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During the Indiana University Economic Outlook Breakfast in the Columbus Learning Center at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus yesterday, IUPUC Professor Ryan M. Brewer told attendees that despite global economic and national political risks, the greater Columbus area can expect modest, slow growth in 2014.
According to Dr. Brewer, the Columbus economy rides on a function of three inputs:
Brewer reported leading indicators including Columbus housing permits, home sales, and home prices have trended upward since 2008 as new jobs were added, creating demand in an era of historically low mortgage rates. The growth in the city's gross domestic product (GDP) rate exceeds that of both Indiana and the nation, he also added.
"Over the past 12 months, a number of Columbus firms have announced the launch of new products and services, new business ventures, record sales, and plans for expansion. The total equity returns of these enterprises have performed very well, with companies including Cummins, Sunright America, Toyota, and LHP reporting banner years in terms of revenue," Brewer said, adding continued expansion projects from these and other firms are expected.
With the city's investment of nearly $150 million into its downtown infrastructure in addition to the Bartholomew County School Corporation's $125 million investment in secondary schools over the past five years, as well as plans for an additional $25 million over the coming two years, Brewer said the city's ability to attract talented professionals to meet local workforce needs will continue to be strong.
The global marketplace continues to exhibit generally slow, variable, and uncertain growth, Brewer finds. "Expansion into China, India, and other emerging markets is an important factor for local businesses to achieve robust sales growth. Uncertainties about tax policies, the national debt, and U.S. Federal Reserve policies are a concern to decision-makers in supply chains impacting Columbus firms. These uncertainties cause a chilling effect on long-term capital investments and hiring decisions."
Before Brewer's forecast, Dr. Frank Wadsworth, head of the Division of Business at IUPUC, led participants in an interactive Columbus consumer confidence index (or CCI) in which participants texted their responses to a series of six questions about the local economy. According to Wadsworth, economists consider CCI numbers over 100 to be positive; those under 100 are considered negative.
Although a rudimentary analysis based on a random sample of individuals who may not be representative of Columbus as a whole, the CCI measured during the event was 154.6, which Brewer said is a strong vote of confidence among local residents that Columbus' economy will continue to be strong in 2014.
"In comparison, last month's national CCI measured just 71.2, a drop from 80.2 in September. Factors including the government shutdown, congressional gridlock, and continued concern about the national debt ceiling can likely be attributed to the decrease in consumer confidence in other parts of the state and nation," Brewer said.
He concluded by saying that a continued focus on local development, a cooperative synergy among municipal and business leaders, and continued emphasis on intangible assets including a well-educated populace that values productivity, teamwork, and a spirit of volunteerism will all facilitate moderate growth in greater Columbus in the new year.
In addition to Brewer's local forecast, other financial experts offered state, national, and global outlooks for 2014.
For more information about local, regional, and other financial forecasts for 2014, contact Dr. Ryan Brewer at firstname.lastname@example.com or call 812.348.7253.
The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, containing policy statements, crime and fire statistics for all Indiana University campuses, is available online. You may also request a physical copy by emailing IU Public Safety at firstname.lastname@example.com or by visiting IUPD.


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Skip Hire Sidmouth from YourLocalSkipHire.co.uk
When you need to hire a skip in Sidmouth, YourLocalSkipHire.co.uk is here to help. As one of the UK's leading skip hire companies, we've provided a professional, reliable skip hire service throughout the country.
The right project needs the right skip – which is why we've made our skip sizing guide available to all our potential customers. Before you request your quote, make sure you've chosen a skip that's large enough for your waste disposal requirements.
Hiring a skip in Sidmouth couldn't be easier. We'll provide you with a competitive, no-obligation quote on request, and all you need to do is provide us with your postcode. Just fill in the quote form above, and we'll do the rest.If you need more information, or want to discuss your skip hire needs with us directly, call 0330 1130 700 now.

subset: commoncrawl


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Press Release:
HeroesCon 2014 is proud to display the first published comic strip art from Bill Watterson in nearly twenty years! Watterson completed his inimitable Calvin and Hobbes strip in 1995, and has since remained largely private in his life and art. If you happened to read Stephan Pastis' popular Pearls Before Swine strip this week, you may have noticed that Pastis employed a guest artist, billed as a second grade girl named Libby, to help him with three strips. Astute readers speculated about the true identity of the guest artist, and today the Washington Post revealed it to be none other than the legendary Bill Watterson! Pastis tells the whole story on his blog.
In conjunction with Chris Sparks and Team Cul de Sac, we are happy to be bringing all three Watterson and Pastis strips to Charlotte to display at HeroesCon, June 20 through 22 at the Charlotte Convention Center. The art will be displayed on the convention floor all weekend, at our Drink and Draw event on Friday night, and at Saturday night's Art Auction. We'll also be hosting a panel on Friday, June 20 where fans will get to hear the story of how this remarkable art was produced, how it came to be featured in Charlotte, and the part that Cul de Sac cartoonist Richard Thompson plays in all of it.
The three strips produced by Watterson and Pastis will be auctioned off in the coming months, with all proceeds from the sale going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. This charity works closely with our good friends at Team Cul de Sac, for whom we host our annual HeroesCon Drink and Draw charity event. More specifics regarding the auction of these pieces will be available at HeroesCon, here on our site and at Team Cul de Sac's page in the coming weeks.
HeroesCon is the only place anyone will be able to see the rare Watterson and Pastis original art in person before they are auctioned off. This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for comic and art fans across the country, and we are humbled and honored to be bringing it to Charlotte.
HeroesCon takes place June 20 – 22 at the Charlotte Convention Center. The Bill Watterson and Cul de Sac panel takes place Friday, June 20 at 5:30 at the convention center.


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Sylvia Plath, the brilliant, tragic literary giant you were Most Likely to Be Obsessed With in high school, isn't all Ariel and The Bell Jar. In 1959, she wrote The It-Doesn't-Matter Suit, a children's book about Max Nix, a boy who longs for an awesome all-purpose suit. Although all six of his older brothers find something wrong with the odd, brightly-colored suit, Max's courage and sense of self allow him to rock the unconventional look.
The book wasn't published until 1996, and there aren't many copies floating around. Lucky for us, Brain Pickings has much of the book to peruse.
Even though The It-Doesn't-Matter Suit is very different from Plath's other work, there are similarities. Her interest in societal acceptance and the tyranny of appearance is ever present — but instead of the despair of much of her work, this sweet tale is hopeful. I wish she'd written more kid's books.


