A Lunch Inside Parliament Hill

Photo Credits: Ottawa Citizen

I was inspired to write a post about my first ever experience at the Parliament Center Block restaurant. However after doing some quick research for more information on the famous spot I found a person who I thought could do a much better job then me. The person happens to be the chancellor of my university “alma mater” Mount Allison and it just so happens he was inspired the same I was over 8 years ago.

In 2004 Peter Mansbridge wrote an editorial piece for Macleans Magazine. The title of his work was called. Where The Elite Eat: The Parliamentary Restaurant’s mysterious ‘voices’ can reveal secrets. It is a first hand account of the history and background of this majestic and amazing place where the halls leading up the restaurant are aligned one after the other with portraits of the  former Prime Ministers of Canada and of course the current PM Stephen Harper as well. Peter Mansbridge’s editorial captures the essence of what I felt and experienced while on the hill inside the restaurant the first time.

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A Message From Vic Toews Re: Stop Online Spying

Photo Credits Courtesy of CTV News Online.

The following letter below is a email received today from the Minister of Public Safety Vic Towes in regards to Bill C-30 concerns. 

Thank you for contacting my office regarding Bill C-30, the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act.

Canada’s laws currently do not adequately protect Canadians from online exploitation and we think there is widespread agreement that this is a problem. 

We want to update our laws while striking the right balance between combating crime and protecting privacy. 

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An Inspirational Cooking Story: Jeff Henderson Streets to the Stove

Jeff Henderson Bio: Photo Credits The Food Network

This post was inspired because over the last 4 years I have been so deeply involved in business and politics that I have not had the time to make many home cooked meals. This has been tough because I  always wanted to be a chef when I was younger and it is a huge lifestyle uplifter. I can remember back in university I would have ESPN and the Food Network on constantly, however recently that has been replaced with pure CNBC, and BNN. I remember on occasion hosting  big pancake breakfasts and cooking massive dinners enough to feed 10-12 of my football teammates in my basement apartment before entering the working real world.

Well after a few years of retirement from the kitchen I am finally getting back into this long lost hobby and life supporting skill. I was inspired by Robin Burns, a family friend who makes the most incredible Guacamole Recipe you can believe. You can also visit her website at  www.thehungrybirdy.com trust me you will not be disappointed.

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Overcoming Obstacles

Sometimes when you think that you are doing something right and it doesn’t turn out how you anticipated you can get discouraged. But the truth is Overcoming Obstacles is one of the most important characteristic that any successful person can have.  Nobody is immune to not having obstacles it simply a definitive characteristic of life. Making mistakes is part of life and should not be punished. 

Reflecting on my own personal experiences I have made many mistakes over the years, to many to count on one hand. And for each mistake guilt and frustration mounted. Why I am not succeeding? Why am I making so many mistakes? However after a significant amount of time in reflection I finally realized with the help of this quote from Albert Einstein in the image. Continue reading →

A Vision Of The Future: By Corning

I thought this video by Corning was very interesting! I think this company is doing very positive things with there Marketing and that they have a very special Entrepreneur  behind the vision.  They are telling a story and making the

Corning Glass Future Concept www.corning.com

Consumer the central theme of it, they are selling the concept of Corning and the future of how we will use glass.  I really liked how they used simplicity in delivering there message. The only sound in this video was the soft beautiful music playing in the background which allowed the viewer to get lost in there own thoughts and imagination or maybe that was just me. lol

Here is the Link to Video if you would like to find out what I am talking about.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38

These were some of the questions and thoughts that came racing out of my head after watching this video through the perspective and mind of two different viewpoints the Consumer and Entrepreneur. Continue reading →

A Response to the Controversial Statements of Senator Pierr-Hugues Boisvenu

Photo Credits: @globeandmail

 

Many columnist and writers across Canada including Prime Minister Stephen Harper have indicated and suggested that Senator Boisvenu comments can be understood and somewhat justified considering his prior experience with the criminal justice system. After all he is the founder of “Murdered or Missing Persons Families Association” (MMPFA), and a man who has greatly been personally affected by a thoughtless and heart wrenching crime.

