of its logging roads, but the CTA is awaiting written verification. Cumberland-Colchester MP Bill Casey gave the CTA permission to use the Chignecto Ship Railway right-of-way.
Culverts have been installed, portions of the trail have been built up, and next summer the CTA plans to build a bridge over Oxford's Black River. "We have permission from Oxford Frozen Foods Company to do so." Last summer the association met with Town of Oxford officials who turned down a proposal for three town streets to be used as part of the trail route. They were concerned about the issue of possible legal liability even though the CTA has $10,000,000 in liability insurance. The CTA planned to meet soon with the town's new mayor and council to discuss this issue. The association hoped to have the backing of the downtown merchants association, and various supporters from the community were expected to be at the meeting.
"We have teamed up with Ducks Unlimited to control water along the rail line by installing beaver control devices to protect and preserve beaver habitats," said Ms. Pattington.
The project received a $50,000 grant from the provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism, which has been used in the development of the trail. Additional funding has come from the trail sponsorship program. "Interested persons can sponsor a metre of trail for a donation of $40, with almost all of the money going for trail development," Pattington added. "Donors' names will be posted along the trail and we give them a certificate recognizing the contribution."
The trail is used by hikers, cyclists, all-terrain vehicle operators and snowmobilers.
[Parrsboro Citizen, 2 December 2000]
References:
Cumberland Trails Association
http://www.trailtc.ns.ca/CumberlandTrails.htm
Opening Ceremony, 9 September 2000
http://www.trailtc.ns.ca/CTAgrandopening.htm
Cumberland Regional Economic Development Association (CREDA)
http://www.creda.net/
The trail will wind its way to Malagash Station, Wallace Station, pass over the historic Wallace River Bridge to Pugwash Junction and then to Oxford...
http://www.creda.net/rda/trails/cumbtrails.htm
On Sept. 9th, 2000 a crowd of people gathered on the gorgeous Wallace River Swing Bridge...
http://www.creda.net/rda/trails/cumbtrails2.htm
- Cumberland Trails Association [RJSC ID#3014767] was incorporated on 23 December 1997, and has its registered office at 35 Church Street,
Amherst, Nova Scotia. As of 13 January 2001 the association's directors were:
- Gerald McLellan, Oxford, Nova Scotia; Chairperson
- Danny Purdy, Rockley, Nova Scotia; Vice Chairperson
- James Moore, Salem, Nova Scotia; Treasurer
- David McLelland, Oxford, Nova Scotia
- David Burke, Oxford, Nova Scotia
- David Wightman, Amherst, Nova Scotia
- Patricia Haylock, Linden, Nova Scotia; Secretary
- The Route Six Snowmobile Club [RJSC ID#3003563] was incorporated on 2 December 1996, and has its registered office at 11482 Route 6, Pugwash, Nova Scotia. As of 13 January 2001 the club's directors were:
- David Reedy, Wallace, Nova Scotia
- Kevin Ouderkirk, Wallace, Nova Scotia
- Daniel Purdy, Rockley, Nova Scotia; Secretary/treasurer
- Allan Tuttle, Pugwash Junction, Nova Scotia
- Robert Brown, Wallace, Nova Scotia; Chairman
- Gary Gullens, Pugwash, Nova Scotia
- Glen Boyd, Wallace, Nova Scotia
- James Wills, Pugwash, Nova Scotia; Vice Chairman
- Vaughn Angus, Wallace, Nova Scotia
Source: Nova Scotia Registry of Joint Stock Companies [RJSC]
http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/business/rjsc/
First of Four Bridges near Completion
Route Six Snowmobile Club lends a Hand
July-August 1999
On July 24, 1999, volunteer labour from the Route Six Snowmobile Club came out to install a prefabricated railing support. The turnout was outstanding. The work crew got started at 7:30am and by 10:30am, nine railing structures were installed and the railing nailed on. It was quite obvious that all of the volunteers have had their hand at construction of one type or another. It was a 100% volunteer effort.
