Canadian Expatriates, its contributors, and readers have been invited by Foreign Affairs Canada to participate in a series of eDiscussions. The current topic is “Showcasing Canadian Culture and Know-How Abroad”.

We are asked to consider the following questions:

What role does Canadian culture and know-how play in our foreign policy?

How might the government best promote Canadian talent and expertise in the world?

The eDiscussion runs from April 4 to May 6, 2005. At its conclusion, a summary of the discussion will be sent to senior policy planners.

The Expat admin team encourages its readers to join in the eDiscussion at the Canadian International Policy website.

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Posted by Admin

The administration team is currently searching for Canadian expatriates who would be interested in contributing to the Expat Blog. The subject matter is wide open, but must remain family friendly.

If you are interested in joining our blogging team, please send an email our way!

Thank you!

Nothing makes you feel more Canadian than sitting in an American sports bar and being corralled into your section by multiple televisions all playing the March Madness basketball games. There I was, surrounded by sixty televisions and not a single one of them showing what really matters: the world curling championships.

Asked who my picks were for the basketball tournament, I had to confess that I was not a basketball fan. In fact, I can not even decipher the abbreviations used for the colleges. I just randomly chose to root for the Minnesota Golden Gophers on the grounds that their mascot was a gopher, just like the Saskatchewan Roughrider's mascot Gainer, and was feeling a little homesick at the time. My heart lies with curling and forever will!

There is good news from Paisley, Scotland. The Canadian women's team beat Switzerland 6-5 in an extra end and then went on to beat Finland 9-2. They are off to an excellent start. Today they will be competing against Scotland and Russia.

Good luck to the ladies as they compete and good luck to this Expat who is hoping that some of the games with be picked up here in the US and is also hoping that if said games are picked up, she can find a television that is not glued to college basketball!

A sad update: Poor ice conditions have been prevalent at this tournament. In fact, the morning draw had to be postponed due to soft ice. When the curling did ensue later in the day, Canada did not fair well against Scotland and was met with their first loss. The score was 10-3.