Tiny Titanic

Next week we head off on our annual vacation, this time to Europe, which will include a seven day cruise on the Navigator OfThe Seas around the Eastern Mediterranean (Italy, Greece, and Turkey) as well as extended land tours in Rome, Paris, and London before heading home. This is not our first cruise with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines but it is a new ship for both of us.
I have never had a fear of ships having also travelled on P&O Lines SS Oriana and the SS Canberra in the 1960’s which are much smaller than today’s monster passenger ships.

In thinking about how ships have grown exponentially, I was curious as to how the largest of today’s Cruise ships Allure of the Seas would compare to the largest and arguably the most famous cruise ship in the 20^th Century, the RMS Titanic. 

The picture below shows how tiny the RMS Titanic looks when compared to the Allure of the Seas and since we are not going to run into any icebergs in August in the Eastern Mediterranean, I am confident we have little to worry about.

Suicide vs. Service

One TV Actor Completed Suicide by Heroin/Alcohol – Headline News.

158 Canadian Soldiers Killed Serving their Country – Nobody Cares

There is something terribly wrong with the two statements above; primarily, that a mediocre TV actor who chooses suicide by a lethal combination of alcohol and heroin should garner more attention and publicity than the Canadian soldiers who have been killed on active duty in Afghanistan. Flowers from strangers line the outer wall of the hotel where the suicide took place. A candlelight vigil for the recently departed is being planned as I write this.

What is wrong with the world?

 This actor CHOSE to die by his own hand; he completed the last task he CHOSE to undertake, yet the throngs are crying because he completed what he intended to do?

Have we become so blasé to the eleven-year ground war in the Middle-East that one more or less soldier giving his/her life to fight against a governance system that is fundamentally against human rights, is just another day in the life?

Yes, war is a terrible thing, and young men and women should not have to go to foreign lands with the possibility of being killed on the job. However, until the concept of armed conflict is a distant human memory, nations will continue to send their brightest and best to do a job that nobody wants to do, while taking every precaution to ensure they come home safely.

Until then we need to take more than two minutes of silence at the 11^th hour on the 11^th day of the 11^th month to remember the children we are sending to die in a war.

30 Reasons Canada is Cool!

I recently posted about Canadian Myths that won't die, and after a barrage of emails from family, friends, (and one politician), I knew I needed to balance the books a little - OK, I had to write something HUGELY positive about Canada to offset those who hold tightly to the myths I busted.

So, here is my  30 reasons that I think Canada is WAY cooler than the USA.
To my US Friends: relax, I still like you.

Our taste in chocolate is better: Everyone knows we have loads of chocolate candy varieties you can’t get in the U.S.—Coffee Crisp, Aero, Smarties—but earlier this year Hershey’s said it re-engineered its chocolate recipe to better appeal to Canadian palates. A Hershey’s spokesperson said Canadians prefer smoother and sweeter chocolate compared to the “grittier or even cheesier flavour” chocolate found in America.

Our Canadian bacon is better than their Canadian bacon: This can get confusing, but try to follow along. When Americans buy “Canadian bacon,” they get a package of fully-cooked processed slices of ham, which Canadians don’t actually eat. Canadian bacon, on the other hand, isn't called that by Canadians. Instead it's peameal bacon, a Toronto creation of pickle-brine-cured pork loin rolled in cornmeal. It’s a travesty most Americans can’t tell the difference.

Our national symbol is a worthier animal: Yes, eagles soar high, have incredible eyesight and razor-sharp

talons. They’re also carrion-eating louts. As Ben Franklin once noted,
“I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly ... like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy ... a rank Coward.”
The beaver, on the other hand, is a rugged, humble and industrious little creature (okay, rodent).

We live longer: Canadians born today will live an average of three years longer than Americans (81 years in Canada versus 78.7 south of the border). Not only that, the gap between life expectancy in the two countries is widening with each passing decade—it was less than a year in the late 1970s.

Saying “Sorry” is good for you: Canadians are mocked for always apologizing, but it’s not a character flaw. Saying sorry has been found to boost happiness and strengthen relationships. Researchers at the University of Waterloo even found apologizing to a cop when pulled over for speeding can get fines reduced an average of $51. True, scientists did recently claim that refusing to apologize for your actions leads to a sense of empowerment, but such short-sighted thinking would only appeal to self-centred Americans. (Sorry, that was mean.)

Giant American corporations associate with our unofficial mascot: Up to 80 per cent of the world’s polar bears are in Canada—Americans have to make do with polar bears in Coke commercials and on pop cans. 

Our lobsters taste better: It’s an endless debate between fishermen and chefs in the Maritime provinces and Maine. We claim the cooler waters of Canada spawn tastier crustaceans. Americans disagree. But most Maine lobster is processed in Canada anyway, so we dominate both ways. 

