Tim Hortons & Social Media: Learning about the power of the crowd

Today, Tim Hortons learned about the power of social media.
In a release from Change.org, “Urge Tim Hortons to Stop Supporting Anti-LGBT Group” they indicate:
Oh, don’t you hate it when doughnuts decide to go homophobic? The Canadian mega-giant Tim Hortons (which in Canada is the largest coffee chain in the country), has decided to co-sponsor [...]

Canadians less trusting in economic downturn: New survey shows substantial decline in societal trust

With stock markets in decline, lay offs at historical highs and consumer spending severely curtailed, consumer confidence is at historical lows. But this does not tell the full story of where the public’s mind is at in this economic downtown. What happens to one of the pillars of relationships and transactions [...]

Canadians support carbon capture and storage – New survey shows half of Canadians want carbon storage as solution to reducing CO2 emissions

With President Obama’s historic visit to Canada, Canadians got their first exposure to America’s approach for dealing with global warming. Obama and Prime Minister Harper both affirmed that CO2 is a major issue, and set their sights on major emitters.
The visit of Obama has raised a new consciousness among Canadians. A recent poll, conducted by [...]

The Family Challenge: Thoughts on Eating a Meal Together

For all of us, the sharing of a meal is a common, anticipated ritual that reunites us with loved ones and brings a sense of balance to our lives. In today’s fast-paced world, it has become more challenging to bring people together for this important, soul-filling experience, so it is my heart’s desire to help [...]

New Zealand’s Darkest Hour & Canadian Politics

When I was in Form 5 and studying for my O Levels (and 6 months of never-ending exams), my beloved Windies cricket team went on tour to New Zealand after drubbing the Aussies 2-0. What ensued was a travesty of justice, unruly behaviour and among one of the most acrimonious cricket series ever played.
Fazeer Mohammed [...]

Strategy, Organization & Collaboration 2008: Welcome, President Obama

November 4, 2008 was a historic day. The election of Barack Obama is an event of our lifetime. While he ascended to presidency on his strength of character, integrity, powerful oratory skill, ability to connect with diversity of America (and the world!), calm and persuasiveness, there are a number of other aspects – much based [...]

Canadian 2008 Federal Election: Reflections on a $300 million+ Vanity Project

October 14 came and went and little has changed in structure of representation in our parliament. There is a still a minority Conservative Party of Canada government in power, and the relative strength of the opposition is still the same. But there are some subtleties to reflect upon.

Before presenting my thoughts, let’s revisit the obvious [...]

The Global Financial Crisis: 5 Points to Consider

At this point governments around the world are grappling with a major financial crisis, no more so than the U.S. Government. At this time, they have presented a Bill before Congress for the transfer of $700 billion taxpayer dollars to purchase the distress assets of several failed financial institutions. This was rejected on Sept. 29 [...]

Politics & Polling – Improved Precision in Targeting Key Audiences

Here’s a little story I stumbled across on polling for the 2008 U.S. Federal election.
Latest Poll Reveals 430 New Demographics That Will Decide Election (Source: The Onion)
I will happily confirm that there are not 430. Maybe more like 66.
This does emphasize, when everything is on the line, political parties take nothing for [...]

AB Election 2008: A Remarkable and Spectacular Result for Governing PCs

Amidst much debate about a need for change, the Alberta PC party rode into a bright new dawn with a resounding victory in the 2008 provincial election on March 3, 2008.
With a mandate of 70+ seats, they have effectively eliminated any opposition and have free reign over the operation of the province for at least [...]