Category Archives: Canada

UK Frozen Pensions – the senseless inequity continues

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There is surprisingly little movement on the UK Frozen Pensions issue.  1.1 Million British Old Age Pensioners have chosen to spend their retirement years overseas and in doing so, they save the British Economy over 7 Billion Pounds every year. More than half of these receive the same pension as they would receive if living in the UK.  The other 545,000 pensioners resident mainly in the British Commonwealth countries such as Australia and Canada have their pensions locked in value at the time they emigrated.

The UK Treasury would benefit from a change in policy and it would correct a moral debt of honour.  However the number of MPs who support this long-needed application of the English principle of fair play grows only slowly.
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High Point Equestrian Centre Hosts Jay O Jay Horsemanship Clinic

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If you have been hoping to see Jay O’Jay in action in Langley, where better than at the new and impressive High Point Equestrian Centre just south of Campbell Valley Park.  He is giving a Horsemanship Clinic on Saturday and Sunday, November 5th and 6th 2011 and it runs from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm each day.  The exact address is  658 200th St, Langley, BC.

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16 Trueworthy Road, Saturna Island BC, a Waterfront Home for Real Living

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Getting away from it all

The 6/49 TV ads from BC Lotto are a frequent reminder of how great it is to be all by yourself with some good friends in beautiful places.  The British Columbia provincial motto, the most beautiful place on earth, suggests that whatever you might wish will be found here somewhere in the province..  Indeed that is true.  There are many contenders.  However if you wish to get away then Saturna Island, the second largest and least populated of the Gulf Islands, would be a strong choice.
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Learn How To Connect With Your Horse In Langley BC

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As the Horse Capital of BC, where better to learn about connecting with horses than in Langley.

Mark your calendar because there is a free demonstration of how to start connecting with your horse.  The details are as follows:

It will be given by Jay OJay, the celebrated horseman, now based in Langley  who helps fine riders and their spirited horses get connected.  He will be demonstrating just what is possible with his own very young horses, Casper, Junior and Grace.

When Saturday August 28th from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm
Where: VTEA Riding Center (Valley Therapeutic Equestrian Association)
3330 256th Street
Aldergrove, BC  V4W 1Y4
Schedule: 1:30  -  1:50           Working with Casper
1:50  -  2:10           Working with Junior
2:10  -  2:20                   Intermission
2:20  -  2:40           Working with Grace
2:40  -  3:00           Q and A with Jay O’Jay

The demonstration will be given in a round pen  in the arena, which is being generously provided by a close neighbour,  Dare's Country Feeds, 25236 Fraser Highway, Aldergrove (Telephone: 604-856-1611)

Jay OJay with young horses

If Jay OJay is a new name to you, you can find all about him, his training methods and his training DVDs on the Jay OJay website:

Jay O'Jay is a horseman who specializes in developing a respectful relationship and connection between horse and rider. His passion is the Western discipline of Reining, but through his clinics, videos and demonstrations, he aspires to teach "transferable skills" to riders and horse owners of all disciplines and experience. Those skills, based on the ability to earn respect and gain control of the horse, are the central elements in Jay's "common sense" approach to his training program.

Jay has nurtured the natural gift he has for working with and connecting with horses - as well as people. With a personal mission to improve everyone's relationship and experience with their horse, he shares his respect for the horse with enthusiasm, patience, and passion.

To contact Jay OJay, call 778-686-9115 or e-mail him at jayojay@gmail.com.

This is a show not to be missed, so make sure to be there on Saturday August 28.

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RCMP Musical Ride joins the Vancouver 2010 Olympics celebrations

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Today marks the start of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Most Canadians have been swept up in the exuberance that the Olympic Torch Relay has generated. Today the Olympic flame will complete its 106 day journey, which has taken it through over 1,000 communities in this vast country, which is Canada. Now the fun and the excitement really starts.

Naturally one of the most important symbols of our Canadian heritage will be on show. The RCMP Musical Ride is appearing as part of the Surrey 2010 Celebrations at Holland Park from Saturday, Feb 13th to Feb 28th (no shows on Monday or Tuesday).

 

To remind you of the excitement of this Musical Ride, check out the following short video.

If you would like a momento of one of the most memorable Canadian treasures, there is an exquisite poster of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride on sale at the Surrey event in the RCMP store. All proceeds go to Valley Therapeutic Equestrian Association (VTEA), which provides therapeutic riding for special needs children. The commemorative poster celebrates the 2009 BC Tour of the RCMP Musical Ride

The poster is 14″ x 18″ and VTEA will receive all funds generated . There are copies that have been autographed by members of the Musical Ride and these are on sale for $25. Non-autographed copies are available for $20.

What could be a better souvenir of all the excitement that all Canadians are sharing at this time.

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Alberta Tries Brand Marketing

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It seems only yesterday that Alberta decided that it would no longer be Wild Rose Country.  It has been touting the Alberta Advantage for almost 15 years.

