Canada’s Do-Not-Call List (DNCL) website was launched today, then promptly ground to a halt due to the massive amount of traffic accessing the site.

While I was able to go on earlier today to add my numbers, anyone trying to access it now is greeted with a “temporarily unavailable” message:

This should be resolved as traffic slows; but, it goes to show you just how many people are sick and tried of being called by telemarketers.

Don’t forget to go back and add your number when it’s back up.

Update - The CBC just posted an article about the website and phone system going down.

As I watched a CBC show around mandatory voting, I came to the conclusion that it’s not a matter of forcing people to vote; but, the ultimate issue is with our current electoral system.

While the country has changed a great deal since 1867, our electoral system has not.  Obviously, changes such as allowing women to vote have occurred; however, the fundamental system is still the same.

I’ve been thinking about this all week, and I would like to put out some ideas for people to think about themselves.  I think there are three ways we can increase voter turnout with resorting to mandatory voting:

1) Proportional Representation

Canada’s has a first past the post system, which means that the person with the most votes wins; however, this is also the root of the decline in voter participation.  Living in a riding that is almost guaranteed to go for a certain party’s candidate makes your vote pointless.  For example, someone voting for the Green party in an Alberta riding has very little change of electing a candidate, and in effect this makes it more likely for these people to not even show up to vote.

I believe that this problem can be addressed by implementing Proportional representation.

Proportional Representation is a system that tries to balance the results (seats won) based on percentages of votes received.  With this system, the Green party supporter in Alberta could vote for the Green party and know that their vote would matter, as it would be combined with all other Green party votes across the country.  Having 5% of the support across the country would roughly translate into 15 seats for the Greens.  On the flip side, the Bloc (with 10% support) would only receive 30 seats instead of the 75 that they currently have.

While there are disadvantages with this system (like all systems), I feel that it encourages people to get out and vote for the party that they support (without having to resort to vote swapping).  When people are voting for what they believe, and they know their vote counts, they will vote.

2) Lower the Voting Age

At the age of 16 you are able to do a lot of things (legally) such as getting a permit to drive a car.  I also believe that this is the age at which you should be allowed to start voting.

Currently the voting age is 18.  The problem is that by the time you are 18, you are likely finished high school, or are finishing it.  You may be in college or university dealing with tuition increases (or university closures) brought on by cuts made by the current government - one you were not allowed to vote for.  I just can’t understand how this is acceptable.

I strongly believe that these students are more then able to make a informed decision.  Also, the younger you start voting, the more likely you will keep voting throughout your live.

Check out Vote16.ca for more information!

3) Online Voting

There are a lot of amazing things happening online today.

People are shopping, banking, investing, and gambling.  All of these are secure activities that many of us do everyday.

I believe that voting is one more thing that will be commonly performed online.  Currently in Canada, it is the municipalities that are leading the way.  Markham, Ontario is a great example.  In 2006, they allowed people to vote online, check out that website for more information on how it worked.

With this option, you no longer have to worry about getting there before or after work, finding a place to park, or standing in long lines - simply log on and vote.  When it’s that simple, it’s much more likely even an apathetic person will take the time to vote.

As the leadership race for the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick heats up, many people have been throwing their support behind the candidates.

Today, I’m throwing my support behind Robert MacLeod.

Although, it look’s like I’m not the only one.  Today, Bruce Fitch, a former leadership candidate, withdrew from the race and is now supporting Robert.

Robert is the best candidate to lead our party, and I am very confident in his abilities to organize this party heading into the next election.  His platform can be found here.

Selecting Robert brings us one step closer to making history by making Shawn Graham’s Liberals the first party (in the history of New Brunswick) to be kicked out after one term in office!

One of the three cruise ships that visited the city on Monday, accidentally included a warning in their newsletter for Saint John.  This warning told passengers not to drink city water and to be careful what they ate.  The passengers were advised to only drink bottled water.

Princess Cruise Lines officials said it was an administrative error that such a warning was contained in the newsletter for Saint John. Warnings are occasionally issued when the ship is visiting certain exotic ports, like in South America, officials said.

Star Quality Furnitue

I cannot stress this enough - do NOT purchase any Star “Questionable” Quality Furniture.

I just finished putting together their Executive Desk (from Staples), and the end result is awful.

First of all, the desk came with marks all over it.  It was not very noticeable when we first unpacked the parts; but, after it was finished, the marks were hard to ignore.  Below are various marks along the top of the desk (very visible when you walk into the room).

Secondly, the drawers are all off uneven even though we followed all of the instructions and put the screws through all of the marked holes.  The red circles are marks to the front of the desk, the green circles are gaps in the drawer.

Overall, it was very bad quality for the asking price, and I am in the process of disassembling it to be returned for my money back.  I actually ordered two of them, and I am not even going to bother opening the second box, it is also going back.

