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And lo and behold I visited
Lil Juli's Fish n' Chips at 443 St. Clair St., Chatham which is run by Ron
Atkinson from Fife, Scotland.
Cyndi had told me about this the other week
and tonight (26th Jan) I decided to give it a go as I would be passing it
on my way home. Here is the menu...
And you may note he has
Irn-Bru on the menu. He also does a curry sauce as well BUT what
this doesn't show is that he also does haggis and black pudding if you
know to ask for it. I tried the haggis pudding and it was excellent. I'll
certainly be back :-)
I was up at the Source.. the
old Radio Shack... as I needed a new USB hub as my four were all filled so
I got a 7 port hub. While there I spotted a tv2pc box which runs
through your USB port and lets you view your TV on your computer monitor.
It was $99.99 but figured it would be worth getting as that way I could do
a video capture to my notebook computer. Having got home I discovered that
the sets of cables and the output on my TV were both female ends so ended
up spending another $44.45 on getting conversion cables <grrr>.
Then having got the cables
and got it hooked I was all set to install the software from the CDROM
when I found that my cdrom wasn't working <sigh>. Thankfully I do
have extended warranty on my Dell notebook so phoned up technical support
and after around 2 hours in trying all kinds of things they eventually
agreed that it was probably faulty and so are sending me out a replacement
which should arrive on Monday 30th although by Saturday 4th it still
hadn't arrived.
When I first got my office organised in
Chatham I ensured that I would have plenty of plugs. And I actually do
have plenty of them but I find that most accessories seem to have the
power adaptor as the plug and so any time you stick that in it covers two
or three plug points. I now do not have a visible plug point left so
looks like I'm going to need an extension cord just to get access to some
more points.
I got my first book review
printed in Per Ardua, the newsletter of the Clan MacIntyre. I have never
done a book review in my life so this was a new experience.
I started a wee section on the site this week
listing Scottish Bakers and Butchers. It's intended to highlight actual
shops and not Internet operations. I got an email in from Robert Stewart
about But n Ben in Canada and I phoned them up to get some information.
Well it seems the family business has been in Canada for some 200 years
and they are going to send me over some samples of their products as well
as an account of their history. I really enjoy getting things in
like this as it adds to our store of knowledge on Scots descendants and of
course I get to enjoy some free samples but also when I post up the
article it will hopefully help their business as well. So all in all
we all win :-) I
learned today (4th February) that the Chatham Highland Games has found
their major sponsor and the games will now go ahead. I've donated
500 of my Clan Maps to them to help raise the balance of funds that they
need so hope that helps.
I also got an email in
telling me that while I claim I have 20,000 pages on my site Google is
claiming I have 153,000 pages. Should you go to Google.com and type
in site:electricscotland.com (note no spaces) they will report "Results
1 - 10 of about 153,000 from electricscotland.com".
If you then do the same search site: electricscotland.com (Note a space
between the site: and electricscotland.com) it reports
"Results 1 - 10 of about
166,000 for site: electricscotland.com".
I'm told that the extra 13,000 are page links to electricscotland.com from
other web sites.
I've emailed Google
support to see if I can get this confirmed as that's a serious
underestimation on my part for sure <gulp> Mind you it's not
that easy to get a response from Google and indeed all I got back was an
automated response saying to check their help pages. Having already
spent 2 hours on their help pages and not finding an answer was the reason
for emailing them in the first place <sigh>.
On 6th February the new prime minister of
Canada was sworn in...
Stephen Harper, with the Governor General,
moments after being sworn in as
Canada's 22nd prime minister.
The
entire cabinet looks like this: (courtesy of CBC News)
Stephen Harper - Prime Minister
Rona Ambrose - Minister of Environment
Edmonton-Spruce Grove, Alta.
One of the younger MPs at only 36, she has served in the shadow cabinet.
Ambrose was a member of the Finance committee and the legislative
committee on Bill C-38 (the same-sex marriage bill). She has also served
as a member of the energy caucus and was a critic for Intergovernmental
Affairs and International Trade. Ambrose worked for the government of
Alberta's international and intergovernmental relations department and was
a public policy and communications consultant before being elected in
2004.
John Baird - President of the Treasury Board
Ottawa West-Nepean, Ont.
Baird has provincial cabinet experience, serving as Minister of Community
and Social Services, with responsibility for Francophone Affairs, Minister
responsible for Children, Associate Minister of Francophone Affairs, Chief
Government Whip, Deputy House Leader, Minister of Energy and Government
House Leader. He has also served as parliamentary secretary in a number of
provincial portfolios. At the federal level he has served as the Finance
and Culture Critic, Opposition House Leader, Health Critic and Deputy
House Leader while in opposition. In 1985, he was the youngest delegate at
the Tory Provincial Leadership Convention.
