History of Nova Scotia
with special attention given to
Communications and Transportation

Chapter 34
2000 March

Go To:   Index with links to the other chapters

2000 March 1

High Speed Internet Comes to Sydney

A $3,000,000 investment by the EastLink Companies will bring high speed Internet services to Sydney's residential market through cable modem technology. Company president David Caldwell made the official announcement Wednesday in Sydney. "With the expanding knowledge economy here in Cape Breton, it simply makes sense for us to make this market a priority," said Caldwell. Beginning immediately, the service will be offered to those cable subscribers living within the former boundaries of the city of Sydney. Service for the remaining EastLink cable subscribers and for business will be phased in over the remainder of the year. Caldwell expects by the end of the year, 90% of the company's 17,000 subscribers in the regional municipality will be offered the service. While EastLink is the first to provide the service in Sydney, other Cape Breton communities have been speeding down the information highway for about three years. Communities like Glace Bay, New Waterford, Low Point and Dominion have coverage provided through Seaside Cable. EastLink, a privately owned Nova Scotia company based in Halifax, is the sixth largest cable provider in Canada and has 175,000 customers across Nova Scotia.
[Cape Breton Post, 2 March 2000]

Reference: EastLink website at http://www.eastlink.ca/

2000 March 1

Summerville CAP Site Opens

On the evening of Wednesday, March 1st, a public ceremony at Dr. Arthur Hines School in Summerville, Hants County, marked the opening of the Hants Shore Community Access Program (CAP) site. The new facility features computer websites for individuals living in the area, internet job search, children's encyclodedia, and community archives.
[The Hants Journal, Windsor, 1 March 2000]

2000 March 1

Interhop/Auracom Points of Presence

ISP (Internet Service Provider) Interhop Network Services Inc.
including Auracom Internet Services
Points of Presence in Nova Scotia
as of 1 March 2000 
                  902-661-1115       Amherst
                  902-863-1444       Antigonish
                  902-756-2169       Baddeck
                  902-637-1404       Barrington
                  902-275-2105       Blandford
                  902-665-5022       Bridgetown
                  902-624-1705       Bridgewater
                  902-624-1705       Chester
                  902-235-2031       Cheticamp
                  902-245-6953       Digby
                  902-883-3401       Elmsdale
                  902-533-5005       Guysborough
                  902-429-5757       Halifax
                  902-492-0277       Halifax (56k)
                  902-684-1609       Hantsport
                  902-258-2274       Inverness
                  902-678-1189       Kentville
                  902-527-5908       LaHave
                  902-354-7007       Liverpool
                  902-354-2327       Liverpool (v.90)
                  902-624-1705       Lunenburg
                  902-624-1705       Mahone Bay
                  902-624-0243       Mahone Bay (v.90)
                  902-261-2691       Maitland
                  902-248-2023       Margaree Forks
                  902-833-2040       Melrose
                  902-825-5105       Middleton
                  902-527-5908       New Germany
                  902-752-9353       New Glasgow
                  902-275-2105       New Ross
                  902-485-7501       Pictou
                  902-625-4702       Port Hawkesbury
                  902-762-0197       Pubnico
                  902-527-5908       Riverport
                  902-875-8092       Shelburne
                  902-833-2040       Sherbrooke
                  902-527-5908       Springfield
                  902-562-5582       Sydney
                  902-897-8052       Truro
                  902-657-9701       Wallace
                  902-624-1705       Western Shore
                  902-837-4045       Weymouth
                  902-798-6006       Windsor
                  902-749-4554       Yarmouth
Source: The Interhop website at
    http://www.interhop.net/members/pop.html#nova_scotia Perhaps these arrangements came about because of the historical stages of the development of the service in this area.

2000 March 1

SolutionInc Limited

MicroAge Ottawa has signed a reseller agreement with SolutionInc Limited of Halifax. This agreement gives MicroAge the opportunity to distribute SolutionIP VBN servers in the national capital region. SolutionIP VBN Servers enable plug and play connectivity to the Internet in a variety of environments – from hotels to condominiums to airport lounges. "MicroAge Ottawa is a very well respected organization, and we're pleased to establish this partnership," said Michael Jewett, Vice President Business Development with SolutionInc. "This agreement will help SolutionInc build our presence in the national capital region, and will ensure that MicroAge is able to meet customer demand for easy-to-use, secure access to high-speed Internet services as well as advanced networking solutions." "In our research to determine the best solution for our customers, we quickly saw the potential for the SolutionIP VBN Server, not only for the hospitality industry, but in other markets as well," said Mark Sigouin, Manager of Professional Services with MicroAge Ottawa. "We look forward to a long and successful relationship with SolutionInc."

About MicroAge Ottawa

MicroAge Ottawa is a franchise of Hartco Enterprises Inc., a publicly traded company located in Montreal, with annual revenues exceeding $500,000,000. MicroAge Ottawa's connection with Hartco – and its 120 franchise locations across the country – make it part of the largest computer reseller network in the country. An international affiliation through MicroAge International lends MicroAge Ottawa the strength of 1,700 business centres worldwide. MicroAge Ottawa maintains long term customer relationships with some of Canada's largest corporations, including Bell Canada, TD Bank, Stentor and the Department of National Defence.

About SolutionInc Limited

SolutionInc Limited designs and manufactures the SolutionIP suite of high performance, Linux-based products to enable advanced networking capability. SolutionIP VBN Servers provide a seamless solution for connecting and managing nomadic users of broadband and wireless networks in public access areas such as hotels, multi-dwelling units, multi-tenant units, campuses and airports.

Source:
SolutionInc Limited media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/01/c0039.html

References:
SolutionInc Limited website at
    http://www.solutioninc.com/
MicroAge Ottawa website at
    http://www.microage.ca/
Hartco Enterprises Inc. website at
    http://www.hartco.com/

2000 March 1

Gasoline Prices Set New Record in Nova Scotia

Gasoline prices across Nova Scotia soared to a historic high yesterday. Prices jumped three cents a litre to a record-high 74.9 cents for regular self-serve at most stations. Refineries have raised their prices and the increase is being passed along to consumers, said Dave Collins, vice-president of Wilson Fuel Co. Ltd., which supplies gas to sixty stations in Atlantic Canada. "It's good old-fashioned greed," he said. Refinery prices for gasoline have been climbing steadily for nine days, Collins said. Imperial Oil spokesman Pierre Desrochers of Montreal said he couldn't confirm that. "I will have to verify that," he said. No one from Irving Oil, which has the largest refinery in Canada, could be reached for comment. "At these margins, there is a lot of money being made at the refinery level," said Collins, who is also president of the Independent Retail Gas Marketers Association of Canada. Gas prices also shot up three cents a litre at many stations in New Brunswick. Furnace oil and diesel prices didn't go up. Collins said those prices are starting to come down. Heating oil was selling for 45.9 cents a litre Tuesday and diesel was down to 71.9 from its recent peak of 78.9.
[The Sault Star, 1 March 2000]
Reference:
The Sault Star website at http://www.saultstar.com/

[A longer version of the same item appeared in
The Kitchener-Waterloo Record 1 March 2000]

2000 March 2   1:00pm AST

CIBC Annual Meeting to be Broadcast Live
on the Internet

Canada's normally stodgy banks have lumbered into the Internet age by sending audio broadcasts of shareholders' meetings over the Web, but Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will be the first to attempt real-time video. "Live video means live right on the Internet, like you're there, just like TV," said Shannon Bowness, spokeswoman for CIBC. "And to the best of our knowledge, we're the first to do live video." The other major banks have not ventured into that tricky technical territory, sticking so far to Internet audio feeds and slide presentations to satisfy the outcry from stockholders for more openness and information. But CIBC, the country's third-biggest bank in terms of assets, will be showing its annual meeting, held thisyear in Calgary on March 2nd, on its website starting at noon eastern time. Royal Bank of Canada, which gathered shareholders on February 23rd in Toronto, stuck to videos and slides, but still had problems. Some question whether the herky-jerky video stream of a talking suit is worth the while.
[The National Post, 25 February 2000]

Live Videocast of CIBC's Annual Meeting

CIBC will broadcast its annual meeting of shareholders live in audio and video formats over the Internet beginning at 12:00noon (EST) on Thursday, March 2nd. The webcast of the meeting, to be held this year in Calgary at The Westin Hotel Calgary, will include presentations by CIBC executives to shareholders and a question and answer period.

How to Access the Webcasts

Quarterly Analyst Call

CIBC will also release its first quarter results on Thursday, March 2. The conference call with bank analysts and institutional investors will also be carried live on the Internet at 4:30pm  (EST) on the same day via an audio webcast. The webcast will include presentations by bank executives, followed by a question and answer session for analysts and institutional investors. A telephone recording of the analyst call will also be available for all investors. The recording will be available to the public following the completion of the analyst call at approximately 5:30pm (EST). Those interested in listening to the tape of the analyst call can access the recording by calling (416) 695-5800 and entering the passcode 414850. The instant replay of the analyst call will be available until midnight March 16, 2000.

CIBC media release, 24 February 2000
http://www.newswire.ca/releases/February2000/24/c7269.html
and   http://www.cibc.com/download/99annmtgnoticeeng.pdf
and   http://www.cibc.com/english/about_cibc/
                investor_relations/events/annual_meeting/index.html
          (Be prepared for a very long wait while this one downloads interminably.)

Reference:
CIBC website at
    http://www.cibc.com/

2000 March 3

Last-Minute Travel Website Launched

On this day, a last-minute club for travel in Atlantic Canada was launched in Halifax. Atlantic Explorer Travel Club is an Internet-based service being offered free of charge to consumers. It will list last-minute deals on discounted rooms at hotels and inns around the region, and will even allow members to sign up to have the travel information of interest to them sent to them via e-mail. Tony Thibault of Momentum Marketing Group, the parent company of Atlantic Explorer, said the participating companies, who will pay fees on a commission basis, will be able to update offers directly to the Web site through a password-protected system.
[The Daily News, 4 March 2000]

Reference:
Atlantic Explorer Travel Club website at
    http://atlanticexplorer.com/travelclub/

2000 March 3

Strait of Canso Superport

A new era has begun for the Strait of Canso Superport. On this day, Transport Canada officially handed over the port and its facilities in Mulgrave and Port Hawkesbury to a private Mulgrave-based group. The deal includes a $10,500,000 federal contribution to fund repairs and operational and maintenance costs of the wharves, including $6,600,000 for major repairs to the south berth of the Mulgrave Marine Terminal and the Port Hawkesbury Government Wharf.

