Friends,

You are receiving this email because you have written to me about the proposed Halifax Convention Centre.  For some of you this is the first time you’ve heard from me on this issue, and for others we have had a back and forth as the issue progresses.

First of all, thank you very much for contacting me with your thoughts, ideas and opinions.  The work that I do to represent this wonderful riding in Parliament is only as strong as the feedback and conversations I have with members of our community.

When considering the issue of the Convention Centre, it is essential that I look at the issue through the lens of being a federally elected representative.  Whenever any new issue emerges, the first question I ask myself is how this fits into the federal realm, and I try hard to take a principled position.

The NDP has always stood for the principle of local and provincial control over decisions with local scope.  If a community decides to invest infrastructure funds in a facility that benefits their community, then it is the role of federal government to support that decision. These are important local decisions that should be made in an open and transparent way.

However, as federally elected official, it is also my duty to ensure that any federally funded project reflects the needs of the community.  After hearing a lot of feedback from community that they don’t feel that this project reflects the community’s needs, I deliberately sought feedback from constituents about their thoughts, ideas and opinions on the proposed convention centre.  The feedback I received was robust, but not unanimous.  There are some who were very much opposed to the centre, some very much in favour, and others who really wanted to see their needs reflected in the design.

I have written a letter to the Prime Minister to share with him these ideas and opinions.  I have also called for public consultation on design, because I believe that if the federal government is going to fund a local project, we need to ensure that the project best reflects the needs of the community.  The only way to achieve this is through a fulsome consultation process, as we saw with the consultation on the new public library, for example.

This issue will continue to evolve, and if I become aware of any new information, I will be sure to be in touch with you.  Please do continue to be in touch with me.

Thank you for expressing you views on this issue and for your passionate civic engagement.

All the best,

Megan

 

Megan Leslie

Member of Parliament for Halifax

Health Critic and Deputy Justice Critic

519 Confederation Building, House of Commons

Ottawa, ON  K1A 0A6

Ph: (613) 995-7614 / E-mail: leslim@parl.gc.ca

Twitter: http://twitter.com/MeganLeslieMP

Website: www.meganleslie.ca

Letter from Megan Leslie to PM Stephen Harper Re: Federal funding for the Halifax Convention Centre.

Below is the email I sent in response:

Hon. Megan Leslie

Thank you for your response. I’m disappointed in your position and bias to the opponents of the convention center. Your letter to the Prime Minister claims to be an attempt at passing along the diversity of citizen comments, but spends it’s entirety relaying only those comments from individuals who oppose this project.

As a Federal representative, you have failed to carry the wishes and interest of the community as displayed by the approval of both municipal and provincial governments of this project. Both bodies approved the project after considerable public consultation and it was determined that the benefits to the whole outweigh the concerns of the few.

Regards,

Issmat A. M. Al-Akhali
Halifax, NS

Your World Today has been following the development of Masdar City since the project’s announcement in 2007 (See Post 1 and Post 2 for background). Below is an animated video that explains the vision. Many are likening the Masdar initiative to The Venus Project.

Next week, I will be joining meetings between Masdar officials and Nova Scotia’s Department of Environment. Mirroring the aspirations of Abu Dhabi, Nova Scotia is already a North American leader in sustainable waste management, with composting rates at 200% the Canadian average, and near 100% of residents having access to curbside collection of paper, food, and recyclable waste. Nova Scotia’s Waste management experts, together with stakeholders from academia, government, and industry, are working to create an international Waste Resource Management Institute right here in Nova Scotia. The institute’s mandate will be to share the province’s expertise with the world to promote sustainable, community-driven environmental initiatives.

Similarly, Phase 1 of Masdar City included plans for a world-class institute of science and technology with a focus on graduate-level research in clean energy and green technologies. So where are those plans now? I’m happy to report that the institute was the first building to be completed in Masdar City, and the first cohort of 88 students (selected from a pool of 1200 applicants from 22 Countries) commenced their studies in the Fall of 2009 as the first residents of Masdar City! The Masdar Institute is operated in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Masdar Institute

Another plan for Phase 1 of Masdar City was to power the construction phase using renewable energy sources. In June of 2009, a $50M Solar power plant came online to power the construction of Masdar City. The 10 Megawatt plant occupies 55 acres and is the largest photovoltaic system in the MENA region. The plant was designed and built by Enviromena: a young UAE-based company whose four founding members are all Canadian!