Our kids are all right: Canada’s schools take heat from all sides, but they must be doing something right. Our 15-year-olds routinely score in the top 10 of 65 countries that participate in the OECD’s reading, math and science tests. Last time around, in 2009, we were sixth, just behind Singapore and ahead of New Zealand. American teens? A lukewarm 17th. Ouch.

We’re better educated: 48.3 per cent of Canadians have a post-secondary degree, compared to 40.3 per cent in the U.S.

We’re fitter: The percentage of American adults who are obese is 35.9. In Canada, it’s 24.2.

We have more sex: According to a survey by condom-maker Durex, 59 per cent of Canadians say they have sex weekly, versus 53 per cent of Americans.

Better sea monsters: Both Ogopogo and the lesser-known monster in Lake Champlain have been captured on video in recent years. The U.S.’s most famous sea monster, Jaws, isn’t even real.

We drink less: Our alcohol consumption is 8.2 litres a year, compared to 8.7 in the U.S.

We’re richer: Canada’s average household net worth of $363,000 is higher than America’s, at $320,000.

More of us give to charities: Roughly 64 per cent of Canadians donate money to charities, compared to 60 per cent in the U.S.

We have better work-life balance: More than 11 per cent of U.S. employees regularly clock 50-hour work weeks, compared to 3.9 per cent here.

We brave the cold better: Our climate is colder and our population smaller, but relatively fewer of us succumb to the cold. Where Canada has 5,644 excess winter deaths (relative to average non-winter deaths), the U.S. sees 108,500.

We have more social mobility: If you want to live the American Dream, move to Canada. Social mobility, measured by intergenerational changes in income between sons and their fathers, is twice as high in Canada as in the U.S. In other words, a son born to a poor father in the U.S. is twice as likely to remain poor throughout his life than had he been born in Canada.

The money in your wallet is safer: Canadian currency once had a terrible reputation for being easy to counterfeit, but new polymer bills introduced by the Bank of Canada has hi-tech features that make them almost impossible to reproduce. Of the 500 million notes circulated since 2011, only 56 fakes have been seized. In the U.S., out of every 500 million bank notes in circulation, an estimated average 3, 250 are fakes.

We get more paid holidays: America has no mandated paid holidays or vacation time, so 23 per cent of U.S. workers get no paid time off, compared to Canadian workers who get at least two weeks and nine paid public holidays.

Our broadcast TV doesn't have to treat adults like children: Maybe it’s because Americans are such sensitive folk, or it’s our ill-defined role as cultural bridge between the U.S. and Europe, but Canadian TV regularly gets away with showing things broadcast networks south of the border can’t: nipples, F-bombs and the like. When The Sopranos aired unedited on CTV, executive producer David Chase said that could never happen on U.S. network TV: “It’s just not possible, we have rules against that.”

Unlike Americans, who wait for the rest of the world to learn English, Canadians get Oscar nominations for foreign-language films, and not just ones in French— Deepa Mehta's Hindi-language "Water" was nominated in 2007.

We have better football: Since the late 1970s, the National Football League has been tweaking its rules to encourage more passing—that is, to make the U.S. game more exciting. Up here, we got it right the first time: a three-down game on a great, big field. So on second and 10, you can bet that ball will be in the air.

We see more of the world: Last year Canadians took close to 10 million trips abroad to countries other than the U.S. Despite having a population nearly 10 times that of Canada, Americans made just 30 million trips overseas. The poor showing from U.S. travellers shouldn't be a surprise. While 65 per cent of Canadians hold a valid passport, only 35 per cent of Americans do.

Provincially, our leaders are (much) more representative of the gender divide: The governments of Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nunavut are all led by females who are responsible for governing more than 87 per cent of Canada’s population. By comparison, America has just five female governors, and the vast majority of Americans live in male-governed states.

We have far fewer assassinations: Since Confederation, only three Canadian politicians have been assassinated, including two Fathers of Confederation: Thomas D'Arcy McGee was shot by a Fenian sympathizer in 1868; George Brown was shot in the leg by a former Globe employee in 1880 (the wound led to a fatal infection).  Quebec minister of labour Pierre Laporte was kidnapped and assassinated by the FLQ in 1970. In the United States, a staggering 44 politicians have been assassinated, including four sitting presidents.

We accept homosexuality: 80 per cent of Canadians say society should accept gays and lesbians, versus 60 per cent in the U.S.

We’re fine with gay politicians: While former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey might be called the first (and only) “openly gay” governor in American history, it doesn't really count if you resign as soon as you come out of the closet. In Canada, not only is Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne openly gay, but her sexual orientation barely factors into coverage of Ontario politics. With all the scandals to beset Queen's Park, the premier’s personal life is the least shocking thing about Ontario’s government.

