Happy Holidays!

THE CANADIAN PRESS
December 21, 2007 at 2:45 PM EST

Internet Links

• Toronto Centre:2006 election results and candidate bios
• Willowdale: 2006 election results and candidate bios
• Vancouver Quadra: 2006 election results and candidate bios
• Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River: 2006 election results and candidate bios

OTTAWA— Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called four federal by-elections in Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia for March 17.
The by-elections will be held in the Ontario ridings of Toronto Centre and Willowdale, along with B.C.’s Vancouver Quadra and Saskatchewan’s Desnethe-Missnippi-Churchill River.

As some of my readers know, I’m a huge Barenaked Ladies fan. And that’s why I’m going on a BNL cruise in the new year!

I’m getting excited as the date approaches. Recently I got an email from the cruise company. There will be some events on board that will have limited capacity. So the company got us to list the events in order of preference. The attendees will be decided by lottery and the event they get chosen for will be determined by availability and preference. So here is the list of events, in order of my preference:

• Wine Tasting with Steven Page
• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Trivia with Kevin Hearn
• Songwriters Panel
• Guitar Hero with Ed Robertson

Guitar Hero sounds like lots of fun, but I know I will just embarrass myself - hence it being last. Hopefully I get into one of them! If not, there’s always the naked photo!

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Michael Geist

If 2006 was the year of YouTube, 2007 has been Facebook’s year. The growth of social media, led by Facebook, has taken the world by storm. Since January, Facebook has added 250,000 new users each day. Canadians have led the way, accounting for about 8 million of the site’s nearly 60 million global users.

The hyper-growth does not tell the whole story, however. Facebook has also garnered considerable attention regarding its user privacy policies, online marketing strategies, and the short-sighted decision of some companies and governments to block employee access to the site.

While these issues have shone the spotlight on some of the challenges of social media, the lasting lesson of Facebook may come from a series of events that unfolded over the past two weeks. They demonstrate that Facebook is far more than just a cool way to catch up with old friends; rather, it is an incredibly effective and efficient tool that can be used to educate and galvanize grassroots advocacy, placing unprecedented power into the hands of individuals.

Read More At The Toronto Star
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I have written this simple but effective letter that can be used to pressure the Alberta Government into implementing rent controls. Please feel free to use it, or adjust it. Just copy and paste it into your email program.

Ed Stelmach’s email address is premier@gov.ab.ca . Be sure to send a copy to the deputy premier, Ron Stevens, at calgary.glenmore@assembly.ab.ca . And if you have time, search for the email address of your MLA here.

Be sure to include your contact information with your letter.

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Dear The Honourable Ed Stelmach,

A recent report from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation states that Alberta is now the most expensive place in Canada to rent in. Rents went up an average of 17% this past year and the previous year they went up an average of 13%

This is making it very difficult for working people to stay in this province. Alberta may be the richest province in the country, but its shame the number of homeless people we have in our cities and how few Albertans have access to the wealth this province is generating.

I was disappointed to hear that the Alberta Government will not even consider the rent controls suggested by the housing taskforce in their report. I am writing to let you know that rent controls are a very important issue to me, and it will be a key issue for me in the next election when I decide how to cast my ballot.

I hope you will take a second look at rent control.

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If you have even more time. Print out this email and mail it to the premier at:

The Honourable Ed Stelmach
307 Legislature Building
10800 97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
Canada T5K 2B6