Maxime Bernier - Minister of Industry
Beauce, Que.
A newcomer to Parliament Hill, Bernier will still have his father’s
experience to draw on. Now a senator, Gilles Bernier was elected for three
terms in the 1980s and 1990s as both a Tory and an independent. The
younger Bernier is a lawyer and businessman who has worked for financial
and banking institutions and was consultant on legislative issues on their
behalf. He has expertise in business, economic and constitutional matters.
He was also a member of the board of the Montreal Economic Institute. Most
recently, he was vice-president for corporate affairs and communications
for Standard Life Canada.
Jean-Pierre Blackburn - Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic
Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
Jonquière-Alma, Que.
First elected in 1984, Blackburn served two terms as an MP in Brian
Mulroney’s government and was the parliamentary secretary to the Minister
of National Defence in 1993. He has served on parliamentary committees on
the Constitution, communications and culture and general budgetary
estimates. He was also the chair of the standing committee on labour,
employment and immigration and co-chair of the public accounts committee.
A well-known and involved businessman in his community, Blackburn has
taught marketing, computer science and accounting. He is currently the
president of Blackburn Communication Inc., which specializes in business
development and public relations.
Lawrence Cannon - Minister of Transport
Pontiac, Que.
He was a provincial minister of communications (1990-1994) and was an
adviser to Premier Robert Bourassa in the early 1970s. Cannon has
experience in both municipal and provincial politics. He was also
appointed by Stephen Harper as Deputy Chief of Staff and associate
executive director of the Conservative Party of Canada. Provincially,
Cannon was the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Commerce and
Development and the Minister of Tourism and was the Deputy Speaker of the
National Assembly.
Michael Chong - President of the Queen's Privy Council and Minister of
Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister for Sport
Tony Clement - Health
Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.
A lawyer and entrepreneur, Clement also has provincial cabinet experience
where he was Minister of Transportation, Minister of Environment, Minister
of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Minister of Health and Long-Term
Care. He was also parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Citizenship,
Culture and Recreation and to the Premier. He has lost leadership bids for
both the provincial and federal Tory leadership.
Stockwell Day - Minister of Public Safety
Okanagan-Coquihalla, B.C.
Day is the party's foreign affairs critic and has served on the standing
committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He easily won the
riding where he has served since 2000. He was once the leader of the then
fledgling Canadian Alliance party and also represented Red Deer-North as a
provincial politician for four terms starting in 1986. Day served as
Leader of the Opposition in Parliament after winning a byelection in
Okanagan-Coquitlam in September 2000. In 2002 he was succeeded by Stephen
Harper as party leader.
David Emerson - Minister International Trade Vancouver
Kingsway, B.C. Elected as a Liberal in 2004 and 2006, Emerson crossed the
floor to join the Tory government in time to find himself in the
Conservative cabinet. Emerson was the minister of industry in Paul
Martin’s Liberal cabinet. He was also the chair of the Cabinet Committee
on Sustainable Development. A successful businessman, he has worked as a
researcher for the Economic Council of Canada in Ottawa, in provincial
politics as B.C.'s deputy minister of finance and as president and CEO of
the Western and Pacific Bank of Canada (now the Canadian Western Bank). He
also served in B.C. as deputy minister of finance, and was soon named
deputy minister to the premier, and then president of the B.C. Trade
Development Corporation.
Diane Finley - Minister of Human Resources and Social Development
Haldimand-Norfolk, Ont.
Finlay has served as the party's agriculture critic. First elected in
2004, Finley is a businesswoman who has worked in senior executive roles
with major Canadian private and Crown corporations encompassing health
care, transportation, agricultural equipment manufacturing, printing and
publishing, and aviation.
Jim Flaherty - Minister of Finance
Whitby-Oshawa, Ont.
Flaherty has provincial cabinet experience. In the Ontario cabinet,
Flaherty was the Minister of Labour and served as Acting Solicitor-General
and Minister of Correctional Service. He was also Attorney-General, the
Minister responsible for Native Affairs, Deputy Premier, Minister of
Finance and the Minister of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation. He
served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Consumer and
Commercial Relations and to the attorney general. A lawyer since 1975,
Flaherty practiced in the private sector and was a deputy judge in small
claims court and Counsel General of Ghana in Toronto.
Michael Fortier - Minister of Public Works and Government
Services
Loyola Hearn - Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
St. John's South-Mount Pearl, N.L.
