David Shearer: RIP

David William SHEARER

Obituary SHEARER, David William October 22, 1944 – February 19, 2015 David died peacefully at Niagara-on-the-Lake Hospital, Thursday, February 19, 2015. He is survived by his best friend and loving wife Christina (Chris) Walker, his beloved daughter Kristina (Tina) Sheldon, his sisters Cathy Schipilow (Bill) and Jean Emerson (the late John), his aunt Marg McGee, his stepfather Ron Read and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. He will be greatly missed by his sisters-in-law Mary Williams (Frank) and Judith Shuell (Tom), brother-in- law Paul Walker Jr. (Beverley), the Read and Blackburn families and his many wonderful friends. David was predeceased by his parents Douglas Shearer and Phyllis Shearer Read and his sister Wendy McNamara (Michael). Dave grew up in Ottawa and spent 31 years with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He was posted to various locations - Philadelphia, Los Angeles, London, England, Kingston, Jamaica, Detroit, Ottawa, and New York, making many life-long friends along the way. In 1999 David and Chris married, and he retired. They left New York in 2002 and eventually settled in Niagara-on-the-Lake. David loved this community and he soon became very involved, serving as a board member on the Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Club and the Niagara-on-the-Lake Hospital Foundation and taking great pleasure in helping with the annual Christmas Parade. He was also part of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Cabinet, raising funds for the new St. Catharines Hospital. In 2007 he started a whole new career in real estate with Royal Lepage, and was proud to receive the Masters Sales award for 2013 and 2014. Dave was fun, thoughtful, charming, intelligent, rarely at a loss for words, and above all a true gentleman who will be sorely missed by family, friends and his 3 pussycats. David said so many times that he was lucky and thankful for their many caring friends. The family offers a special thank you to Dr. Janice Giesbrecht and her staff, the nurses at the Walker Cancer Centre and to Dr. Tim Bastedo and Dr. Andrew Smith from the Niagara-on- the-Lake Family Health Team. As David wished, there will be no funeral service, but a gathering of family and friends will be held at a later date. Donations in David's memory to Music Niagara, c/o Chris Blake would be appreciated. Memories, photos and condolences may be shared at www.morganfuneral.com. Published in The Ottawa Citizen on Feb. 23, 2015

Gerry Hughes: RIP

Readers will be saddened to learn of the death this week of Gerry Hughes, former ambassador In Ankara and high commissioner in Kuala Lumpur.  An obituary notice is below.

Les membres de l"ACMAR apprendront avec tristesse le décès cette semaine de Gerry Hughes, ancien ambassadeur à Ankara et haut-commissaire à Kuala Lumpur.   L'avis de décès se trouve en bas.

HUGHES, Gerald Francis George
March 1, 1919 - February 3, 2015
Passed away peacefully on Tuesday, February 3, 2015, at the Perley & Rideau Veterans' Health Centre in Ottawa. He is greatly missed by Mary (née Wade), his loving wife of 73 years, his three sons, Michael, (Marianne), Christopher (Sharon) and Timothy (Julie), his grandchildren, Claire, Veronica and Dawson, his surviving sister, Lois (Lorne), and many nieces and nephews. Gerry was born in Sayabec, Quebec, attended high school in Campbellton, N.B., and the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton as a Beaverbrook scholar. After completing his degree in Electrical Engineering he joined Canadian General Electric briefly in Toronto, and then joined in the Royal Canadian Navy in 1941. He enrolled in a joint British/Canadian project to degauss (de-magnetize) allied minesweepers in order to protect them against enemy magnetic mines, and crossed the Atlantic numerous times on destroyers to confer with his British counterparts. While on leave in 1941 he met the love of his life on board a CN train from Montreal to Ottawa and they were married on February 28, 1942. Gerry was de-mobbed from the navy in 1945 as Lieutenant Commander and immediately joined Canada's Foreign Service (Trade Commissioner Service) in which he had a long and distinguished career until his retirement in 1983. Beginning in 1946 he served in Scotland, Turkey, Lebanon and Sweden as Trade Commissioner. He served as Minister Commercial in London and Rome and as Ambassador in Ankara and High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One of his memorable adventures in Istanbul in 1950 was to swim across the Hellespont, as Leander did in mythological times to be with his beloved Hero. In all of those postings Gerry delighted in exploring the cultural treasures these marvelous countries had to offer. In 1964, he was asked to establish and head up the International Trade Centre at Expo '67 in Montreal, the opportunity of a lifetime. Throughout his career Gerry was not inclined to self-promotion, and preferred to arrive at the right course of action with discretion and modesty. His most cherished place was the family cottage on the Gatineau River, acquired shortly after the War, where he delighted in making breakfasts and barbeques for his family and friends, while developing the cottage and maintaining the boats, canoes and outboard motors. He also cherished his participation in the White Pine Fishing Club in the Gatineau hills where he worked tirelessly to help maintain the serene beauty of this remote property. We were very blessed and lucky to have him and he will be greatly missed. Gerry's funeral will be held privately, but the family will be arranging a memorial gathering to celebrate his life in the early summer. In lieu of flowers, Gerry would have appreciated that any donations be made to the Perley & Rideau Veterans' Health Centre in Ottawa, where he was cared for during his last year with love and respect, endearing himself to many of the wonderful staff.