We don't have out-of-control prison sentences: Last year 38,700 people were serving time in Canada, roughly 114 for every 100,000 citizens. That’s nothing. In the U.S. 2.24 million Americans are locked up—716 for every 100,000 citizens, the highest incarceration rate in the world. Canada ranks 136th.

Canadian Myths

1. Our beer is stronger than American beer: 

That’s bogus, a myth born out of the different methods once used to measure alcoholic content on labelling. Americans long listed percentages of alcohol by weight on the bottle, while Canadians used a measure of alcohol by volume. The difference distorts the picture somewhat, because alcohol weighs less than water, making Bud and other sudsy U.S. staples appear weak in comparison to Labatt and Molson, for example. Actually, most beers around the world hover in and around the five per cent mark, in terms of alcohol by volume—that includes the much-maligned Bud—meaning that it will get you as drunk as fast as most Canadian brews.

2. Beavers will bite off their own testicles when confronted by a predator: 

This myth has an old pedigree, going back to ancient times, with commentators such as Pliny and Claudius Aelianus describing how the beaver, confronted by hunters, would sacrifice its testicles, which were prized for their medicinal value, in the same way a man who is mugged might immediately present to the robber the contents of his wallet. Both NDP MP Pat Martin and literary icon Margaret Atwood have played a role in perpetuating this legend. Actually, male beavers hold their family jewels within their bodies (not like Papillon carried his money, but you get the idea).

3. Canadians burned down the White House: 

It’s a story a lot of Canadian kids grow up believing—that in 1814 we sacked D.C. and put our torches to the president’s house, setting it aflame. Actually it was the British Major General Robert Ross (An Irishman from County Down, in the southern part of the Emerald Isle) who ordered a number of public buildings to be burned (Canada did not exist for another 53 years).

4. Canadians own a lot fewer guns than Americans: 

The U.S. is a pistol-packing country, but it’s not also true that Canada carries an entirely empty holster. According to a 2007 International Small Arms Survey, there are 30.8 guns in Canada for every 100 citizens (that is still over 10.4 MILLION guns in Canada). Not quite the 88.8 guns for every 100 American citizens (310.8 MILLION guns in the USA), but enough to place Canada 13th on an international ranking of gun ownership—five times that of England.

5. Canada’s taxes are higher than America’s:

 We are socialists who tax the stuffing out of business, particularly in comparison to our southern neighbours, right? Not quite. Last year, for the first time, Canada ranked in the top 10 in Price Waterhouse Coopers’s global comparison of the most advantageous places to pay corporate taxes, placing eighth. Canada’s total average tax rate on medium-sized domestic companies weighed in at 26.9 per cent; it’s 46.7 per cent in the U.S., putting the Americans in 69th place.

I love Starbucks Coffee - HOWEVER

Anybody who has known me for more than 10 minutes can attest to my addiction for the roasted bean-flavoured water that comes from the only coffee store in North America named after a fictional character. To some people, even the mention of Starbucks and you get a grimace, sometimes a “yuck”, and a look that questions my basic sanity for preferring the best export possible from Seattle, to Toronto’s own Tim Horton’s.

If you do not like the taste of any of their dozen or so roasted beans, then at least you have tried to introduce your taste buds to new experiences beyond the ever-so-Canadian “Double –Double” (which is a disgusting way to drink coffee under any circumstances). Every so often I run into a person who complains about the price of Starbucks, even if they have never tried their product; e.g.: “… I heard they charge $5.00 for a coffee – they should be reported…”. To these people I suggest you do your own investigation into the reality of prices.
Starbucks just raised their price for a cup of Joe – by a whole penny (which does not even exist in Canada, so nobody even noticed) but they are still within a dime of what Timmies charges for similar quantity for an inferior product. Yes, for a toonie and tax you can have the equivalent of a large Tim’s – not $5 that the uninformed complain about.
If you want something like a coffee milkshake (vs. just  coffee) you can pay $5 or more, for one of the drinks that barely resemble a real cup of heaven.