The week previous to the work party, volunteers had gathered in the evenings at Vaughn Angus's home to assemble the railing support. The railing support is composed of a 4×10 18 foot long stringer with two 4×6 5 foot posts on each end supported by two 2×4 bolted to the post and the end of the stringer. Vaughn has kindly let the Association store lumber for the bridges at his home and has provided power for the power tools.
Before the railing supports were even ready to be set in place, metal strapping holding the railway ties in place had to be removed. An evening before the work party, Dany Purdy used an impact wrench to remove the lag bolts that held the strapping in place.
Charlie Weeks, a journalist with the Oxford Journal, showed up at the work party to take pictures of the Canadian Salt Workers Union donating a cheque for $500 of a $1,000 commitment to the Association. If any member would like a copy of the newspaper article, copies are kept on file at the Association office.
Wallace River Bridge Completed
The last spike was driven on the deck of the Wallace River swing Bridge on Sunday, August 29, 1999. Seven volunteers from the Route Six Snowmobile Club started working at 8:00am and by 10:30am the last plank was laid. The 440 foot bridge has taken over five weekends and several evenings to complete. Vaughn Angus dedicated his vacation time to working on the bridge.
It was unbelievable that the railing and decking on this bridge could be done solely with volunteer labour.
We would like to thank all of the volunteers from the Route Six Snowmobile Club, particularly Vaughn Angus, Vaughn Rhindress, Kevin Ouderkirk, Bobbie Browne, Jason Browne, Glen Boyd, Lenny Boyd, Kenny Coulter, Allan Tuttle, Allan Mundle, Dean Ouderkirk, David Ready and everyone else that come out with their hammer. Thanks for doing such a fine job!
If members would like to have a look at the handy work, take Route 6 to Wallace. After the Wallace Bridge take the Kerrs Mill Road to the first bridge over the road, park at the bridge and walk up the bank to the Wallace River swing Bridge.
There are two more bridges on the abandoned rail line that need railing and decking. Volunteers are always needed.
Source:
Cumberland Trails Association Newsletter
Volume 1, Issue 1, September 1999
http://www.trailtc.ns.ca/CTANewsletterSept99.htm
Following are photos of the completed work
on the Wallace River Bridge
The Wallace River Swing Bridge.
A good clear view of the swing span pier.
A view of the main truss.
A traveller's view of the completed work.
Source:
http://www.trailtc.ns.ca/CCTrailUpdate.htm
One of the finest structures in the Lower Provinces
27 October 1888
Work is being rushed along on the Oxford & New Glasgow Railway, especially at the Oxford end. The bridge being built across the river at Wallace, for this railway, will, it is said, be one of the finest structures in the Lower Provinces.
[The Enterprise, New Glasgow, 27 October 1888]
51 Feet Above Mean Sea Level
The Wallace River Bridge is 51 feet 15.5 metres high, measured in the usual way as the height of the top of the rail above mean sea level. The Great European and North American Short Line Railway was 69.39 miles
111.65 km long, from Oxford Junction to Browns Point, measured along the centerline of the track. The Wallace River Bridge is located 21.40 miles 34.43 km from Oxford Junction — the switch connecting with the ICR main line railway between Halifax and Montreal — and 46.39 miles 74.64 km from Browns Point — the switch connecting with the branch line railway between Stellarton and Pictou.
Source: Altitudes in the Dominion of Canada, 2nd edition, 1915, by James White, Assistant to Sir Clifford Sifton, Chairman and Deputy Head, Commission of Conservation, Ottawa.
2000 September 11
Kings-Hants Byelection Meets the Internet
Ottawa Imposes Vote Blackout on Internet
Cannot Post Nova Scotia Results While B.C. Polls Open
Elections Canada has banned the posting of election results on the Internet until by-election polls close on both sides of the country next week.
The by-election rules, released yesterday, are designed to protect voters in the British Columbia riding of Okanagan-Coquihalla, where Stockwell Day, the Canadian Alliance leader, is seeking election, from being influenced by how voters in the Nova Scotia riding of Kings-Hants treat Joe Clark, the Progressive Conservative leader.