Condolences/tributes/donations: www.hpmcgarry.ca 613-233-1143

Climate Change Predictions

Bizarro stuff, from the experts.

http://climatechangepredictions.org/

The Hearing

At the hearing, there were acute questions and ludicrous ones, genuine concern and disingenuous grandstanding, florid preening and runaway egos, which is to say that many politicians were crowded into one room. There was verbiage so oblique it barely qualified as English, which is to say that government officials testified. Front and center was the head of the Secret Service, Julia Pierson, who behaved in the manner of so many beleaguered bureaucrats before her. She pledged reviews, reports, inquiries and assessments — a brimming thesaurus of self-examination — and tried to run out the clock.

- re an enquiry into how a nutter got into the White House

Elections Canada Employment Opportunity

22 janvier, 2015

Le message suivant est diffusé par l'Association nationale des retraités fédéraux parce qu'il pourrait intéresser nos membres des sections d’Ottawa et de l’Outaouais. Nous vous l'envoyons au nom d'Élections Canada. Comme dans le passé, Élections Canada a communiqué avec l'Association nationale des retraités fédéraux. L'organisme recherche des agents de renseignements bilingues à temps partiel qui travailleront avant et pendant les périodes d'élections générales, de référendums ou d'élections partielles dans la région d’Ottawa-Gatineau. La date limite pour poser une candidature est le 30 janvier 2015. Le message ci-dessous ne reflète pas nécessairement les opinions de l'Association. Le Centre de renseignements d’Élections Canada est à la recherche d’agents d’information bilingues qui seraient employés à titre occasionnel lors de la préparation et de la tenue d’une élection générale, d’un référendum ou d’une élection partielle. Vous trouverez ci-dessous des réponses aux questions les plus fréquentes. QUI NOUS SOMMES Élections Canada est l’organisme indépendant et non partisan chargé de la conduite des élections et les référendums fédéraux. Dans le cadre de notre mandat on doit être prêt à conduire à tout moment une élection ou un référendum fédéral. DATE D’ENTRÉE EN FONCTION Même si nous devons être prêts en tout temps, il reste qu’il est très difficile de prédire à quel moment une élection générale sera déclenchée. Au cours de l’année, nous entretenons donc divers états ou niveaux de préparation définis par un comité en fonction du contexte politique du moment, ce qui permet au Centre de renseignements de se préparer adéquatement. DESCRIPTION DU TRAVAIL Le Centre de renseignements et ses partenaires ont répondu à plus de 180 000 appels téléphoniques pendant la 41e élection générale en 2011. À titre d’agent d’information, vous allez travailler dans un centre de contact où le rythme des activités est rapide, pour répondre  aux courriels et appels.  Vous devrez principalement transmettre de l’information de façon neutre et non partisane au grand public et à diverses entités politiques comme des candidats, des partis politiques ou des associations de circonscription. Pendant une élection générale, nous sommes ouverts du lundi au dimanche, de 7 h à 24 h (heure de l’Est). Des quarts de travail seront requis. La capacité de travailler des heures supplémentaire à court préavis serait aussi requise. TAUX DE RÉMUNÉRATION Le poste d’agent de renseignements est classifié au niveau PM-01; le taux de rémunération actuel est de 48 796 $ par année. PENSION Si vous avez des questions liées à l’emploi ou aux répercussions possibles sur votre pension, consultez le site suivant : http://pensionetavantages-pensionandbenefits.gc.caou composez le 