He has a lot of experience governing, after 11 years in provincial
government, including a four-year stint as minister of education. He
retired from provincial politics in 1993 before being elected at the
federal level for the first time in a May 2000 byelection. He is a former
critic for: Canadian Heritage, Public Works and Government Services, and
Fisheries and Oceans and was the Conservative Party of Canada House
leader. At the committee level, Hearn is a former member of Natural
Resources and Government Operations, Public Accounts, subcommittee on
international financial reporting guidelines and standards for the public
sector of public accounts, Canadian Heritage, Fisheries and Oceans,
subcommittee on sports, special committee on the modernization and
improvement of the procedures of the House of Commons, subcommittee on
children and youth at risk.
Marjory LeBreton - Leader of the Government in the Senate
Gary Lunn - Minister of Natural Resources
Saanich-Gulf Islands, B.C.
A four-time MP, Lunn has been a Reform, Canadian Alliance and now
Conservative member. He is the former critic for Social Development,
Fisheries and Oceans, National Revenue, International Trade and the
Environment. The former vice-chair of the Fisheries and Oceans committee,
he has also served committees that include: Fisheries and Oceans, Public
Accounts, Environment and Sustainable Development, Foreign Affairs and
International Trade, Child Custody and Access, Scrutiny of Regulations,
Human Resources, Skills Development, Social Development and the Status of
Persons with Disabilities. A lawyer, he was a paramedic with the B.C.
Ambulance Service, a mining construction superintendent, a safety and
training co-ordinator and industrial relations officer with Crestbrook
Forest Industries.
Peter MacKay - Minister of Foreign Affairs
Central Nova, N.S.
MacKay is the former leader of the Progressive Conservative party and is
well respected. An MP since 1997, he is also the deputy leader of Harper’s
Conservative Party. Federally, he has been involved in a number of
committees and sub-committees, including: Justice and Human Rights,
Corrections and Conditional Release Act of Justice and Human Rights,
Organized Crime of Justice and Human Rights, National Security of Justice
and Human Rights, the study of sport in Canada, the modernization and
improvement of the procedures of the House of Commons and Justice and
Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. He was also a
critic in the following areas: Solicitor General, Justice, Public
Security, Prime Minister, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and
Deputy PM. Before entering politics he served as the crown attorney for
the N.S. Public Prosecution Service and prosecuted criminal matters at the
youth, provincial and Supreme Court levels.
Rob Nicholson - House Leader
Niagara Falls, Ont.
While he has been in federal cabinet before, Nicholson is not considered
to be an inner-circle type in a Harper government. Among other roles, he
has served as Minister for Science and Minister responsible for Small
Business, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney
General and was a member of the Cabinet Committee on Economic and
Environmental Policy. A lawyer for more than 20 years, he was appointed a
Queen's Counsel in 1992.
Gordon O'Connor - Minister of Defence
Carleton-Mississippi Mills, Ont.
O’Connor was first elected as an MP in 2004. He has since acted as the
critic for National Defence. O’Connor was also a member of the National
Defence and Veterans Affairs committee and the subcommitee on Veterans
Affairs. A former member of the Canadian Forces, he retired with the rank
of brigadier-general. His military appointments included responsibility
for planning the future force structure of the Canadian Forces and co-ordinating
resources related to about 300 Canadian Forces equipment and
infrastructure projects. He has since worked as a consultant and in a
variety of business operations.
Bev Oda - Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women
Durham, Ont.
The incumbent is a former CRTC commissioner and served as the heritage
critic in the 38th Parliament. A teacher, Oda has also held various
management and production positions with broadcasting companies. She was a
member of the national advisory committee to the president of the Treasury
Board on employment equity in the federal public service and Crown
corporations and has also served as adviser to three different secretaries
of state.
Jim Prentice - Minister of Indian Affairs
Calgary Centre-North, Alta.
First elected in 2004, he has been a member of the Aboriginal Affairs and
Northern Development committee and served as the critic for Indian Affairs
and Northern Development. A lawyer who has practised for over 20 years,
Prentice specializes in property rights. He has also served as a
Commissioner of the Indian Claims Commission of Canada, owned and operated
weekly newspapers, been part owner of a retail business and has been
involved in real estate.
Carol Skelton - Minister of National Revenue and Minister of Western
Economic Diversification
Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, Sask.
An MP since 2000, Skelton was appointed as the critic for Social Economy,
Western Economic Diversification, and Public Health and Social Development
in 2004. She has also served as the vice-chair on the parliamentary
committee for Persons with Disabilities and was appointed Deputy House
Leader of the Official Opposition in 2002. Before her election in 2000,
Skelton was a farm partner and district co-ordinator for Canadian Blood
Services. She and her husband have farmed in Harris, Sask. for 35 years.
Monte Solberg - Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Medicine Hat, Alta.