The rules for online electioneering and reporting are designed to counter two highly touted advantages of the Internet — immediacy and anonymity — from interfering in voting that takes place four time zones apart, said Pierre Blain, spokesman for Elections Canada. News of who voters elect in Kings-Hants, which will be available shortly after the polls close at 8:30pm Atlantic Time, cannot be reported to the voters in Okanagan-Coquihalla until the polls close there at 7:00pm Pacific Time.
"We can disseminate the [vote] information in all of the ridings except Okanagan-Coquihalla before the polls close there. It means that if the news doesn't hit this riding, there is no problem. The local people [in Kings-Hants] will have the information, but not the ones in Okanagan-Coquihalla," said Mr. Blain.
While radio and television stations can black out the West Coast in their coverage of the East Coast by-election, Internet sites would be available to voters on both coasts at the same time. Elections Canada also warned that election-related advertising on the Internet will be subject to the same rules as ads on television and in newspapers. Voters in both ridings go to the polls on Monday, Sept. 11.
[National Post 5 September 2000]
Media Advisory for the Weekend before Election Day,
and Election Day for the Federal By-Elections
in Kings-Hants and Okanagan-Coquihalla
4 September 2000
OTTAWA — With the Monday, September 11, 2000, federal by-elections in Kings-Hants and Okanagan-Coquihalla just around the corner, Elections Canada is outlining the rules for the media on election advertising, opinion surveys and news coverage.
Advertising blackout
Under section 48 of the Canada Elections Act, registered political parties and political parties accepted for registration may not advertise on the day before election day and on election day itself. This two-day blackout period, beginning at midnight Saturday, September 9, 2000, applies to advertising by political parties on radio and television, in periodical publications such as newspapers and magazines, and in government publications.
As the result of a 1996 decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal (Somerville versus Attorney General of Canada), which held that subsection 213(1) of the Canada Elections Act was of no force and effect, the blackout period no longer applies to candidates, groups or individuals.
Advertising on the Internet or other forms of advertising such as lawn signs, billboards or pamphlets remain unaffected and these forms of publicity may continue.
Authorizing signatures
All advertising related to the by-elections must at all times identify the agent authorizing the advertisement or the sponsor, in the case of groups or individuals. The same applies to the use of the Internet.
Opinion surveys
Section 322.1 of the Canada Elections Act, which prohibits the dissemination of opinion survey results during the final three days of an election period, no longer applies. In May 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada decided in Thomson Newspapers Company versus Canada (Attorney General) that this section is contrary to section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
News, public affairs content and candidates' debates
The Canada Elections Act does not deal with the content of news or public affairs programming at any time during the election period. Broadcasters are advised to consult their Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) licences and the Commission's guidelines on election coverage. Similarly, the Act does not deal with the organization of candidates' debates or the issuing of invitations to such events.
Dissemination of election results
Election results for the electoral district of Kings-Hants will not be posted on Elections Canada's Web site before the close of polls in the electoral district of Okanagan-Coquihalla, at about 7:00pm, Pacific Daylight Saving Time. The Elections Canada Web site is accessible from Okanagan-Coquihalla, and the Canada Elections Act prohibits making election results public in an electoral district before the close of its polls. This prohibition applies to the media and to any other person and covers all means of communication, including the Internet, that would be accessible to the public in Okanagan-Coquihalla.
Filming outside a polling station
The Canada Elections Act is very specific about who has a right to be in a polling station and in the area where electors are casting their ballots. Only election officers, electors, and candidates and their agents are allowed to be present. Members of the media wishing to obtain general footage, by filming or photographing from outside the polling station through an open doorway, should first obtain permission from the returning officer. No one may block the access of electors to a polling station.
Elections Canada is the non-partisan agency responsible for the conduct of federal elections and referendums.