1-800-561-7930. CE QUE NOUS CHERCHONS Pour le moment, nous cherchons principalement des agents de renseignements bilingues. Toutefois, il est possible que nous ayons besoin d’agents unilingues. Nos agents de renseignements ont beaucoup d’entregent et sont en mesure de communiquer efficacement tant oralement que par écrit. Ils font preuve de jugement, de tact et de discrétion et sont en mesure de préciser et d’interpréter correctement les questions des clients. Ils sont capables de travailler sous pression et de traiter avec des clients difficiles. Ils ont une connaissance générale du processus électoral, du mandat d’Élections Canada et de la législation pertinente. Enfin, nos agents de renseignements doivent savoir se servir d’un ordinateur et être à l’aise avec l’environnement Windows, la recherche sur Internet et le courriel. Une formation complète sera offerte. Les candidats doivent posséder une autorisation de sécurité de niveau « Fiabilité approfondie ». EMPLACEMENT DES BUREAUX Élections Canada se situe au 30, rue Victoria, Gatineau, Québec K1A 0M6. L’endroit est accessible par le transport en commun. PROCESSUS DE DEMANDE Les personnes intéressées doivent faire parvenir leur curriculum vitae ainsi qu’une brève lettre de présentation soulignant leur expérience pertinente à ENQINFO@elections.ca par le 30 janvier 2015. Des références peuvent être demandées. Nous remercions d'avance ceux et celles qui auront soumis une demande d'emploi, mais nous ne contacterons que les personnes choisies pour la prochaine étape de sélection.

Neil Curry: RIP

In case you missed it, as I did, last May.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/lives-lived-neil-lawrence-currie-85/article18401601/

Lunch at the New Edinburgh Pub, Ottawa, Dec. 10, 2014 (Photos)

Mitch Vlad writes:

A group of trade commissioners, all in their 40's, discussed where they should meet for lunch. Finally it was agreed that they would meet at Hooters because it wasn't far from work, the waitresses were young, good looking, showed lots of cleavage and wore short-shorts.

Ten years later, at age 50, the FTA proselytisers once again discussed where they should meet for lunch. Finally it was agreed that they would meet at Hooters because the food and service was good, they had many televisions to watch the games on, the beer selection was excellent, and they could ogle the servers.

Ten years later, at age 60, the bull sperm salesmen again discussed where they should meet for lunch. Finally it was agreed that they would meet at Hooters because there was plenty of parking, they could dine in peace, and it was good value for the money.

Ten years later, at age 70, the ex-used Candu promoters discussed where they should meet for lunch. Finally it was agreed that they would meet at Hooters because the restaurant was wheelchair accessible and had a toilet for the disabled.

Ten years later, at age 80, the aging bullsh*t artists discussed where they should meet for lunch. Finally it was agreed that they would meet at Hooters because they had never been there before.

Click on the photos to see a larger version.

Mann, Poole (back), Furesz, Higham (back), Stolarik, Schumacher (back), Lee, Chan, Kohler, McKenzie (end) 

                                                                      Rick Mann

Tétu, Clendenning, Rose (back), Stewart, Scott (back), Colfer, Adam

Kohler, Schumacher

Higham, Poole

Wright, Dickson, Butler (back), Vlad, Shaw-Wood (back)

Wismer, Gorn, Wil.sdon (back)

               The gang on the Left Coast lunched on Dec. 3. John Treleaven sent this photo.

Lotto, Campbell, Godfrey, Welsh, Craig, Lambert, Ross, Price, Thomas, Roberts, Food