As the transfer ceremony ended, the team that negotiated the deal with Transport Canada – Mulgrave Mayor Leonard MacDonald, Paul Crissman, Tom Hall, Ken Anderson, and Basil Ryan – made a beeline for the Mulgrave Credit Union to deposit the federal cheques. Extensive work remains to be done on the Mulgrave wharf to bring it up to current commercial and safety standards. The oldest part of the terminal was built in 1944, and three separate additions have been built since then. Both Transport Canada and Superport officials, however, say the terminal is not an expensive white elephant.

The deep-water ice-free Strait of Canso Superport, located strategically on the "great circle route" favoured by international shippers between North America and Europe, is already Nova Scotia's number one port in terms of gross tonnage. In 1998, about 14,500,000 tonnes of goods were shipped via the port. Major commercial users include Martin Marietta, Georgia Pacific, Stora Enso, and Statia Terminals.

[The Guysborough County Journal, 9 March 2000]

References:
Strait-Highlands Regional Development Agency
    http://www.strait-highlands.ns.ca/
Map of Canso Superport area
    http://www.strait-highlands.ns.ca/strait_of_canso_superport.htm
Strategic Direction 5: Effective Management of the Strait of Canso Superport
    http://www.strait-highlands.ns.ca/strategi.htm#STRATEGIC DIRECTION 5
Strait of Canso Superport Authority, news release, 1 November 1996
    http://www.gov.ns.ca/ecor/press/1996/11strait.htm

2000 March 9

Fuel Oil Prices Hurting Schools

The Southwest Regional School Board says the higher oil prices of recent weeks are really pushing up the Board's operating costs. Jerome Tanner, director of finance and operations, said today the Board is paying and extra $750,000 for fuel that wasn't budgeted for. Tanner said the figure includes the extra cost of gasoline for running school buses, and for heating fuel for the Board's schools and other buildings.
[The Daily News, 10 March 2000]

Southwest Regional School Board Yarmouth
    http://www.ednet.ns.ca/educ/boards/southwest/

2000 March 9

Halifax Airport Set For March Break Traffic

The new Halifax International Airport Authority is ready for its first busy season since taking over the airport last month. "We're anticipating a twenty to twenty-five percent inrease in traffic over normal numbers because of March Break," said Dennis Rogers, president and CEO of the airport authority. On an average Friday, Rogers said the airport handles about 13,000 passengers. But tomorrow, Friday, March 10th – the beginning of the annual week-long break in Nova Scotia – that number could rise to 17,000. The private, not-for-profit organization officially took possession of the airport from the federal government on February 1st.
[The Daily News, 10 March 2000]

2000 March 9

Tall Ships 2000

Plans for Tall Ships 2000 Celebration at Halifax

Bigger than the combined fleets
at Battle of Trafalgar

At least 100 ships from 23 countries expected

Halifax is battening down the hatches for the three-quarters of a million people expected to come see the Tall Ships. Tall Ships 2000, this summer's gathering of majestic sailing ships, may rank as the largest gathering of its kind in history, says Alan Abraham, the event's chairman, a former lieutenant-governor. "We are talking world-class numbers (of ships) ... in terms of tonnage and length, this will surpass anything Halifax has ever seen," he told a news conference today in Halifax.

Halifax will be playing host to more wind-driven vessels than ever gathered together at one time in its history. Organizers expect at least 100 ships from 23 countries on July 19th and 20th – everything from towering square-riggers to sleek schooners – to descend on the port in mid-July before undertaking a transatlantic race to Amsterdam. The numbers may swell to as many as 140, eclipsing the fifty vessels that called at Halifax in June 1984.

Up to 25 will be A-class vessels – the largest sailing vessels afloat, exceeding 36 metres in length. One, the 90-metre Kaiwo Maru from Japan, has never sailed in Atlantic waters. Only a half-dozen A-class ships were on hand sixteen years ago.

The ships begin arriving July 18th and will be tied up along the Halifax waterfront until July 24th, when they will line up for a three-hour parade up and down the harbour before departing. Ships will be berthed along the waterfront from just south of the cruiseship terminal to just north of the new casino site, said Agnes McLean, who is responsible for ship-related needs while the fleet is here. In Halifax, deliveries to the ships will take place at night, and part of Lower Water Street will be closed to vehicle traffic, except for emergencies, during the day. The event is expected to attract 750,000 people over five days and inject about $30,000,000 into the local economy. The ships will be open for tours. Concerts, dances and ceremonies are planned for residents, visitors and the 5,000 young men and women who crew the vessels.

Halifax is only one port of call for vessels taking part in what's billed "the race of the century."

The race begins April 18th in Southampton, England, while ships from the Mediterranean set out from Genoa, Italy on April 23rd. They will assemble at Cadiz, Spain, for a race – likely to take three or four weeks, working against the prevailing wind – across the Atlantic to Bermuda. After touring ports along the United States Eastern Seaboard, they gather in Boston with ships based in North and South American ports, then head to Halifax. From Halifax the fleet will embark on the last and longest leg of the voyage, the eastbound transatlantic race from Halifax to Amsterdam.

Battle of Trafalgar
21 October 1805

As the last stop before the return race to Europe, Halifax has the distinction of hosting the fleet at its largest, Mr. Abraham said. He expects the sailing fleet assembled in Halifax will be larger than the combined fleets at the decisive Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and maybe as large as the Spanish Armada of 1588.

He's checked the history books and found there were 130 ships in the Spanish Armada and only 68 ships did battle at Trafalgar.

Interest has been building for many months, says Gerry Lunn, a curator at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic on the Halifax waterfront. "We could have someone at the front desk all the time answering tall ships questions."

[The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 10 March 2000]
[The Halifax Daily News, 10 and 13 March 2000] 

Dates of Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race 2000 Race 
    Gdansk                     5 -  8 July 
    Helsinki                  14 - 17 July 
    Mariehamn                 21 - 23 July 
    Stockholm                 26 - 29 July 
    Flensburg                  4 -  7 August 

Dates of the Tall Ships 2000 double Transatlantic Race 
    Southampton, England      12 - 16 April 
    Genoa, Italy              20 - 23 April 
    Cadiz, Spain               4 -  7 May 
    Hamilton, Bermuda          9 - 12 June 
    Boston, Massachusetts     12 - 16 July 
    Halifax, Nova Scotia      20 - 24 July 
    Amsterdam, Holland        24 - 28 August
Source:   http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/or01/tradtall.htm

Tall Ships 2000 The Race of the Century
    http://www.poundbury.co.uk/tradboats/links02.htm
The Tall Ships 2000 voyage has been called the Race of the Century, and justifiably so. The entire voyage will take 139 days from Southampton to Amsterdam, or 131 days from Genoa to Amsterdam. The first leg of the race has a dual start; from Southampton, England and Genoa, Italy. The two fleets race towards Cadiz, where they cross the finishing line of the first leg. The ships assemble in Cadiz for the westbound transatlantic race to Bermuda. From Bermuda the ships cruise in company to Boston. When the ships arrive in Boston they prepare for the penultimate race of Tall Ships 2000 from Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia. From Halifax the fleet will embark on the last and longest leg of the voyage, the eastbound transatlantic race from Halifax to Amsterdam.

References:   A brief search on 10 March 2000 turned up the following active websites. No doubt there are many others.

Tall Ships 2000

    http://www.tallships2000.com/
    http://www.tallships2000.ns.ca/
    http://www.tallships2000.bm/
    http://www.tallships2000.org.uk/
    http://www.tallships2000.southampton.org.uk/
    http://www.ista.co.uk/
    http://www.jst.org.uk/lord_nel/ts2000/
    http://www.hel.fi/port/ajankohtaista/tsr2000/index_en.html
    http://www.geocities.com/ts2000genova/index_eng.htm
    http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Stands/2518/ts2000.htm
    http://www.sailboston.com/
    http://www.seaislandboatworks.com/charleston_tall_ships_2000.htm
    http://www.tallshipscharleston.com/
    http://www.tallshipsnewport.org/
    http://www.tallshipsnewport.com/classa.htm
    http://www.sail2000amsterdam.nl/
    http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/or01/tradtall.htm
    http://www.brigantineinn.com/tall_ships.html
    http://www.grandbanker.com/tallships.html
    http://www.cadiz-regata2000.com/
    http://www.burningelectrons.com/TallShips/wwwboard/
    http://www.morningstar.org.uk/mst_special.html
    http://www.libertystatepark.com/opsail_2000_tall__ships.htm
    http://www.tallships2000.com/news.htm
    http://bahrs.com/jaycos2/noname9.html
    http://www.schoonerman.com/
    http://www.travellady.com/articles/article-tallships.html
    http://www.startext.net/travel/stories/tallships.htm
    http://www.spacestar.net/users/cruiser/tallship/tallship.htm
    http://www.jst.org.uk/lord_nel/ts2000/
    http://www.smallships.com/muse-link.html
    http://www.bostonboating.com/TallShipsBoston2000.htm
    http://www.apparent-wind.com/tall-ships-faq.html
    http://www.massbaylines.com/tallships.htm
    http://www.spiritcruises.com/opsail/opsail.html
    http://www.tide-mark.com/tall-ships.html
    http://pub1.ezboard.com/fbermudashortsforumtallships2000.html
    http://www.hel.fi/port/ajankohtaista/tsr2000/
    http://www.yachting.cz/re/plavby/plv_5.html
    http://www.maritimeheritage.org/tallships/home.html

Related Websites

    http://www.freefoto.com/pictures/the_sea/tall_ships/index.asp
    http://www.hd.org/Damon/photos/tall-ships/
American Sail Training Association
    http://tallships.sailtraining.org/

The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805

    http://broadside.napoleonicwars.com/battle-of-trafalgar.html
    http://www.luna.co.uk/~hawkesm/dmcc/trafalgar.html
    http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.luna.co.uk/~hawkesm/dmcc/trafalgar.html
British Ships at the Battle of Trafalgar
    http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Trafalgar/Ships.txt

The Spanish Armada, 1588

    http://www.cfcsc.dnd.ca/links/milhist/armada.html
    http://tbls.hypermart.net/history/1588armada/
    http://www.bangor.ac.uk/~hip01c/armada.htm
    http://ukdb.web.aol.com/hutchinson/encyclopedia/17/M0013917.htm

