If you want express you opposition to the federal government's cut to Canadian television and film funding, which may result in TV shows such as This Hour Has 22 Minutes and the Air Farce not being able to continue production, please e-mail Heritage Minister Sheila Copps at Copps.S@parl.gc.ca. Thanks! NOTE: You can also use the link to her e-mail address that I put on my website
( http://donaldbcampbell.tripod.com ) under "Today's New Content".

Does anyone want to help me mark Grammar and Phonology exams? It's lots of fun! (I'm kidding...about the request for help, that is.)

Something that happened in my English as a Second Language class yesterday reminded me that annoyances like snow in mid April are trivial. When we were discussing celebrations and traditions in the students' first countries, one of them talked about his wedding day in Afghanistan. He said that the happiest part of the day wasn't the actual wedding, although it was wonderful. The best part was when he and other family members dug through the rubble of their neighbours' home, which had just been hit by a rocket, and discovered that they were alive. It kind of puts things into perspective, doesn't it?

I was listening to CBC Radio this morning while making breakfast. There was a story about a Cree woman from Saskatchewan who moved to Toronto and lost touch with her First Nations heritage. I thought I heard the reporter say, "She spent months in Toronto looking for her penis." After almost spilling the coffee I was pouring, I realized that she'd said, "She spent months in Toronto looking for her Creeness."

I'm very happy about the election results in Quebec. Although I think that the Parti Quebecois was a good government in many ways, partly because it's more socially progressive than the other major parties, I'm glad that they've been sent the message that the majority of Quebec voters want to focus on things other than sovereignty/independence.

Thank you, Jacques Parizeau, for still being a loudmouth! By recently repeating your remarks about "money and 'ethnics' (aka non-Francophones)" causing the defeat of the last sovereignty referendum, you've helped the Quebec Liberal Party pull into the lead in the election campaign. Millions of people in Quebec--including many Francophones--and in the ROC (the Rest Of Canada) are tired of the sovereignty/independence debate and want to move on. I'm looking forward to hearing the election results tonight.

Rain, glorious rain! It's really spring!!!!