Most of the happiest cities in Canada are on the East Coast, not surprisingly, Saint John is at the top of the list.

According to the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Canadians are most likely to be satisfied with the quality of life in places like Saint John, Moncton, N.B., and Charlottetown, all of which placed in the top five of a survey of 18 Canadian cities.

In fact, knowing your neighbours — and trusting those around you — is a key reason why a city like Saint John tops the list, said John Helliwell, a University of British Columbia economist who led the research project. He said his ongoing work, which has not yet been published, suggests a correlation between lower levels of life satisfaction in some of the country’s most affluent cities — Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary among them — and the lower levels of trust among neighbours in those cities. “They’re more inclined to feel harried. They’re more inclined to feel pressured,” Helliwell told CBC News. “They have a little less time to build these positive relationships.”

All the same, Helliwell said the findings suggest that cities with a static population and deep roots are happier places. “It’s really the extent to which people feel connected to each other, committed to each other and open,” he said.

So what do you think? I’m not surprised one bit, just look at the cost of living alone. You may not make as much as you would in Alberta, but your money goes a long way when it comes to essentials such as housing. You can’t beat the pace of life either. I can bike to work in a little over half an hour, or drive within twenty. Try explaining that to someone from Toronto!

PS - Thanks for the link Steph.

Now here is an excellent site from Veterans Affairs Canada. The Canadian Virtual War Memorial allows you to search for Canadians who have been killed during their service.

I was able to search for my Great-Uncle Lee Frank Long, who was killed on July 8th, 1944 during World War 2. It links directly to his page in the Second World War Book of Remembrance, as well as showing the exact location where his grave is located - in Beny-Sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery - Calvados, France.

“It was on the coast just to the north that the 3rd Canadian Division landed on 6th June 1944; on that day, 335 officers and men of that division were killed in action or died of wounds. In this cemetery are the graves of Canadians who gave their lives in the landings in Normandy and in the earlier stages of the subsequent campaign. Canadians who died during the final stages of the fighting in Normandy are buried in Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery. There are a total of 2048 burials in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery. There is also one special memorial erected to a soldier of the Canadian Infantry Corps who is known to have been buried in this cemetery, but the exact site of whose grave could not be located.”

Try it out yourself here. Try searching for your ancestors who gave their lives for our freedom today!

This story is a few weeks old, but I still wanted to bring it up because it makes me laugh.

During question period in the House of Commons, NDP MP Irene Mathyssen claimed that she had seen Conservative MP James Moore viewing pictures of “scantily clad” women on his laptop in the parliamentary chamber. She then went on to question his integrity as a member of the Commons, claiming his actions disrespected women. “I have very good vision. I know what I saw,” Mathyssen told reporters.

Moore vehemently denied he had done anything wrong, and now it turns out that he wasn’t looking at improper images at all. The pictures that Mathyssen had seen — and misinterpreted as improper — were apparently just images of his girlfriend. She didn’t find this out until after she had accused Moore of debasing Parliament, and after some Liberals, who didn’t see anything, nonetheless waded and called Moore’s actions “disgusting.”

In a press release, the New Democrats said that “Ms. Mathyssen has accepted the explanation and offered her apologies.”

Maybe she should focus on what’s actually going on during Question Period, not what someone is looking at on a laptop in front of her…

Mattel recently announced the release of improved limited-edition Barbie Dolls for the Greater Saint John market.

Rothesay Barbie - This princess Barbie is sold only at Rothesay shops and specialty boutiques. She comes with an assortment of Kate Spade Handbags, a Lexus SUV, a long-haired foreign dog named Honey, and a cookie-cutter house. Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction with the augmented version.

Quispamsis Barbie - The modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Wind star Minivan and matching gym outfit. She gets lost easily and has no full-time occupation. Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately.

South End Barbie - This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun, a Ray Lewis knife, a Chevy with dark tinted windows, and a Meth Lab Kit. This model is only available after dark and must be paid for in cash (preferably small untraceable bills), unless you are a cop, then we don’t know what you are talking about.

Millidgeville Barbie - This Barbie comes with your choice of BMW convertible or Hummer H2. Included are her own Tim Horton’s cup, credit card and country club membership. Also available for this set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. You won’t be able to afford any of them.

St. Martin’s Barbie - This tobacco-chewing, brassy-haired Barbie has a pair of her own high-heeled sandals with one broken heel from the time she chased beer-gutted Ken out of her house. Her ensemble includes low-rise acid-washed jeans, fake fingernails, and a see-through halter-top. Also available with a mobile home.

North End Barbie - This Barbie now comes with a stroller and infant doll. Optional accessories include a GED and bus pass. Gangsta Ken and his 1979 Caddy were available, but are now very difficult to find since the addition of the infant.