Kaiwo Maru

Kaiwo Maru 
                           Kaiwo Maru
Rig:          4 masted barque 
Launched:     1989
Home port:    Tokyo
Length overall:      110.1 m       361 feet
Beam:                 13.8 m        45 feet
Draft loaded:          6.6 m        22 feet
Max. mast height:     55.5 m       182 feet
Total sail area:           2,750 m2     29,600 ft2
   18 square sails         1,780 m2     19,160 ft2
   18 fore and aft sails     970 m2     10,440 ft2
Displacement:        2,879 gross tons
    http://www.maritimeheritage.org/tallships/kaiwo.html
    http://www.osakawtc.or.jp/sailosaka/shipdata/kaiwomaru/kaiwomaru.html

Preserved Square-rigged Ships
    http://pc-78-120.udac.se:8001/WWW/Nautica/
            Ships/Preserved_Squarerigged_Ships.html

Pogoria

Pogoria
Pogoria was designed by marine architect Kygmant Choren and built by the Gdansk shipyards in Poland. She was launched in May 1980. Her first Captain was the famous Polish lone sailor Cris Baronowski. Pogoria is 47m 154 feet long with accommodations for up to 50 crew and students, and can be provisioned for 30 days or more. Pogoria is 342 gross tons displacement with a beam of 7.9m 26 feet and a draft of 3.6m 11 feet 6 inches carrying 1000 square metres 10,700 square feet of sail and will reach speeds of 15 knots 28 km/h. It is not uncommon for Pogoria to sail more than 250 nautical miles 460km in 24 hours.
Reference:
Pogoria's website (in Polish, English not available)
    http://www.wsm.gdynia.pl/pogoria/

2000 March 9

Public Prosecution Service Gets Computers

In March, 2000, the Nova Scotia government bought 73 desktop computers and 58 notebook computers for the provincial Public Prosecution Service. The computers were bought from Dell Computer Corporation of Round Rock, Texas, for $303,235. Compatible Computer Services, Quinpool Road, Halifax, bid $313,899 and did not get the order.
[The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 13 April 2000]

Note: These two sources disagree by $63,798
about the cost of this purchase.

2000 March 10

Theodore Too Captain Named

Tugboat veteran Bill Stewart of Halifax has been signed on as captain of Theodore  Too, a real, ocean-going version of the star of the popular childrens' television series. Stewart has been a real tugboat captain with ECTUG (Eastern Canada Towing Limited) for 25 years. He has also been Officer in Command with the Canadian Coast Guard cutter Number 117, part of the Search and Rescue unit. In his new job, Stewart will be responsible for the safe and effective operation of Theodore Too. The real wooden tugboat, to be launched next month, weighs 105 tonnes, measures 19.5 metres from bow to stern, and is powered by a 400 horsepower 300 kilowatt engine. It is being built in Snyder's Shipyard in Dayspring, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia. "I have spent my entire life around boats of all shapes and sizes,"says Stewart, who is originally from Fortune Bay, Newfoundland. "I quickly became a fan of the series. I am honoured to have been selected as the captain for Theodore Too. "We're very, very happy to have him," said Andrew Cochran, creator and executive producer of the series, which is produced in Halifax. Theodore Tugboat is seen on CBC-TV weekday mornings, and as part of PBS's Ready to Learn lineup of shows in the United States.
[The Daily News, 10 March 2000]

Theodore Always Wished He Could go to Sea

A life-size replica of Theodore Tugboat, the star of the famed TV tugboat series, is a dream come true for little Teddy, says his creator Andrew Cochran. "Theodore always wished he could go to sea," he said, glancing affectionately at Theodore Tugboat the large hull under construction at Snyder's Shipyard in Dayspring, on the eastern shore of the LaHave River near Bridgewater in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia. Big Theodore will be ready to steam into ports on the Eastern Seaboard of North America, and the Great Lakes, powered by a 400-horsepower diesel engine capable of pushing the boat to speeds of up to 20 kilometres an hour.

The million-dollar project is in response to the legions of little viewers who want Theodore to visit their harbours, Mr. Cochran said. Cochran Entertainment Inc. is footing the bill for the big tug. The 20-metre-long, seven-metre-wide, 95-tonne vessel. Ocean-going Teddy will have a captain and two full-time crew members. Even though Theodore will look like a tug, it won't act like one. Instead, it will be a dockside showboat that people can tour. The vessel was designed by two Nova Scotians, Fred Allen and naval architect Marius Lengkeek. The hull and wheelhouse are being made of Nova Scotia spruce, oak, birch, pine and maple. Theodore's face, hat and smokestack will be fibreglass.

"This boat is totally different from what we ever did," said shipyard owner Philip Snyder. Snyder's mainstay for more than half a century has been fishing vessels. Theodore Tugboat is an award-winning children's show produced in Halifax. Designed for preschoolers to explore feelings, fairness and friendship, it's televised in more than 70 countries.

Source:
The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 27 May 1999
Cached article
    http://www.canoe.ca/TelevisionShowsT/theodoretugboat.html

Theodore Tugboat

Theodore Tugboat website at
    http://www.cochran.com/theodore/
    Traffic on the Theodore website exceeds 5,000,000 hits a month.
Theodore Tugboat at PBS
    http://www.pbs.org/tugboat/

Snyder's Shipyard

Snyder's Shipyard (book)
    http://www.dal.ca/~tpress/TBP.Snyders.html
The Master Builder of the Avon Spirit is Philip Snyder of Snyder's Shipyard
    http://www.glinx.com/~arhs/spirit.htm#builders
The launching of Avon Spirit, hull number 216 at Snyder's Shipyard
    http://www.outdoorns.com/launchin.htm

2000 March 10

Historic Machinery Relocated

Locomotives became freight this week at the Museum of Industry in Stellarton, when cranes loaded them on flatbed trailers for the trip to a storage facility in town. The five vintage engines and other historic machinery also being moved weren't part of the musuem's display. They had been under wraps outdoors near the old Stellarton railway station on the museum grounds. Concern about weather damage and plans for using the outdoor space prompted the move to indoor quarters on Bridge Avenue. "The relocation provides new opportunities for the museum to utilize the railway station to attract more visitors to the museum and to enhance their experience here," said museum director Debra McNabb. Making the move are a 101-year-old locomotive built for the Sydney and Louisbourg Railway and used by Stellarton's Acadia Coal Company from 1955-63; a 94-year-old switcher that spent its final years at Westville's Drummond Mine before retiring in 1964; a 23-tonne engine donated to the museum in 1991 by Bowater Mersey Paper Co.; a gas-powered locomotive used to build the Cape Tormentine ferry terminal and at the Wallace sandstone quarry; and a 60-year-old Devco 20, one of Canada's oldest diesel locomotives.
[The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 10 March 2000]

2000 March 11

Gasoline Price Nears 80¢ a Litre

The Daily News did a random survey of gasoline prices at ten service stations in the Halifax Metro area today, and found the following prices posted for a litre of regular gasoline. All but one are for self-served fuel – the Shell station on Herring Cove Road does not have self-serve pumps. 
               Regular Grade Gasoline, per litre
       75.9¢   Ultramar, 397 Windmill Road         self-serve
       78.0¢   Wilson's, 655 Sackville Drive       self-serve
       78.0¢   Superline, 3451 Barrington Street   self-serve
       78.5¢   Treaty Gas, 600 Caldwell Road       self-serve
       78.9¢   Esso, 6020 Young Street             self-serve
       78.9¢   Shell, 977 Cole Harbour Road        self-serve
       78.9¢   Petro-Canada, 105 Main Street       self-serve
       78.9¢   Ultramar, 873 Bedford Highway       self-serve
       80.9¢   Irving, 5620 South Street           self-serve
       81.9¢   Shell, 385 Herring Cove Road      full service
[The Sunday Daily News, 12 March 2000]

Here's the breakdown on an average 75.7-cent litre of gasoline sold yesterday in Nova Scotia: 
       13.5 cents   provincial road tax
       10.0 cents   federal excise tax
        9.9 cents   BST (blended sales tax)  4.6 cents federal
                                             5.3 cents provincial
       26.5 cents   cost of crude oil
        8.8 cents   refinery
        7.0 cents   retailer
       ----
       75.7 cents
Thus, on a $30.00 fillup, you pay $16.76 for the gasoline, and $13.24 in taxes.
[The Daily News, 24 March 2000]

2000 March 12

Availability of Competitive Local Telephone Service

A large display advertisement in today's Sunday Daily News lists several suburban locations near Halifax, in addition to the Halifax peninsula, where competitive local telephone service is now available. That is, residential and business customers in these suburban areas now have a choice of two – at least two – competing companies which offer local telephone service. One company is Maritime Telegraph and Telephone, which has been the monopoly supplier of local telephone service here since 1910. The other is EastLink Telephone, which placed the ad. These areas are: [The Sunday Daily News, 12 March 2000]

EastLink Telephone is a division of EastLink Cable Group, an owner of cable television systems in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. EastLink the first company in Canada to commercially provide local and long distance telephone, high speed internet and cable television services through its own network. On 9 November 1999, an agreement was signed between EastLink and Nortel Networks Corporation to officially launch a new era in telephone service for Atlantic Canada. Under terms of the multi-year agreement, Nortel Networks will supply Eastlink with an end-to-end network platform designed to enable local telephony service equivalent to or better than traditional phone service through its existing Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) network
Sources:
    http://www.eastlink.ca/telephone/tel-intro.html
    http://www.eastlink.ca/telephone/media05.html

References:
EastLink website at
    http://www.eastlink.ca/
EastLink FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
    http://www.eastlink.ca/telephone/faq-ans.html

EastLink Telephone
Customer Information
July 6, 1999

The requirements for providing competitive local telephone service are set out in Telecom Decision CRTC 97-8 (which is available on the CRTC website www.crtc.gc.ca). EastLink Telephone has committed to adhering to the terms and conditions included in that decision. EastLink Telephone provides equal access to other telecommunications service providers. EastLink Telephone customers are free to choose their long-distance or enhanced service provider...

Maps of Eastlink Telephone Serving Area

Maps showing the serving area of EastLink Telephone are available for viewing at the Company's business office...

Directory Policy

Customers will receive, without charge, up to one copy per telephone, of the most recent telephone directory for their district, both white and yellow pages. Updated directories, as they are published, will also be provided. The contents of directories released by EastLink Telephone may not be published or reproduced in any form without the directory publisher's written consent...

