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!

I was rather surprised to see this headline from the Toronto Star this morning: Dancing Sweeps Country Off Its Feet. The article details the popularity of ABC's most recent reality series, Dancing with the Stars, and its positive effect on Toronto dance studios. According to the article, Dancing with the Stars is garnering an average of 1.4 million Canadian viewers, earning it fifth place on BBM's ratings of the top 20 shows watched in Canada. Here, in the States, the show is at number one.

I caught the program for the first time last week and it left me asking, "What the heck?". It looks like a low budget telethon that swiped its formatting from American Idol, its production crew from the local high school's A.V. club, and its set from the local community theatre. How on earth can this show be number one in the US and number 5 in Canada? The host, Tom Bergeron, is the same man who took over America's Funniest (Getting Hit in the Groin) Videos from Bob Saget in 2001. He brings as much charisma to this show as Saget brought to the latter. The cast of dancers are wide ranging - a reality TV star, a former model, a soap star, a former New Kid on the Block, a former boxer, and Peterman from Seinfeld. The common thread that binds these celebrity's together, of course, is that they have all faded from the limelight and are now seeking renewed fame.

If you have not had an opportunity to catch this show, you are not miss much. In all honesty, the most entertaining aspects of the series are this phone number snafu, in which a Michigan woman is picking up the tab for hundreds of misdialed votes for John O'Hurely, and this humiliating "vote for me" email that circulated from Trista, the first contestant to be booted off of the show. (I guess she did really need my vote afterall!)

In other news, clear your schedules for Fox's upcoming series Skating with Celebrities. How could Fox go wrong with a series that features washed up celebs falling on their arses? I predict this new series to be a huge success!

For Fun:
Dancing Bush
The Dude (gracefully) Abides
Interactive Hampster Dance
Teach Yourself How to Belly Dance