And before I conclude this update, I will leave you with a video demonstration of the driver-less, track-less electric cars that will be the main mode of transportation in Masdar City’s ULTra – PRT system (Urban Light Transit – Personal Rapid Transit). The system is developed and implemented by 2getthere, a company based in the Netherlands.

The Toronto branch of Halifax-based Extreme Group and Toronto-based Lollipop have been tirelessly working on this unique branding and interactive campaign for a new Toronto business venture. The edgy campaign received final blessings and was about to launch when nature decided to rear its ugly head in Haiti.

So, instead of the massive launch this campaign was about to receive, a highly subdued roll-out took place. I’m being deliberately vague here because I don’t want to spoil your first interaction with this campaign. Go ahead and click on the image below to visit HaitianPure.com (Edit – March 1 2010: website has changed to PureBlackSunshine.com). Turn your volume up, set your browser to ‘Full Screen’, then follow the website prompts and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

While I can understand the potential risk of backlash, I can’t help but wonder if the campaign (and the client) would have benefited from the publicity that would have resulted from any potential controversy. In the end, I think the client and the agency correctly decided to err on the side of safety.

Despite the quiet launch, the campaign’s viral potential will make up for the lost attention. Extreme made sure to furnish the interactive with the necessary tools to squeeze as much social juice out of the site as possible. You can add it to your Facebook or MySpace profile. You can also Digg it and Tweet it (but for some reason, you can’t Stumble it).

Regardless of the outcome, this campaign is surely heading for some award nominations (at least a Davey Award!).

[via AdblogArbia]

The two main parties are:

1. Indian National Congress (INC, a.ka. ‘The Congress’) – Current ruling party.
2. Bharatiya Janata Party (“Indian People’s Party”, BJP)

Indian elections are monumental by nature. As one of the largest and most populated countries in the world, the numbers involved are staggering:

• Eligible Voters: 714 Million, a ‘slight’ increase of about 40 million voters since the previous elections in 2004
• Elections Budget: 176 Million Euros (approx. $280 Million CAD).
• Number of Seats: 552
• Number of competing candidates in 1st Phase: 1715 candidates (122 women).
• Voting Style: Electronic
• Number of voting machines: 1,368,430 voting machines in 828,804 polling stations across the country

With such a vast election covering vast territories, political ads in India have their own special flavour. How else would you convince the majority of 714 million voters to elect your party? The term ‘Political Song and Dance’ is taken literally here, with parties vying to capture the hearts and minds of India’s diverse population.

INC “Hand Of Congress”

In the ad above, the girl says to her uncle: “Look what I’ve done with my hands”, and afterwards he shows her what the hand of the Congress has achieved.  (Translation found on France 24 Observers web page).

In fact, the Congress party was successful in buying the exclusive rights to the “Jai Ho” song featured at the end credits of internationally acclaimed movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. The song, which translates into ‘Be Victorious’, won the Oscar for Best Song in the 2009 Academy Awards.The party has been using it in elections rallies across the country, along with various other Bollywood-inspired campaigns.

This did not go well with the BJP party, so they created their own anthem to remind people of the grateness of the BJP era, which ruled india from 1999 to 2004 .

BJP “Anthem For Change”

I expect nothing less from such a colourful and diverse country!

[More Indian Election ad videos available here from France 24]

I believe that the concerns faced by companies from any country are very common when it comes to seeking business opportunities in China, or anywhere else where the business, language, and cultural differences are significant.

While the following advice is not an in-depth report of how to do business internationally, I hope that it may highlight some common sense approaches to frequent general questions.

As many experts would advise, it is a good first step for any company (that wants to do business in China for the first time) to think of China as Europe, with vast cultural and language differences between one end of the Country and the other.

In doing business abroad, it is important to approach the new opportunity with good attitude. Of course, certain precautions are expected to be taken by any business when entering a new market. However, do ensure that you approach the new relationship with your Chinese counterparts with an attitude of trust, openness, patience, and mutual cooperation. I have seen/heard of companies that approached a new relationship with an attitude of “I’ll assume my potential partner is a crook unless they can prove otherwise” and became the business case for a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Remember that your potential foreign business partners are as apprehensive of doing business with you as you are with them. So keep an open mind and the chances of your success will automatically improve significantly.