Contact: Pierre Blain at 1 800 267-7360 or (613) 993-2224, or by fax at (613) 954-8584, or TTY at 1 800 361-8935. You may also contact Elections Canada by visiting our Web site at www.elections.ca
Source:
Elections Canada Press release, 4 September 2000
http://www.elections.ca/news/releases/sep0400_e.html
Bourque to Provide Instant By-Election Results Online
7 September 2000
Next Monday, September 11, two by-elections will take place in Canada. One will be held in Nova Scotia where PC Leader Joe Clark is widely expected to win, the other one out in British Columbia where CA leader Stock Day is anticipating an easy win.
While Elections Canada has surprisingly prohibited the dissemination of election results from Nova Scotia on the Internet until the polls close in BC, a delay of several hours, Bourque can confirm that it will provide instant by-election results from Nova Scotia as soon as polls close in Kings-Hants through a link-up to a secret third-party source.
As such, Bourque will be the first and only source for full by-elections results from coast-to-coast next Monday night prior to polls closing in British Columbia.
Source:
Bourque NewsWatch
http://www.achilles.net/~pierre/notes.html
Elections Canada Needs a Big Shakeup
Prohibits Posting Results
By Pierre Bourque
11 September 2000
Elections Canada deserves a shakeup after it issued a dictum prohibiting the posting of election results on the Internet, as good an impersonation of an ostrich with its head in the sand as I've ever seen.
This unworkable rule was proffered to handle the two Sept. 11 byelections, one on the East Coast, the other out West. The theory here being that if you prevent the West from knowing what happened down East until after polls close out West, you won't in any way influence the results out West.
As if the Internet never happened, as if we are not in a new millennium, as if electors are that stupid.
The fact is, whether Elections Canada likes it or not, we now live in an age of instant information transfer, regardless of time or geographic considerations. Two years ago the CRTC admitted as much and dashed any thought of government control over the Net. Why Elections Canada is so behind the times on this issue, given its own great use of the Net for its own information dissemination, is beyond me and is an embarrassment to a nation that touts itself as the most wired in the world.
Source:
The Hill Times, Canada's Parliamentary Newspaper, 11 September 2000
http://www.thehilltimes.ca/hilltimes/governet.html
Retiree Plans to Violate Election Ban
11 September 2000
A retired school teacher in Kings County is preparing to defy Elections Canada today by posting Kings-Hants byelection results on the Internet before polls close in a British Columbia byelection. Ivan Smith, 68, of Canning said Joe Clark's effort to win the Valley seat is of great interest to many Canadians out west.
He is convinced the byelection in Okanagan-Coquihalla — widely expected to be a cakewalk for Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day — can't be affected by voters knowing the result here.
Smith also wants to show the futility of Elections Canada's intention to regulate the Internet. "I'm not a teenage hacker, I'm not running a hate site, I'm not running a porn site, I'm not doing any of these nasty things," Smith said. "I'm just putting government documents online."
Prompted by the difficulty he went through to get transcripts and the final report on the Westray mining disaster inquiry, he decided in 1995 to post them online as a public service.
He has since set up websites in the United States and Scotland to prevent them from being closed down by Canadian authorities, and regularly posts all manner of Nova Scotia government information.
In a news release last week, Elections Canada announced the agency will only post Kings-Hants results on their own Web site after 11:00pm in Nova Scotia (7:00pm in B.C.). It said the prohibition on publicizing results before polls close in B.C. applies to everyone, not just the media.
The new Canada Elections Act, the release says, "covers all means of communication, including the Internet, that would be accessible to the public in Okanagan-Coquihalla."
It is unclear how the ban will be enforced.
Smith said perhaps polling hours need to be changed if they want to avoid western voters finding out the results. The Web cannot be controlled, he said. If he doesn't post the results, someone else could.
Unlike the two current byelections, Smith says in a general federal election, results in the East could influence the vote in the West. "I wanted to do this before the next general election when this was going to be a great big hullabaloo," Smith said.
Smith is considering legal advice on his plan to post the results. He will decide by 6pm today.
Then it will only take minutes to upload the numbers, as results begin rolling in around 8:30pm, onto his Web site at http://www2.scotweb.co.uk/ns1398/KHvote00.html.
