April 28 Hong Kong Canadian Immigrant Association 35th anniversay I attended the HKICA banquet held at the Regency Restaurant as a representative of the Calgary Lees' Association. There were about 700 people in attendance from various Chinese associations. There are over 150 different Asian associations in Calgary. At the event were politicians who were invited as guests of honor such as PC MLA's Wayne Cao, Dr.Gordon Brown, Theresa Woo-Paw. The Calgary MP for Calgary North Hill, Michelle Rempel was in attendance with her husband. The anniversary began with a dragon dance and drums to welcome in the new year and to bring good fortune. There was a ten course meal with entertainment throughout the evening that included singing and dance groups and of course the lucky draw for prizes.

April 24 Horticulture Class I was given horticulture to teach in the second semester. We have a greenhouse at the school. I have the students plant seedlings for annual plants and a large selection of snake, and spider plants we have propagated from cuttings. We will have our spring plant sale on June 2. I also teach flower arrangements and floral design. On Thursday, I had Lea Romanowski a professional florist and instructor from Mount Royal University give my class a demonstration on how to make corsages and boutineres. We also have a commercial chiller in my lab so I am able to order wholesale flowers and make flower arrangements for resale. The class is a real hands on course that shows the students how to run a floral business and the related fields of agriculture that includes turf management and field crops. Another project we are doing is cultivating flower gardens and vegetable gardens in the enclosed school courtyard.

Alberta Legislature In February I took a group of students on field trip on a tour of the Alberta Legislature. If you want to take of a tour of the legislature you only have to contact your MLA and they will put you in touch with their aide to organize a tour of the legislature. I contacted Wayne Cao, Moe Amery, Theres Woo-Pau and Manmeet Bhuller who are MLA's for four different ridings that have large ethnic groups and they welcomed my group to the legislature. All the MLA's turned up at the legislature to have their picture taken with the students. The students were provided with a tour of the legislature buildings, a complimentary lunch in the legislature cafe, and were introduced to the Legislature by Wayne Cao as we sat in the gallery. The members of the house acknowledged our presence by pounding on their desks to welcome our school group who was sitting in the gallery. Our groups name is mentioned in the minutes of the official government document known as Hansard. The students watched question period as the Opposition hammered the government of health care issues and the financial budget. My students who are mostly new Canadians witnessed first hand the democratic process.An interesting feature in the legislature dome are four full grown palm trees that are over forty years old that were grown from seed are living in the dome of the legislature.

Alberta Election I went door knocking with Wayne Cao five times to encourage people to vote for the incumbent MLA for Calgary Fort West prior to the April 21st election. Wayne's riding is a strange mixture of rich and poor constituents. Door knocking gives one a good feel on how the people are viewing the election. The Wild Rose Party had the benefit of Federal help which I found interesting that the Federal PC should be working in the background for a provincial party and the Wild Rose manipulation of the media made for a large number of voters voting for the Wild Rose which is extremely right wing. However, common sense prevailed and the Progressive conservatives were voted in as a majority. The progressive conservatives are by no means perfect but the sheep in wolf's clothing ( Danielle Smith) is not to be trusted. Having bet both leaders of the PC (Allison Redford) and the new opposition leader ( Danielle Smith) , Redford is the lesser of two evils. You know what to expect from Redford but she better start listening to the electorate. Calgary Fort West are fortunate to have a representative like Wayne Cao who is a model for what a politician with integrity should be like. I wish both leaders could take a page from Wayne's book and make decisions that benefit the people.

USA Consul General for Alberta, Saskatchewan & N.W.T.

Laura Lochman : USA Consul General for Alberta, Saskatchewan & N.W.T.

On Thursday the Calgary Chapter of The American Chamber of Commerce met for cocktails at the Osteria de Meidci restaurant in the Kensington district to listen to Laura Lochman, the USA Consul General deliver a summary of President Barack Obama's state of the union address to the American Congress and the implications of statements made in the President's speech that would effect the relationship between Canada and the United States of America.

I found the Consul General to be a most articulate and captivating speaker. After delivering her speech she entertained questions from the audience. Being a former debate coach, I asked her the President's position on The Keystone XL Pipeline. The Consul General did not skirt the sensitive issue but told the audience that the pipeline is not cancelled and that TransCanada can reapply for a new route through Nebraska that will be more environmentally acceptable. The Consul General elaborated on security and cross-border crossings between Canada and the United States. The three year term for Laura Lochman is coming to a close and in six months she will be reassigned as the Consul General to Columbia in South America.

Wayne Cao: A Politician of the People

On December 10, Wayne Cao had his annual Christmas Party at the Dover Community Center for his constituency members for his Calgary Fort West Riding. The Honorable Member for Calgary Fort West invites anyone who wishes to attend his celebration to partake in a fabulous buffet and take an opportunity to socialize with members of the community. Wayne plays a most gracious host to his diverse constituents who come from a large cross-section of ethnic backgrounds--Chinese, Vietnamese, Fiipino, Mexican, Anglos, East Indian, Pakistani, just to mention a few.
Even though I do not live in Wayne's constituency, I attend the party and bring a Chinese family who have just immigrated from mainland China and who have only been in the country four months. I introduce them to Wayne who gives them a hearty welcome. I explain to my new Chinese friends that Wayne Cao is a member of the Provincial government and they would be more than welcome to come and volunteer in Wayne's next upcoming election in March. The new family are excited that they will be able to participate in the democratic process of getting someone they know elected to office.

