Happy Birthday!

Today there is two birthdays I consider important, one is the birthday of Rome founded some 2771 years ago on 21 April by Romulus. To this day I think you can say Auguri Roma, bellezza eterna.

The other birthday is that of the Queen of Canada, Her Majesty Elizabeth II who is 92 years old and the oldest reigning Monarch in British history but not Canadian history, Louis XIV has that distinction. Nonetheless we wish her a wonderful Birthday.

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New Canadian Stamp

Tags

150, Canada., Gay, LGBT, post, Stamp

Canada Post unveiled today a new stamp to show that in Canada we have marriage equality and this is enshrined in our Constitution.

The stamp is in both of Canada’s Official languages, French and English and is shaped like a Maple Leaf with the Rainbow Flag and the Words Canada 150 to mark the Anniversary of Confederation 1867-2017.

Renovations

Tags

1847, Berlin, Charlottetown, City Palace, Legislature, PEI, Province house

I have blogged about the massive rebuilding project in Berlin of the former Imperial City Palace now renamed the Humboldt Forum the work is almost complete and it is a marvel baroque architecture. The architect is Italian, Franco Stella, the cost is 750 million Euros. http://cam01.berlinerschloss-webcam.de it is the largest building project in Berlin.

Here in Charlottetown, PEI on a smaller scale the Legislative building of 1847 by architect Isaac Smith is undergoing a reconstruction and renovation phase over 5 years at a now estimated cost of $47 million CDN dollars. Parks Canada is responsible for the project.

The project has been under discussion and went through a long tendering phase of about 3 years, makes you wonder what took so long. The Legislature had to move out some years ago because the building had become dangerously unstable and many feared it would collapse on itself. Province House formerly known as Colonial House prior to 1864 has been the seat of the Legislative Assembly of PEI all those years and is the place where some of the main conferences of the Fathers of Confederation took place in 1864. So it is a National Historic Building of great importance, built in the Greek Revival style popular in the Georgian Period.

As I walked to Grafton Street today I went around Province House where workers are preparing the building for phase one which will stabilize the structure before more major work is undertaken. I noticed how badly cracked some of the stones are on the exterior walls, the wooden window frames are rotten and the stone steps are worn away with age. Given the age of the building, 170 yrs, with little to no maintenance it is a miracle that some great catastrophe has not struck.  Many of the original facing sandstone will need a full replacement.

The interior has retained its original rooms and it is quite elegant. It will be interesting to watch the progression of the work in the months and years to come. The idea is to return the building to its original splendor.

if you look at the outside walls you can see the damage on the stone.

Stone is cracked, chipped and discoloured

Here the workers are removing  the ceiling of the balcony on the North side to reveal the old original wood skeleton of the building supporting the roof, the original wood is rotten and the roof in danger of caving in.

The North facade of Province House, soon the windows will be removed and a steel skeleton will envelop the building to give it extra support and prevent any mishaps.

Province House with the Provincial Flag, only a few trees have been cut down for being to close to the walls of the building, all others are protected.

 

Tomorrow 24th Dec.

Tags

Christmas, cuisine, Festivities, Food, Hanukkah, Italy, Rome

Tomorrow is Christmas eve but this year it is also the beginning of Chanukkah which in Hebrew means dedication. The Festival of Lights marks the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 165 BC. Having been desecrated by the Syrians, the 165 BC rededication occurred thanks to the Maccabees. Hanukkah is a holiday I like a lot, Jesus was Jewish after all and so were all of his relatives, so this link with this Christian Holiday is great. We spent quite a few Holiday Season in Rome and partook of all the great Roman Traditions, its food and the fun that comes with it.

Jews in Rome or Italy today can be traced back to 160 BC when the first Jews arrived in Rome. They had fled historic Israel from the Syrian King Antiochus. Having arrived in Rome, this was to be known as the oldest Jewish settlements in the Western Europe.

So Rome has a Jewish community for the last 1,856 years, they have stories to tell.

