1998-07-19|Canada and the World/Le Canada sans frontières
NCC Commissioner
My family of 2 adults and 3 children recently visited the "Canada and the World/Le Canada sans frontières" exhibits at Rideau Falls Parks. The focus for the day was advertised as "the World health tournament offering a family picnic atmosphere full of entertainment for kids and adults alike". We thoroughly enjoyed the activities that were free of charge, so we were not disappointed at all. However, I have a few comments.
I was shocked to witness a volunteer smoking at one of the tents. Since the theme of the activities was "health and fitness", I think smoking is not an appropriate behaviour. It does not give a good image while Health Canada was distributing a pamphlet entitled "Passive Smoking: Nowhere to Hide", which states "When you smoke in public, people around you are forced to breathe these chemicals." He may have been smoking a medical marijuana, though :-).
The "Body Composition Analysis" machine to measure body fat at one of the tents was taking only imperial measurements. Thus, the volunteers were busy converting my weight and height from metric to imperial. The output from the machine was inconsistent, i.e., the fat weight in "lbs" (imperial) and the total body water in "litres" (metric). Since the Minister of Consumers and Corporate Affairs (Judy Erola) declared back in 1984, "Canada Is Metric!", I would have liked to see the S.I. metric given an absolute priority over imperial measurements.
I heard that a lunch was not provided to some of the volunteers. They may be better treated, especially in a very hot weather approaching 303 K (30 C).
As far as I know, Dr. Michael Smith, the Winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, is a landed immigrant, not a Canadian citizen. Although his birthplace is accurately noted, the Wall of Fame display may be giving a false impression about his citizenship.
I fondly remember a mighty Darrieus machine on the roof of the building about 10 years ago. Given the renewed interest in alternative energy because of the concern regarding global warming by fossil fuels, I would like to see the return of a super water-windmill or a solar heliostat or even the "Ice-Storm Buster Potential Energy Storage System" at the site. As a professional engineer, I might even enjoy designing such a demonstration machine as an R & D project. For your information, Hydro-Québec has recently announced the construction of a wind farm in Gaspé Peninsula.
I hope my comments will lead to future improvements at the National Capital Commission.