Staples.ca

I also have a warning for anyone thinking of ordering online through the staples.ca website.

Avoid it if possible.  If not, do NOT rely on their quoted delivery date!

My delivery was a day late.  That may not sound like a big deal; but, when you have to be home from 8am-5pm for the delivery truck - it’s a major pain when it doesn’t show up.  Even worse, nobody even bothered to call me to let me know it wasn’t going to arrive.  After 5pm, I called the call center asking when it would arrive, they all said they would contact the shippers who would call me.  No call - ever from the shipping company.  I stayed home again the next day, and the truck randomly shows up in the afternoon - no notice.  See below for an update.

Now, you may think this is a good thing, well apparently the truck only has one person working, which isn’t good when it takes a minimum of two people (strong people) to lift each box.  According to the instructions, each box weighs around 170lbs.  I could barely lift my end into the house, and on second thought, I should have refused to help right from the beginning. My arms are actually sore today, and I am positive it was from lifting two of those 170lbs boxes with the deliver guy.

Below is the picture on the box.  Notice the two people carrying it!

Updated (Sept 12, 2008) -  I was just contacted by Armour Transportation, who I had originally blamed in the shipping process; however, I was informed that the delays were due to Staples. Staples was late shipping the desks, failed to call me, and then turned around at the last minute to pass it off to Amour to deliver.

Staples knew ahead of time that the desks weighed 160lbs and took two people to carry; but, this was not communicated to Armour.

Armour was very quick to respond to my concerns, investigated fully internally, and was friendly through the process.  My opinion of Armour Transportation has greatly improved, and I would encourage everyone to check them out when you need to ship something.

One of the more interesting stories so far in this election campaign is the “Pooping Puffin”.  For anyone curious, it was a video shown on the Conservative party’s notaleader.ca website (until taken down earlier today).

It showed a puffin pooping on Stéphane Dion’s shoulder.

Not to defend the party; but, I really don’t see how this is all that offensive.  I thought it sounded funny when I heard it on the news.

The real question is - why a puffin?

Well the puffin was mentioned last year by deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff as a potential mascot for the Liberal party.

“It’s a noble bird because it has good family values. They stay together for 30 years,” Ignatieff said.

“They lay one egg (each year). They put their excrement in one place. They hide their excrement.… They flap their wings very hard and they work like hell.

“This seems to me a symbol for what our party should be.”

Well, looks like enough people thought it was a big deal, and they put the Prime Minister in a position where he actually had to apologize today.

My comment is simply this - if this is concidered offensive, what do they call everything else being said by all parties during this campaign?

This weekend, my wife and I returned some wedding gifts.  After all, you only need so many salad spinners.

We were able to easily return items at both Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire.

The deal with returning things with no receipt is that you take the lowest value that the item ever sold for.  That was fine with us.  Canadian Tire gave us cash back, which was unexpected, while Wal-Mart gave us a gift card.

Next, we went over to the mall to return the salad spinner at Stokes.

Unlike every other store we shop at, this one apparently has a policy where you can’t return anything without a receipt.  Yes, even if the item you are returning is a “Stokes” brand salad spinner.  It’s not like we bought it somewhere else and are trying to rip them off!

Needless to say, the staff was unhelpful, the policy was bad, and to make things worse, they tried to explain that we should call their 1-800 number to request that they take it back.  They said that they might be able to give the store the OK to return it.

My question is?  Don’t people ever return things to Stokes without a receipt?  This must happen all the time.  Every other store has a similar policy on the matter, why not Stokes?

Needless to say, I would highly recommend avoiding this store; but, if you are foced to buy anything, guard your receipt with your life, or you too may end up being stoked!

As you may remember, I launched a Facebook application earlier this year called Politics in Canada.

Since the launch, the number of people using it has grown to over five hundred!

With a new Federal Election on the way, I’ve decided to start making some updates to the application.

One of the changes includes new charts.  These new charts are much easier to read!

The interactive support maps are also filling up as more users specify their location.

Be sure to check out the Politics in Canada application.

Look forward to seeing new parties being added and new features as they are requested!

Passengers on the latest cruise ship to Saint John were greeted to protest from the ILA on Monday.

The International Longshoremen’s Association Local 273 setup informational pickets to protest having to provide three workers to attach, shift, and remove gangways that allow the cruise ship’s passengers to disembark.

Yes, you read that right, three people had to work.

To make matters worse, if that is even possible, each worker had to settle for four times their regular rate - or $125 per hour - for four hours and twice their regular rate for another four hours.

That’s more than $700 one day of work.

With all the concerns about the lack of activity at the port, it’s a wonder why the ILA won’t take advantage of every opportunity to work.  Annoying the cruise ship passengers has the potential to give our city a bad image.

Don’t forget that the cruise ships are a major component of the ports business, and what is bad for the port is even worse for the ILA.