The centrepiece of the Hanukkah celebrations in Rome happens at Piazza Barberini where a massive Menorah is lighted. The Menorah stands at 6 meters tall, there is another one at Piazza Bologna.

Piazza Barberini, Rome

Roman Jews have their very own cuisine which is very different from what can be found in the Jewish communities in North America, no bagels here.

A common tradition is fried food – fried in its own special way, and created to give a unique but tasty eating experience at Hanukkah time. Pollo Fritto per Chanuka is a hearty meal of chicken fried with a winning combination of ingredients. The chicken is marinated in a mix of olive oil with lemon juice, garlic and nutmeg. After the chicken has been marinated, it is then covered in flour and egg before it’s fried to make a crispy but moist dish. A good accompaniment to the fried chicken is Fritelle di Patate, which is fried mashed potato pancakes. The mash is seasoned to add that extra flavour before receiving a smattering of coated breadcrumbs to add to that fried kick. Rome is known for its Carciofi alla Giudia (artichokes), and also for Melanzane alla Giudia. This dish is fried eggplant – simple to make, and delicious to eat, the eggplant’s seeds and majority of flesh are removed before being fried in a combination of garlic and olive oil.

In keeping with the fried theme, Fritelle de Chanuka is a big hit for Italians to eat at Hanukkah. This dessert is basically fried sweet dough fritters. The dough is mixed in with raisins and anise seeds. It’s then fried and topped off with hot honey. Another favourite dessert is Torta di Ricotta, which is Ricotta Pie filled with either sour cherries and/or chocolate.

To all my Jewish Friends, Chag Sameach!

The bridge

Tags

Bridge, Canada., Confederation, PEI

Here are some photos of this marvellous bridge a wonder of engineering in the XXth Century. The Confederation Bridge built between 1993-1997 for one billion dollars over the Northumberland Strait, connecting the continent to Prince Edward Island. There is also a ferry service but not in Winter due to ice, difficult windy conditions that can reach on some days upwards of 100 Km per hour and high waves. It is truly one of the wonders of Canada.

Jean M. Müller (1925-2005) was the engineer/architect of this marvel. In 1951 he became the chief engineer of the Freyssinet Company and moved to the United States where he began constructing single and multiple span bridges. During this period Muller invented the technique of match-casting. His match-casting innovation was first used with dry joints on the single span Shelton Bridge in upstate New York. The technique was further developed using epoxy on the joints along with pre-cast concrete segmental box-girder technology, which was applied in 1962 on the Choisy-le-Roi Bridge extending over the Seine River in Paris, France. In 1955 he began working for Campenon Bernard in Paris, France, where he worked with large pre-stressed concrete projects. When he returned to Florida, he joined Eugene Figg and formed Figg and Muller Engineers in 1978. He also designed in 1997, one of the greatest engineering project in Canada, known as the Confederation Bridge connecting over the Gulf of St-Lawrence on a distance of 12.5 Km the Province of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Muller ended his career in 2000 after working as technical director for 11 years at J. Muller International.

 

Winter ice in the Gulf 

In the Summer time, thousands of people participate in the Terry Fox Marathon against cancer by running from the continent to the island.

Yes you can swim across if you so wish from Cape Tormentine. There is a Club who promotes it.

http://www.soloswims.com/MOWS.htm

From Cape Jourimain, New-Brunswick to Borden-Carleton in PEI.

For those of you who like to fly there are flights to Charlottetown, the Capital.

You can just see Jessica Fletcher arriving from Cabot Cove.

Charlottetown Airport YYG seen from the air.

42sd Parliament opens

Here is the Proclamation for our Parliament to open on 3rd December at 1pm. The Speech from the Throne will be on the next day.

DAVID JOHNSTON

[L.S.]