[Halifax Daily News, 11 September 2000]
Elections Canada Muzzles Bourque
Date: 9/11/2000 2:15 pm EDT
This just in at Bourque NewsWatch...
September 11, 2000
Mr. Pierre Bourque pierre@achilles.net
Dear Mr. Bourque:
The Commissioner of Canada Elections is the official responsible for ensuring that the Canada Elections Act is complied with and enforced.
It has been brought to our attention that you intend to provide the by-election results of the electoral district of Kings-Hants online as soon as available and while the vote is still taking place in the electoral district of Okanagan-Coquihalla.
The purpose of this letter is to ensure that you are aware of the prohibition, under the Canada Elections Act, to publish the election results from one electoral district before the closing of the polls in another electoral district. This prohibition applies to the media and to any other person and covers all means of communication, including the Internet, that would be accessible to the public in Okanagan-Coquihalla.
The relevant section of the Canada Elections Act dealing with this requirement is section 328 of the Act which stipulates that:
328. (1) No person, company or corporation shall, in any electoral district before the hour fixed by or pursuant to this Act for the closing of the polls in that electoral district, publish the result or purported result of the polling in any electoral district in Canada by radio or television broadcast, by newspaper, news-sheet, poster, billboard or handbill or in any other manner.
(2) Any person, company or corporation that contravenes the provisions of this section and, in the case of a company or corporation, any person responsible for the contravention thereof, is guilty of an illegal practice and of an offence.
To conform with the Act, the publication of the polling results from the electoral district of Kings-Hants must therefore await the closing of the polls in Okanagan-Coquihalla.
We trust that, as you are now aware of the prohibition, you will comply with the Canada Elections Act by refraining to publish the results of the polling until the hour fixed for the closing of the polls in the electoral district of Okanagan-Coquihalla, which is 7:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Saving Time.
Yours truly,
Johanne Massicotte
Counsel to the Commissioner
Source:
Bourque NewsWatch
http://boardserver.mycomputer.com/read.html
Subject: Re: Elections Canada Muzzles Bourque
9/11/2000 2:37 pm EDT
Oh come on. This is the year 2000. What possible impact could the one have on the other? It puts me in mind of Dickens: the law IS an ass. Wellington, that great English general, called the Whitehall mandarins (who plagued him with uneccessary paperwork and stupid requests)"pettifogging quill drivers."
Dave B------
Source:
Bourque's Internet Discussion List
http://boardserver.mycomputer.com/read.html
Subject: Re: Elections Canada Muzzles Bourque
9/11/2000 3:39 pm EDT
Attention BC residents, are you on ExpressVU, or Star Choice? If so you may be able to receive election results from ASN. Can anyone confirm the reception of east coast signals available through satellite systems?
L---
Source:
Bourque's Internet Discussion List
http://boardserver.mycomputer.com/read.html
Subject: Nova Scotia website for results
9/11/2000 5:08 pm EDT
http://www2.scotweb.co.uk/ns1398/KHvote00.html
K---------
Source:
Bourque's Internet Discussion List
http://boardserver.mycomputer.com/read.html
Subject: Nova Scotia website for results
9/11/2000 7:05 pm EDT
Txs for posting the website. I was going to copy it this morning but thought there wouldn't be a problem and I could get it later. Now see what happened!
T--
Source:
Bourque's Internet Discussion List
http://boardserver.mycomputer.com/read.html
Subject: Voting Hours
9/11/2000 7:33 pm EDT
This is in response to this whole sub-thread about voting hours.
Where were you guys during the last election? That election was certainly NOT decided while folks in Victoria were sitting down to dinner.
Amendments to voting hours, resulting from a private member's bill from a Liberal backbencher from BC, introduced a new system whereby voting hours varied across the country. The net effect was supposed to be that there would be a maximum of (I think) 1½ hours between the closing of the first polls in NF and the closing of the last polls in YT. The only problem was that the massively incompetent Liberals and the equally inept Electoral Office were unaware that Saskatchewan doesn't use DST, so we ended up with our polls closing more than an hour after anywhere else.
