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May/June 2006 issue	In this issue Table of Contents Feature: Futureville Sidebar: Melbourne Principles In-depth: Exploring sustainable cities Feature: Seasons of the city Feature: Environmental scientist Feature: Spotted owl Feature: Waste generation Sidebar: Household waste disposal The Inside Story Editor’s Notebook Reverberations Explorer À la carte Mosaic

Train Troubles

As a first time reader of your magazine, I really enjoyed the Mar/Apr 2006 issue, in particular, C.J. Conway’s story "Long Train Running." It was a well done piece; orderly, well researched and written for the layperson.

Bill Hacock

Growing up during the late 1940s and early 1950s, I attended a rural school that had railroad tracks behind the grounds. In those days, steam locomotives were still in use. The line terminated at a grain elevator at Port McNicoll, Ont., on Georgian Bay, so the long grain freights needed a pusher engine at the back to get rolling. The pusher would "let go" just beyond my school so there was always extra noise and whistle blowing. It would startle the new teachers so we considered it a good initiation to our school.

Glenn Mount
Welland, Ont.

I think it was important to print C.J. Conway’s article because it addresses an issue that should be known to all Canadians. It appears that the article broke the ice, as The Toronto Star released its own major article on the topic. Railways should be the most optimal method of transporting freight because they are much more environmentally friendly than trucking. But when trains have numerous accidents they are no longer the most environmentally friendly, or people friendly, mode. I also wanted to mention that I thought the photography was excellent.

Tony Turrittin
Toronto, Ont.

As a former employee of CN for 41 years, I wish to point out that the cars in the photo on page 70 should be labeled "covered grain hopper cars," not tanker cars as you have printed.

Sam Arendt

The question of railway derailments is a serious one for all concerned — you, me, the railway companies, and those working to keep our environment as pristine as possible. Before retirement I had the dubious pleasure of attending to many railway derailments during my career as a railway civil engineer for CPR, so I was glad that this technical subject made a story in your last issue. It was an especially timely subject a few months ago when BC Rail became CN.

Roger P. Smith

As a railroader, I think C.J. Conway’s article accurately relates the problems CN is having running trains on the former BC Rail mountain lines. Mr. Conway speaks intimately and knowledgeably on the subject. He paints a clear picture of the technical aspects of railroading, while conveying the drama and adventure that railroaders face everyday. Congratulations to Mr. Conway and to Canadian Geographic for a job well done.

David Moorhouse

Exporting Canada’s Income

I thought the Editor’s Notebook (CG Mar/Apr, 2006) hit the nail right on the head. We are a Canadian manufacturer of hardwood components for the furniture and kitchen cabinet manufacturing industry, but we are being decimated by Chinese imports. Products from China are made at much less cost and we are learning that the quality and durability of them is much less than the product they are trying to replace. Some of the equipment and tools that our suppliers have brought in from Asia now last only a fraction of the time that they used to. For this reason, I think it is going to cost Canada more money in the long run than we realize.

Fred Neufeld

I have always felt that the federal government has constantly done Canada a disservice by allowing the export of unprocessed natural resources. They have kept Canada a second class country in the world because of it.

If every export from Canada was a finished or semi-finished product, Canada would be more economically on par with the U.S. And it could be so simple — give exporters of natural resources five years to start exporting stage one, processed resources. Then give them another five years to move to stage two.

We ship nickel ore out of the country for smelting, then we turn around and buy some of it back at 20 to 50 times the price for finished goods. Change the laws so all we ship is nickel ingots and suddenly, new smelters would be built and permanent jobs created. Later, change the law again so instead of nickle ingots, only nickle alloy used to make finished products can be shipped, such as stainless steel. Nickel is a relatively rare element on the world market and since it is needed for many finished products including stainless steel, the demand would remain.

Richard Dinning
Mississauga, Ont.

In awe of the Dunlins

As a resident of Tsawwassen, B.C. and a regular to the Boundary Bay area, I appreciated the article on Dunlins, ("Dance of the Dunlins," CG Mar/Apr 2006) having often admired the aerobatic display of these quick and agile birds. What really impressed me was the graphic construction of the satellite photo and digital terrain image on page 60.