However we live in Canada and as a Canadians we are fortunate to have rules of law that govern us. No mans personal “feelings”, “emotions” or “thoughts” are above the law or our countries constitution. It is for that reason it is not hard to believe why Senator Boisvenu statements insulted millions of Canadians and provoked a re-opening of the capital punishment penalty in Canada. In my opinion his comments were indecent and surprising especially when considering how pro-life (fiscal conservatives) tend to be. His statement is selective, extremely bias, and more concerning lacks basic human empathy and compassion that I always thought separated Canadians from other nations throughout the world.

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How Good Was Your Day?…Honestly

In business and specially in accounting you have to track everything. First and most fundamental  is tracking your  Debits & Credits vs Account Type,  click the link to get a basic overview of this principle.  Inspired by this basic principle it got me thinking about the balance sheet of my day, and how positive or negative it might be? and how I can answer a simple question with complete honesty and statistical evidence.

Everyday presents a new wave of emotion that comes from our every day activities and life events.  Constantly  connected to our smart phones  it is difficult to accurately process and respond to information, and complete desired task.  (Twitter, Facebook, Email, RSS Feeds, etc.. get in the way of “Getting Things Done” (#GTD), so I developed a new end of the day activity to help accurately determine how good my day actually was.

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Relationships, Stress, & Perseverance (Intro)

“Trust your gut, take care of yourself, and remember if your not mentally strong and in a good place, either is your business and your ability to grow. ” 

This is an introduction to a 3 part blog posting that will focus on Relationships, Stress, and Perseverance. I will attempt to show how understanding these three things are crucial to developing a successful business venture. I will use examples reflecting on my own personal experience, I’m living it, this is as authentic as it gets.

Relationships (Part 1)

In the first post I will focus and look at relationships such as family, personal, business, and  those that are simply just to complicated to even explain. These relationships can cloud your vision, and severely hinder your mental health. In the last year I have learned that “managing” these relationships are a fundamental pillar and the most important thing any young entrepreneur or aspiring young professional can do. I have made many mistakes, but I  have also learned from each one.  I thought sharing this knowledge would go a long way to help others avoid some unnecessary avoidable problems.

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Recapping The Past & Moving Forward

Finally, my first real post. 

When I set this website up 3 years ago its original and sole purpose was to serve as my campaign website for the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) Election’s in 2008.Since that time my life has changed significantly so now this site is going to be a simple blog that will focus on Entrepreneurship, Politics and Business.

An Early Start

I was 23 years old straight out of university and working for the bank when I first decided to run. I had big ideas, huge goals, and large ambitions; probably inspired by all the progressive higher learning I was doing at Mount Allison University. Deep down I knew I had to run at a young age because that experience would help me in the long run in the future. I also wanted to give back to the community that helped raise me. Coming back from school I witnessed a city that was once very proud and united, divided and not confident. Something needed to be done, someone had to step up,  so I did. Ex. (I wanted to talk about things like Re-investing in youth recreational programs, and development  not about “cat bi-laws” and “decaying buildings.”) It was never about my ego, just common sense.

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Citizens For Halifax Candidates Survey

Written By Downey Campaign Official Agent , for Citizens For Halifax

The following survey was completed October 2008  for Halifax Regional Municipal Election (HRM). The organization responsible for this survey is called Citizens For Halifax. It is an independent grassroots society that was  built to promote change and progressive ideas within the HRM; they plan on doing this by encouraging and engaging the community to be active,  within the democratic process. Citizens for Halifax encourages and supports candidates for civic office. They advocate intelligent, thoughtful, fiscally responsible civic government. Their core goal as an organization is to enhance the progress of the HRM with a bold vision for a more prosperous city of the future.

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