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The Chapman University Fowler School of Law, in conjunction with the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA), is one of the only schools in the country to offer an advanced LL.M degree in criminal law specifically for active criminal prosecutors with five or more years of experience with comprehensive training in
- criminal procedure
- evidence
- the handling of homicide cases
- investigative techniques
- essentials of trial practice
The majority of the curriculum applies to all states, special electives provide state-specific legal training.
Other than the two required 10-day summertime sessions, students may complete the balance of the required courses from their home or office via live two-way webcam instruction. The Distance Learning Component will allow students to gain access to this unique LL.M. opportunity, while remaining close to family and work. Participants will interact in live two-way classroom discussions by the same instructors as those teaching the on campus program. These courses will also be archived for those who are unable to attend certain sessions. With a curriculum that will benefit all prosecutors, regardless of jurisdiction, the Distance Learning Component creates a convenient option for out-of-state counsel. For interactive video conferencing, you need:
- A PC with Intel Pentium IV 1.8 GHz or higher
- Microsoft Windows XP or later
- Internet Explorer® 6.0 or later
- Microsoft Direct X 9.0b or later
- Windows Media Player 9.0 or later
- A USB webcam (with a microphone and speaker—headset preferred)
- Broadband IP connection (LAN, DSL or Cable - minimum 128kbps upstream for internet connection)


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The History of Time: and the Genesis of You Second Edition
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God and His Body: The Romance of Adam and His BrideSecond Edition
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An Adventure in Taking Scripture Literally (or How to be Accused of being a Liberal Heretic by Evangelical Christians)
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I know this is a little bit late (by a day or two), but it's already been one month since I have been in Japan!
It feels like yesterday that I arrived. I have to say that I still think it's great to be here. I haven't had any big issues come up yet.
I'm not exactly sure how I 'm supposed to pay my mobile phone bill and health insurance. Damn, I haven't even worked out the crazy garbage issue. (EVERYTHING is burnable if the fire's hot enough)
Anyway, let's talk about my day. Shall we?
The gf was meant to be at class by 9am but neither of us could get up, so she missed it. She said not to worry about it. I was fine to go, but she was just as tired as I was from the day before.
I left her house about 1130am and got home by 1pm. It was absolutely pouring with rain. Looks like summer has really arrived in Japan. I was very weary, but I tried to keep myself from falling asleep in my bed.
Once I got to work I got a call from head office. it looks like my school director didn't see me making my way into the building and said I was late to them. I clocked my card on time so no problems there.
My first class was a no show but the rest of the day was full. As usual I made a few of my classes run over time making me late for the next one.
I went to the supermarket to buy a few basics. The Crunky AND the Pocky were on sale so you know I HAD to buy both of them. I'm not going to be losing the weight I was hoping for. I want abs. Is that too much to ask?
Monday, 2 July 2007
A Belated Reflection
I know this is a little bit late (by a day or two), but it's already been one month since I have been in Japan!
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:59 pm
2 comments:
- n-a said...
Hey dude, seems like you're having a good time over in Japan, thats pretty cool doing what you did, hope it goes well for you, I'll bookmark your site and check back from time to time.
Maybe its not much, but damn it someone had to comment!
Keep it up!
- 3 July 2007 at 14:09
- Jimmy In Japan said...
Thanks for tuning in to "Radio Jimmy". If you've been considering going to Japan as an english teacher I highly recommend it (Just do some research on which school to go with). I'm having a blast.
- 4 July 2007 at 01:45


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I haven't ranted about it in a while, but one of the hottest button issues for me is that fact that U.S. policy sends the very clear message that poor people are lesser people. The combination of food policy that makes eating healthily and affordably more challenging than it should be, and health care policy that is sub-standard to any other industrialized nation, this is the message: If you are poor it is OK if you get sicker and die younger and quicker.
So, obviously the final piece of my BlogHer colleague Elaine Wu's interview with former Gourmet EIC Ruth Reichl resonated with me:
ELAINE: As a parent, what do you think about the current debate about how we're feeding our children in this country?
RUTH: We've allowed our children to be addicted to fat, salt and sugar and we're not holding companies accountable. In Japan, kids eat fish and rice for breakfast and Americans eat sugary pastries. Eating is learned behavior. This is the biggest crisis we face in this country. We have a two tier diet in this country. If you're poor you're stuck with what we call "food" and we need to fix it. You can debate it till the cows come home, but there is no debate.
I hope people interpret Reichl's use of the word "we" as I do: We, as in we who elect officials. We, as in we who make decisions every day on how we spend our money. We, as in we who should be accountable for our personal choices, but should also hold our government accountable for making the concept of "choice" so much less empowering for lower income families.
I was due for a food policy rant, so there it is. Thanks Ms. Reichl. And thanks Elaine for asking her the question. :)


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- Did you mean
- need full harvest required increase focus safety
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MONTREAL – Quebec City's mayor and the former owner of the Quebec Nordiques met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman Friday in New York City, the French-language television network LCN has reported.
According to the report, Mayor Régis Labeaume and Marcel Aubut discussed the possibility of Quebec City getting a new NHL team.
The meeting took place as rumours are swirling about a new arena to be built to replace the old Colisée, where the Quebec Nordiques played from the time they were established in the World Hockey Association in 1972 until the franchise was sold and moved to Colorado in 1995. At the time, Aubut wanted the provincial government to chip in the funds needed to build a new arena.
When pressed by several reporters today, Labeaume said the meeting was very positive, and that he could not have expected better, but did not elaborate.
Labeaume said he would give more details in the coming days.
Bettman has said that building a new arena would be a key to establishing a new franchise in Quebec City.
LCN reported an announcement either about the arena or a new NHL franchise could come next week.