Canada

ELIZABETH THE SECOND, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories QUEEN, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
To Our beloved and faithful Senators of Canada and Members elected to serve in the House of Commons of Canada, and to all to whom these presents may in any way concern,

Greeting:

JODY WILSON-RAYBOULD
Attorney General

A PROCLAMATION
Whereas Our Parliament of Canada was dissolved on August 2, 2015;

Now know you that We, by and with the advice of Our Prime Minister of Canada, do command and enjoin each of you and all others interested in this behalf to appear in person, on Thursday, the third day of December, 2015, at one in the afternoon, at Our City of Ottawa, for the DISPATCH OF BUSINESS, to treat, do, act and conclude on those things that Our Parliament of Canada may, by the Grace of God, ordain.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, We have issued and caused this Our Proclamation to be published and the Great Seal of Canada to be affixed to it.

WITNESS: Our Right Trusty and Well-beloved David Johnston, Chancellor and Principal Companion of Our Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of Our Order of Military Merit, Chancellor and Commander of Our Order of Merit of the Police Forces, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada.

AT OUR GOVERNMENT HOUSE, in Our City of Ottawa, this thirteenth day of November in the year of Our Lord two thousand and fifteen and in the sixty-fourth year of Our Reign.

By command,
NAVDEEP SINGH BAINS
Registrar General of Canada

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

The first business of the day will be electing a Speaker for the House of Commons which is usually done in a couple of hours at most. All parties vote and the candidates for the job are often people who are well liked by all Members of Parliament. There will also be routine administrative stuff and then the next day the Governor General will come to Parliament to read the Throne Speech giving the details of the Program of Legislations and other business the Government will introduce during the Session. It will give Canadians a good idea of what Prime Minister Trudeau intends to do.

 

About this Electoral crisis

You know me I never have an opinion on anything and surely not on something political, it is too disagreeable for words and gentlemen never comment on such matters.

However the current Election campaign in Canada, the second longest in history since 1892 is driving me and at least 30 million other Canadians to distraction, Ok maybe 10 million. At any rate it is long and tedious and so far we have 7 more weeks of it before October 19.

the four Canadian Political Party Chiefs, from left Stephen Harper, Elizabeth May, Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair.

The issues facing this Dominion of ours, no one is really speaking about them, its all about Fraud Trials, who is going to jail or who is not, who is lying and who is committing fraud, who has been disqualified from Voting (voter suppression à l’Américaine) or who is disqualified from running in this Federal Election. There is a lot of hate out there against PM Harper who has now fallen into third place according to at least a dozen Pollsters who publish results in various media outlets. We are now in a Recession the second one since 2008, unemployment is going up, the dollar is worth as much as one Indian Rupee. Many Canadians cannot afford to go South this Winter.

But what of the real issues? Like good governance, investments, job creation, our foreign policy, Unity of the country, infrastructure. It seems those topics are gone. The Middle Class gets lots of play but what about the poor, the Veterans, the over 55+, pensions, respect for our Judicial System as a pillar of our Government system, respect for our democratic system, Parliament, the Charter of Rights.

Will a party Leader present a plan to reign in the almost dictatorial powers of the Prime Minister to put a stop to the abuse we have seen in the last 9 years. Our Democratic system in Canada is broken, that is clear. Unelected persons, insiders working for the Conservative Party have far to great powers to influence and intervene in all sectors of government. Ministerial responsibility is gone, Ministers are mere puppets of the Prime Minister. Everything they say or do comes directly from the Prime Minister’s Office Communication Bureau with its 1000+ staff. The RCMP, has been reduced to nothing more than a personal Praetorian Guard of the Prime Minister who rides around Ottawa in a 9 car heavily armed convoy, as if we were in Lagos, Nigeria. We are spending over 20 million dollars on his personal safety more than we have ever spent on any PM in 150 years of history. Does he really need 200 armed RCMP guards 24/7, when the Heir to the Throne is in Canada, him and the wife get 10 bodyguards and the Governor General who is the Head of State has 7 guards only on a daily basis. There is something seriously wrong with this picture.