The above web page as of today notes that Alberta has a Tax Advantage, being the first debt-free province in Canada. It also has a bundle of other advantages:

  • a strong and vibrant economy
  • a young, skilled and productive workforce
  • affordable living costs
  • a strong commitment to innovation and knowledge-based progress
  • a highly entrepreneurial and competitive business community
  • a business-friendly province committed to responsible regulation
  • a modern and efficient infrastructure
  • an abundance of natural resources
  • a beautiful natural environment

So why drop the Alberta Advantage slogan.  It apparently has some negative connotations.  Perhaps it is because advantages are often there to be exploited.  Exploitation is certainly a word that has only negative vibes.

Trying to think up a brand for a province is not easy.  After all, the ideal brand instantly conjures up in the mind of your prospect some promise, some ideal solution to needs they may have.  For a whole province, that is a pretty tall order.  Only a few provinces have attempted it.

  • British Columbia – The Best Place On Earth
  • Saskatchewan -  Strong and Steady
  • Manitoba – spirited energy
  • New Brunswick – Be Unique … travel your own path
  • Prince Edward Island – the gentle island

As of today, Alberta has a new corporate message and ad campaign.

alberta brand

In a soft launch at the end of the annual spring convention of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties in Edmonton, a video featured sweeping images of the Rockies and the Badlands, along with the new, corporate message.

They are certainly putting some Big bucks behind this new Alberta brand.

Out is the 15-year-old motto: “Alberta Advantage”. In is the more generic and blah: “Freedom to Create. Spirit to Achieve”. Municipal politicians on Wednesday got a sneak peek at Alberta’ new slogan and logo, which will cost the province $25-million over three years.

It is none too soon according to Don Braid: who suggests that the Branding iron is heating up in the nick of time.  The hope is that the New brand will counteract the image of ‘dirty oil’.

The province will be working with industry, educational institutions and various organizations, including municipal politicians, to spread “the good news about Albertans.”  The goal is to attract more tourism and more investment to the province.

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Zoomit For Proud Canadians

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You may know that you can vote for websites you find appealing at a number of websites and thus make others aware of your finds.  They carry names like StumbleUpon, diggit and reddit to name but three.  A new one has now appeared on the scene called Zoomit  .. and this is a site for proud Canadians.

That’s not just for the Proud Canadians Top Ten but for everyone who is a Canadian and proud of it. 

You may wish to consult a good review of Zoomit, which gives more details. As it mentions this is a Canadian social bookmarking website that features Canada’s News chosen by patriotic Canadians

David Leonhardt, the founder of Zoomit.ca says, “We have created a free place where Canadians can have their say on Canadian stories about politics, sports, entertainment and other topics. Mr. Leonhardt saw a need for social bookmarking with “Canadian-only” content because Canadian stories can get somewhat buried in the  U.S.-based sites mentioned above.

David Leonhardt asked me via Twitter whether I had any Canadian suggestions, for those who might be made aware of this great review of Zoomit.

Some Twitter Contacts

Since the question came via Twitter, my mind turned naturally to Twitter for the answer since this service seems to be growing by leaps and bounds.  Increasingly people are using Twitter to inform their friends about interesting websites.  It seemed a natural fit.  How could I develop a list of Twitter members that could receive the good news.

Unfortunately Twitter is a very rudimentary service.  Although you can find your friends by name fairly easily, there is no easy way to identify which are Canadians. Some names came quickly to mind and here is a short list of their Twitter identities.

I have undoubtedly offended many others who might assume that I would not forget them.  I will prepare a more complete list in another post and encourage any other proud Canadians who wish to be mentioned to follow the steps outlined at the end of this post.

Twitter Contacts Google Knows

Although Google seems to be having a difficult time indexing the Twitter output, I decided to use a Google search to try to find more proud Canadians.  The following seems to include more agencies than individuals, but who knows, perhaps they would wish to be using the Zoomit service too.

How To Get On The List Of Proud Canadians

For those proud Canadians who would like to be included in the list, I would encourage them to do the following:

  1. Make sure your Twitter profile identifies you as a Canadian in some way
  2. Tweet the Zoomit Review Article
  3. Add a comment to this post, including your Twitter identity.

I then undertake to cover the Twitter identities of at least the first 100 Proud Canadians in a subsequent post.  Even if you do not wish to be so identified, why not make Zoomit part of your world and help Canadian news get the visibility it deserves.

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Newspapers When The Going Gets Tough

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When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  That phrase came to mind after reading.Mathew Ingram’s article,  Newspaper staff cuts: Good news?

There are a lot of newspapers that haven’t been moving quite as quickly as they might towards an online future. To a large extent, these papers have been insulated from the need to change by a healthy cash balance, a lock on local advertising markets, a magnanimous owner, a sense of entitlement, etc. (feel free to pick more than one).  What better way to force some change than by administering a large but hopefully non-lethal shock to the system?

With the advertising-revenue wolf clearly at the door, managers at these papers have moved swiftly to shed entire categories of sub-editors, to reconfigure the desk system, to merge Web and print duties where they might not have been merged before, and so on.  Even papers with strong unions have been able to accomplish this, because the economic necessity is so obvious.

