West Wing Wednesday Night #25 April 7, 2010

Links to things and events we discussed at last Salon

Robert Beckwermert (with able assistance from Chris Best) effort to do their bit for Haiti via an on-line fundraiser:
A few interesting facts about Haiti:

only nation, born of a slave revolt – first independent nation in Latin America – proclaimed independence in Jan 1, 1804 – 100,000 blacks and 24,000 out of the 40,000 white colonists – killed in the revolution, then the new emperor for life, Dessalines  killed or exiled the remaining whites.  He then was assassinated in 1806 – losing a competition for power

one of only two independent nations in the Americas that designate French as an official language – the other one being Canada

3rd largest county in the Caribbean, after Cuba and the  Dominican Republic  – with whom they share a 360K border and only 45 nautical miles away from Cuba

Peter Ladner is moderating a conversation on April 22^nd “Competing Visions of the Agricultural Land Reserve in Metro Vancouver”
Till May 1^st – juried show “Twitter/Art + Social Media” at the www.dianefarrisgallery.com with an on-line engagement strategy via a blog 

Some links discussed:
Mark Podlasly in the Globe & Mail this week: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canadas-urban-aboriginals-feel-politically-unrepresented-poll-finds/article1525469/
NYTimes article – China Is Eager to Bring High-Speed Rail Expertise to the U.S. 

L   Liberal non-partisan conference – www.Can150.com – a must see short presentation on future of Asia

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Dear friends,
Thank you HUGELY for the outpouring of congratulatory messages you sent for the upcoming celebration of our two years of consecutive monthly salons. As you know, this is all a tribute to the fantastic energy and insights that you all contribute so generously each time you attend and I am personally so grateful to have come to know so many dynamic and vibrant British Columbians! And Diana and David Nicholson – the brilliant couple from Westmount who got all of this in motion over two decades ago – THANK YOU on all of our behalf.

Although many of you can’t attend the actual celebration, we will definitely raise a glass for you tomorrow night!

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I don’t want to incite hate mail, but yes, I have had to change the date to April 7th after all… as otherwise I could not have made it myself, and I am determined not to miss this! So I am truly very very sorry if this means you can no longer attend.

Giving you lots of heads up for the date change, I also want to give you lots of heads up for the topics centered on innovation and the future:

– BullFrog is a company with the motto: “Pay more for energy” – is that the way of the future?

– TV on line – for the first time, Canadians of all ages are spending more time on the Internet than on TV/Cable – or is the real question Internet vs. smart phone?

– Are we all right with the notion of benevolent dictatorship even if it comes from the do-no-harm company aka Google?

– innovation and government – for once I actually like The Economist Debate – so: should we select innovation or should we let it organically develop?

– Canada will be 150 years old in 2017 – and the upcoming non-partisan conferences organized by the Liberals, Canada at 150  will explore what we can focus on in the next few years to make that anniversary memorable. I have to say that for once I find the agenda and conference presenters very interesting – and I understood why, after I realized that three Wednesday-west-ers were involved in the planning/organization!

– and heads up on another effort to revive the dialogue within our society – the MacDonald-Laurier Institute will be coming out west with a session May 6th  – Senator Larry Campbell and John Reynolds will host an evening of insight into politics, policy and economic trends with Andrew Coyne, Chantal Hébert and Brian Lee Crowley. I liked Brian Lee Crowley a lot when he presented to Rick Peterson’s Burgundy Club a few months ago – so this is your chance to make up your mind on his ideas, which did sound new in the Canadian context.

We look forward to welcoming friends back and meeting new guests. Come to think, discuss, be inspired, and exchange ideas and insights, all you of interested, interesting, informed and informative folks in town.