Blog Line

Best wishes all for a Happy Canada.

Recently I took part in a two-day kayaking course at the Toronto Harbourfront. As I paddled furiously, battling sunstroke, I looked up at one point and saw two Muslim teenage girls laughing and gliding smoothly by in a canoe. I was reminded of Canadian historian Pierre Berton’s quote; “A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe.” An amusing and trifle uncomfortable image.

But as I saw them pass, enjoying themselves and dressed in head scarves and jibabs, I was also reminded of a recent conversation I had had with a nonCanadian business colleague of mine. He was asking me about Canada generally and Toronto specifically. He was surprised at the city’s degree of diversity and asked me what impact that had on society, how well people worked and lived together etc…. At the time, I told him Canada was like being in a lifeboat. It wasn’t perfect but at the same time everyone was doing their best to figure it out and paddle in the same direction. Instead of lifeboat maybe I should have said canoe. Pierre Burton would have and likely the two teenagers in jibabs would have too.

GCI is very proud to be part a new program by Willow Breast Cancer Support Canada. Willow is an amazing Canadian breast cancer education and support organization. We have partnered with them to develop a series of podcasts providing a unque perspective on what it means to be touched by the disease. The podcast medium allows those interested in listening to the series to choose their own time - at home, at the office or strolling with their IPOD. To learn more about the podcast series or refer it to a friend please visit www.willow.org.

Well, admittedly it has been a long time since my last post. While I continue to be a struggling blogger, it is not for lack of activity. Over the past month GCI Canada has been a bit of a whirlwind with activity for Dell, Mattel, Shell and TD Canada Trust particularly.

In the past week alone we helped to launch a joint program by Mattel and the Toronto Hilton to offer children the opportunity to enjoy a stay in a customized Barbie or Hot Wheels room with a portion of the room fee going to support the work of the Toronto Sick Kids Foundation.

Later in the week we also helped to launch Dell’s new Inspiron laptop line. For anyone going off to university in the Fall or thinking of sporting a laptop in a cool color then an Inspiron would be the way to go.