One of the better-known faces of the Conservative party. Solberg was the
finance critic from 2003 to 2005, and was generally viewed to be good at
it despite the fact that he doesn’t have an economics background. He has
been in the House since 1993, first as a Reform member, then an Alliance
member and now as a Conservative. That experience makes him a
longer-serving member. He is the former vice-chair of the Finance
committee, Foreign Affairs and International Trade committee and the Human
Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities
committee. He was also a member of the Canadian Heritage committee. He has
also served as critic for: Finance, Foreign Affairs, Revenue Canada, and
Human Resources Development. Before entering politics, Solberg worked as a
broadcaster for 17 years.
Chuck Strahl - Minister of Agriculture
Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon, B.C.
Previously the deputy Speaker, Strahl is well-known for his efforts to
oust Canadian Alliance Leader Stockwell Day in 2001. He and several
Alliance colleagues left the party to sit as the Democratic Representative
Caucus. Day was eventually forced out. Strahl has also been diagnosed with
inoperable lung cancer. An MP since 1993, he was most recently the critic
for Democratic Reform and Northern Economic Development and acted as the
Deputy House Leader of the Official Opposition. Strahl is also the former
deputy caucus co-ordinator, chief whip and former critic for Public
Service, Natural Resources, Heritage (Culture/Economics) and Industry. He
is a former member of numerous committees including: Procedure and House
Affairs, Fisheries and Oceans, Foreign Affairs and International Trade,
Natural Resources, Canadian Heritage, Aboriginal Affairs, Natural
Resources, and Industry, Science and Technology. He was also the
vice-chair of Procedure and House Affairs committee.
Greg Thompson - Minister of Veterans Affairs
New Brunswick Southwest, N.B.
A five-time MP, Thompson was most recently the critic for the Atlantic
Canada Opportunities Agency. He has also served as a critic for: Health,
Human Resources Development, Treasury Board and Regional Development.
Thompson has served on numerous committees and subcommittees, including:
Health, Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with
Disabilities, Public Accounts, subcommittee on children and youth at risk,
subcommittee on combating corruption of public accounts, special committee
on non-medical use of drugs and the joint committee on scrutiny of
regulations. A former teacher, Thompson was most recently the operator of
a bed and breakfast and a furniture store.
Vic Toews - Minister of Justice
Provencher, Man.
He served as justice critic both as a member of the Canadian Alliance and
as a Tory MP, and also served as critic of the attorney general. An MP
since 2000, Toews is one of the most experienced, having also served as
the minister of labour, minister of justice and attorney general, as well
as the minister responsible for constitutional affairs at the provincial
level. He has been a member of various committees, including: Justice and
Human Rights, National Security of Justice and Human Rights, and Public
Safety and Emergency Preparedness. In his career as a lawyer, he has
served as Crown counsel to the department of the attorney general, as well
as counsel to the Department of Labour and Employment Services and the
Manitoba Labour Board, and was the director of Workplace Safety and Health
and the director of Child Welfare.
Josée Verner - Minister of International Co-operation and
Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages
Louis St-Laurent, Que.
Verner lost to the BQ candidate in 2004 by just over seven per cent of the
vote. Though she was not an MP, Harper appointed her as critic for the
Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, and
critic for the minister responsible for la Francophonie. A communications
professional, Verner also worked for former Quebec premier Robert
Bourassa.
And so
there you have the swearing in ceremony and information on the new cabinet
:-) I got in a
communication as a result of my TV interview on the A Channel from a Ralph
Ferguson of 4288 Old Walnut Grove outside Petrolia who has offered to let
me see a video that was done by the St. Andrews Society on the settlement
of the area by Scots. Once the nights get a bit shorter I'll head up there
to see it. Had a
problem with my notebook computer in that the CDROM/DVD drive wasn't
working. I won't go into all the details but in short I had my
notebook re-registered from the UK to the USA and that worked fine but
when I reported my problem on the drive I found they'd cancelled the
shipment of the replacement due to me living in Canada. So I then
phoned Dell Canada and they fixed things for me although because on their
records I was in the USA it took them a bit longer to sort things out.
They recommended I went to their Customer Care page on dell.ca and
re-register my notebook for Canada.
I confess I couldn't find it on their web site
so phoned in and got some excellent help and managed to do the
re-registration. I must say that my experience with Dell Canada was
superb and since I've now dealt with Dell in the UK and Dell in the USA I
can say my experience with Dell Canada was way better in terms of speed
and resolution.
During February I've had emails from around
eight people who having read this journal have contacted me asking
questions about settling in Canada. I always said that for every 1
person that actually emails me probably another 99 have got useful
information but don't bother to email and tell you. On that basis it
seems to be helping people with their decision to immigrate to Canada so
that's nice to know :-)
I also took the opportunity to do a
Storyboard on my home in Chatham as the
pictures are mostly spread throughout these journal entries. And
that completes this journal entry up to 12th February 2006. |