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In my opinion the nays have it.
And more than five members having risen:
House of Commons Hansard #85 of the 35th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was israel.
Bankruptcy And Insolvency ActGovernment Orders
1 p.m.
The Deputy Speaker
In my opinion the nays have it.
And more than five members having risen:
Bankruptcy And Insolvency ActGovernment Orders
1 p.m.
The Deputy Speaker
Call in the members.
Bankruptcy And Insolvency ActGovernment Orders
1 p.m.
Marlene Catterall Liberal Ottawa West, ON
Mr. Speaker, I ask that the vote be deferred until Monday when the House returns at the end of Government Orders.
Bankruptcy And Insolvency ActGovernment Orders
1 p.m.
The Deputy Speaker
The vote is deferred until Monday when the House returns after the expiry of government business.
Bankruptcy And Insolvency ActGovernment Orders
1 p.m.
René Laurin Bloc Joliette, QC
Mr. Speaker, we agree, except that it cannot be deferred until two days later; I believe it needs to be quite simply deferred until the next sitting of the House.
Bankruptcy And Insolvency ActGovernment Orders
1 p.m.
The Deputy Speaker
If the member discusses this with his colleague, I am sure there will not be a problem.
It can be done promptly.
For the record, I believe it is agreeable to one and all that this matter be deferred until Monday, October 21, when the House resumes.
On the Order: Government Orders:
September 19, 1996-The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food-Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food of Bill C-60, an act to establish the Canadian food inspection agency and to repeal and amend other acts as a consequence.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency ActGovernment Orders
1 p.m.
Scarborough East Ontario
Doug Peters Liberalfor the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
That Bill C-60, an act to establish the Canadian food inspection agency and to repeal certain and amend other acts as a consequence, be referred forthwith to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency ActGovernment Orders
1:05 p.m.
Essex—Kent Ontario
Jerry Pickard LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak on Bill C-60, the Canadian food inspection agency act.
The creation of this agency is a good example of the government's commitment to better service for Canadians, food safety and that quality remains a top priority for Canadians.
An integrated approach at the federal level, as provided by this new bill, will improve our overall efficiency and effectiveness. Canada enjoys the enviable international reputation for excellence in producing and supplying some of the safest and highest quality food products in the world. A major pillar of that reputation is our stringent world class inspection and quarantine service.
However, mounting pressures including increased imports, changing export markets, new technologies, higher rates of production and continuing fiscal restraints are demanding new ways of delivering food inspection and animal and plant health programs that are more efficient, more scientific and more internationally compatible.
Today one-quarter of Canada's food production goes for export while one-fifth of the food we eat is imported. As part of our responsibility for ensuring a safe food supply for Canadians, we are involved in more than 1,000 inspection and quarantine agreements worldwide.
Here in Canada an integral network of responsibilities has developed over the years covering food production, manufacturing, distribution, retail, import and export and involving industry at all levels and government.
At the federal level, three different departments have roles to play, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Health Canada and
Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The introduction of this bill represents an innovative step forward by the Canadian government in its desire to get things right.
As the Minister of Finance announced in the 1996 budget, Bill C-60 proposes the creation of a Canadian food inspection agency to be responsible for delivering and enforcing all federally mandated inspection and quarantine services and animal and plant health programs.
The agency, which could be up and running by early 1997, will be a stand alone organization reporting to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. At the same time, responsibility for setting food safety standards and auditing the enforcement of food safety regulations will be consolidated and enhanced within Health Canada. This re-organization will have many benefits for all stakeholders in the food sector, consumers, industry and governments.
It will reduce overlap and duplication between the federal departments and set the stage for a more integrated Canadian food inspection and quarantine service. It will provide a single focal point for food inspection and quarantine services and help make the government more responsive to the needs of its clients. It will ensure the continued safety of Canada's food supply and help maintain our international reputation for safety and quality. It will facilitate the use of more efficient and up to date food inspection and quarantine technologies, and it will help lay the foundation for enhanced Canadian access to critical import international marketplace.
Federal food inspection services and animal and plant health programs currently involve over 5,000 people and cost more than $400 million a year. Consolidating these services in a single agency will allow us to achieve savings of $44 million annually and will make it easier for the industry, the provinces and the consumers to deal with the Government of Canada on food inspect and quarantine matters.
Let me underline that food safety will continue to be our top priority. In fact, the fundamental principle of this re-organization is that food safety cannot and will not be compromised. This means that Canadians will be assured of continuing high safety standards and stringent enforcement of our food safety regulations.
At the same time, the new agency will bring a more unified approach to enforcement of federal food inspection and quarantine regulations across this country. The agency will also help Canadian food firms implement a hazard analysis and a critical control point for the HACCP system.
Canada is a world leader in the implementation of HACCP which is internationally recognized as the best system available to ensure the safety of food products. Our department has $11 million in adaptation funding to help small and medium size businesses adapt to the system.
By continuing under the new agency to move to more scientific and updated systems such as HACCP we will achieve greater assurance of food safety for Canadians and improve international market access for Canadian businesses. That market access is another very important benefit of the new agency.
With more liberal trading agreements such as NAFTA and the World Trade Organization as well as rapid population and income growth in developing regions like Asia Pacific, international trade in all food products is booming. The Canadian food inspection agency will ensure that exporters of different types of food products will be able to deal with one contact for inspection and quarantine services.
By moving forward with harmonization of international standards the agency will help improve the compatibility of food inspection and quarantine requirements and reduce the possibility of artificial trade barriers based on sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, an increasing problem for Canadian exporters.
These changes in the federal food inspection and quarantine services are the result of two years of extensive consultations with industry and the provinces. Over 60,000 newsletters and fact sheets have been distributed to stakeholders around the country. The proposed agency has received widespread support from the private sector and provinces.
At our annual meeting in July, federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers not only offered unanimous support for the Canadian food inspection agency, they also endorsed further development of a more comprehensive Canadian food inspection system that would involve all levels of government and which would respect appropriate governmental jurisdictions.
A Canadian food inspection system implementation group of federal, provincial, territorial and municipal representatives is now working with the industry in a variety of other areas which include the national dairy code, a food retail established code, a meat, poultry and fish code, and a transportation practices protocol.
The drive toward a Canadian food inspection system, one of eight initiatives to improve and strengthen the efficiency of our Canadian federation, was highlighted by the first ministers last June as the leading example of how we are renewing the Canadian federation and improving the way that provinces and the Canadian government work together in the best interests of all citizens.
As we continue to move forward on the long overdue reorganization of Canada's food inspection and quarantine services, our challenge and our commitment is to ensure that Canada maintains
its high standards of food safety and quality while improving the efficiency and reducing the cost to the taxpayer.
I believe the creation of the Canadian food inspection agency will be a major step in that direction.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency ActGovernment Orders
1:10 p.m.
Jean-Guy Chrétien Bloc Frontenac, QC
Mr. Speaker, there are certain positive elements in Bill C-60, an act to establish the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and to repeal and amend other Acts as a consequence, which we are looking at this afternoon.
The idea of creating a national agency is a good one in itself. Reducing the duplication in services of the three departments, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Health Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada will bring about savings.
We in the Bloc have long been calling for elimination of the duplication between the various departments. However, the Liberals' strategy of referring this bill to a committee before second reading prevents us from making any constructive amendments to Bill C-60 at this point.
For instance, there seems to be some latent patronage with respect to the appointment of agency executives. Under clause 5, the president and the executive vice-president shall be appointed by the governor in council.
We all know what it means when someone is appointed by the governor in council. These are friends of the government, like former minister André Ouellet, for instance, and we can refer to him by name since he has left the House, who was appointed to an executive position with a fantastic salary. The process is not exactly transparent.
Appointments should be made in accordance with the rules of the House and should be examined before the Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. Staff should be hired on the basis of competence, not on a partisan basis. Just because someone is a card-carrying member of the Liberal Party does not mean he is competent. Of course, just because someone is a card-carrying member does not mean he is incompetent, but being a member of the party should not be a conditio sine qua non .
So the Bloc Quebecois cannot give its approval to what is, in fact, an opportunity for patronage, because it would also mean approving of government interference in areas under provincial jurisdiction.
Still on the subject of political appointments, we can read the following in clause 10 of Bill C-60:
10.(1) The Minister shall appoint an advisory board of not more than twelve members to hold office during pleasure for a term not exceeding three years.
Again, this is unacceptable, for two reasons. First, here again it is the minister who appoints those who will sit on the advisory board. Second, this means that Quebec has no guarantees as to its representation on this board.
A little further we read in clauses 12 and 13:
- The Agency is a separate employer under the Public Service Staff Relations Act.
However, in clause 13, it says:
13.(1) The President has the authority to appoint the employees of the Agency.
Now, the president is appointed on a partisan basis, and he is supposed to appoint the employees of the agency. We will have to see how these appointments are made and whether the process is politically proper.
In clause 16, we read that the agency may procure goods and services from outside the public service, including legal services.
Of course these bills are drafted by lawyers, and a good lawyer looks after his own. So the agency will be able to procure legal services as it sees fit.
In clauses 20 and 21 there are two more issues we could raise. First, if federal agreements are entered into, we must ensure that Quebec does not end up in a position where it indirectly subsidizes the food inspection services obtained from the federal government by a province or provinces.
If a service is provided to another province by the federal government, it will be necessary to ensure that the work done in this province is not done with federal money. Otherwise, Quebec taxpayers will be paying for services in other provinces.
Two examples come to mind, including the RCMP. Everyone knows that, in Canada, two provinces-Quebec and Ontario-have their own police force: the OPP in Ontario and the SQ in Quebec, while the federal government, through the RCMP, provides police services to municipalities and also to other provinces. Well, do you know, dear colleagues, that Quebec foots part of the bill for the services rendered by the RCMP in the maritimes and in the western provinces? Ontario does also.
The federal government recovers only about 75 per cent of the real costs of the services provided, through the RCMP, to provinces and municipalities. The other 25 per cent are paid by all the provinces, including, of course, Quebec and Ontario. Since Quebec pays 24 per cent of federal taxes, it can be assumed that, we are subsidizing 24 per cent of that 25 per cent for RCMP services in provinces and territories other than Quebec and Ontario. This is an example of unfair treatment.
Similarly, Quebec, which harmonized its sales tax with the federal GST four years ago, must again pay 24 per cent of the $960 million which the federal government gave to the maritimes so they could harmonize their provincial sales tax with the GST, while we got nothing. We did not get a cent to harmonize our sales tax with the GST.
Those are two examples of unfair treatment. This agency should not be a further source of unfairness.
Secondly, care must be taken to ensure that clause 71 does not open the door to any other form of federal interference in areas under provincial jurisdiction. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture said, and I quote: "Bill C-60 states that the compensation to be paid to cattle owners following the destruction of their animals or things under the Health of Animals Act must be taken from the Consolidated Revenue Fund".
For example, if your herd is hit by brucellosis and a decision is made to destroy the whole herd, the Consolidated Revenue Fund must compensate the loss. The CFA goes even farther, considering that the cost incurred for cure, quarantine, cleaning and replacement of damaged or destroyed goods, restocking, etc., should be included and mentioned in the bill, and included in clause 71. Such a clause will guarantee that farmers will not be disadvantaged because they reported their cattle to be ill.
As agriculture critic, I worked with a farmer living near Rivière-du-Loup whose flock developed scrapie. The quarantine imposed was not 40 days, as most Canadians probably think, but five years. During this time, the farmer could not sell, kill, eat or make money in any way with his sheep. Most farmers must withdraw from business when confronted to that situation.
That is why the Bloc Quebecois will propose a series of amendments to Bill C-60 to try to improve it. We will also invite the government party to co-operate so this bill will benefit the general public.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency ActGovernment Orders
1:25 p.m.
Jake Hoeppner Reform Lisgar—Marquette, MB
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to make a few comments on this bill.
