Top 5 Canadian Democracy Myths

I don't know if it's too many years of the West Wing airing in Canada or people just plain forgetting grade 10 civics, but after watching last night's debate, it seems to me that we need a refresher course on how democracy works in Canada.

Here are my Top 5 Myths about Canadian Democracy:

1. We elect our prime minister. 
False. In spite of what he says, the only people who elected Stephen Harper are the good people in Calgary—Southwest. Harper is merely the leader of the Conservative Party which currently has the most seats in the house of commons. Under the parliamentary system, that means he gets first crack at being Prime Minister, nothing more.  No one ever put an "X" next to his name to make him prime minister.

2. We elect a government. 
False (at least in the way it was used in the debate last night). We elect individual people in ridings who choose to work together in a party. Harper's assertions that Canadians "elected a Conservative government" were patently wrong. We just ended up with more Conservatives than anyone else in 2008. That is not equivalent to casting a vote to make the Conservatives an absolute government.

3. Coalitions are not democracy
False. We're used to power trading hands between the Liberals and Conservatives in this country and that's fine, but the only reason we're used to it is because for most of our history, we've only had two parties. It's only been since 1945 that we have a true third party alternative in the CCF. In other countries, multiple parties are the norm and no one is questioning their democracy.

4.  Minority parliaments don't work
False. They work all the time. We have had 13 of them. In fact, minority parliaments brought Canada some of the things we hold most dear, like health care. But, they only work when parties choose to work together.

5. Elections are a waste of time and money
False. Discussion is always good. Talking about issues is good for our country. Yes, they cost $300 million, but it's not like we take that money and flush it down the toilet. Money spent in elections does go back into the economy. People are paid to work on elections, printing houses are paid to make materials and property owners make money renting out their spaces for election activities.

So, when you go to the polls on May 2, and I know you will, keep these thoughts in mind when you fill in your ballot. Our parliamentary system is counting on it!

A big day for space enthusiasts

Anyone who checked Google today would have noticed a very cool image of a cosmonaut and a rocket ship blasting off. This was a very creative way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic mission as the first human in space. His mission truly changed the course of history. It scared the Americans into action and a mere eight years later, they had landed a man on the Moon.

Today was also the day that NASA announced where the remaining Space Shuttles would retire. Atlantis will stay at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida; Endeavour is off to the California Science Center in Los Angeles;  Discovery is going to the Smithsonian; and the test shuttle, Enterprise (yes, it really was named for the Star Trek ship) will be found at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.

The best part of this for Canadians is that while Atlantis and Discovery are going to be keeping their Canadarms, Endeavour's is coming home. No word yet on where it is going to go, but I think it should go somewhere that Canadians can see it. The Canadarm has played a vital role in dozens of missions  including helping to build the International Space Station, servicing Hubble and is a part of our heritage (I feel a commercial coming on...).

So, where should it go? The Air and Space Museum is a logical choice, but I don't think people really go there. My vote? The 5th floor of the ROM. It's big enough and woefully underutilized. And, people actually go to the ROM! Plus, the Canadarm would look super cool in that crystal.

Stay tuned to see how it all turns out!

Search Engine Optimization and Online PR

My online public relations course at Centennial College has taught me many things. The most important for me was the lesson about Search Engine Optimization.

I learned that it’s one thing to have a message, but it’s quite another to have people find your message online. The Internet is a very busy place and you can easily be overlooked. Being able to program a web page to increase its chances of being found is a skill I know I will use for my entire career. It’s given me confidence that what I will write for a client will actually matter.

Here are the top four things I learned in online PR:

Google’s Keyword Tool

I once heard that Google is the closest thing people have ever known to God. It knows everything! And The Keyword Tool is no different. The Keyword tool allows you to put in a term, any term, and find out with other terms are most strongly associated with it. Keyword also shows the competition for the keyword, so you can pick the best word to describe your product to generate the most interest.

To me, it almost feels like inside information. Google is telling me what people want to know about my product. As PR practitioners, I think this tool is probably one of the most important things we can use. It answers the question, “What are people thinking?” faster than any survey could ever dream of doing.

Description Tags

Before taking this online public relations course, I had no idea that that description tags even existed. I had always assumed that the little “blurbs” under links in Google were just the first few lines of the web page. Knowing now that they are programmable descriptions makes so much more sense! It’s like having another sign out there to direct people onto your page. I also think that if they’re well written, they add credibility to a web page. Description tags show that there are thinking people at the other end of that website, which I think encourages people to click on it.

Navigation

I am an organized person. I like things to be tidy and orderly in my life and on my web pages. I was gratified to learn that Google does too! Search engines like an organized web page and are more likely to find yours if it has a good root page and clear paths to other parts of the site.

Don’t overuse your keyword!

The last, and possibly most important thing I learned is that Google has a personality. It doesn’t like being told the same thing over and over again. In fact, if you repeat yourself too often, it will tune you out. So, going forward, I know to watch my keyword count. I will have one per page and use it sparingly. 

And there you have it, SEO and PR. I’m glad I know it, and enjoyed learning it and I will take it with me to every job I ever have. Thanks CCPR!

Social Media and Class Reunions

A few weeks ago, I got a Facebook invite to the 25th anniversary of my elementary school. The group is currently over 450 people and growing. People are posting old photos and reconnecting online.

When I first got the invite, I wondered if there really is a point to actual reunions anymore? Thanks to Facebook, I know who's married, who has kids, who got fat, who got thin, who moved away and who stayed close to home. I don't even have to show up and my curiosity is satisfied.