Malcolm
Source:
Bourque's Internet Discussion List
http://boardserver.mycomputer.com/read.html
Retiree Defies Elections Canada by Posting Early Returns on Web
12 September 2000
A retired Annapolis Valley schoolteacher defied Elections Canada and posted up-to-the minute updates on the Kings-Hants byelection on the Internet before polls closed in British Columbia. Ivan Smith's Web site, at http://www2.scotweb.co.uk /ns1398/KHvote00.html, gave World Wide Web surfers a chance to see how each of the the candidates fared in the closely watched byelection that sent Tory leader to the House of Commons.
Elections Canada decided last week to prohibit publicizing the results of the Kings-Hants election before polls closed in the British Columbia riding of Okanagan-Coquihalla where Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day won a seat in Parliament.
First vote count posted on Net at 8:59pm
Smith provided updates shortly after polls closed in Kings-Hants at 8:30pm, posting results at 8:59pm and every few minutes afterwards until all polling stations had reported.
Reached at home by phone while he was temporarily off-line, Smith said he has not heard from Elections Canada. "But I suppose they could come bashing in my door at any minute," he said. Smith doesn't know how many people logged onto his site during the night. "But we are having just as much fun as Joe Clark is, I bet," said Smith.
An Ottawa based Web site, Bourque NewsWatch, had also intended to post the Kings-Hants results before the B.C. polls closed, but was warned by Elections Canada in a letter yesterday not to post the results.
The letter is posted on the Web site at www.bourque.com.
[Halifax Daily News, 12 September 2000]
N.S. Man Challenges Reporting Restriction
Issues Internet Wake-Up Call to Elections Canada
12 September 2000
HALIFAX — Armed with a radio and computer modem, a retired Nova Scotia teacher set out last night to break what he called a "ludicrous" restriction on the reporting of results from the Kings-Hants federal by-election.
Minutes after the polls closed, Ivan Smith of Canning, N.S., began posting on the Internet by-election results taken from the local radio station. He acted in defiance of an Elections Canada edict prohibiting anyone from making the Kings-Hants results known to voters in the British Columbia riding of Okanagan-Coquihalla before polls closed at 7:00pm Pacific time in a by-election there.
Technically, that meant no results were supposed to reach the Internet until 11:00pm Atlantic time. But Mr. Smith, 68, scoffed at the suggestion that voters in B.C. would be influenced by by-election results from the other end of the country.
"What gives Ottawa the idea they are able to in any way impose any kind of a ban on the Internet?" he asked. "The law is ludicrous and unenforceable."
Pierre Blain, an Elections Canada spokesman, could not say whether any action would be taken against Mr. Smith. He acknowledged that because Mr. Smith's election results Web page is with an Internet provider based in Scotland, the matter is likely beyond Elections Canada's reach.
Mr. Blain said the Canada Elections Act restriction on reporting is intended to protect voters in the West during general elections but there are no specific provisions for by-elections.
Mr. Smith said he hopes his actions serve as a wake-up call to Jean-Pierre Kingsley, Canada's chief electoral officer. Mr. Smith's Web page address is http://www2.scotweb.co.uk/ns1398/KHvote00.html.
[National Post, 12 September 2000]
Big TV Networks Scoff at Elections Rules?
11 September 2000
Did CTV NEWSNET and CBC Newsworld break an odious and officious Elections Canada dictum this evening? Vancouver, BC, Bourque reader Brian Archer reports that "I am watching a live feed on both CTV Newsnet, and CBC Newsworld, and it is only 5:45pm in BC. Last time I checked, the polls were still open in the Okanagan. So much for the edict from Elections Canada." And what of CTV NewsNet when it interviewed Canadian Alliance honcho Deborah Grey for reaction to the Kings-Hants results live from Stock Day HQ in the riding of Okanagan ?