Disclosure of Subscriber Listing Information

In accordance with CRTC requirements, EastLink Telephone makes names, addresses and telephone numbers available to publishers of paper and electronic directories. Your listing can be removed from such lists by requesting a non-published telephone number...

Non-Published Numbers

Non-published numbers do not appear in the telephone directory and are not available from Directory Assistance Operators. Non-published numbers are included in the Nova Scotia emergency 9-1-1 database...

Source:
CRTC website at
    http://www.crtc.gc.ca/INTERNET/1999/8180/JULY6-99.DOC

2000 March 15

CAP Society Website

The CAP Society of Cape Breton County, a non-profit organization formed in May, 1999, is a regional working group of Community Access Program (CAP) sites committed to the social,economic, and cultural enhancement of our communities through the use of Information Technology. Source: The CAP Society of Cape Breton County website at
    http://www.perc-cap.ns.ca/capsociety/

Reference:
Map showing locations of the fifteen member CAP sites
    http://www.perc-cap.ns.ca/capsociety/locations.html

2000 March 19

Municipalities Want the Front Plate Restored

At least nine municipalities, from Barrington in the southwest to Inverness County in Cape Breton, are calling on the province to bring back front licence plates for ordinary automobiles and other vehicles, citing school bus safety and policing concerns. In a cost-cutting move, the province dropped front plates from passenger vehicles in November 1995. The Nova Scotia Chiefs of Police Association did not object. Eliminating one plate has saved the province about $160,000 per year, says Robyn McIsaac, director of communications for the Department of Business and Consumer Services. "Is a child's life worth $160,000?" asks Barrington Municipal Councillor Angus Atkinson, who is also a school bus driver. He says the number of oncoming vehicles passing his bus when its red lights are flashing – meaning he is stopped to either let off or pick up children – has doubled to about 15 a year since 1995. Mr. Atkinson believes drivers know there's little chance of police charging them when his only means of identifying them is trying to read their rear licence plate "through my rear-view mirror."

Kelli Wolfe-Enslow, transportation analyst for the Southwest Regional School Board's western zone, says a board study in Lunenburg County over a two-week period last month showed 22 instances in which vehicles passed a bus that was stopped with its red lights flashing. Most of the violators approached the bus from the front. "I think inattention is probably the main cause," Ms. Wolfe-Enslow said. "But knowing they're not likely to have their licence plate number recorded is also an important factor." Drivers were identified in fewer than six cases. The standard fine for passing a school bus with its red lights flashing is $387.50. The board will do a wider study from April 3rd to 14th, Ms. Wolfe-Enslow said. Sgt. Mike Leighton, detachment commander of Barrington RCMP, has written to Barrington council saying the two-plate system enhances officer safety at traffic stops.

Ms. McIsaac said Waldale Manufacturing Ltd. of Amherst produced about 106,000 single plates for the province last year at a cost of $530,000 – $5 per plate – and 2,200 double plates, still required for heavy commercial vehicles.

Eight of the 13 licensing jurisdictions in Canada require only a rear plate on passenger vehicles, Ms. McIsaac said. The five still insisting on a front plate are New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Municipalities supporting Barrington's stance include Inverness and Cumberland counties and the towns of Shelburne, Bridgewater, Trenton, Parrsboro, Bridgetown and Mahone Bay. Queens and Colchester counties are opposed. Colchester Municipal Councillor Ray Merriam argues that "one plate gives people what they want. It'll be going back to the Dark Ages if we have to have two licence plates."

[The Halifax Sunday Herald, 19 March 2000]
[The Hants Journal, Windsor, 5 April 2000]

Bridgetown Supports Return to Two Plates on Automobiles

The Town of Bridgetown is among a growing number of organizations which would like to see vehicle license plates displayed at the front as well as the rear of vehicles. At the February meeting of Town Council, a motion was adopted to write a letter to the Nova Scotia Minister of Transportation indicating support for a return to the two-plate system. Several years ago, a change was made requiring that a license plate be displayed only at the rear of the car. The motion was in response to a letter received from the Municipality of the District of Barrington, expressing its concern about the difficulties the one-plate system creates for law enforcement officials. In particular it is concerned about the problems school bus drivers often have in obtaining the license numbers of vehicles which pass buses when their stop lights are activated. Barrington Council has sent a letter to all municipal units in the province as well as to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Sgt. Baxter Upshall of the RCMP Bridgetown Detachment, who was present at the council meeting to present his annual report, said that the one-plate system creates difficulties. "It was a regressive step," he siad. "It causes a 70 per cent impediment to our job. The chances of apprehending a vehicle are significantly reduced – it has caused a lot of problems."
[The Bridgetown Monitor, 15 February 2000]

2000 March 20

Duke Energy Buys Into "Prodigious"
Sable Island Natural Gas Field

Houston, Texas, and Calgary, Alberta – March 20, 2000
Duke Energy Corporation and Canadian 88 Energy Corporation announced today that the two companies have entered into an agreement whereby Duke Energy will make a strategic investment in Canadian 88 forming an ongoing alliance between the two companies. Under the terms of the investment Duke Energy will assume marketing of Canadian 88's natural gas production and seek to optimize the value of Canadian 88's gathering and processing assets. Duke Energy will acquire approximately 25 million common shares of Canadian 88 from treasury at a price of C$2.00 per share. After the investment, Duke Energy will hold approximately 20 percent of the common stock of Canadian 88. Duke Energy will make the investment through its Duke Energy Hydrocarbons (DEH) subsidiary.

Canadian 88 has a world-class exploration inventory of natural gas plays in some of the highest impact regions of North America including the Alberta Foothills and the prodigious Sable Island deepwater areas.

Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline

In Canada, Duke Energy is a leading provider of industrial energy services, has one of the largest natural gas marketing and trading operations and through a joint venture, operates a sizable Canadian midstream business. Duke Energy is also part owner and an operator of the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline that delivers Sable Island gas to market.

As part of the agreement, Joseph Pritchett III, current executive vice president of DEH, will resign that position and become president and CEO of Canadian 88, and the Canadian 88 board of directors will be reconstituted. James D. Raymond will remain chairman of the new board and Greg Noval, current Canadian 88 president and CEO, and John Panneton will remain board members. Joining the board in addition to Pritchett will be Don Gardner, current Canadian 88 chief financial officer, and John Burns Q.C., a senior partner at the law firm of Bennett Jones. Duke Energy will appoint two directors to the board and an additional independent director will be jointly appointed taking the new Canadian 88 board of directors to a total of nine.

Duke Energy Corporation

Duke Energy is a diversified multi-national energy company operating an integrated network of energy assets. Duke Energy manages a dynamic portfolio of natural gas and electric supply, delivery and trading businesses – generating revenues of nearly $22,000,000,000 in 1999. Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a Fortune 100 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK.

Canadian 88 Energy Corporation

Canadian 88 Energy Corp. is an independent public oil and gas company with its head office in Calgary, Alberta. The shares of Canadian 88 Energy Corp. are traded on the Toronto and American Stock Exchanges under the symbol EEE.

Source:
Press release, 20 March 2000,
by Duke Energy Corp. and Canadian 88 Energy Corp
    http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/
        micro_stories.pl?ACCT=257451&TICK;=DUK&STORY;=/www/
        story/03-20-2000/0001168832&EDATE;=Mar+20,+2000

Reference:
Duke Energy Corporation website at
    http://www.duke-energy.com/
Maritimes and Northeastern Pipeline website at
    http://www.duke-energy.com/internet/businesses/gastransmission/mne.asp

2000 March 22

Canada Payphone signs agreement with CBC
to provide free access to CBC's On-Line Content
on Internet Kiosks

Burnaby, British Columbia
In a ground-breaking announcement for both companies, Canada Payphone Corporation and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) today announced an agreement to promote CBC's on-line content on Canada Payphone's public Internet kiosks installed across Canada. As a cornerstone of the agreement, Canada Payphone will provide users across the country with free access to the CBC's up-to-date online news and information service. Canada Payphone will receive revenues from the CBC as a paid sponsor. The Company continues to install the AT&T; Canada branded Internet kiosks in hotels and other high profile locations frequented by business travelers, tourists and consumers. Wherever these terminals are installed, Canadians will be able to check local, national and international news, entertainment, sports, program schedules and more. For CBC, this is a new way to connect with the millions of Canadians who are using the public access communications network. The Internet kiosk delivers connectivity to CBC's trusted journalism through an easy to use touch-sensitive full-colour screen. Each kiosk will offer users free access buttons to CBC's website, and a multi-card reader for access to other areas of the Internet, email and e-commerce. "This agreement represents a significant opportunity for Canadian companies to reach thousands of users daily through paid sponsorships," said Stephen Niven, Executive Vice President at Canada Payphone. "Our company is now changing the way the traditional payphone is viewed, not only by providing public access Internet services, but also by moving to paid sponsorships with companies such as the CBC." "We've always believed that people should be able to access CBC's high-quality online content, whether they have a computer at home or not," says John Lewis, Executive Director of CBC New Media. "Our relationship with CPC creates one more opportunity for CBC to serve the Canadian public."

About CBC

With over 50,000 pages of online content, CBC.CA is an important resource for Canadians seeking up-to-the-minute headlines and in-depth coverage of news, business, sports, weather, entertainment, consumer affairs, and more. The CBC's journalistic leadership is one of its greatest strengths. The CBC is Canada's largest news organization, employing over 800 people in different journalistic functions in Canada and abroad. By providing immediate updates, background and analysis, with audio and video, CBC.CA showcases the CBC's extraordinary journalistic ability to provide up-to-the-minute news headlines and in-depth coverage simultaneously.

About Canada Payphone

Canada Payphone (CPC) is Canada's leading national competitive pay telephone service provider in the recently deregulated Canadian pay telephone market and is marketing and installing AT&T; Canada branded payphones and public Internet terminals across the country from Victoria to Halifax. CPC is installing state-of-the-art AT&T; Canada branded payphones, Grapevine Network Terminals and Interactive Internet Kiosks. The AT&T; Canada branded payphones accept all coins, credit and calling cards, as well as provide full operator services and flat rate long distance charges across Canada and to the United States. With the Grapevine Network Terminal and e-Prism software, advertising content and community information is intelligently targeted to user communities on a terminal by terminal basis. Canada Payphone Corporation is a public company traded on the CDNX under the symbol CPY.

