To celebrate Vancouver’s 40th Anniversary the city has decided to change the regional name from the Greater Vancouver Regional District to Metro Vancouver. How modern and no doubt expensive, at least not everything the city councilors are doing is arbitrary. As of January 1st 2008 banned from Vancouver’s landfills are recyclable items from pop cans to electronics. Loads that arrive at the disposal sites containing more than 10 per cent by volume of banned materials are assessed a 50 per cent surcharge (an additional $32.50 per ton) on the whole load. These charges will eventually be passed back to your business or municipality. Bravo for Metro Vancouver taking the Zero Waste Challenge.

Muslim women who wear a veil as a sign of modesty in public are continuing a cultural norm from their native countries after immigrating to Quebec. This is their choice and it should be respected. There is no law that prohibits it and Canada and Quebec are not accommodating anyone when this occurs. If the reason all the hoopla surrounding voting with a veil on is because it could lead to identity fraud or the ability to vote numerous times under the guise of another person then it seems that people’s concerns are unfounded. At the present time any person can show up to vote without showing their face, all they need is their voting card received in the mail and the ability to state their name so that volunteers can cross their name from the voting list. If identification is needed then you just show it. Anyone can arrive in a veil, mask, hockey helmet, or other head gear and not be refused. So where is the problem? If people wish to make an issue out of veils perhaps they should place their attention on more critical areas, like a passport photo for example as voting is a non-starter.

So what, PQ leader Pauline Marois is not very comfortable speaking English. She is the leader of a separatist French dominated party. Why does she need to? Those that voted for her overwhelmingly have French as their first language. No one in the province who is Anglophone has any delusions that Marios has their best interests at heart. So give the woman a break! If the English press in Quebec want to quote her, just do it in her mother tongue with a translation afterward for the paper’s English-speaking readership. What’s the big deal? It’s time to let it go and move on to more important things. For Anglophones, it’s keeping her on the opposition bench in the provincial legislature.

Everyone except the avid music junkie here in Ottawa probably missed the news about a recent release (Oct. 18, 2007) by Goose Lane Editions that has filled a long standing gap in Canada’s literary music scene. There have been 1000s of books written on music, of which some have identified the greatest albums from the US, Great Britain and many other countries, but until now Canada has been absent from the party. The Top 100 Canadian Albums compiled and listed (as well as written of course) by CBC arts reporter Bob Mersereau after asking literally over 1000 Canadian music lovers (musicians, fans, broadcasters, critics and more) to email him a desert island top 10 album list, is nothing short of fantastic. Whether you agree with the list or not, there is no argument over the need for this long overdue book. We only had Chart magazine’s list to peruse (every 4 yrs) before this and you can’t place it on a shelf to handily grab when the urge strikes you.