This is a bill which if passed will implement a food inspection agency that should be streamlined somewhat. What really scares me is that the agriculture minister is going to be in control of this agency. When I see that it has taken three years for the agriculture minister to decide that we are going to have a referendum on barley marketing and within those three years he still has not been able to come up with a proper question on what to ask farmers, I am just wondering how he is going to regulate this big agency and how cost effective it will be.
When the new agency comes into effect in 1997 it will become one of Ottawa's largest bureaucracies with 4,500 employees and a budget of $300 million. That is a lot of peanuts, $300 million for a regulatory body. When we look at deficit reduction and we look at the total debt in this country of $600 billion I guess it is the Liberals' idea that another $300 million is not that significant.
Federal officials contend that ending the interdepartmental overlap and duplication in such areas as enforcement, risk management, laboratory services, informatic systems and communications will save taxpayers $44 million annually starting in 1998-99. It always astounds me that whenever we see projections and they are somewhat down the road we can usually expect that somehow the manipulation of the system will be there so that they can come within that figure even when it means transferring costs to other agencies. However the detailed breakdown of this estimate has not yet been provided by the government. That is interesting.
Also, no decisions have been made on the staff reductions or details given on the new agency's surplus laboratories. There is a lot of money involved in those laboratories. What is going to happen to them is a big question. I hope the government finally realizes that if there is going to be disposable assets that it gets a fair market value for them.
Although the Reform Party supports consolidating and downsizing the operations of the federal government, we fear that this bill will accomplish little except to shuffle names and titles. Instead the government should be considering the advantages of privatizing a significant portion of Canada's food, plant and animal inspection services.
This is one of the big issues we have been debating for the last three years, harmonizing and privatizing. We know that each province has its own inspection services and there is always conflict between the two agencies. It is time we realized that harmonization has to happen or the conflict will increase and we will spend more dollars instead of less.
Only $40 million or 13.3 per cent of the agency's $300 million budget is currently cost recovered. The agency already plans to dramatically increase this amount to more than $70 million. We know who is going to bear these costs. It is going to be the taxpayer, the processor or the primary producer. It is tremendously important that we start downsizing and becoming more efficient and productive in these agencies as well as in our food processing and primary production.
Where the Reform Party supports user pay and cost recovery, the cost of the service must reflect the true costs of providing the service and not the added expense of maintaining the government bureaucracy. The bill should ensure that a greater priority is placed on cost avoidance and cost reduction. This is important as the agency created by this bill will be responsible for enforcing and administrating several federal statutes which regulate food, animal and plant health and related products. These include the Feed Act,
the Fertilizer Act, the Health of Animals Act, the Meat Inspection Act, the Plant Breeders Rights Act and the Seeds Act.
This bill will also continue to centralize authority for food inspection in the hands of the federal government. The Reform Party believes the government should acknowledge that since the provinces already provide many of these same inspection services, the emphasis should be on decentralization and encouraging common inspection standards.
For these reasons the Reform Party opposes the bill.
Turning to the bill itself, we have specific concerns. Provisions in the bill seem to create an environment for empire building.
Clause 5 of the bill states that the governor in council shall appoint a president and an executive vice-president to the new agency. These individuals will be responsible for the day to day operations of the agency and will provide advice to the minister on matters relating to the mandate of the agency. There is no mention of the qualifications which will be required by these people. This type of situation opens itself up to pork barrel politics.
Clause 8 of the bill states that the president and the executive vice-president shall be paid such remuneration as is fixed by the governor in council. We do not even know the salary amounts for these two positions.
Clause 10 states that each member of the advisory board shall be paid such fees for his or her services as are fixed by the minister. Again, we cannot tell Canadian taxpayers how much they will be paying for these salaries.
This is a very good example of what we are experiencing with the Canadian Wheat Board. We have appointed commissioners who have received severance packages. We do not know what those severance packages are. There are positions which have pension plans and nobody really knows what the cost is. When I look at this regulatory agency which is being set up very much like the Canadian Wheat Board, I find it to be scary.
I know also that the Manitoba food inspection agency is always in conflict with the federal agency. It is costing us jobs. It is costing us exports. For example, there is a small sausage manufacturing plant in my constituency. The manufacturer is allowed to sell his product all across Manitoba; however, he cannot sell it to federal agencies, such as CN or the military. I do not know why it would pose a health risk to the federal agencies; Manitobans eat the sausage and it is delicious. I am told that we could save almost a dollar a kilogram if people in the federal agencies ate the Manitoba sausage instead of importing sausages from federal agencies in a different province.
If we want to become efficient and if we want to harmonize, we do not have to harmonize just with foreign countries, we have to harmonize within our own boundaries. We have to make sure it is cost effective and that the taxpayer as well as the primary producer gets the benefit. We should also give a break to the processors. They are the people who are creating the jobs. It is the small businessmen and the entrepreneurs who really make this industrial machine work.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency ActGovernment Orders
1:30 p.m.
Beauséjour New Brunswick
Fernand Robichaud LiberalSecretary of State (Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to rise today, on behalf of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, to speak to the motion requesting that Bill C-60, an act to establish the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, be referred to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food before second reading.
This bill is the starting point of a very important journey. The plans for the trip began in March 1996, when we were preparing the budget speech; at that moment, our government stated for the first time its commitment to establish an agenda aimed at finding alternative solutions for the delivery of programmes, at finding the most efficient and least expensive way to carry out programs and provide services.
This journey is an important part of that agenda and it will lead us to the creation of a unique food inspection agency, gathering under one roof all the activities previously performed by three different federal departments. Our government knows some of the important port of calls where it will have to stop along the way.
The Canadian fishery is an important contributor to national import and export activities. In addition to considerable domestic consumption of Canadian fish and fish products, substantial markets exist for Canadian products abroad. Fully 84 per cent of fish and seafood caught by Canadians is destined for foreign markets.
Similarly, markets exist within Canada for fish species that are not indigenous to Canadian waters. Some 50 per cent of the fish and seafood consumed in Canada is imported. To support these high import and export figures and to promote confidence both at home and overseas in fish destined for human consumption, this government is committed to ensuring that fish inspection policies within this new agency retain the prominence and the high standards that they now have as part of fisheries and oceans.
In order for any food inspection service to meet the needs of its many client groups not the least of which are consumers, ensuring food safety for all Canadians must be the first priority. A new agency must uphold the excellent reputation of existing inspection
services to ensure the safety of products consumed by the Canadian public whether these products originate in Canada or elsewhere.
As we know, since at least 84 per cent of all fish caught in Canada is destined for foreign consumers, a new inspection agency will also have to improve and guarantee access to foreign markets for our products.
We must assure our foreign trading partners that Canadian sea products are of good quality and meet the requirements of strict regulations. That means we will have to keep up the excellent work that Fisheries and Oceans is doing now in the area of fish inspection.
Finally, to reach these goals in a period of budgetary cuts, we will, of course, have to maintain a certain form of cost recovery so that those benefitting from the inspection services will pay part of the costs.
The new single food inspection agency, which will become a reality if the bill is passed, stops in each one of these ports of call, that is to say that it takes into account all these needs while drawing on new approaches for the delivery of inspection services, many of them initiated by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and creating new opportunities for the future.
We all know that the Canadian fish inspection program is world renowned. We must keep this reputation, and we will, since the new agency will be operating from such a solid foundation.
The bill enshrines the quality management program and the new importer quality management program, which are based on the premise that food safety is the main concern.
The new agency will rely on highly specialized fish inspectors, who are currently controlling the industry's quality management systems, ensuring their efficiency.
The new single food inspection agency will also be forward looking. It will create a food inspection regime that consolidates inspection activities at the federal level. It will enhance ease of access for products to foreign markets. It will facilitate greater collaboration between the various levels of government in Canada, providing the basis for equivalency of standards and programs. It will simultaneously reduce overlap and duplication while promoting a more efficient and effective service delivery system. This government is fully cognizant of the necessity of maintaining open and frequent dialogue with the new agency's many clients. This we will do.
As Canadians grow and their needs change, the government also evolves to continue to meet their needs. We are committed to doing things differently and the Canadian food inspection agency represents a significant step in this direction.
We all recognize that this is an opportunity whose time has come. As Secretary of State for Fisheries and Oceans as well as for Agriculture and Agri-Food, I remain certain that the fish inspection system will be enhanced within this new agency.
Our journey is starting now with the passing of this important bill establishing a canadian food inspection agency. I believe it will result in the setting up of a agency, which will see to the efficient and effective implementation of a world class food inspection program.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency ActGovernment Orders
1:40 p.m.
Réjean Lefebvre Bloc Champlain, QC
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise and talk about Bill C-60, an Act to establish the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and to repeal and amend other Acts as a consequence.
The need for a federal food inspection agency comes from pressure exerted by municipal and provincial governments, the agricultural sector, fisheries and even consumers. The setting up of a single unit in the area of food inspection was therefore awaited anxiously.
Very often those who must deal with the federal system of food inspection do not know to which agency they should refer. Indeed, the present system of federal inspection is such that they must deal with several departments or agencies including Agriculture Canada, Fisheries and Oceans as well as Health Canada. These three departments account for more than $340 million annually in expenditures by the Consolidated Revenue Fund for food inspection.
The creation of a public agency responsible for all federal inspection services was announced in the 1996-97 Budget. This announcement has raised great expectations, and Bill C-60 should now answer them. Unfortunately, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency the federal government is proposing is rather disappointing if you consider its structure, its make up and its mandate.
According to senior officials responsible for setting up the project, the proposed agency is a model of originality. There is no similar agency in the world. However, originality is not necessarily what provinces, municipalities and the agricultural and fishery sectors hoped to get in answer to their requests. These people wanted an end to duplication and in particular they did not want to assume the cost of an agency whose efficiency has yet to be proven.
Bill C-60 says that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is established "in order to consolidate and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of federal inspection services related to food and
animal and plant health and to increase collaboration with provincial governments in this area". All this is hot air, good intentions and window dressing.
In reality, the future agency will be a patronage haven created to reward the friends of the government of the day. The evidence is in clause 5 of the bill which provides that: "The Governor in Council shall appoint a President and an Executive Vice-president of the Agency to hold office during pleasure for a term not exceeding five years, which term may be renewed for one or more further terms". We see clearly this appointment procedure is designed to ensure the executive power's political loyalty to the government. This procedure is arbitrary, unfair and highly partisan. It calls into question the objectivity of decisions and actions that will be taken by the future federal food inspection agency. That is what must be expected from the agency.
That is not all. The agency will also have an advisory board of not more than twelve members who this time will be appointed by the minister responsible for the agency. This absolute discretionary power will probably be given to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, since it is he who gave us Bill C-60.
What we must understand in all this is that the choice of policies relating to the agency's mandate will thus be determined by the minister's friends. Once again, this appointment procedure is totally unacceptable. It does not respond in any way to the expectations of provincial and municipal governments and of the people in the farming sector and fisheries.
Furthermore, the membership of this famous advisory board does not provide any guarantee as to the representation of the farming and fisheries sectors on the committee, and even less about the involvement of the provinces and municipalities.
How will the agency be able, as is mentioned in Bill C-60, to pursue a greater degree of collaboration between federal and provincial departments in the area of federal food inspection if the provinces are not permanently represented on the agency? The provinces have their say in this future agency.
At this time, there is no guarantee that they will have a forum where they may heard, and most of all, there is no guarantee that they will be able to actively participate in decisions that will be taken. These decisions affect them directly and we should not ignore the total lack of judgment the government is showing in this issue.