Late in 1999, CPC entered into a five year purchase agreement with a payphone manufacturer which provides a right to the Company to purchase a minimum of 45,000 payphones between 15 November 1999 and 31 December 2004. CPC's Internet kiosks, branded with the AT&T; Canada logo, are found in hotels and other high profile locations across Canada frequented by business travelers, tourists and consumers. They deliver connectivity to local and national news, sports, financial and retail information services through an easy to use full-colour touch screen. Each kiosk offers users a multi-card reader for access to the Internet, e-mail and e-commerce. Revenues are generated from e-commerce transactions, Internet access and advertising. Under an agreement signed a couple of weeks ago with the Chapters chain of bookstores, each CPC kiosk provides free access to the Chapters.ca website, which features thousands of book, music CD, video, DVD, software and video game titles as well as consumer electronics from around the world with prices stated in Canadian currency.

About AT&T; Canada

AT&T; Canada is Canada's largest facilities-based competitive provider of local and long distance voice, data and Internet telecommunications services. Created during 1999 from the merger of MetroNet Communications, AT&T; Canada Long Distance Services, Netcom Canada and ACC TelEnterprises, AT&T; Canada brings together the country's largest competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), three of Canada's leading competitive Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and Canada's pioneer in competitive long distance. AT&T; Canada Corporation is a public company with its common stock traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TEL.B and on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol ATTC.

Sources:
Canada Payphone media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/21/c6084.html
Canada Payphone media release dated 21 March 2000
    http://www.sedar.com/dynamic_pages/issuerprofiles_e/i00005352.htm

References:
Canada Payphone website at
    http://www.canadapayphone.com/
AT&T; Canada's website at
    http://www.attcanada.com/
CBC's website at
    http://www.cbc.ca/
Canada Payphone documents in the SEDAR website at
    http://www.sedar.com/dynamic_pages/issuerprofiles_e/i00005352.htm

2000 March 22

Bounty Foundering in Sea of Debt, Disrepair

One of Lunenburg's most famous ships is in trouble. The replica HMS Bounty, built at the famed Smith and Rhuland Shipyard for the MGM motion picture Mutiny on the Bounty in 1960, is foundering in a sea of debt and disrepair. At present, the vessel, operated by the Tall Ship Bounty Foundation out of Fall River, Massachusetts, sits at her pier awaiting a much-needed refit. Reports indicate she has a serious leak, as much as 500 to 600 gallons about 2000 litres of water an hour. However this could not be confirmed as foundation officials did not return repeated phone calls. HMS Bounty An interview with president Norman Futoransky that appeared in Fall River's Herald News February 6th did confirm the ship needs about $1,000,000 in repairs in order to receive Coast Guard certification as a sail training vessel. That's the foundation's current plan – to certify the ship so she would be able to carry up to 155 people, crew included, on overnight excursions, he said.

The problem is the foundation is broke; more precisely, it's in debt. At present, it has a marketing consultant who's working on a pro bono basis to find corporate sponsors, if not an outright buyer for the ship and while Mr. Futoransky insists there has been interest, it now appears unlikely the vessel will be repaired in time to participate in this year's Tall Ships 2000 events.

That news greatly disappoints the Nova Scotia-based Society for the Preservation of Bounty. The group, composed primarily of former crews members, formed last spring with the hope of repatriating the vessel in time for tall ships festivities in Halifax. "We kind of thought now was the time, if any time, to raise awareness," says the society's president Cathy Carey of Hantsport. The appearance of the vessel in television commercials advertising the event added to the group's expectations. Representatives contacted the Tall Ships 2000 committee, which at that point was describing, among other things, a fund to establish a Nova Scotia-based tall ship sail training vessel. "We thought that would be perfect," says Mrs. Carey, especially since the group already had agreements with "members in the shipbuilding trade" that would allow the vessel to be refit at a considerable discount. However, Tall Ships 2000 has since abandoned the idea, leaving Mrs. Carey and her cohorts in a search for corporate sponsors – a search which is still ongoing. "What we need is some prominent business or person to take an interest," she says. "Once somebody or some company that's renowned like that comes aboard, other companies will follow. It needs that shot in the arm."

Mrs. Carey says when contacted last spring, officials with the Tall Ship Bounty Foundation were asking $1,700,000 for the vessel. "But that won't be anything near what they'll end up taking, ... not with creditors breathing down their back." And while a reduced price could, on one hand, be a good thing if her group can find the money to buy the vessel, without it, it's a liability. "We've already heard there have been three serious inquiries," she says, "one for use outside a restaurant. None of us want to see her sitting on blocks outside a casino somewhere or rotting at the dock. That's why it's important we act now."

In the meantime, Tall Ships 2000 continues to use the image of Bounty in its commercials for festivities in Halifax July 19-24, 2000. "They obviously know her drawing power," says Mrs. Carey, and must believe it's greater than the province's own schooner, Bluenose II, which does not appear in the commercials. Bounty crew members are also planning a reunion in conjunction with the event. They'll be in Halifax and Lunenburg July 22 and 23 and may take advantage of the occasion to publicize the vessel's plight.

[The Lunenburg Progress-Enterprise, 22 March 2000]

References:
The Fall River Herald News website at
    http://www.heraldnews.com/
Map of Fall River, Massachusetts
    http://maps.yahoo.com/py/
        maps.py?&Pyt;=Tmap&addr;=&csz;=Fall+River,MA
Fall River Historical Society website at
    http://www.lizzieborden.org/

The HMS Bounty set sail from England on the 23rd December 1787...
History of the original Bounty
    http://www.tallshipbounty.org/history.html

1993 – Ted Turner Donates Bounty
to Tall Ship Bounty Foundation

The Bounty was built in 1960 for MGM studios' Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando. Since then, the new Bounty has starred in several feature-length films and dozens of TV shows and historical documentaries. The studio commissioned the ship from the shipwrights of Smith and Rhuland in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to commission a new Bounty to be built from scratch. Completely seaworthy and built just the way it would have been 200 years before, the new Bounty was constructed from the original ship's drawings still on file in the British admiralty archives. After filming and a worldwide promotional tour, MGM berthed the ship in St. Petersburg as a permanent tourist attraction – where she stayed until the mid-1980s. In 1986 Ted Turner acquired the MGM film library and the Bounty with it. He used it to promote his enterprises, and filmed Treasure Island with Charlton Heston in 1989. In 1993, Turner donated the ship to the Fall River Chamber Foundation, which established the Tall Ship Bounty Foundation to operate the ship as an educational venture. A 501(c)3 public charity, the Tall Ship Bounty Foundation is dedicated to keeping the ship sailing and using her as a vehicle for teaching the nearly lost arts of square rigged sailing and seamanship. The Foundation operates a variety of programs on board including sail training programs for the general public, group leadership and teamwork training, a teen cadet leadership program, and dockside educational programs for elementary and secondary school children.
Source:
    http://www.tallshipbounty.org/us.html

2000 March 22

Developments in Digital Radio in Canada

"It is widely anticipated that digital broadcasting
will, over time, replace the existing technologies
of AM and FM analog transmission" – CRTC

New transitional digital radio undertakings

EUREKA-147 is the Canadian standard

1.   The Commission approves the applications by CHUM Limited for broadcasting licences to carry on four new transitional digital radio undertakings (DRUs) to serve Windsor, Ontario.

2.   The applicant is the licensee of two AM and two FM radio undertakings in Windsor. The transitional DRUs proposed by the applicant will operate in association with these existing radio undertakings; each DRU will simulcast the programming of its associated AM or FM station, together with no more than 14 hours per week of other, non-simulcast programming. The technical parameters of the proposed transitional DRUs and the call letters of the existing AM or FM stations with which they will be associated are identified in the appendix to this decision.

3.   The transmitters for the new undertakings will be installed at the CIMX-FM / CIDR-FM site in Windsor and will employ the EUREKA-147 digital audio broadcasting system. This technology was first developed in Europe and has been confirmed by the Department of Industry as the standard for digital broadcasting in Canada. It is widely anticipated that digital broadcasting will, over time, replace the existing technologies of AM and FM analog transmission.

4.   The Commission is satisfied that the applications, as filed, conform fully with the requirements set out in CRTC Public Notice 1995-184 entitled A Policy to Govern the Introduction of Digital Radio. Accordingly, and subject to the requirements of this decision, the Commission will issue licences expiring 31 August 2002.

5.   The licence term granted should allow the Commission sufficient time to establish and implement a long-term policy and licensing regime for digital radio undertakings following completion of an appropriate public process.

6.   ... the proposed transitional DRUs will serve to introduce the public to this new technology. By refining various technical, marketing and other issues associated with the introduction of digital radio broadcasting, these undertakings will also provide the broadcasting industry with valuable operational experience, and will assist the Commission in developing an effective and comprehensive regulatory policy.

...

8.   The licence of each transitional DRU will be subject to the conditions in effect under the current licence of its associated AM or FM station. The Commission recognizes that, in some cases, these conditions may restrict the ability of transitional DRUs to experiment with new and innovative forms of programming that make use of the unique features of digital radio technology. The Commission's policy on the introduction of digital radio is to encourage the maximum amount of experimentation during periods of separate programming. Licensees who consider that additional flexibility is required in order to make full use of the periods of separate programming for this purpose should file applications to amend their licences. Such applications will be processed expeditiously.

9.   Further to being subject to the conditions in effect under the current licence of its associated analog station, as well as to the terms and conditions set out in the licence to be issued, the licence for each transitional DRU is subject to the following conditions:
... 
                 Appendix to CRTC Decision 2000-83
                      Licensee:  CHUM Limited

         Associated AM or     Proposed DRU   Effective isotropic
           FM station &        frequency       radiated power 
        Application number                         (watts)

        CKWW     199912712    1484.208 MHz          4,369
        CIMX-FM  199912697    1484.208 MHz          4,369
        CKLW     199912671    1484.208 MHz          4,369
        CIDR-FM  199912738    1484.208 MHz          4,369

Source:
CRTC Decision 2000-83, 22 March 2000
    http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/Decisions/2000/DB2000-83.htm

CHUM Limited – the "applicant" above – owns and operates several broadcasting stations in Nova Scotia, including
– Halifax radio stations CJCH and CIOO-FM
– ATV (The Atlantic Television System), consisting of
      CJCH-TV Halifax
      CJCB-TV Sydney
      CKCW-TV Moncton
      CKLT-TV Saint John
– ASN (Atlantic Satellite Network) a satellite-to-cable broadcaster
Source: CRTC Decision 95-417, 7 July 1995
    http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/bcasting/decision/1995/d95417.txt

2000 March 22

A New Phone Directory for Halifax

EastLink announced today that it has partnered with Phone Directories Company (PDC) to provide a new telephone directory to the Halifax area. The partnership agreement offers new advertising options to businesses through the bundling of directory, Internet and broadcast advertising. The new phone directory, which will be distributed free of charge to Halifax area households and businesses during the summer of 2000, will provide business owners with their first-ever alternative directory advertising option. This new choice in directory advertising represents yet another entree into an area traditionally marketed by MTT and other partners. In November 1999, EastLink began offering Halifax residential consumers a new choice in telephone service and, more recently, expanded its reach to include business customers. Both EastLink and PDC predict that the new directory will continue to make the marketplace even more competitive by bringing lower prices, convenience and improved service.