Dale Hunt
Tsawwassen, B.C.

North of 60

Thank you for the well-written article on caribou ("Being Caribou," CG Mar/Apr 2006). My congratulations to Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison. I was certainly aware of the North Shore problems, but in an abstract way. The article really brought home how fragile the situation is. I’m concerned readers might miss the significant difference in populations (23,000 versus 123,000) of the two herds and the difference in space (160 kilometres versus 32 kilometres) that Heuer points out. An excellent issue of Canadian Geographic overall.

John Profit

I enjoyed the article that followed the caribou migration. I had a chance to work and travel that area back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, both in the winter and summer. Reading the article brought back some good memories.

The movie, "The Herd" about the reindeer transfer back in the 1930s took place through that same area along the coast. Thanks, I really enjoyed your magazine.

Chuck Davidge

Branding a barbarian

I call a barbarian one who has no respect for the world and kills for the sheer joy of it or for greed ("Dad the barbarian," CG Mar/Apr 2006). This kind of person does not fit into the world of nature. A person who kills in defense or for food is not a barbarian. This dad is, to me, not a barbarian, but part of the natural world. I salute him, as I salute native Americans for the total use of carcasses. They didn’t drive the bison to near extinction.

Kathleen Haynes
Dorchester, Ont.

I grew up on the East Coast, and spent many winters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and around the Magdalen Islands where the main harp seal herd is located. I am quite familiar with the culture and generosity of the generations of Magdalen Islanders who are intimately familiar with the seals, whose opinion and experience is never asked for, nor valued by, the media.

Instead, a dog and pony show of naive, misguided, urban Hollywood puppets are paraded on to the ice to hug cute baby harp seals in order to raise funds to "save" the population. A population where their numbers are actually expanding at an increasing rate and is currently in the order of millions. There are many more animals than the population of humans in the area. The population appears to already be safe. Why not try to save a species more critically in need, like the Massasauga rattler, or the Bay of Fundy Atlantic Salmon, or the Newfoundland stocks of Atlantic cod?

Thank you for telling them all to go home and stay there until they either grow-up or educate themselves. Home, in their rich concrete and asphalt palaces, where they have already killed all of their wildlife.

Dave Rolston
Prince Rupert, B.C.

Sound Advice

I was extremely excited to receive your music issue (CG Jan/Feb, 2006). It is a wonderful thing to celebrate the music of our country. On the whole, the music issue was an informative and enjoyable read. I greatly enjoyed "Neighbours in Song", which featured Nova Scotian choral groups, as well as "Bhangra Beat." I read with great interest "The Musical Landscape" timeline of Canadian music.

However, I was disappointed to note that one of my favorite Canadian regional bands was not on this list. From the West Coast, the band, “Doug and the Slugs,” formed by the late Doug Bennett, were much loved by my parents, a love that they passed on to me. Bennett’s lyrics are sheer poetry, and the Slugs are one of the great Canadian bands. I look forward to seeing the next issue.

Nathan Yaworski
Saskatoon, Sask.

What a great issue! As an educational audiologist I wanted more — more about how the brain responds to music. Perhaps it responds differently when we are learning a new song or trying to remember the words versus the melody.

I also want to point out that room acoustics play an important part in our life outside of concert theatres. Classrooms are typically not built for listening. Alberta is the first place in North America to have written standards for classroom construction, which will hopefully benefit students.

Ever wonder why restaurants are so noisy? Researchers have found that if you have quiet, intimate dining, people stay longer. Noisy places encourage more drinking, faster eating and higher bar tabs.

Many workers are stuck in cubicles doing less productive work than they used to. Acoustic accessibility for all work areas is gaining attention in many sectors. This means that individuals can work in spaces that do not interfere with speaking and listening. Physical accessibility was addressed decades ago, sensory accessibility is the challenge for this decade.