When we look at the mission of the agency, it is not more reassuring. It says that the Minister of Health is responsible, among other things, for establishing policies and standards relating to the safety and the nutritional quality of food sold in Canada. This prerogative given to the Minister of Health allows him to interfere directly in fields of provincial jurisdiction by setting standards and regulations, which will be applied all across Canada. These powers belong rightfully to the provinces and not to the federal government. This situation must be strongly condemned.
Much was expected from the creation of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Once again, the federal government is disappointing us. What we are offered today is obviously, another example of patronage. Once again, the provinces are being pushed aside and, moreover, the government is making sure that it controls everything by exercising provincial powers.
Nobody in the agriculture and fishing sectors, including the provinces and the municipalities, was expecting such a disappointment. They expected at least to be true partners in the decision-making process. This is not the case. Bill C-60 introduced by the Minister of Agriculture has every possible flaw and we must scrap it.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency ActGovernment Orders
1:45 p.m.
Dauphin—Swan River Manitoba
Marlene Cowling LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, as a lifelong farmer and a member of Parliament for Dauphin-Swan River, it is a pleasure to have this chance to speak on Bill C-60, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act.
Food inspection and quarantine services have always been a priority in Canada. Canada has one of the most effective food inspection and quarantine systems in the world. In fact, Canadian confidence in quality and safety-
Canadian Food Inspection Agency ActGovernment Orders
1:45 p.m.
The Deputy Speaker
I am sorry to interrupt the hon. member, but the Chair has made an error. It should not have been the parliamentary secretary who spoke but it should have been the member for Vegreville. Forgive me.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency ActGovernment Orders
1:50 p.m.
Leon Benoit Reform Vegreville, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have a few comments on Bill C-60, the act that would put in place the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The stated purpose of this bill is to establish the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in order to consolidate and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal inspection services related to food, animal and plant health and to increase collaboration with provincial governments in this area.
Specifically, the bill sets out the new agency's framework in terms of responsibilities, accountability, organization, human and financial resources, powers and reporting. The bill also amends some of the enforcement provisions and penalties in federal statutes that the agency will enforce or administer in relation to food, plants and animal health.
When the new Canadian Food Inspection Agency begins operation in 1997 it will become one of Ottawa's largest bureaucratic entities with 4,500 civil servants and a budget of $300 million. Federal officials contend that ending interdepartmental overlap and duplication in such areas as enforcement, risk management,
laboratory services, informatic systems and communications will save taxpayers $44 million annually beginning in 1998-99.
However, a detailed breakdown of this estimate has not been provided by the government. No decision has been made on staff reductions or the new agency's surplus laboratories. We have a broad statement of cost, a broad statement of savings and no specifics whatsoever.
When we are working with legislation that creates a new bureaucracy of 4,500 employees with an estimated budget of $300 million we should have a lot more detail. I am not talking about minute detail, but about a statement that really explains how the money will be spent and how money will be saved. That has clearly not been offered in this legislation.
The government departmental estimates on cost are $300 million but we should know from history that departmental estimates are rarely accurate. It would be a rare occasion indeed. I have seen many new agencies created and I do not know if I have seen one that has come in on budget. I would feel much more comfortable that this agency would come in on budget if some information were given to show how the money would be spent.
I want to make it clear that the Reform Party supports the consolidation and downsizing of federal government operations but this bill will accomplish little except for the shuffling of names and titles. Instead, the government should be considering the advantages of privatizing a significant portion of Canada's food, plant and animal inspection services. The Reform Party has been calling for this since the day we came here.
We should consider how much of this service can be privatized so the service can be provided at a lower cost to the people who need the services. At the same time I acknowledge it is very important to ensure the services that are privatized can be done more efficiently, in a less expensive way and safely.
With a saving of $40 million or 13 per cent of the agency's $300 million budget, that 13 per cent is currently cost recovered. The concept of cost recovery that the Reform Party proposes, and that I personally heard being recommended by many processors, particularly processors of agricultural products, is quite different from what this government proposes.
Reform proposes that cost recovery should reflect the lowest cost at which the service can be provided, whether it is in the hands of the private sector or the government. I believe that in some cases, the private sector can provide very high quality service for less money than government can. In other cases, it may be found that the department can provide the service at a lower cost. It is not clear which services could be provided better by the private sector or by the department. I do not know of any study or any work having been done on this.
The government's idea of cost recovery is totally different than the Reform idea. The Reform idea is cost recovery at the lowest price. If it can be done for less money with high quality then give it to that group or person to do.
The second major issue I would like to touch on in this legislation concerns the authority of the provincial governments versus the federal government. The federal government has decided that the way to end overlap between the federal and provincial governments is to centralize the complete service in the hands of the federal government. This is certainly in line with what Liberal governments have done over the years.
Liberal MPs have generally accepted that Canadians like big government. Along with big government comes high taxes. I contend that Canadians want a much smaller government, lower taxes, more take home pay and therefore a much better job situation in the country. There are two visions of Canada. There is the vision held by the Liberals and Conservatives which has been demonstrated over the years. They believe in big government, high taxes, low take home pay. Then there is the Reform vision which I believe is shared by many Canadians: a much smaller federal government with much lower taxes and higher take home pay, therefore, a better take home pay.
Unfortunately, with this legislation the government has chosen the large government, high tax route. The legislation will place a great burden on the taxpayer and on processors who are paying cost recovery.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency ActGovernment Orders
1:55 p.m.
The Speaker
My colleague, I see that you are right in the middle of your speech. Rather than cut you off in about a minute and a half, I thought I would let you take up right after question period. You will have a full three minutes then.
It being 2 p.m., we will now proceed to Statements by Members.
Fanshawe CollegeStatements By Members
1:55 p.m.
Pat O'Brien Liberal London—Middlesex, ON
Mr. Speaker, Fanshawe College is an excellent community college located in my riding of London-Middlesex.
In September a team of their student chefs represented Canada at the 1996 International Culinary Olympics in Berlin. They competed against 30 teams from around the world and won a silver medal for Canada.
Congratulations to the six student chefs: Nicholas Burrell, Julie de Vroomen, Chris Haynes, Brad Hirtzel, Adrien Melillo and
Ashley Millis. Congratulations to their coaches, Peter Greuel and Steven Evetts and to the project manager, Kirk Patterson.
These young people are a credit to themselves, to Fanshawe College, to the city of London and to Canada. Well done. We are very proud of you and we look forward to sampling your cooking in the near future.
The Municipality Of LaterrièreStatements By Members
1:55 p.m.
André Caron Bloc Jonquière, QC
Mr. Speaker, the municipality of Laterrière has just celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding.
This celebration provided a great opportunity to showcase its natural, cultural and historical assets. Designed as a series of historical vignettes set in various locations throughout the municipality, the original play "La tournée folle du grand brûlé" brought part of its history back to life.
The celebrations ended October 6 with the blessing of a statue in honour of Laterrière's founder, Father Jean-Baptiste Honorat.
The municipality of Laterrière was hard hit by the Saguenay floods. Remembering its history reassures us about this courageous community's ability to meet this new challenge.
Canadian Wheat BoardStatements By Members
1:55 p.m.
Jake Hoeppner Reform Lisgar—Marquette, MB
Mr. Speaker, the agriculture minister has yet again demonstrated that he has absolutely no direction for western Canadian grain farmers.
On the one hand he demonstrates solid support for the single desk monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board by closing loopholes in the Customs Act while on the other allowing it to self-destruct by its lack of accountability and transparency.
This minister has shown he is prepared to prosecute farmers in order to prevent them from accessing niche markets that the board will not service. At the same time he allows the board to circumvent its own act by directing selected farmers to end users who pay huge bonuses outside the pooling system.
In my opinion, if a violation of the Canadian Wheat Board Act is punishable by jail for farmers, then so should the same punishment apply to wheat board officials.
But then, we have a Liberal government that protects criminals while ignoring the rights of its victims.
Employment BenefitsStatements By Members
1:55 p.m.
Len Taylor NDP The Battlefords—Meadow Lake, SK
Mr. Speaker, yesterday while appearing before the finance committee the finance minister announced that the deficit for 1995-96 is $4.1 billion below the government's target of $32.7 billion.
The reason given for this is that government spending and interest charges were lower than expected, but the figures the minister released for employment insurance show another reason the deficit is lower than expected.
While the government has cut benefits for unemployed workers by $1.3 billion in 1995-96, the government is collecting $9 billion more than it is paying out in benefits. Most of this surplus will go to reducing the deficit.
This is not the government's money. It rightfully belongs to the 13 million workers who contributed to it. At a time when the unemployed are having a difficult time trying to make ends meet with reduced benefits it is cruel and unfair to make the deficit numbers look better by gouging unemployed workers.
The Brome Lake Duck FestivalStatements By Members
1:55 p.m.
Denis Paradis Liberal Brome—Missisquoi, QC
Mr. Speaker, Tuesday marked the beginning of the first month-long Brome Lake duck festival in my riding of Brome-Missisquoi. Modelled after the great public fairs in southwestern France, this event attracts tourists at a traditionally quieter time of year.
This international gastronomic event, a local initiative, is a fine example of co-operation between France and Canada. It involves not only culinary exchanges between chefs from Gascony and Quebec, but also the promotion of Canada's excellent products overseas.
I wish to congratulate the festival president, Jacques Ouimette, for putting his heart and soul into creating an event of this magnitude around one of Brome-Missisquoi's main assets: its local products. I join with the people of Brome-Missisquoi in inviting Canadians to come to the Eastern Townships to attend the Brome Lake duck festival.
Jeanette DeanStatements By Members
October 10th, 1996 / 1:55 p.m.
Georgette Sheridan Liberal Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK
Mr. Speaker, Jeanette Dean of Saskatoon has been selected to receive the Canada Volunteer Award Certificate of Merit presented in
recognition of valuable voluntary contributions toward improving the health and social well-being of her fellow Canadians.
In 1987 Mrs. Dean retired from teaching at the Saskatoon School for the Deaf. She did not stop working, however. She joined the Saskatoon UNICEF chairing two committees. She was involved with no less than three Canadian Federation of University Women clubs, did volunteer teaching for the deaf, was national director of Educators of the Hearing Impaired, and helped set up the Saskatchewan hearing aid plan.
She now teaches speech reading in low cost housing projects, works with immigrants and children at the Saskatoon Open Door Society. She works with refugees and is involved with amateur theatre, seniors and the library.
What I wonder is what does this woman do with her spare time?
Veterans ParkStatements By Members
1:55 p.m.
Ron Fewchuk Liberal Selkirk—Red River, MB
Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, October 6, I had the pleasure and the honour to be in West St. Paul, a rural municipality of my riding of Selkirk-Red River, to participate in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Rivercrest.
Rivercrest is an area settled under the Veterans' Land Act. All of the original 56 residents were veterans of World War II and they were given the option to buy a home in Rivercrest with a small down payment and a government loan.
I would like to say a special thank you to the rural municipality of West St. Paul and the Rivercrest Community Club executive for recognizing our veterans by renaming Rivercrest Park to Veterans Park.
Community OrganizationsStatements By Members
2:05 p.m.
Osvaldo Nunez Bloc Bourassa, QC
Mr. Speaker, community groups that provide assistance to the unemployed in my riding of Bourassa are upset at the funding cutbacks by the Department of Human Resources Development. In the greater Montreal area, the unemployment rate continues to climb.
The groups hardest hit are women, young people and immigrants. Growing numbers of clients and ever decreasing funding are forcing many organizations to close their doors, and leaving others in serious financial difficulty.
Organizations like Impulsion-Travail, Carrefour Jeunesse, Emploi Bourassa et Sauvé, L'Ouverture, a youth centre, and the Association des travailleurs haïtiens du Canada do some exceptional work.
The Department of Human Resources Development must provide adequate funding to these groups in order to end the continual uncertainty and promote their stability and viability.
The DebtStatements By Members
2:05 p.m.
Werner Schmidt Reform Okanagan Centre, BC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Finance told Canadians that the federal government will not be borrowing any new money in the markets and the process of restoring policy sovereignty to Canada has begun.
He failed to remind Canadians that the roll-over of the still massive existing public debt will require foreign investor participation. Neither did he recognize that Canadian investors will tend to use the same benchmarks as investors do in any sophisticated market to judge the risk and return on Canadian instruments relative to other markets. If these investors perceive that Canada's fiscal consolidation is missing the mark, they may well opt for foreign instruments, leading to higher borrowing costs in Canada.
The Minister of Finance has used illusion and carefully chosen words to bamboozle Canadians into thinking that Canada's debt is in great shape. It is not.


