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!

Last week we saw some of the first pictures of the damage at Grand Isle. As the bridge to the island is still out, we are relying upon satellite images for an initial survey of the damage.

This link and this one will take you directly to the island. Just click on the boxes to zoom in to see the satellite images.

Here is a picture of what is left of the beach house, boat house, and marina:



Click to enlarge and to read the notes.
There is damage there, but nothing compared to what we have been expecting and certainly nothing compared to the destruction of New Orleans with their double disaster. In fact, it almost looks like the beach house is still standing. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for some of the other properties on the island.

On a larger scale, this link will show you much of the damaged Gulf coast. Again, just click the boxes to zoom in closer.

And finally, this link will take you directly to St. Bernard Parish, where the Canadian search and rescue team were first on the scene.