It has to be understood that how we govern ourselves in Canada has to do with established Conventions and not a written Constitution where everything is detailed, spelled out and explained. Like in Britain where there is NO Constitution, we simply rely on what has always been done in the past, on Tradition. This worked fine for us until Harper came along and he demonstrated in words and deed that he is not going to play according to established Conventions. Our Constitution the British North America Act of 1867 and 1982 and the Charter of Rights of 1982 spells out in section 92 how the powers are divided between the Provinces (who created the Federal Government of Canada in 1867) and the Federal Government, but that is it and how Parliament will operate with the phrase ”For the advantage of Canada” pretty broad meaning, the rest is up to established traditions and conventions.

The word Canada in 1867 meant Quebec and Ontario.

The Queen EIIR signing the Constitutional document with the enshrined Canadian Charter of Rights on the steps of Parliament in Ottawa in 1982.

I have been voting since 1974 and this is the first National Election, I cannot remember any other past election were pure hate and division between Canadians is fuelling the constant bickering across party lines. Harper has made a hallmark of his regime to use wedge issues and appealing to the lowest common denominator in his base that 30% who will vote for him no matter what, to govern. His base are a very strange lot of people, they are not the old Conservatives of the years prior to the amalgamation of the Reform Party and Conservatives which took place in 2002. No, it is a group of extreme Right Wingers, xenophobes, gun owners, racists, neo-nazis and Rapture Evangelical types, who hate anyone who is not in their camp. Harper’s political allies are people like George W.Bush, Karl Rove, Silvio Berlusconi who he admires, David Cameron, the Koch brothers who help him out. So you get the picture.

The issue which Harper constantly likes to bring up is the deficit and government waste, convenient issues since few people really understand how the government works and most imagine there is massive waste due to lazy bureaucrats who are all corrupt. In turn the bureaucrats are helped by the Media who are all liars according to the Conservative Party spokesperson Kory Teneycke. Of course the White knight who will save us is Stephen Harper.

The fact that Harper added more to the Federal debt in his 9 years in Office than any other PM combined is lost on his supporters. He has been unable to balance a budget in 9 years and our economic growth is the weakest since the great depression of the 1930’s. Harper has slashed taxes so much that the government is unable to function properly, programs are in place with no money to administer them. Some 2 million children in Canada, our population is 36 million, live in poverty and the number continues to grow at an alarming rate, but he is oblivious to it. We have lost more of our Canadian Veterans from the longest war (12 years) in Afghanistan to suicide than to the Taliban, again it is not his problem, Harper cut budgets and services to Veterans and fought them in Court to deny them compensation, he claims we have no responsibility towards them.

Now the refugee crisis, Harper refuses to act, despite the fact that in 1947 Canada was one of the founders of the UNHCR and until 10 years ago we were a leader on refugee questions in the World. Harper declares that this conflict is a regional one, he blames the population of Syria and Irak for the situation, after all they are all Islamists, Arabs, people he has made abundantly clear he hates and his base is convinced that they are all terrorists, did Harper not tell us so repeatedly, so why should we help them.

This will be a very close election who ever wins will not win a majority. We may need a coalition, NDP-Liberals to defeat the CPC. There is a movement afoot to either vote strategically to ensure that Harper does not get in again or ensure a coalition to defeat him, nothing is certain. I cannot see a future for Canada under Harper if he was to be re-elected. Unfortunately there is still that 30% of voters who refuse to see the disaster this man brought upon us. Hatred, Xenophobia, Ignorance, Racism, this is what motivates his base.

We have had Prime Ministers in the past with whom I could not agree or disliked their policies, but there was always a middle-ground, there was always a way to reach a concensus which is the Canadian way in Politics. Now that is gone, only extremists remain and the politics of division, that is not good for our Dominion. It was understood in the past that your political rival was not an enemy but a rival and in the end all worked for ”Canada’s advantage” to quote our Constitutional text.

The road out of this tunnel is a long one and many Canadians say they want their Canada back the way it was. I am afraid this will never happen, we have become a nasty little country where bigots are proud. It will take a great effort to turn that tide, we can only hope.

 UPDATE!!! 8 September 2015

New poll shows Conservative in third place, if election was held today they would not even be the Official Opposition. Let’s hope this confirms itself on Election day Oct 19.