Atlantic Region: Feds invest in cruise industry
By Staff, Transcontinental Media
Source: The Daily Business Buzz, June 11, 2010
The Atlantic Canada cruise industry, which turned in another strong performance in 2009, is receiving renewed support from the Government of Canada to implement its ongoing international marketing strategy.
The federal government will invest $247,000 through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to help the Atlantic Canada Cruise Association implement its marketing strategy over the next two years as it builds on the unique qualities and strengths of Atlantic Canada as a tourism destination. The association is a partnership between ports, tourism and cruise ship interests in each of the four Atlantic provinces, ACOA and Parks Canada.
In 2009, the ACCA reported 383 port of call visits in Atlantic Canada. This is an increase that tops the 320 ports of call visits in 2008 and the 296 visits in 2007. The ACCA estimates that the total economic impact of direct spending associated with the industry in 2009 is $80 million.
“The region can attribute much of its success to education and training programs, and marketing initiatives delivered by the association,” says Jackie Chow, ACCA chair. “A strong partnership between governments, ports and industry stakeholders has been instrumental in the overall success and growth of the cruise industry in the Atlantic region.”
The goal of ACCA’s extensive marketing plan is to position the Atlantic Canada as one of the top 10 cruise destinations in the world. The plan, amongst other things, calls for joint marketing initiatives with the cruise lines; continued focus on travel trade and travel media; support for industry education and training initiatives; familiarization tours for industry representatives; association website enhancements; integration of E-mercials and development of promotional materials, all focused on bringing cruise lines and passengers to Atlantic Canada tied to the industry theme of “Journey through Our Mystical Land.”
Friday, June 11, 2010
Whale Killing- Avaaz
Whale Killing, Inc. Inbox
Ben Wikler - Avaaz.org Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 2:42 PM
To: "kathleen1954@auracom.com"
Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Delete | Show original
External images are not displayed.
Display images below - Always display images from avaaz@avaaz.org
Dear friends,
The international vote that could legalize commercial whale hunting is just weeks away. Let's run an ad campaign that governments won't miss, telling them the world won't accept a legal whale killing industry -- click to chip in:
In two weeks, the International Whaling Commission will hold its final vote on a proposal to legalize commercial whale hunting for the first time in a generation.
The outcome rests on whose voices are heard most clearly in the final hours: the pro-whaling lobby -- or the world's people?
We've signed the petitions -- now it's time to mount a massive final push to make our voices heard, and protect the whales. Avaaz has scoped out a giant billboard outside of Morocco's Agadir airport, a front-page advertisement in the newspapers given to attendees, street posters to line the walkways, and hand-bills to pass to delegates. From the moment they step off the plane in Agadir until they cast their deciding votes, delegates will be constantly reminded that the world won't accept legal whale slaughter.
Click here to see the impossible-to-ignore billboard, and donate to fuel this campaign... even $5 or $10 or euros makes a difference:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/whales_massive_push/?vl
Thanks to the outcry of 650,000 Avaaz members, along with partners everywhere, many governments have pledged to oppose the proposal. Each time the Avaaz whale petition added 100,000 signatures, it was sent again to the IWC and key governments -- and some, like New Zealand, thanked all of us who had signed on.
But pressure from the other side has been relentless -- and now other governments, especially in Europe and Latin America, may abstain... or even support the proposal. The vote could go either way.
Citizen pressure is our best hope. After all, it was an explosive worldwide social movement in the 1980s that led to the commercial whaling ban we're now trying to protect. When the International Whaling Commission meets in Morocco this June 22, let's make sure the world's voices are there to greet them:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/whales_massive_push/?vl
After the global ban was first implemented on commercial whaling, the number of whales killed each year plummeted from 38,000 per year to just a couple of thousand. It's a testament to the power of humanity to move forward. As we move to confront the other crises of the modern age, let's cherish this legacy of progress -- by joining together now to protect our majestic and intelligent neighbors on this fragile planet.