With that in mind, the common challenges, in my experience, would be the following:

1. Language

This includes both interpretation and translation. You will need a decent interpreter to accompany you to meetings and trade shows. Also note that translations of legal contracts from English to Chinese by professionals can be costly, but necessary. Ensure that there is an agreement with the Chinese counterpart about which version (English or Chinese) prevails if a change in the meaning of a clause or document occurs during translation.

2. Communications

Perhaps a related aspect to the language factor is the ‘culture of communication’ that exists in the new market(s). Questions such as “What is a common response time to emails and messages” in China are important to understand beforehand in order to manage expectations. This will help you to avoid a communications gap that might lead you (or them) to misinterpret long response times as an indication of non-interest in the business opportunity instead of it being a simple cultural norm in that particular country.

Here is one hint: Be aware of local holidays in the other country. Chinese New Year is usually accompanied with a month-long hiatus in business activities. Labour day equates to a week of slow-down. Major events like elections can also contribute to a general slowing down of business activities.

3. Legitimacy and Non-Performance

This is the big and common concern with doing business in foreign countries. It is even a bigger concern in countries where regulatory frameworks don’t offer much protection or viable recourse for non-delivery/performance.

I would suggest you follow some of the following methods in vetting your opportunities/partners so as to reduce the risk of seeking legal recourse later:

• Seek help and recommendations from your country’s trade offices in China (e.g. Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, World Trade Centers, Commercial/Cultural Attache office of your Embassy in China, etc.). Often times they can vouch for the reputation of a local company or business person.

• Check your potential partner’s standing/reputation in local professional associations of your industry, accreditation bodies, or 3rd-party assessors (e.g. credit bureaus)

• Seek referrals from business people you can trust, whether in China or in your Country.

For a new market entrant, almost all the above can be easily achieved by working with a local partner/consultant. They can help with your legal, business, financial, and cultural integration. They can also assist with interpretation, HR, and sourcing what you need.

So go forth and frollick in this exciting world of international business and global opportunity. The rewards are certainly worth it, and a little courage can take you and your company a long way!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-76oq_AHHg

This phone comes with a variety of attachments to allow the owner to switch between flutes, harmonicas, trumpets, etc.

Kilian-Nakamura.com notes additional musician/DJ mobile phone instruments that were unveiled at the exhibit, including a folding DJ scratch pad and synthesizer, a string-instrument cell phone, air-drum sticks, and keyboard instrument.

Mobile phone innovation is no big thing in Japan. Fierce competition by the three main mobile service providers (Docomo, KDDI, and Softbank) in the trend-loving Japanese market had already produced technologies years ahead of anything we have in North America or Europe (let alone Canada’s dinosaur rate of adoption of new mobile technologies). Japanese consumers today use their mobile phone as an all-in-one lifestyle device. Phones are used as mini-TVs, email/internet devices, credit cards, RFID swipe cards, and for virtual gaming to name a few.

The early July launch of the iPhone in Japan (same day as its launch in Canada) was preceded by speculations of poor uptake in a market where the ‘wow’ factor of the iPhone is eclipsed by existing technologies. (A previous blog post about the iPhone’s in Japan can be found here). However, early stats seem to show that the exclusive provider (Softbank) is raking in subscriptions that may have boosted their market ranking from number three (behind KDDI) to number two for the month of July.

However, skeptics still believe that the uptake is only a small percentage of the market, most likely comprised of “gaijin” (foreigners/outsiders) and Apple enthusiasts. They predict that the growth is unsustainable and will not crossover into mainstream Japanese consumers due to the lack of gadgetry in the iPhone (e.g. to use the phone as a charge card or watch Japanese digital television during daily commute).

It is almost depressing to talk about cell phone technologies while I sit in Canada, unable to blog through my mobile phone due to crippling data usage rates that restrict non-corporate consumers from shedding the tethers of connectivity and relying on the chains of home/office networks to communicate and innovate.

Japan’s oligopoly resulted in constant competition to provide consumers with better cheaper mobile technologies, while Canada’s big three (Rogers, Bell Aliant, and Telus) appear to have a silent price-fixing agreement. High cell phone and data rates in Canada are preventing entire industries from taking off due to low uptake of cellphone internet usage. Mobile internet commerce, application, and game development for the cell phone industry in Canada is near obsolete.

When was the last time you saw a job posting seeking “mobile application developers” in Canada?