About EastLink

The EastLink organization is a group of Maritime owned and operated companies providing a range of communication, entertainment and advertising services to business and residential customers across the Maritimes. The company is privately owned and operated with its head office in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

About Phone Directories Company Limited

Phone Directories Company (operating as Western Phone Directories Company in Canada) is a privately held corporation publishing more than 125 telephone directories in communities throughout the Western United States and Canada. Established in 1971, Phone Directories Company employs more than 500 people and contracts with 185 independent sales representatives in Canada. The Company is the largest independent publisher of phone directories in Canada growing from zero to 47 books in less than four years.

Sources:
Media release by EastLink and Phone Directories Company Limited
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/22/c6323.html
Phone Directories Company Limited media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/May1999/10/c2446.html

References:
EastLink website at
    http://www.eastlink.ca/
Phone Directories Company, Inc. website at
    http://www.phonedir.com/

Phone Directories Company Named
1999 Publisher of the Year

Orem, Utah, May 10th, 1999
The Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) named Utah-based Phone Directories Company, Inc., as the "1999 Publisher of the Year" during it's Golden Book Awards Ceremony held April 24th, 1999, in Orlando, Florida. The honor is the industry's highest achievement and was given as a result of Phone Directories Company's outstanding performance in five of nine award categories considered by the ADP. Specific recognition given to Phone Directories Company included four first place honors: Directories with 20,000 or less distribution (phone directory for Whistler, British Columbia); Directories with 20,000-35,000 distribution (phone directory for Jackson Hole, Wyoming); Cover Art and Design (phone directory for Sudbury, Ontario); Cover Branding (phone directories for Provo/Orem, Timpanogos, and Mt. Nebo, Utah). Phone Directories Company received a second-place recognition for its Innovative Product (Provo/Orem phone book on CD-ROM).

Phone Directories Company (operating as Western Phone Directories Company in Canada) is a privately held corporation publishing more than 125 telephone directories in communities throughout the Western United States and Canada. Established in 1971, Phone Directories Company employs more than 500 people and contracts with 185 independent sales representatives in Canada. The Company is the largest independent publisher of phone directories in Canada growing from zero to 47 books in less than four years. In 1996, Phone Directories Company was named in Utah's Top 100 Fast Growing Companies. In 1998, the Company experienced a 45 percent growth rate overall and is projected to grow 56 percent during 1999. The Association of Directory Publishers is an international trade association founded in 1898 to promote the establishment and maintenance of high industry standards in areas such as quality and service. Its membership includes more than 180 directory publishers and 80 support organizations, making it the largest organization representing

Source:
Phone Directories Company Limited media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/May1999/10/c2446.html

References:
Western Phone Directories, Burnaby, British Columbia
    http://www.northlangley.com/northlangley/members/westernphone.htm
Western Phone Directory Recycling Collection
    http://www.crd.bc.ca/rls/rlseng17.htm

2000 March 24

360networks Deploys Marconi Technology
For Global Fibre Optic Network

First Canadian commercial deployment of Marconi's OC-48 technology

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Vancouver, British Columbia
March 24th, 2000
Marconi, a leading global supplier of advanced communications solutions, today announced that 360networks, Inc., based in Vancouver, (formerly known as Worldwide Fiber, Inc.) is deploying Marconi's industry-leading asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) multiservice networking solution in the North American portion of its fibre optics network. With switches already installed and fully operational, this multi-million dollar project marks the first Canadian commercial deployment of Marconi's high-speed OC-48 technology, which enables voice, data and multimedia traffic to be transported at speeds of up to 2.488 gigabits per second. "We selected the Marconi solution because it boasts the fastest ATM switches in the industry, and it is the first vendor to offer OC-48 links, an important capability that will help us build an advanced global network," said Steve Baker, vice president and Chief Technology Officer at 360networks. The Marconi solution is comprised of the industry leading ASX(TM)-4000 switch, as well as the ForeView(R) management and accounting software. The ASX-4000's capability to offer PNNI implementation is a key feature to the successful rollout of 360network's global network. 360networks has also contracted Marconi to provide professional services and high-end DC power systems.

About the ASX-4000

Designed specifically to meet the stringent, dynamic networking requirements of progressive ISPs, interexchange carriers (IXCs) and emerging service providers, the Marconi ASX-4000 is an advanced, multiservice networking solution with carrier-class redundancy, capacity and advanced traffic management features. It enables the delivery of a wide range of broadband services and is scaled to meet the future networking requirements of service providers. It is the core backbone component of a complete networking solution that also includes edge and workgroup switches, multi-layer local area network (LAN) switches and wide area network (WAN) devices.

About 360networks

360networks Inc. (until recently known as Worldwide Fiber, Inc.) designs, builds and operates high-speed fibre-optic networks and offers broadband capacity to telecommunications companies, Internet service providers, application service providers and large organizations with enterprise network needs. 360networks is currently completing a 60,500-kilometre (37,800-mile) network in North America and Europe, including a trans-Atlantic network that comes ashore in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 360networks and its predecessors have been constructing communications networks since 1988.

About Marconi PLC

Marconi plc is one of the world's fastest growing communications and IT companies with a strong record of innovation and technological breakthroughs. It is a world leader in smart broadband optical networks and it supplies the key technologies and services for the New Public Network and the Internet. With 45,000 employees worldwide and sales in over 100 countries, it is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol MNI. The headquarters of Marconi Communications is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

ForeView is a registered trademark of FORE Systems, Inc. ASX is a trademark of FORE Systems, Inc. All other brands or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.

Source:
Marconi media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/24/c7050.html

References:
360networks Inc. website at
    http://www.worldwidefiber.com/
FORE Systems, Inc. website at
    http://www.fore.com/

2000 March 24

CRTC Approves CTV Acquisition of NetStar
With Conditions

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has approved an application by CTV Inc. (CTV) to acquire an 80% voting interest in NetStar Communications Inc. (NetStar). NetStar owns 100% of The Sports Network (TSN) and le Reseau des Sports (RDS), 80% of The Discovery Channel (Discovery), as well as a non-controlling interest of 24.95% in Viewers Choice Canada Inc. (Viewer's Choice). The approval of this acquisition is subject to a number of conditions dealing with ownership concentration in Canadian sports broadcasting; the degree of potential influence exercised by NetStar's non-Canadian partner, ESPN Inc. (ESPN); and some of the proposed benefits. The Commission is requiring CTV to divest itself within one year, of its interest in SportsNet, which it has operated since fall 1998; to make changes to the shareholder and trademark licence agreements between CTV, NetStar and ESPN; and to revise the proposed tangible benefits package. The conditional approval of this transaction is consistent with the goals of the Commission's recently issued television policy, which are, in part, to continue to encourage the growth and expansion of Canadian broadcasters so they are more financially solid and more able to compete in the changing world broadcasting environment. At the same time, the Commission aims to promote the health of the Canadian broadcasting system and the interests of the viewing public.

SportsNet

Unconditional approval of this proposal could have given CTV control of several different broadcasting services offering sports programming, including TSN, RDS, SportsNet and Outdoor Life. This could have allowed CTV to dominate sports programming in Canada to the detriment of other broadcasters and ultimately Canadian audiences. To avoid this, the Commission has required CTV to file an application to divest itself of its interests in SportsNet within one year. CTV must also confirm that it no longer manages SportsNet and no longer votes the shares of other shareholders.

Source:
CRTC media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/24/c7145.html

NetStar's assets include TSN; Discovery Canada; RDS, an all French-language sports channel; and Dome Productions. CTV purchased 68% of NetStar in March 1999. The remaining 32% is owned by ESPN. NetStar has been held in trust pending regulatory approval.
Excerpted from a CTV media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/24/c7096.html

CTV Accepts CRTC's NetStar Conditions

March 28th, 2000
The CTV Board of Directors yesterday voted to accept the CRTC's decision approving the sale of 68% of NetStar Communications Inc. to CTV Inc. CTV will comply with all conditions of approval. CTV Inc. is a leading Canadian communications company with conventional television operations across Canada and an expanding presence in the specialty television sector. Through its network operations, CTV reaches 99% of English-speaking households, offering a wide range of news, sports, information and entertainment programming. The company owns and operates 25 stations, of which 18 are CTV affiliates, six are CBC affiliates, and one is an independent station, VTV. CTV also owns ASN, a satellite television service in the Maritimes. Specialty channel holdings include: CTV Newsnet (100%); Talk TV (100%); NetStar Communications Inc. (68.46%); The Comedy Network (65.1%); controlling interest in CTV Pay-Per-View Sports; Sportsnet (40%); Outdoor Life Network (33.34%); and History Television (12%). NetStar's assets include TSN (100%); Discovery Canada (80%); RDS, an all French-language sports channel (100%); Viewer's Choice Canada (24.95%); and Dome Productions (100%). CTV Inc.'s shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TV.
Source:
CTV media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/28/c7881.html

2000 March 27

Preston Manning Launches Website

On this day, Preston Manning announced his candidacy for the position of national leader of the new Canadian Alliance. At the same time, he announced the launch of his new website at http://www.pm4pm.com. (The "pm4pm" is derived from Preston Manning For Prime Minister.) The website listed two Nova Scotia members among the National Co-Chairs of the PM4PM National Campaign Committee: Natalie Stirling of Halifax and Leonard Poetschke of Marriott's Cove in Lunenburg County.
Source:   http://www.pm4pm.com/index.html

ICS Comment (written 5:00pm 29 March 2000)
As of March 29th, this website had remarkably little content. The entry page at http://www.pm4pm.com/index.html contained the press release announcing the candidacy, several long lists of names associated with the National Campaign Committee, and a link to a webpage http://www.pm4pm.com/support.html asking for contributions. That's all. There was no platform, no biography, no question-and-answer section, no FAQ, no background information, no information of any kind about who Mr. Manning is or what his plan for Canada's future might be. Remarkably, there were no links to any other websites, not even to a site for the Canadian Alliance. There was no information about how the leadership would be decided, no description of the voting procedure or dates, no mention of who is in charge of these important details.