With hope,
Ben, Ben M, Maria Paz, Benjamin, David, Graziela, Iain, Luis, Ricken, and the whole Avaaz team
P.S.: Despite the ban, Japan, Norway, and Iceland have continued whaling -- and are now pushing to make the IWC proposal as lenient as possible. Expecting permission to catch more whales than ever, Japan is reportedly planning to buy its largest whaling ship yet. Click here to fund an advertising blitz and campaign at the IWC meeting to oppose commercial whaling.
Ben Wikler - Avaaz.org
To: "kathleen1954@auracom.com"
Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Delete | Show original
External images are not displayed.
Display images below - Always display images from avaaz@avaaz.org
Dear friends,
The international vote that could legalize commercial whale hunting is just weeks away. Let's run an ad campaign that governments won't miss, telling them the world won't accept a legal whale killing industry -- click to chip in:
In two weeks, the International Whaling Commission will hold its final vote on a proposal to legalize commercial whale hunting for the first time in a generation.
The outcome rests on whose voices are heard most clearly in the final hours: the pro-whaling lobby -- or the world's people?
We've signed the petitions -- now it's time to mount a massive final push to make our voices heard, and protect the whales. Avaaz has scoped out a giant billboard outside of Morocco's Agadir airport, a front-page advertisement in the newspapers given to attendees, street posters to line the walkways, and hand-bills to pass to delegates. From the moment they step off the plane in Agadir until they cast their deciding votes, delegates will be constantly reminded that the world won't accept legal whale slaughter.
Click here to see the impossible-to-ignore billboard, and donate to fuel this campaign... even $5 or $10 or euros makes a difference:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/whales_massive_push/?vl
Thanks to the outcry of 650,000 Avaaz members, along with partners everywhere, many governments have pledged to oppose the proposal. Each time the Avaaz whale petition added 100,000 signatures, it was sent again to the IWC and key governments -- and some, like New Zealand, thanked all of us who had signed on.
But pressure from the other side has been relentless -- and now other governments, especially in Europe and Latin America, may abstain... or even support the proposal. The vote could go either way.
Citizen pressure is our best hope. After all, it was an explosive worldwide social movement in the 1980s that led to the commercial whaling ban we're now trying to protect. When the International Whaling Commission meets in Morocco this June 22, let's make sure the world's voices are there to greet them:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/whales_massive_push/?vl
After the global ban was first implemented on commercial whaling, the number of whales killed each year plummeted from 38,000 per year to just a couple of thousand. It's a testament to the power of humanity to move forward. As we move to confront the other crises of the modern age, let's cherish this legacy of progress -- by joining together now to protect our majestic and intelligent neighbors on this fragile planet.
With hope,
Ben, Ben M, Maria Paz, Benjamin, David, Graziela, Iain, Luis, Ricken, and the whole Avaaz team
P.S.: Despite the ban, Japan, Norway, and Iceland have continued whaling -- and are now pushing to make the IWC proposal as lenient as possible. Expecting permission to catch more whales than ever, Japan is reportedly planning to buy its largest whaling ship yet. Click here to fund an advertising blitz and campaign at the IWC meeting to oppose commercial whaling.
Labels:
whales
The End of SWSD
NS: SWSDA ceases operations
By Michael Gorman, Transcontinental Media
Source: The Yarmouth County Vanguard, June 11, 2010
[YARMOUTH, NS] — The era of the South West Shore Development Authority is over.
The group’s board of directors has just given word that SWSDA officially ceased operations as of yesterday at 5 p.m.
Phil LeBlanc, chairman of the board, said the CAOs and clerks of the nine member municipal units would work now to resolve any outstanding issues and begin laying the steps for a new regional development authority.
“The old SWSDA has to be wound down and then a new RDA will be started,” he said. LeBlanc said he doesn’t know what kind of timeline will be involved in such a process, but the board has requested the aid of the province’s Department of Economic and Rural Development in ensuring the proper steps are followed.
The shutdown means seven people, including SWSDA CEO Frank Anderson, are out of work. Both Premier Darrell Dexter and Percy Paris, minister of economic and rural development, have said recently that they aren’t interested in funding the local RDA if Anderson is involved.
