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Showing posts from November, 2015

Reaction to Paris attack

As with most people on this planet I have been horrified by the heinous and inhuman acts committed in Paris. I will never comprehend this kind of barbaric acts of violence against innocent people because I am convinced there are no possible sane justifications for them.    What really worries me is the reaction from Canadians and people at large to these events.  Somehow people link the acts of unprecedented cowardice and cruelty committed in Paris to the millions of refugees trying to flee precisely these kinds of atrocities which they have seen or experienced first hand. People have asked Prime Minister Trudeau to reconsider, halt or outright cancel the humanitarian act of accepting 25,000 refugees into Canada in light of the terrorist acts in Paris last week-end.  In my opinion, this is based on fear and on false assumptions. Firstly, people assume that the security screening to be done on these refugees is inadequate and not sufficient and that in light of the events in Paris bette

Remembrance day

Why do we wear this? A hard question to explain to younger generations but I wear it to honour those who before me faced intolerance and cruelty to guarantee the great liberties we now have in this great country!

Words about me

I asked colleagues over the years about words that describes me professionally.  I got this and I want to thank all of those who were kind enough to respond.  I got a few words that I cannot reproduce here! (Actually not) I will continue to update this over time. Autonomous - Rob Hyde, Project Leader at Government of Canada Hard worker - Sonia Cotrut, Project Leader at Government of Canada Professional, thorough, efficient, dependable, proficient - Jean-Pierre Jauvin, President N-able Accountable - Jin Zhao, Developer at Government of Canada Tenacious/steadfast - Robert Pomedli, consultant at Government of Canada Excellent/Well rounded skill set - Juan Luis Arroyo, Partner at MFJ Associates

T-account

The term t-account comes from the accounting principle of double entry where one entry is always reflected in two accounts. A colleague showed me in his book how you can use this very effectively to establish your value when evaluating a new job opportunity.  On the left side you put the objectives of your future employer and on the right you put the past accomplishments that would be instrumental in achieving that objective.  I thought I would share this insightful tool. 

Reforming the canadian first past the post electoral system

Reforming the first past the post (FPTP) election system in Canada. Dear Prime Minister Trudeau   I have been annoyed at the method by which elections have been held in Canada for a long time.   I have seen governments come into power with a majority in the house with significant less than 50% of the popular vote.   Here is a list of recent occurrences:   Year Majority Government Number of seats/ % of seats Percentage of popular vote 1993 Liberal 177/60% 41.2% 1997 Liberal 155/51.5% 38.5% 2000 Liberal 172/57.1% 40.8% 2011 Conservative 166/53.9% 39.6% 2015 Liberal 184/54.4% 39.5%   This occurred in the 2011 Conservative majority with just 39.6%.  This would not be so bad was it not for some laws that were passed which perhaps should have been significantly improved or worse yet should not have passed at all.   The last time as