Looking at this site, I got the strong impression that it was designed by someone with not the least grasp of how the Internet works or how it might be used to establish communication between a political leader and the people he wants to lead. There was no hint that Mr. Manning or any of his support staff has any comprehension of the current state or the future implications or possibilities of modern electronic information and communications technology as applied to politics or economic development or education or anything else. My impression was that the sole motivation for this website is the current notion that having a website is fashionable. They knew months in advance that this leadership campaign was coming. They had months to make plans and to research how other political leaders or wannabes have used the Internet for political purposes.

They had months to prepare, and this is the best they can do?

Suppose someone should ask: What would you do if a political leader called you tomorrow and asked you to be a member of his/her website design team? My answer is: The first thing I would do would be to get some idea of what resources the Internet currently offers, to provide ideas and inspiration and hints about how a well-designed political website should be put together. At 5:15am, March 29th, I went to the Google search engine and did a search on two keywords:
political website
Google reported hundreds of hits, and many were of considerable interest. I will mention only one (which isn't really a political website, but is a valuable directory to political websites):
http://www.stm.it/elections/election/alllinks.htm
is a collection of links to 1346 political websites around the world, arranged by country from Afghanistan (6 websites) to Zimbabwe (3 websites), including Australia (36 websites), Canada (43 websites), New Zealand (15 websites), United Kingdom (39 websites), and the United States (68 websites). I'd spend a few hours looking at a random selection of these sites and see what others have done. I'd choose the ideas that I thought best, and take them to the design team. It is obvious that nobody in Mr. Manning's team has any notion about using the Internet to find out how a website should be designed. Of course, the weaknesses of Mr. Manning's team are directly attributable to Mr. Manning himself.

And he wants us to choose him to lead us into the future?

"The Internet is to politics in 2000 what television was in 1960: a new technology whose potential not everyone fully grasps. Discerning politicians realize its power to inform, recruit and solicit donations from potential supporters with greater immediacy and depth than any brochure or phone call can hope to achieve."
The Globe and Mail, 11 April 2000

ICS Comment (written 3:30am 22 April 2000)
On 22 April, I looked again at Mr. Manning's website. There have been significant improvements in the last three weeks, but the website is still a very long way from demonstrating that Mr. Manning or his senior staff have any real grasp of how the Internet can be used to further a political cause. There is still a remarkably limited offering in that site.

At this time, Google (the best search engine now available) reports 6,823 webpages containing the phrase "Preston Manning". This search turned up many sites that seem to me should be linked from Mr. Manning's website. For example,
http://www.acmi.canoe.ca/CNEWSNewsmakers/000117_manning_tr.html
contains the transcript of "Preston Manning Chat" in which he answers questions posed by several people, including:
  • "What would you do to unite Eastern and Western Canada?"
  • "When I read the proposed policy document of the UA, I noted that there wasn't a clause dealing with the privatization of the complete Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ( CBC ). Is it still the Reform Party's policy to privatize the CBC?"
  • "I have voted for the Reform Party while I lived in Alberta. I was wondering why there doesn't appear to be any Reform representation in Nova Scotia?"
  • "What would you do to change the Young Offenders' Act?"
  • and numerous other questions.
This transcript should be reproduced in, or at least linked from, Mr. Manning's website. There's nothing now in the website that gives this kind of insight into Mr. Manning's views on various matters of interest to citizens.

Then I looked in the Hansard Index, the key to information about what is said by Members of Parliament in the House of Commons during the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session (from 12 October 1999 to the present). I went to the Hansard Index at
http://www.parl.gc.ca/36/2/parlbus/chambus/house/debates/indexe/homepage.html
and brought up the Index entry for Internet/information highway at
http://www.parl.gc.ca/36/2/parlbus/chambus/house/debates/indexe/i-36-2_1-e.html
This is a very extensive list, containing about 140 entries under Internet/information highway. It seems to me Mr. Manning's website should provide a collection of links to Hansard reports of statements or questions by Mr. Manning on an assortment of topics, including the Internet and related topics. This is an obvious opportunity overlooked by the website designers.

2000 March 28

Port Hawkesbury to get More Mailboxes

Canada Post says it will add about 1,200 mailboxes to the Port Hawkesbury post office, pending funding approval. The Crown corporation is beginning a five-year, $55,000,000 program to bring under-serviced areas across the country up to standard. Atlantic Region co-ordinator Terry MacDonald said Port Hawkesbury has been tagged as a priority area. Many customers share boxes, or rely on general delivery. The town has been lobbying for additional boxes for several years. Along with new boxes and updates to rural delivery systems in the Strait area, Canada Post will begin implementing civic addressing and division of postal codes for sections of the town.
[The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 28 March 2000]

2000 March 28

Bell ExpressVu Reports 465,000 Subscribers

Company holds more than 55% of Canadian DTH market

Bell ExpressVu LP, Canada's leading satellite TV company and fifth largest broadcast distributor, announced today it has signed on more than 465,000 subscribers to its national digital TV service and continues to lead the DTH (direct to home) market in Canada with more than 55 per cent market share. As part of the release of its second quarter results for the period ending February 29th, 2000, Star Choice, Bell ExpressVu's principal DTH competitor, disclosed that it had 362,000 subscribers. As of that date, Bell ExpressVu had 451,000 subscribers and has further increased that number to more than 465,000 subscribers as of March 28, 2000. Based on these results, Bell ExpressVu's share of net Canadian DTH activations during the first two months of 2000 is an impressive 60.7% – up from 58.4% for the final four months of 1999. It should also be noted that Bell ExpressVu's monthly average revenue per subscriber is approximately 10 per cent higher than Star Choice.

Bell ExpressVu is the only digital satellite television company in Canada that broadcasts to an 18-inch 45cm dish, the smallest in Canada. The company offers the largest programming line-up and pay-per-view service currently available in Canada with more than 200 video and music channels. Launched in September 1997, Bell ExpressVu has become the largest and fastest growing Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) television company in Canada. Bell ExpressVu is a limited partnership, owned by BCE Inc. and is part of the BCE Media group of companies.

Source:
ExpressVu media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/28/c7940.html

2000 March 28

Telecom Companies Moving Fast

In the past seven months in Nova Scotia,
two crossovers have radically changed the way
consumers view the telecommunications industry

Want a new telephone line into the house? Call the cable television company.

Specialty television channels? Dial the phone company.

For Internet service, call any of the above.

Technology has spawned a revolution in the telecommunications industry, breaking traditional barriers that once kept companies from converging on one another's territories. In the telecommunications world, the crossovers are called convergences. "I think it's logical. Because the borders between the telephone data, the video, they are kind of getting blended together," says Michael Cada, an engineering professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax. "In terms of the actual technology, it's all just a stream of data, a stream of bits, and what you put in there, the line doesn't care."

In the past seven months in Nova Scotia, two crossovers have radically changed the way consumers view the telecommunications industry.

EastLink, which owns cable systems in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, was first out of the blocks in November 1999, offering local residential telephone service in Halifax, rivalling mainstay provider MTT which has dominated that business for most of the last century.

In December 1999, MTT jumped into the TV fray, saying it would bring digital television over the Internet here by the end of 2000. An application is before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the federal regulator.

Nova Scotia Power joined the crowded telecommunications arena early this year with its own phone service in metro, but in a surprise move March 15th, sold the business to MTT.

Despite the sale, industry experts expect many more new entrants into the local phone and Internet markets in the next couple of years.

While it might baffle consumers, the convergences are natural steps for companies because technology has opened the doors to crossover mania, said Mr. Cada, director of the Photonics Applications Laboratory at Dal.

And there's a lot of money to be made, he said. "Now they (phone, cable companies) all realize they have this infrastructure in place, wired houses so to speak, and global Internet is coming, so everybody wants a piece of this business because it's going to be a big business."

While the crossovers might be confusing to some, industry players say the moves were spurred by a CRTC decision in the late 1990s that opened up local phone service to competition. Technology played a lead role in making the convergences possible.

The introduction of the Internet, which allowed vast transfers of digital information over wires, optic fibres, satellites, and any other communications channel, was pivotal in the development of the industry.

David Caldwell, president of EastLink Telephone, said the CRTC decision came at the right time. "We were certainly a company in transition ... The ruling on local service wasn't a total surprise; the industry had been working at that for several years. And it was a natural next step after competition in the long-distance telephone business," Mr. Caldwell said in an interview.

EastLink was already wired into tens of thousands of homes in Nova Scotia and P.E.I., he said. The company had also entered the high-speed Net business, delivering the system over its coaxial cable TV lines. (It recently launched its high-speed Net service in Sydney.) "We were already in the process of making our systems two-way and equipment was becoming available that allowed telephone service to work over cable. It was natural for us to look to business opportunities for that."

EastLink spent millions upgrading its systems to supply phone service, he said.

But despite the cash outlay, the company believes it will do well in the area. So far, there are thousands of customers in the metro area, Mr. Caldwell said, adding he believes it can become a dominant player in this region. "In the Halifax area we currently serve, we reach about 50,000 households. "We began in October 1999. The industry is very new. We really all have to see how that works out over the next two or three years," Mr. Caldwell said, adding the company could take as much as 15 to 30 per cent of the market. EastLink promises more changes, especially in the TV field, he said. Most of the company's customers adapted quickly to the phone service offering, Mr. Caldwell noted. "There's a significant number of customers who are excited by the technology. There are also customers for whom this rate of change has been very new and really, they say, 'How does this work?' That's been one of the challenges of our advertising."

Mr. Cada said consumers will have little trouble adapting. "The average person has enough background, enough intelligence to handle this. It's like driving a car. If you want to drive a car, you can learn it."

MTT, EastLink's largest local phone competitor, believes customers are not only ready, but demanding the technological leaps and bounds. And it won't be hard to turn its phone and Net customers on to its proposed TV service in a couple of months, the company says. "It's not a revolution, it's an evolution. Customers are moving pretty quickly," said Phil Hartling, marketing manager for MTT.