text:
Drew Brees is a class act. Sean Payton's onsides kick was a great call — because it worked. He would have been booed out of New Orleans if it hadn't.
And Tracy Porter is just money (other than that ridiculous hair.) We liked him at Indiana and liked him on draft day — especially in the second round. He was gone by the time we picked.


text:
Jeremy Meeks, the Stockton convict who garnered a huge Internet following based on his mug shot, has hired a talent agent.
Gina Rodriguez, Meeks' agent, says she's received harassing phone calls including death threats since signing the alleged gang member.
Apparently, even in jail, Meeks has received offers from reality TV shows and modeling agencies.
Meeks currently faces a felony weapons charge.


text:
After determining the approximate birth date for Betsey (Conners) Foss from the census, I went to the back to the Original Records of Maine Towns and Cities: The Town of Machias to find Betsey Conners birth and parents. After researching the census, her birth is estimated to be between July 16, 1786 and Jul 15, 1787. I was quickly able to locate what I needed to determine her birth date and parents.
On page 57 of the PDF I found the following:
|Betsey Conners
|May 4 1787
|Patrick & Sarah Conners
|John Conners
|July 22 1789
|Peggy Conners
|Aug 24 1791
|Sept 24 1791
|James Conners
|April 12 1793
|Jerome Conners
|April 18 1795
After finding that I went back to the other Conners entry on page 55.
|Holy Conners
|March 5 1785
|Patrick & Sarah Conners
Interestingly, in both historical books that I have from Machias Betsey's last name is written as Connors. Patrick Connors is also mentioned in the tax payers list. However, in the Machias VR the last name is spelled Conners. Which is right? Well what I did to determine the right spelling of the last name was to look at the grave records found in the Maine Old Cemetery Association for Washington County. I found two of Betsey's brothers records. Both of the stones have the last named spelled as Conners.
Machias Cemetery, Court Street, Machias, Maine, Washington County
Page 573: Conners, John died 12-15-1855, Ae 66 Yrs.
Betsey, wf. died 3-4-1870, Ae 69 Yrs. 10 Months
Page 587: Conners, James F d. Sept. 8, 1865 Ae 72 yrs 5 mos.
I have not found the marriage record for Patrick and Sarah Conners. I was not able to find Sarah's last name. Furthermore, I am unsure where they came from. This mystery will have to stay on the back burner for a little while.
Original Records of Maine Towns and Cities: The Town of Machias [PDF]. (2005). Rockport, Maine: Picton Press.
Machias Cemetery, Court Street, Machias, Maine, Washington County. (2006). In WASHINGTON COUNTY, Maine Cemetery Inscriptions of. Maine Old Cemetery Association Special Publication No. 14 [PDF]. (pp. 564-608).


