Canada’s G8 and G20 High Speed Rail Embarrassment

With the G8 and G20 summits ending in Huntsville and Toronto many Canadians are outraged at the over $1.2 billion price tag to host the events. What is more embarrassing is if we compare the high speed rail systems of the G8 and G20 countries to the present situation in Canada.

High Speed Rail Canada (Le Train à grande vitesse au Canada) evaluated the existing G8 and G20 high speed rail systems and the proposed ones where contracts have already been signed to begin work.

After reviewing the G8 countries high speed rail systems, it is a fact that Canada is only country that does not have a high speed rail system.

After reviewing the G20 countries high speed rail systems, Canada is one of only four countries that does not have a high speed rail system. Further, Canada is the only G20 government that has not committed to building a high speed rail system in the last ten years.

Paul Langan, founder of High Speed Rail Canada states,"The federal Conservative government has no national policy or plan on passenger rail. The end result of this debacle is that Canada's passenger rail system is 3o years behind the rest of the modern world."

High Speed Rail Canada, is a national non profit citizens group dedicated to Canadians on the benefits of high speed rail. For more information go to http://highspeedrail.ca and http://grandevitesse.ca.

Social Media in the workplace

I recently had the opportunity to attend a conference about the use of social media in business. For many of us using social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) is a huge leap from the communication style that we are familiar with. Recent studies illustrate the importance of becoming educated in the use and benefits of social media.
“If you’re not tweeting about your business--someone else is. If you’re not setting your own business message on Twitter--someone else is. But more importantly, if you’re not listening to what your customers (and potential customers) are saying on Twitter--someone else is.”
http://blogs.forbes.com/work-in-progress/2010/06/11/is-twitter-a-colossal-waste-of-time/
Employers everywhere are using social networks to screen job candidates, so be sure that what you post online about yourself isn’t going to impact you negatively in the future. In a study conducted by Harris interactive for CareerBuilding.com, 45% of employers questioned are using social networks to screen job candidates and 35% decided not to offer a job to a candidate based on the content uncovered on a social networking site. Over 50% of employers said that provocative photos were the biggest factor contributing to not hiring a potential employee. 44% of employers pinpointed references to drinking and drug use as red flags.
Have you defined who gets to use social media in the workplace? Be aware of how much time your employees are spending on social network. Consider how much bandwidth is wasted by employees downloading from YouTube, or the security challenges that you face from browsing infected pages.
According to a study by information security consultancy Global Secure Systems and the organizers of the Infosecurity Europe trade show, the use of such sites is costing U.K. business an estimated $12.5 billion per year in terms of reduced output.
About 64 per cent of U.S. companies deny their employees access to sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, according to a survey by Clearswift, a London, UK-based provider of content security. In addition, 14 per cent have had to discipline staff for data loss and seven per cent for posting inappropriate content on social sites, but only 36 per cent have a policy covering such usage.
It’s probably well worth our time to investigate the benefits and risks associated with the use of social media in our workplaces.
-Thanks to Mark Fancourt-Smith of Fasken Martineau for some of this information, and for a really interesting presentation on “Tips to avoid a risk management nightmare...”

The Community Connection

Building a sense of community is an import aspect for small businesses. Life Strategies Ltd. recently relocated to Aldergrove, BC – a smaller community than which it was previously located. Although much of the business is conducted remotely (e.g., e-learning training options), the team recognizes the importance of face-to-face consulting and training. To connect with local businesses and service providers we will be hosting an open house on June 8. It’s a great opportunity to get together, develop a sense of community, and promote pride in our team and business.

If you’re a small business, there are many ways you can get involved without organizing an event yourself. Join a local business association or get involved with a local charity, sports team, or community group. Keep an eye on the local paper for events which may be a good fit for your company.

Although we live in a global marketplace where business can be conducted miles from your actual location, investing in and promoting local business will keep your community, your business, and your employees thriving.