Maybe it's because I'm about to graduate and I'm getting all nostalgic, but I think there really is something to actually seeing everyone again, sitting down and swapping stories of old times. Social media only gives us a surface view of life, there isn't context. In my opinion, context matters and you can only get that context from actually talking to someone.

Also, there is definitely something inherently fun in reminiscing face to face. My classmates and I have spent an embarrassing amount of time this year talking about childhood TV shows and toys. None of us knew each other in childhood, but we have these shared experiences that are fun to talk about and share together. Sure, we could post videos on Facebook (and we have), but it's not the same. Watching each others eyes light up when a favourite is remembered is fantastic. I guess you could say that we can "share" on Facebook, but not experience sharing.

So, in September, I will be having fun catching up with my old friends at my reunion. You'll be able to find the photos on Facebook later.

My Life in Computers, Part Five: My iBook and a Barbie Van

I was raised to believe that if you wanted something, you had work hard and earn it. That's how I bought my first laptop. I wasn't allowed to work during high school. To their credit, my parents wanted me to know that school came first. School was how to get ahead in life and that required hard work and focus and a job would detract from that. I was, however, allowed to babysit. So, for five years (because we had OAC back then) I went to school, and on the weekends and during the summer I babysat. I put that money away and I saved. Then, when it came time to start university, I was able to buy my iBook all on my own. My first big, grown up purchase. I was terribly proud of myself.

What I have come to realize, though, is that my financial life lessons started long before this purchase. When I was five, Mattel released this Barbie camping van and I just had to have it. I suppose I felt that while her Corvette was nice, sometimes Barbie just needed more space. So, my sister (age three) and I approached our parents and asked if they would buy it for us.

The answer was no. It wasn't either of our birthdays, nor was it anywhere near Christmas, so, no van for us. However, our parents were open to making a deal. If we worked for it and saved our pennies, when we had enough, they would take us to Kmart and we could buy it for ourselves. 

Deal! For the next few months, my sister and I did chores and put our coins in baby food jars in the kitchen. I don't remember what we did exactly and given our ages, I'm sure it wasn't actually that complicated, but the point is, we worked for it and we could see that we were saving.

Finally, the day came and we had earned enough. We were off to Kmart! But, before we went, my sister and I sat down together and discussed our purchase. We had worked so hard and earned so much, did we really want to spend it? Should we keep saving for something else instead? Together we decided that the van was worth it and so we made the purchase.

It wasn't until years later that we told our parents about this discussion. My dad swears he didn't intend for it to be such a watershed moment for us, but the fact is, it was. My sister was three and she remembers. This is a lesson we learned early in life and I am grateful for it.

People don't get these lessons anymore. I think all I have to do is point to Rebecca Black to make that point. But I don't think the world has changed so much in these 20 odd years to say that the lesson isn't relevant anymore. You're supposed to work hard to get what you want. You shouldn't just be able to buy your way into success. There is value in earning your heart's desire. There's satisfaction in not having things handed over to you.

So, in two weeks I'll be trekking into my grown up life, armed with proper life skills. I don't expect to be an overnight success; I expect to work hard to get what I want. And not only that is entirely all right with me I'm really looking forward to it- just like I did with my iBook and Barbie van.

My Life in Computers, Part Four: The iMac

It's been a while since I did one of these. Clearly I've been a little distracted lately, but never fear, my Mac-owner obsession with my old technology is still going strong.

This is our iMac. Original form, slot loading, second or third generation. When they released these, the the ad campaign was about how cool the colours were and how easy it was to set up and immediately connect to the internet.

Connecting to the internet was the reason we got it. My siblings and I finally convinced our parents that high speed internet was the way to go and a new iMac was required to get us there. Our dad only demanded that we get graphite instead of one of the fun colours, which was reasonable.

There's a lot I could write about with the iMac: My first (and ongoing) battle with my ISP, my confusion about why everyone wanted to "stay connected" through Hi5 or Bebo when we saw each other every day at school anyway, or the time when my brother spilled a can of pop in the keyboard. But, that's not what really sticks out right now about this computer.

Now, I am clearly a big Mac fan. I doubt I'll ever own anything else, but what this iMac has made me think of lately is the fact that while Apple sets technology trends and are definitely ahead of the curve, if you're looking to be a Mac user, wait a couple of generations before getting the product. My iMac is awesome, the generation before it, not so much. It was loud, had a traditional CD drive, and the mouse sucked.

Apple gets big ideas, runs with them and then observes and makes adjustments. Don't get me wrong, it clearly works for them. I mean, they're way ahead in the tablet market with the iPad and like with the iPod, I think it's too late for anyone to catch them. But, like the changes Apple made to the iMac brand, the second iPad has made vast improvements over the first version and it's only going to get better from here.

With Apple, waiting pays off. My iMac still works and I don't think that will change anytime soon.

Register Before You Travel

Watching the stunning Japanese earthquake/tsunami coverage has reminded me of something very important that I think many Canadians aren't aware of.

When the coverage started, I read on the CBC Newsworld crawl that there are just over a thousand Canadians who registered that they are in Japan. Now, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that there are over 11,000 Canadians in Japan. Estimating in a time of crisis is not what I think we should be doing.

So, since I know many of my friends like to travel, I wanted to post the link to the online Registration of Canadians Abroad (ROCA). What is it? Well, simply put, "ROCA is a free service that enables you to sign up and be contacted and assisted by government officials in case of an emergency abroad, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or informed about an emergency at home."

It's that simple. They'll come get you if something bad happens. I've signed up for three different vacations, and thankfully, I haven't had to use it, but I think these days, this kind of precaution is invaluable.