However

I have an issue with Starbucks “star rewards” system that sounds good on paper, but in some cases are only words on paper and do not reflect my reality. The concept is simple: you buy 12 drinks (earning 12 stars) with one of their reloadable gift cards in a year, and you get a free one, however the free drink is added electronically to your gift card, and only select stores will redeem the gifts. I am fortunate enough to have a Starbucks within walking distance of my home/office, so I earn a couple of free drinks a month, however, the store where I get my coffee is unable to redeem the free drinks, discounts on food, free refills, or my birthday drink, because they are located in a grocery store.  The closest Starbucks that can redeem my free coffee is about 400KM (250 miles) away. When I call the Starbucks customer service line, they will add a $5.00 credit to my card for every free drink I am unable to redeem prior to the 30 day expiration. Not a bad deal if you don’t mind waiting on the phone for a couple of hours for the customer service people to get around to your call.
Last week I made the grievous error of writing to their customer service email address to request the compensation for the missed benefits. I explained very carefully that the three closest Starbucks (between walking distance and 370KM) were not able to redeem the “stars”. Multiple emails later, from a variety of customer “service” people, Starbucks is still insisting that I do  not know where the Starbucks locations are and send me a link to their store locater page, and that all of the store can redeem the stars. In my latest reply I provided Starbucks customer “service” the telephone numbers of the three closest Starbucks locations to me and challenged them to call the stores to ask about their star redemption policies.
YES! I could wait on the phone for a couple of hours and talk to a real person instead of waiting the 48 to 72 hours between emails from people who have no idea what they are talking about, but by now there is an educational principle involved. Starbucks Customer “service” people need to be educated in the reality beyond the scope of their cubicle, and one way or another I intend to assist with that education.

5.28% ROI Vs Environmental Disater

To paraphrase Diogenes …The more I know about Enbridge the more I love the decision to block them.

For the past year or so we have been hearing from Enbridge that there would be permanent economic spin-off for the First Nations communities who allowed the proposed pipeline to be built on their territories. BC Premier Christy Clark even cited approval of the First Nations along the route as one of five conditions to support the pipeline. Enbridge refused to make the details of the permanent economic spin-off for the First Nations communities’ public, as negotiations continued and they did not want to jeopardize their advantage.

Now we know why.

Northern Gateway offered First Nations communities along the route the opportunity to buy into a 10% equity stake in the pipeline. After repayment of the loans which includes a one per cent interest for Enbridge over and above the bank rate – each community would see $70,500 a year – hardly a windfall considering the environmental risk. These funds will not even cover the costs of one full time nurse per community.

With 45 First Nations communities (18 in Alberta and 27 in BC) potentially splitting that 10% equity position valued at $600Million, each community would have to raise $13.34Million each in order to net $70,500/annum a 5.28% ROI.

The First Nations communities can double that return in just about any mutual fund investment without risking the land for the next 50 generations. 

Pets in Apartments

There was a recent news article about a Vancouver City Counsellor who wanted to ensure that pets would be allowed in all apartment buildings. Much to the dismay of pet owners, those with animal companions, or those with family members who walk on all fours and are covered in hair, I do not see this as a reality any time soon.

For a start, the rules and regulations surrounding tenancy in rented accommodations are governed by the BC Rental Tenancy Act (BCRTA), that neither permits nor denies people to include pets in their place of residence, therefore the City of Vancouver needs to appeal to the owners of apartment buildings to change specific policies for individual buildings.

The larger issue is damage caused by animals.

I appreciate that there are responsible pet owners who will walk their pets three times a day, and pay enough attention to them on an ongoing basis so they do not get frustrated or lonely and take out that frustration on their environment, however from a rental application it is impossible to tell the difference between a responsible pet owner and an irresponsible one. Currently, the BCRTA only allows for a maximum damage deposit of 50% of the first month's rent and a pet damage deposit of 50% of the first month's rent. A far cry from the amount paid to replace carpets, fix walls, repaint, and the loss of rental income while all the work is being done.

We have a NO PET policy that has been in place by the owners of the apartment we manage. Earlier this year somebody sneaked an animal into their unit and it was not discovered until they vacated the premises, and we had to replace all of the flooring and repair six of the walls and we were unable to rent the apartment for a week while the work was being done - damage of $5,000.

There are a couple of possible solutions: Assuming maximum cost to replace carpets, drapes and repair wall damage will not exceed $5,000.

1. Have pet owners provide a surety bond of $5,000 per pet that could be accessed when they vacate the building to cover any damage caused by their animal companion. No damage, no problem – full refund. Some damage, it is covered, and any remaining balance is returned. This would have to be a separate agreement, apart from the BCRTA, or have the  BCRTA changed to allow such a bond;

2. Pet Damage Insurance with a limited liability of up to $5,000 per pet. The renters pay the cost of the premium directly to the owners who hold the policy. If/when there is a claim the insurance company pays out the cost of repairs.

Of course, "PET" would have to be clearly defined as domestic cats, and domestic dogs. No snakes, rats, iguanas, tigers, horses, wolves, bears, venomous creatures, exotic animals, etc. Don't laugh, apartment managers throughout the province have been asked about all of these 'pets' at one time or another.