SWSDA has been mired in controversy for some time and recent reports on the group have raised questions about the group’s lack of transparency and close ties to the Yarmouth and Area Industrial Commission, for which Anderson also serves as CEO.
Steps had been taken to create a new RDA, which would be known as the Southwest Regional Development Agency, however that group had yet to be incorporated by the province. Without that incorporation, the group is ineligible to receive funding, which means little can be done in the way of economic development.
LeBlanc said this is the first step is making the new RDA a reality and meeting the requirements of the provincial government.
“We definitely need the RDA back in operation as soon as possible with the economic situation that we have in this region.”
In the meantime, the business of economic development for the area will have to be left to other agencies such as the industrial commission, Team Southwest and Team West.
Asked what contact they’ve had with the province to this point, LeBlanc said the board forwarded the press release about the decision to the province to serve as notice that they are taking the situation seriously.
“It shows them what action has been taken,” he said. “It’s something they were looking for — to wind things up — as a condition to start the next (RDA) up.”
Meanwhile, the Yarmouth Area Industrial Commission continues to operate from its headquarters at 233 Water Street in Yarmouth.
“The commission has no connection to the South West Shore Development Authority, other than a shared contract for the services of one individual,” commission chair Roger King said today in a news release. “The demise of SWSDA will have no impact on the ongoing initiatives and operations of the commission.”
The industrial commission is the owner/operator of the Port of Yarmouth, the medical clinics at Harbour South and Pubnico as well as several other properties in Yarmouth County.
“All of our operations are being looked after by dedicated and competent staff that has the full confidence of our member municipalities and the board of directors,” said King.
By Michael Gorman, Transcontinental Media
Source: The Yarmouth County Vanguard, June 11, 2010
[YARMOUTH, NS] — The era of the South West Shore Development Authority is over.
The group’s board of directors has just given word that SWSDA officially ceased operations as of yesterday at 5 p.m.
Phil LeBlanc, chairman of the board, said the CAOs and clerks of the nine member municipal units would work now to resolve any outstanding issues and begin laying the steps for a new regional development authority.
“The old SWSDA has to be wound down and then a new RDA will be started,” he said. LeBlanc said he doesn’t know what kind of timeline will be involved in such a process, but the board has requested the aid of the province’s Department of Economic and Rural Development in ensuring the proper steps are followed.
The shutdown means seven people, including SWSDA CEO Frank Anderson, are out of work. Both Premier Darrell Dexter and Percy Paris, minister of economic and rural development, have said recently that they aren’t interested in funding the local RDA if Anderson is involved.
SWSDA has been mired in controversy for some time and recent reports on the group have raised questions about the group’s lack of transparency and close ties to the Yarmouth and Area Industrial Commission, for which Anderson also serves as CEO.
Steps had been taken to create a new RDA, which would be known as the Southwest Regional Development Agency, however that group had yet to be incorporated by the province. Without that incorporation, the group is ineligible to receive funding, which means little can be done in the way of economic development.
LeBlanc said this is the first step is making the new RDA a reality and meeting the requirements of the provincial government.
“We definitely need the RDA back in operation as soon as possible with the economic situation that we have in this region.”
In the meantime, the business of economic development for the area will have to be left to other agencies such as the industrial commission, Team Southwest and Team West.
Asked what contact they’ve had with the province to this point, LeBlanc said the board forwarded the press release about the decision to the province to serve as notice that they are taking the situation seriously.
“It shows them what action has been taken,” he said. “It’s something they were looking for — to wind things up — as a condition to start the next (RDA) up.”
Meanwhile, the Yarmouth Area Industrial Commission continues to operate from its headquarters at 233 Water Street in Yarmouth.
“The commission has no connection to the South West Shore Development Authority, other than a shared contract for the services of one individual,” commission chair Roger King said today in a news release. “The demise of SWSDA will have no impact on the ongoing initiatives and operations of the commission.”
The industrial commission is the owner/operator of the Port of Yarmouth, the medical clinics at Harbour South and Pubnico as well as several other properties in Yarmouth County.
“All of our operations are being looked after by dedicated and competent staff that has the full confidence of our member municipalities and the board of directors,” said King.
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