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The National Center on Accessible Information Technology in Education
About AccessIT
The National Center on Accessible Information Technology in Education (AccessIT) provides resources to help educational entities purchase, develop and use information technology that is welcoming to, accessible to, and usable by everyone, including people with disabilities. AccessIT was funded for five years by the U.S. Department of Education (grant #H133D010306).
AccessIT resources continue to be updated and enhanced by AccessComputing with funding from the National Science Foundation (grant #CNS-0540615, -0837508, and -1042260).
The following resources developed by AccessIT continue to be available online and managed and updated by the DO-IT Center as part of its contribution to AccessComputing, a project funded by the National Science Foundation (grant #CNS-0540615,CNS-0837508, and CNS-1042260) and co-sponsored by the UW Department of Computer Science.
Fully Integrating Accessibility into Web Design Courses
Free Web Design & Development Curriculum
Integrating Accessibility into Existing Web Design Courses
The publication Universal Design of Web Pages in Class Projects shares examples of how teachers can integrate accessible design into all or part of any curriculum on creating web pages.
Accessible University Demonstration Site
Accessible University (AU) is a fictional university home page designed to demonstrate a variety of common web design problems that result in visitors with disabilities being unable to access content or features. It includes a page with accessibility problems, a page that lists and explains the problems and recommends solutions, and an accessible page that implements the solutions.
IT Accessibility Guidance
The Accessible Technology website provides extensive information, including resources that support development of accessible web and multimedia content and applications. The site includes an example of accessible IT guidelines. Highlights at this site include:
A collection of resources on accessible technology maintained by the DO-IT Center can be found on its Accessible Technology web page.