Over the past twelve years, I have worked on three campaigns to elect Wayne Cao and with the upcoming election in March it will be my forth campaign. The reason, I support this gentleman is because of his contributions to his community. In 1999, I approached Wayne Cao for advice on how to obtain government funding to host an International World Schools Debate tournament to be hosted in Calgary in 2005. At the time , I thought I would need a $150,000. When every other agency, organization gave me the cold shoulder, Wayne Cao provided advice, support, letters of recommendation that helped me validate the project. Because of his support, the tournament in 2005 became the Conoco Phillips World Schools Debate Championship that raised over $450,000 to run a 10 day international debate tournament attended by 250 of the brightest students from 32 different countries spanning 6 continents. The debates were hosted in 40 different schools spanning the public, private,separate,rural, first nations schools and the Calgary Teacher's Convention. Over 10,000 school children and teachers were introduced to world schools thematic debate on topics of international interest. Without the help of Wayne Cao, I could not have made this tournament a reality. Wayne Cao, quietly worked behind the scenes. But such is the style of Wayne Cao to work behind the scenes for causes that help the community. For example, Wayne was instrumental into bringing low cost affordable housing into the Dover and Ogden area while the Federal, Provincial and Municipal government were still mired in bureaucratic inaction on how to create affordable housing. Wayne was instrumental in kick starting a program turning the weir on the Bow River into a recreational white water kayaking area. I once asked Wayne Cao why did he not tell the general public about his contributions and he replied, " I do not need recognition, my job is to help my constituency."
In his Christmas message to his constituents Wayne states: " I thank you for giving me your trust and honour to represent you in government. I feel it is my privilege and duty to serve Albertans. I hope to receive your continuing support, trust and friendship."
Wayne has written lyrics for a song that he has sung at Canada Day Celebrations and Citzenship Celebrations:
Our Canada, the land of people free.
Together we're building our great country
From West Pacific to East Atlantic,
And North Boreal to Southern lake land,
Blue sky, white snow always pure,
Green grass and wheat fields abound.
We're Canadians, so blessed and free.
We, Canadians, love our country.
Fron all parts of the world
we have come here
to live together in peaceful joy.
Canadians, we stand together.
Canadians, we will live forever
keep on building country we love.
Blessings from Creator to Canadians!

I have included pictures from Wayne Cao's Christmas Party. ( Wayne and his grandson with his son William, Will's wife and mother in law) (Wayne and the new Chinese family: Ivy,Wayne,Michael, Peter)

Hunting in a Windstorm

On Sunday, November 30 on the last day of hunting season, at first light I walked into a patch of bush that was a half mile wide and one mile long. My hunting partner and I were to walk into the bush from the east about two hundred yards apart and walk in a slow zigzag pattern to hopefully flush an elk, moose or deer into a 60 foot open cutline a quarter mile due east where our two other hunting partners waited in ambush. With my trusty compass in hand , I had to take a bearing that I was moving in a south south west direction to appear at the cutline. I had walked only about 100 yards into the bush when I heard a slow dull roaring whirr that sounded like a muffled jet engine. Within minutes , I was hit with a blast of wind as the windstorm hit the forest with gale force winds of 100 to 140 km per hour. The forest exploded into a series of sharp reporting sounds that at first I thought were gunshots but quickly realized the cracking sound was the snapping of tree trucks as the hurricane like gusts began bringing down trees between eighteen cm and 36 cm in diameter crashing all around me. I looked above my head and the trees that were 10 to 20 metres in height were swaying back and forth. As I turned slowly making a 360 degree turn, I heard the crack of breaking limbs and trees crashing to the forest floor in every direction. I heard a crack and quickly stepped back behind a tree as a 30 foot tree fell two feet from where I was standing showering me in falling bark, twigs and leaves. It was like being in a war zone with shells exploding all around you.
I waited for the wind to subside and when there was a brief lull, I would quickly walk fifty yards and take cover before the next wind gust came and witness the next wave of crashing tree trunks. I was in that predicament for an hour and a half. During that time, I came upon deer within 20 feet but I had no intention of shooting a deer. The deer were befuddled and did not know where to run or hide. I remember leaning up against a sturdy tree and to my surprise I could feel the tree vibrating like a drum through my jacket. I quickly looked up to see the tree swaying back and forth. The black bamber aspen was the most dangerous of the trees in the forest because their inner core becomes hollow and rotten when they mature and they were snapping like twigs. I emerged from the forest after an hour and half and feeling grateful to be alive. Mind you while I was in the forest , I never felt more alive in my life.