A technology expert has likened the lightning changes in the telecommunications industry to the metamorphosis brought on buy the automobile, Mr. Hartling said. "People took the horse and buggy out of the barn and replaced it with the automobile. That sustained the automobile industry for years." Over the decades, travel prompted the construction of roadside hotels and allowed vacations in places like Niagara Falls, he said. The biggest change was how the vehicle redefined some "fundamental orders of society," Mr. Hartling said. "You could live in Wolfville and work in Halifax. Good and bad, but it was change."

Telecommunications changes have run a similar course, moving people from typewriter to computer and on to the Net, he said. "You could visit the Smithsonian in Washington, or communicate with a friend in New Zealand. Now, what's emerging is the third effect, where society is going to change the way people live and the way people work."

Mr. Cada believes the changes might be even more profound. "This is becoming even bigger, I would say, because you can reach anybody in Australia and China in the split of a second. Because we will be doing more business this way, maybe we won't need to travel on business that much, but we will have more time to travel for pleasure."

All agree that advances have radically affected commerce, to the point where many brick-and-mortar operations are no longer a necessity. "People are saying, 'I see something, I want it. How can I eliminate all of the steps?' It's really collapsing time ... and customers ... are really very demanding about it," Mr. Hartling said.

Recent studies show people with wired homes are dramatically increasing the amount of time they spend on the phone and the Net, as well as watching TV.

But how far will technology go, and will the public absorb it all?

Mr. Hartling, Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Cada foresee fully interactive telecommunications centres in many homes, a merger of the Net, TV other services. "The really exciting thing is people will have more opportunities to interact in different ways, whether that's talking to your grandmother over video, on TV ... or telling your furnace to change a temperature in a room. All of a sudden your world is becoming more interactive," said Mr. Hartling.

Mr. Caldwell acknowledges not everyone will want to have every gadget technology allows, but he believes the public wins in the end. "Choice is always good for the customer."

Mr. Cada predicts a saturation point. "I think it's going to have to stabilize at some reasonable level that an average human being can handle."

But the future is exciting, he said. "You go on a trip, and you forget something. So you just call in to your intelligence system at home, and say ... 'I left the stove on.' The artificial brain in the house will turn it off for you."

[The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 28 March 2000]

2000 March 28

Bell ExpressVu Forms Strategic Alliance
with Canadian Cable Systems

Bell ExpressVu, Canada's leading satellite TV provider, announced today it has signed an agreement with the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance Inc. (CCSA), to provide television signals to CCSA Member Companies. Under its Satellite Relay Distributions Undertaking (SRDU) license, Bell ExpressVu will make available Canadian and U.S. networks, along with specialty programming to the 90 cable companies who are members of the CCSA. "This strategic alliance finally gives CCSA Member Companies across Canada a choice in where they get their television signals," said Michael Beard, Vice President and general manager of Bell ExpressVu's Commercial Division. Bell ExpressVu's head end equipment, which will receive and decode the company's digital satellite signals, offers a cost saving to the CCSA Member Companies. "This enables the smaller cable company to add programming services in a far more cost effective manner." continued Michael Beard. "With Bell ExpressVu as an alternative, our members can reduce their head end costs and still use their existing cable system to deliver signals to their subscribers," said Walter Weckers, President and CEO of CCSA. "This will translate into more flexibility to add more and more programming."

Two cable companies in Nova Scotia are members of the CCSA, and are eligible to participate in this arrangement: EastLink Cable Systems of Halifax and Seaside Cable TV (1984) Limited of Glace Bay. The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance Inc. represents the commercial interests of 90 shareholder companies in group purchases of programming, equipment and services. The CCSA is a federally incorporated Company in which each Member Company is a shareholder. CCSA is operated by broadcasting distributors for broadcasting distributors. CCSA is dedicated to the growth and viability of its shareholder companies and the communities they serve by reducing overhead costs for broadcasting distribution undertakings. CCSA Member Companies annually contribute over $50,000,000 to the broadcasting industry.

Bell ExpressVu is the only digital satellite television company in Canada that broadcasts to an 18-inch 45cm dish, the smallest in Canada. The company alsoboffers the largest programming line-up currently available nationwide with more than 200 video and music channels, including Vu!, its own Pay-Per-View service. Launched in September 1997, Bell ExpressVu has become the largest and fastest growing Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) television company in Canada. Bell ExpressVu is a limited partnership, owned by BCE Inc. and part of the BCE Media group of companies. BCE Incorporated is a large holding company with its head office in Montreal. BCE's largest property is Bell Canada, Canada's largest telephone company. Bell Canada is 80% owned by BCE Inc. of Montreal and 20% owned by SBC Communications Inc. of San Antonio, Texas.

Sources:
Bell ExpressVu media release
    http://www.newswire.ca/releases/March2000/28/c7731.html
List of members of the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance
    http://www.ccsa.cable.ca/pages/members.html

Reference:
Canadian Cable Systems Alliance website at
    http://www.ccsa.cable.ca/pages/home.html

Small and Medium-Sized Cable Systems
to Get Help with Launching Digital Television Services

Includes video-on-demand,
high speed Internet access,
email, and e-commerce

Small cable systems can convert to digital
quickly and economically

Customers can simultaneously watch video
and surf the Internet
while conversing on an IP (Internet) telephone call

Horsham, Pennsylvania and Quispamsis, New Brunswick
November 1, 1999
General Instrument Corporation and Canadian Cable Systems Alliance Inc. (CCSA) announced today that they have entered into a digital services agreement to offer national access control and digital network system products and services to CCSA members comprised of small and medium-sized Canadian broadband operators. In addition, GI and CCSA also announced that they have recently entered into an agreement with Westman Communications Group, which has begun deploying national access control to over 15,000 subscribers in Brandon, Manitoba. Mountain Cablevision Ltd. and Southmount Cable Limited are close to finalizing contracts with GI and CCSA and have each placed purchase orders for their systems in Hamilton, Ontario, serving approximately 58,000 subscribers collectively.

As a result of this agreement, members of the CCSA will be able to launch digital quickly and economically as well as take advantage of incremental digital services revenue. Operators may select either a 4-transponder, 6-transponder, or 9-transponder base headend configuration. Once configured, the equipment is tested, delivered and installed within approximately eight weeks.

Two cable companies in Nova Scotia are members of the CCSA, and are eligible to participate in this arrangement: EastLink Cable Systems of Halifax and Seaside Cable TV (1984) Limited of Glace Bay.

National access control provides a much-needed low cost alternative for CCSA members when deploying digital. By using GI's national authorization services, much of the costs associated with a standalone cable headend are eliminated through the use of a satellite distributed addressability system. GI's National Authorization Services program along with its interactive digital network system will enable these operators to offer their subscribers expanded digital programming and digital revenue generating services such as near-video-on-demand (NVOD) and pay-per-view events.

"When looking to launch digital quickly and for additional revenue streams, we are not surprised that national access control is becoming the solution for smaller MSOs worldwide," said Ed Ebenbach, Vice President, National Authorization Services for GI. "A smaller operator can start to deliver the latest digital programming, NVOD and PPV to their subscribers in approximately 60 days, depending on the system." CCSA members will also benefit from GI's experience of having delivered digital systems to a large array of MSOs in North America including members of the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC). To date, GI has launched national control digital systems for more than 80 MSOs. Overall, GI has deployed over 960 digital headends and shipped over 5 million digital set-top terminals including GI's DCT-2000 and DCT-5000+ interactive and advanced interactive digital set-top terminals.

CCSA represents the commercial interests of small and medium-sized Broadcasting Distributors. CCSA provides its shareholders with group purchasing benefits in the areas of programming, equipment and services. CCSA is dedicated to the continued growth and viability of its shareholder companies and the communities that they serve.

GI's DCT-2000 interactive digital set-top uses state-of-the-art digital compression technology to provide a wealth of new revenue generating services to the cable industry. It's 64 and 256 QAM, digital processing technology vastly increases channel capacity over existing cable plants, while providing significantly improved audio and video quality. All DCT-2000's support real time interactive applications including video-on-demand, high speed Internet access, email, e-commerce and more. GI's DCT-5000+ advanced interactive set-top provides new levels of broadband networking services without sacrificing traditional analog and digital video services. Through a 300+ MIPS (million instructions per second) processor, 32-bit true color / 3D graphics, integrated DOCSIS cable modem, large memory cache and optional hard drive; the DCT-5000+ delivers PC-like functionality to the home video environment--- enabling operators to offer additional revenue generating services that require dedicated upstream bandwidth. All of this is integrated with GI's unique Triple-Tuner architecture that allows consumers to simultaneously watch video, surf the Internet and hold an IP telephony call using GI's interactive digital cable network. It's rich application environment provides unparalleled flexibility in selecting an operating system for deployment in an interactive network.

General Instrument Corporation (NYSE:GIC) is a leading worldwide provider of integrated and interactive broadband access solutions, teaming with its business partners to lead the convergence of the Internet, telecommunications and video entertainment industries.

Source:
General Instrument Corporation media release
    http://www.gi.com/PRESS/CURRENTNEWS/canadiancable_110199.html

2000 March 29

Stockwell Day Launches Website

On Wednesday, March 29th, Stockwell Day announced his candidacy for the position of national leader of the new Canadian Alliance. At the same time, he announced the launch of his new website at http://www.stockwellday.com/.
The Toronto Star, 30 March 2000 at
http://www.thestar.com/editorial/news/20000330NEW01d_NA-DAY.html
Stockwell Day website statistics
Stockwell Day website statistics, first four days

Source: http://www.stockwellday.com/xxwebstats/index_01_b.htm

2000 March 30

Last School Connected

"In March 1999, we became the first nation in the world to connect all of our public schools and libraries to the Internet. We completed this mission when our School Net team crossed Northumberland Strait in a rented lobster-fishing boat one cold day last March. It was loaded with a computer, a modem, and a satellite dish. These Industry Canada employees connected a tiny three-student school on Pictou Island, Nova Scotia, to the Internet – the last school in Canada. For CPR fans, it's the Craigellachie of SchoolNet. Our ad in today's newspapers celebrates SchoolNet's success and thanks our non-profit and business partners – and some of these partners are represented in this room today..."

Go To:   Index with links to the other chapters

Go To:   Index to other online Nova Scotia History
    http://alts.net/ns1625/histindx.html
Go To:   Home Page
    http://alts.net/ns1625/index.html

Latest revision: 2000 July 22