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« Questions for GOP Contenders Promising Dept. of Ed Will Be "Gone" | Main | Making Sense of the Whole "Are Teachers Overpaid?" Thing »
When Good Intentions Make Us Stupid
While I was gone, there were any number of classic examples of well-intentioned folks promoting bad ideas under the guise of "reform."
In Tennessee, it turns out that the teacher evaluation system promised in the state's Race to the Top proposal isn't ready for prime time. Fifty percent of teacher evaluations are supposed to be based on evidence of student outcomes, but such measures are in short supply. No matter, the plan is just to plug in for teachers the growth scores for their school. Because the cutting-edge way to gauge a first-grade teacher's performance is apparently by measuring his school's grade 3-5 ELA and math gains--even though that teacher may not have even been teaching first-grade at that school when those students were first-graders.
Last week, the Senate HELP Committee held its giant "roundtable" hearing on ESEA, prior to moving Harkin-Enzi to the floor. Most of the testimony concerned wish lists of things it'd be neat for the feds to do, if they had money or the tools or the wherewithal. None of that stopped the perfectly pleasant and well-intentioned Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference, speaking for a laundry list of civil rights groups, business groups, and "reform" outfits, from insisting that Uncle Sam not "retreat" from NCLB's commitment to identifying and fixing lousy schools. The fact that a decade of experience has shown that the feds aren't very good at this doesn't faze Mr. Henderson or his allies in the least.
StudentsFirst leaked a strategy memo tallying their Election Day wins. The memo garnered attention for its rosy take on the defeat of a Michigan legislator that StudentsFirst had backed. What struck me though was the Brill-esque shorthand, with the memo's big takeaway being that, "A pro-education reform message resonates strongly with voters and moves voter sentiment significantly in favor of pro-reform candidates." Truthfully, I don't know what that means. Is it "pro-reform" to push ahead with teacher accountability systems whether or not they're ready for prime time? Are "reformers" wedded to a litany of federal activities, whether or not they're likely to play out as intended, like trying to direct teacher evaluation systems and school improvement strategies from the Department of Education? As best I can tell, the answer is "yes," though I'm not sure why. As I've argued before, when it comes to questions like teacher evaluation and school turnarounds, how you do it matters at least as much as whether you do it--and that gets lost real easily amidst "reformist" talking points.
I like what the "reformers" are trying to do. I've been fighting for school choice, muscular accountability systems, alternative licensure, paying good educators more than lousy ones, and all kinds of other crazy notions since before many of today's reformers got interested in K-12. (And I've got oodles of teacher-generated hate mail to show for it.) But these measures are not solutions or silver bullets. They are tools. How one uses them ultimately matters a lot more than whether one uses them.
By turning school reform into a moral crusade, in which one either is, to quote our last President, "with us or against us," would-be reformers wind up planting their flag atop all kinds of half-baked or ill-conceived proposals. They also make it ridiculously hard for even their allies to help, because they are quick to dismiss criticism as evidence of disloyalty. Would-be reformers insist that overshooting the mark with half-baked proposals is actually a strategy, because that's how they'll cow the unions and change the culture of schooling. Indeed, they think concerns about program design are quaint evidence of naivete.
I'll just say this: If reformers think it's a winning strategy to push awkwardly constructed, ill-designed programs that are going to create entirely foreseeable problems, then I'd encourage them to check out the history of NCLB, in which well-intentioned advocates have managed to alienate sympathetic voters and tarnish sensible ideas. The problem is that the impassioned good intentions of today's reformers brook no delay and countenance no nuance. That may be a not-bad strategy for building an effective non-profit or for-profit firm, but it's a flawed strategy for overhauling policies governing the sprawling, complex ecosystem that is American education.


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Each academic year the Department of Geography awards four scholarships to Geography majors based on criteria established by donors who have a longstanding connection to both the department and to Bemidji State University. We are grateful for their continued support of our students.
These scholarships are:
- The Andi and Mike Garret Geographic Education Scholarship
- The Margaret H. Harlow Geography Scholarship
- The Roy P. Meyer Scholarship
- The Jeffrey Busse Geography Scholarships
- The G.S. Droba Science Scholarship rotates between the Geography Department and other departments on campus!


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7 Ways to Use Apple Cider in Your Sweets
If you grew up in the North East, you've probably experienced the joy of going apple-picking and indulging in fresh apple cider. It's good served both warm and spiced, or cold, highlighting the unfiltered, sweet apple taste. Of course the only thing that might beat apple cider is an apple cider doughnut: the sweet, cinnamon rolled treats that usually accompany a cup.
But doughnuts aren't the only sweet that benefit from some apple cider; scroll on down to see how to incorporate it into everything from shaved ice to muffins.
Apple Cider Doughnut Ice Cream
What's better than an apple cider doughnut? An apple cider doughnut topped with apple cider doughnut ice cream. When reduced to a syrup, apple cider takes on a tang as pronounced as its sweetness. It plays well here against sweet cream and toasty apple-laced doughnuts.
Gluten Free Apple Cider Pancakes
Want an apple cider doughnut but not up to frying in the morning? These pancakes are the solution. The batter uses apple cider in place of milk, with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. The cooked pancakes are coated with cinnamon-sugar (and some melted butter to help the cinnamon-sugar stick).
Apple Cider Muffins
These muffins from Karen DeMasco are apple-packed and cinnamon-scented. Best of all? While these muffins taste great still warm, they are downright amazing the next day. Pleasantly chewy and moist, the little cakes seem to be a closer relative to sticky toffee pudding than to the dry, crumbly muffins at so many coffee shops.
Apple Cider Doughnut Cake
Tiny and chubby apple cider doughnuts herald the fall season at the farmers' markets. This cake version is the 2.0 version.
Dark Rum and Apple Cider Shaved Ice
Good apple cider is tart and spicy, and when frozen into a solid block and then scraped with a spoon, it becomes snowy and light, the flavor of the fall with the texture of winter. Spiked with smooth, oaky dark rum and freshly grated ginger and topped with honey, the composed dessert is a study in autumnal contrast: sweet and tart, crunchy and smooth, icy and warming.
Caramel Apple Cider Jelly
Because apple cider is unfiltered, this jelly looks a bit cloudy in the jar—much like a glass of apple cider. The intense, tangy apple flavor is complemented by a luxurious, molasses note from the brown sugar. Cinnamon sticks, cloves, and lemon zest round out the flavors. Use on a cinnamon-raisin toast for a real taste of fall.
Apple Cider Doughnuts
No list of apple cider sweets would be complete without the classic, plain apple cider doughnut. These are softly scented with reduced apple cider and dusted with sparkling cinnamon sugar.
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Illusione Ottica
Beautiful route on solid rock up the left-hand side of the face. The 2nd and 5th pitches are outstanding.
From Cortina drive towards Dobbiaco along the SS51. After the small village Fiames turn left off the main road (signposted Val di Fanes - Trevenanzes). Park the car at the entrance to the park and continue on foot. Follow signs for Fanes, over several bridges and along the forest road. After a few bends the path straightens out and continues along the valley floor, past the Taé walls on the right, and then on to the Spalti di Col Becchei. The path forks at this point; go right over a small bridge onto the other side of the valley floor towards the Spalti. A cairn indicates a small path leading off rightwards through the wood steeply up to the rock face. To reach Illusione Ottica and Thriller scramble up the scree, traverse leftwards along an exposed section beneath a band of rock, and then return rightwards. The other routes are reached more easily by walking directly up to the base of the crag.
Approach the ledge from where Thriller and Balbic depart, described in the introduction. Scramble leftwards to the start in a niche (pegs visible on the lip of the overhang).
Either abseil down the route or walk leftwards to a fir tree where the abseil starts. All abseil belays are equipped with pegs and bolts (4 x 50m).
Although bolts and pegs protect the harder sections, bring a set of wires & friends for the easier pitches.