Joggins mention dates back to the 19th century and the visits of Sir Charles Lyell, the father of modern geology who proclaimed the Coal Age fossil exposure in Joggins as the ‘finest example in the world’. The fossils have been used in Darwin’s ‘On The Origin Of Species‘.

With all this history etched upon the fossil cliffs of this old mining community, it was only fitting to contrast it with a state-of-the-art research institute. As earth has documented the evolution of life in this area, it will now breath air and provide energy to one of Nova Scotia’s (and Canada’s) leading examples of sustainable design and architecture.

The technologies and green-design concepts used for the Joggins Fossil Center are showcased in the diagram below. The company behind this regional architectural icon is WHW Architects. Click Picture to enlarge.

More Pictures are below:

Joggins’ green roof:

With his background in technology, sales, and innovation, Tim may have a unique edge in the race to represent Bedford following the untimely passing of its previous Councilor Gary Martin. But then again, it shouldn’t be too hard for the CEO of an innovation and economic-research think-tank (NovaKnowledge) to conclude that using the aptly named ‘information superhighway’ is a most effective way of getting his message across, and is a formidable strategy in his communications arsenal.

So what is Tim doing that is so damn progressive?

YouTube, Facebook, and a superior web presence through his website: BedfordLeader.com.

In a stroke of genius, Tim and his team of supporters are releasing a mini-series of ‘webisodes’ on YouTube that feature Tim’s journey for candidacy (TimTV). The reality-show format keeps viewers entertained, as they wait for Pussycat Doll ‘Robin’ to make an appearance and vote Matthew Christie (Tim’s rival) off the race. The webisodes are released on YouTube, and the novelty alone is garnering the initial ripples of successful viral reach. Given the demographics of his constituents, the videos need to have a modest reach to a total market size of about 20,000 people to be effective. To compare, the Rodney-Letterman video on YouTube reached 30,000 people in under one month.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLoCCCX-9YE

The second ballast in Tim’s tripod of political marketing is Facebook. Like viral campaigns, a successful social networking campaign is determined by organic factors that rest with the audiences’ perception of the value of the offer presented to them (join this group/forward this video and you will be rewarded with…?). Contrary to what some may think, the promise of financial reward is the least effective reward in viral campaigns. Emotional, social, and cognitive stimuli are much better carrots. (See result of recent IssmatBlog Facebook group social experiment). Facebook campaigns can achieve communication objectives promptly and efficiently.

Saving the best for last, Tim’s website anchors his viral and social networking initiatives in a professional and polished web presence. While the website isn’t exactly a visual orgasm, it is attractive, easy to navigate, functional, and far more superior to that of his only rival: Matt Christie. Do compare the two and let me know what you think: BedfordLeader.com VS MatthewChristieOnline.com.

The year is 2008, and while our promised flying cars aren’t yet economically feasible for mass production, there is just no excuse for a sloppy web presence these days. Web 2.0 is a common platform, and folks are already talking about Web 3.0. Digital media is going ubiquitous, and Mr. Christie doesn’t have the foresight to have a qualified web designer put together a basic website to showcase his platform and experience. Most unfortunate.

I don’t live in Bedford and therefore have no vote to contribute. I also don’t know either candidate personally. However, by examining their communication strategy alone, the least I can do is give Tim major brownie points. Evidence suggests that he has put a lot of thought into his campaign, produced a polished presence on and off line, utilized the latest technologies to spread his message quickly and efficiently, and has a strong following of qualified supporters who seem to believe in him enough to put some serious work behind him. If he carries these advantages with him to council, Bedford should anticipate some exciting things to happen.

Here is the latest TimTV clip. Hard to believe this quality of work is coming from a municipal elections candidate! (April 19 Edit: TimTV is produced in-kind by renown local writer/director Paul St.Amand of Sanchin Films.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2XRfhJhGW8

Captivate Network in Canada runs multiple ads in a small digital screen hoping to achieve some brand awareness for its advertisers with an elevator crowd that is captive for a maximum of 1 to 2 minutes, and some smaller companies based in Canada’s MTV cities (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver) have a number of elevator print display cases for pizza and taxi numbers. Blah.

There is just no substitute to a well-planned creative campaign by a professional advertising agency. Click the picture below to enlarge. The campaign was created by advertising agency TBWA/RAAD, Dubai.

Seen on [AdBlogArabia.com]