Maces Bay Barbie -This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too small, a NASCAR t-shirt and tweety bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Hank Williams Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken’s butt when she is drunk. Purchase her pickup truck separately and get an Oilers bumper sticker absolutely free.

You knew this was bound to happen eventually. You know those rules about liquids on airplanes? Toss it out or drink it?

Well, this guy decides to chug his two pints of vodka instead of paying a fee to bring them on the plane as checked baggage.

As you might expect, this story didn’t end well, he ends up unable to stand or function. The guy potentially has alcohol poisoning and is sent to the hospital. I wonder if he ever thought about becoming too drunk to even get on the plane, assuming he was able to stand, in his grand scheme?

Makes you reconsider drinking that bottle instead of paying the fee, eh?

After all the snow we received this week, things are starting to get back to normal. The main highlight of the storm this week was the cartoon in the newspaper:

Let’s face it, it was a bad storm for Toronto. Maybe they should have called in the Maritimers instead?

Ever wonder about the inspection results when eating at your favorite restaurant? Probably not; but, now that the results are easily available online - you might want to!

Simply visit the Department of Health’s website here to see the results.

Interesting places (the one’s in red) were:

• China Coast Restaurant - 1405 Mountain Road, Moncton - No soap at employee hand wash, etc…
• Mary’s Restaurant - 369 King George Highway, Miramichi - No hot water in employee washroom…
• Newcastle Car Wash & Mainway - 160 Jane Street, Miramichi - 7 Day expired food still for sale, hand sink did not have soap…
• Woolastook Park - 5171 Route 102, Upper Kingsclear

What I did like was the fact that no place in Saint John scored less then Green. I hope the restaurants will work hard to go above and beyond the bare minimum to provide good food that is also safe to eat! I also think the restaurants should be posting the last inspection report (including color coding) at the front door for everyone to see. It’s the best way to ensure the place is kept up to snuff.

UPDATE - It seems that this site is updated nearly daily.  The problem is that old reports are replaced with new ones, so those places scoring a red the other day could be green today without any of us knowing what happened.  I plan to email them asking to have a history available so we know which places have scored a yellow or red in the past and why!

This week, while randomly surfing the internet, I discovered a cool section on the Department of Transportation website.

This link will bring up a map of the province and allow you to view many different highway camera images. Check out Saint John’s camera here! The really interesting cameras are the ones in Mont Farlagne, Quisibis Hill, and Meductic. These have the option to loop the images taken all day to see how the day was!

My only complaint is that the images are only taken every twenty minutes. It would be nice to see it updated every few minutes; but, this is a great start. It would also be nice to have more cameras along typically busy sections of the highway - you know, the ones that have an accident and get backed up for 5km.

The next interesting item is that the city of Fredericton worked with Google to get their bus route information online. Now you can get driving directions and public transportation directions. It will show where you need to walk to get on the bus, the bus route, and where to walk once you get off. It also tries to project transit times!

This is my fancy example:

• Here is a map showing driving directions from one area to another.
• Here is a map showing public transportation directions to the same place.

My favorite part is where it calculates the cost of a fare based the cost to drive there. Very cool!

I’d love to see this happen in Saint John. Google Maps is a very easy to use interface. Compare it to trying to figure out the bus routes by looking at PDF documents on the Saint John Transit website.

The Buzz

UPDATE - Check out this page for the latest information on the campaign!

Today’s Telegraph Journal has started the election buzz on who will be running in the upcoming election in May 2008. I’m am getting quite excited for this next election, and I am glad to see people are starting to declare where they are when it comes to running or not. Ivan Court said it best, “You’re going to stay, you’re going to move up, or you’re going to move out.”

When it comes to the Mayor, it looks like Norm McFarlane and Ivan Court are definitely running. Michelle Hooton hasn’t officially said if she will run; but, she has been openly considering it. My guess is that she will run, making this a very interesting race.

Councilors who will be running again include: Peter McGuire, John Ferguson and Stephen Chase. Because of the Ward system vote, these individuals will need to decide if they will run in their ward or at-large. So far, only McGuire has stated what he will do - he intends to run in the West ward. Chase has said he is conflicted between running in a ward, something he was a strong proponent of, and allowing new people to have the opportunity. He also has a lot of city wide support, previously finishing in 2nd place behind Hooton in the last election, which would allow him to run at-large.

Other councilors who have said they are not going to run again include: Glen Tait and Jay-Young Chang. Glen Tait has stated in the past that if the ward vote passed, he would not run again. This was confirmed once the ward vote concluded. The question is - will he run regardless of what he said? Chang has stated that he is frustrated with the hold up on several issues.

The Recap

Only time will tell who will run again. I am, as always, looking forward to this next election as it will hopefully introduce a lot of new faces in a new mixed-ward system and allow people to vote in a person on their merit - not their name! I’m interested to hear your thoughts and any gossip you may have heard! Comment away.