When times are easy then even weak competitors can survive.  A tough time forces management to consider how performance can be improved.  Only the strong survive in that process.  In some ways it’s the law of the jungle.  Eventually the best survive.

Donna Ladd expressed a similar sentiment in her [Editor’s Note] When the Going Gets Tough.  She had another dimension on which she felt that newspapers could improve and grow:

I strongly believe that the key to weathering the crisis, or maybe even riding it like a wave, is to think as local as possible. We must look at the world around us with abundance in our hearts—not with stinginess in our eyes. We must help others succeed, dance with the ones who really care about us, bolster our local business community in every way possible. They are the ones who are there for us, the ones who don’t have a corporation telling them to lay off people because the outlets out West aren’t doing so well.

It really points to another lesson, which is never to assume that you are doing the very best you can do.  It is always good to have measures of performance and see how you could do even better.  Complacency is a certain recipe for demise when the times are changing.

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Fort Langley November 19, 1858

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british columbi flag

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Birth of British Columbia.  On that date, the inauguration of the Crown Colony of British Columbia took place.  The event took place in the Big House at Fort Langley on November 19, 1858, when Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie, the newly appointed Chief Justice, swore in James Douglas as the first Governor of the Crown Colony of British Columbia.

With a little time in the afternoon, Viv and I decided we should pop over to Fort Langley to see what was still going on.  Fort Langley is a charming village that is well worth a visit. In some ways it is reminiscent of the village of Hudson to the west of Montreal, although on a somewhat larger scale.  There is also a National Historic Site where you can see a restored version of the fort and settlement set up by the fur trade organization called the Hudson’s Bay Company to trade with the First Nations of the West Coast.  Although most of the festivities took place over the previous weekend, there were still cameras and lights very evident to record this momentous day.

Given the British feeling engendered by such a visit, a cuppa tea seemed called for.  As we wandered towards the quieter southern end of the main street (Glover Road), we were delighted and very surprised to spot the Yorkshire Tea Shoppe a little set back to the east of the street. It has only been open a short while but it will certainly do well.  The lady proprietor, Claire, hails from Hull in England and does indeed provide an authentic taste of Britain.  You can even get hot scones, Devon cream and jam!  It’s a place to be highly recommended and we’ll certainly be back.

Some Relevant Books

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Brand Canada – Aw Shucks

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The headlines this morning point out that Canada’s ‘brand’ second only to Australia’s. That is based on a study by Future Brand, a New York consulting firm who surveyed 2,700 business and leisure travelers to gauge which countries they had visited, which they most wanted to visit and which they would recommend to friends.

For four years now, Canada has been working on its brand with the phrase "Keep Exploring," to show that we offer more than just pretty scenery.  Perhaps it is working. Rina Plapler of Future Brand wrote. "It’s a familiar country to people. It’s familiar, it’s well-liked, it’s safe, it’s seen as family oriented."

Canada Brand International Is also trying to leverage that brand to sell more food around the world.

Canada has a positive image around the world. We’re known to be trustworthy, reliable and competent people. Our land is thought of as pristine, fresh and environmentally friendly. Our food and agriculture products are considered safe, fresh, and natural.

Clearly getting to the top spot will be tough.  The experts on Branding in Canada cite the following difficulties:

  • Canada itself, and what it means to be Canadian, are widely debated but any agreement there might be remains largely unarticulated
  • Canadian brands have not consistently leveraged "Canadian-ness" nor have they created a universal appeal for Canadian attributes and values in corporate, product and service branding
  • The Canadian character does not lend itself to bold communications

That is perhaps why another study by renowned national branding experts, the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index, puts Canada at only the number four position with Germany as number one.

nbi country brand hexagon

Their index is based on a survey in which respondents from across 20 major developed and developing countries are asked to rate their agreement with statements about each nation. The statements cover six categories: Exports, Governance, Culture, People, Tourism and Immigration/Investment. The NBI ranking is based on the average of these six scores.

Germany is viewed as the best overall "brand, receiving the highest ranking of the 50 nations measured. The full listing of the top twenty is as follows:

1. Germany
2. France
3. United Kingdom
4. Canada
5. Japan
6. Italy
7. United States
8. Switzerland
9. Australia
10. Sweden 		11. Spain
12. Netherlands
13. Norway (tie)
14. Austria (tie)
15. Denmark
16. Scotland
17. New Zealand
18. Finland
19. Ireland
20. Belgium

Clearly the time for Aw Shucks is over.  Canada needs to continue to speak out but at least we seem to be making progress.

Books that may be of interest

Ikonica:
A Field Guide to
Canada’s Brandscape Jeanette Hanna

Brand Innovation Manifesto:
How to Build Brands,
Redefine Markets and
Defy Conventions John Grant

The Global Brand:
How to Create and Develop
Lasting Brand Value
in the World Market Nigel Hollis

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