Source:
Bourque NewsWatch
http://www.achilles.net/~pierre/notes.html
Bourque Visitors' List
13 September 2000
Who's visited Bourque since dawn today?
parl.gc.ca ... cdott.com ... jetform.com ... velocet.net ... gnb.ca ... gm.com ... cbc.ca ... gov.nf.ca ... gov.ns.ca ... nhq.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca ... csmb.qc.ca ... bmts.com ... lcbo.com ... dfait-maeci.gc.ca ... dfo-mpo.gc.ca ... mta.ca ... mts.net ... electralogics.com ... mtl.aei.ca ... ocdsb.edu.on.ca ... crim.utoronto.ca ... cga-ontario.org ... toromont.com ... ark.com ... mnr.gov.on.ca ... lafleurbrown.ca ... irb.gc.ca ... ic.gc.ca ... sgc.gc.ca ... southam.ca ... besserer.com ... nortelnetworks.com ... bell.ca ... cognos.com ... mbs.gov.on.ca ... station.energy108.ca ... edu.uwo.ca ... lsuc.on.ca ... uwaterloo.ca ... ttu.edu ... jsrl.com ... marconi.ca ... ctv.ca ... gispro.com ... cis.ec.gc.ca ... src.ca ... town.richmond-hill.on.ca ... sdbi.ca ... fin.gc.ca ... publicdebt.treas.gov ... xerox.com ... usps.gov ... justice.gc.ca ... bancom.net ... jaring.my ... and thousands more ...
Source:
Bourque NewsWatch
http://www.achilles.net/~pierre/notes.html
Some viewers may not be up on the arcane details of Internet domain names. Here are some translations:
gc.ca Government of Canada
fin.gc.ca Government of Canada, Department of Finance
ic.gc.ca Government of Canada, Department of Industry
utoronto.ca University of Toronto
uwaterloo.ca University of Waterloo
gov.on.ca Government of Ontario
gov.nf.ca Government of Newfoundland
gov.ns.ca Government of Nova Scotia
ocdsb.edu.on.ca Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
cbc.ca Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
southam.ca Southam Inc.
nortelnetworks.com Nortel Networks Corporation
bell.ca Bell Canada Inc.
gm.com General Motors Corporation
Feds Mum on Election Results Posted on Net
14 September 2000
An Annapolis Valley man who posted early byelection results on the Internet Monday night said he's waiting to see if Elections Canada gets frustrated and takes it out on him.
Ivan Smith said yesterday he hasn't heard from authorities since he defied the law by posting Tory Leader Joe Clark's Kings-Hants win on his Web site before polls closed in Stockwell Day's British Columbia riding of Okanagan-Coquihalla.
The law is "trying to hold back the tide" of the information age, Smith said from his Canning home. "In the long run, Elections Canada can't win," he said.
Elections Canada policy is to make no comment on any investigation it may or may not be carrying out, spokesman Pierre Blain said. If it were to investigate Smith and charge him, it could do so within an 18-month limit.
Blain told the National Post on Monday the matter may be beyond Elections Canada's reach because Smith posted the information to an Internet provider based in Scotland.
Meant to prevent influence
The law is meant to prevent results in eastern Canada from influencing voters in western Canada. But Smith said he doubts anyone would think Clark's huge majority had any effect on Day's even bigger win. "Of course, Elections Canada is not really concerned about this byelection; they're concerned about the upcoming general election," he said.
Smith's Web site, at http://www2.scotweb.co.uk/ns1398/KHvote00.html, posted periodic results Smith heard on the radio Monday evening. They only violated the act until 11:00pm Atlantic time, when polls closed in B.C. The retired schoolteacher said he hopes to escape an outdated law because the information went out through another country.
The case is similar to the spread of court-banned information on the Karla Homolka trial through foreign-based Internet sites in 1993. Smith said he isn't aware of any charges that resulted from those violations.
"I'm on the fringes of this great big debate: how do authorities within a country regulate the Internet, which does not respect borders." he said.
[Halifax Daily News, 14 September 2000]
Index with links to the other chapters
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