Sarah Burns

I have purchased Canadian Geographic several times in the past and enjoyed it very much. As a music enthusiast you can imagine how excited I was to see your cover page for Jan/Feb 2006. I quickly purchased the magazine and although I am not normally a letter writer, I feel compelled to let you know how disappointed I was with this issue. It surprises me that you could take subject matter with as much potential as Canadian music and end up with such a wanting issue. The list of omissions is lengthy, so for the sake of brevity I won’t include it - but for one. Not a mention of James Keelaghan? A very disappointing magazine this go round.

Liz Clark
Calgary, Alta.

I looked, and looked once more, and they were bare naked gone. Well, at least not there. How surprised I was to see your listing of musical entrepreneurs throughout Canada over many years and not a word about our Major Ladies! I know a certain Mayor of Toronto wanted them “out of her town”, but they certainly have had a wonderfully successful career. I hope it was a mere slipup as the Bare Naked Ladies are more than Canadian, they are great!

Marjorie Shephard
Peterborough, Ont.

I was very encouraged to see Canadian Geographic choosing to devote an entire issue to Canadian music. My excitement quickly turned to dismay, however, as I scanned the pages searching for mention of one the backbones of the Canadian music scene – our symphony orchestras. No mention was made of the thousands of Canadians who devote themselves to this art form, either as professionals or amateurs or indeed as administrators of these important cultural icons.

Would it not have been fitting to include mention of the oldest continually functioning professional orchestra in the country (the Quebec Symphony) on your musical timeline? What about mention of the amazing initiatives of the Toronto Symphony to bring music to Canada’s North, the Vancouver Symphony’s efforts to remain a viable entity in a multicultural metropolis, the Montreal Symphony’s vast discography of over forty world class recordings? The list of stories is endless, and of course you are limited by space, however I think you did your readers a true disservice by overlooking this jewel in Canada’s crown.

Andrew Clayden
Shannon, Que.

After living in Toronto for twelve years we decided to leave not only the city, but the province we had grown to love in order to raise our daughters closer to their grandparents in Nova Scotia. Although we had listened many times to Bruce Cockburn’s "The Coldest Night of the Year" it took on new meaning for us once we had left our friends and Toronto behind.

The lyrics, "Now the sun is lurking just behind the Scarborough horizon" and "I took in Yonge Street at a glance/Heard the punkers playing/Watched the bikers dance/Everybody wishing they could go to the south of France" bring a smile to the face of my wife and I and usually a tear to her eye as we reminisce on the times we spent in Toronto.

Brad Anderson
Iqaluit, NU

A Valley of Memories

I want to write to thank you for the wonderful story on the Ottawa Valley (“The Valley,” CG Sept/Oct, 2005). The treatment by James Raffan and David Barbour certainly captured the essence of this special place and its special people. Living in Douglas for thirty years and on Golden Lake in summers, having worked throughout the Valley from Rolphton to Renfrew to Ottawa, our life seems to flow like the Bonnechere and Ottawa rivers, to quote Mac Beattie’s logdriver’s song, "and all points along."

Like St. John’s correspondent Michael Rochester, I too am a descendant of the John Rochester clan which originally settled in Bytown in the 1820s and of son George Rochester who, as a young industrialist, moved to Burnstown circa 1848 to build grist and sawmills on the Madawaska and raise a family of six.

I am proud to say I am from the Valley and have many, many stories of chance meetings all over North America and Europe with equally proud Valley compatriots; our accent likely giving us away.

Dave Lemkay
Douglas, Ont.

Thank you for the article on the Ottawa Valley by James Raffan. It was a nostalgic trip for me having lived many years in Kanata and traveled through many of the mentioned towns and villages on business. I was struck by the similarity of Ottawa to the Miramichi, where I lived for a year, especially with respect to the logging history, ethnic mix and speech.

S. Franklin
Dartmouth, N.S

Maintaining history

Back in late January of 2006, my wife and I visited Ottawa to attend the Canadian Figure Skating Championships. During our stay, I planned to do some sightseeing. Specifically, I wished to visit the Canadian War Museum. On a cold wintry day, I set off on foot to walk from the downtown area to the museum. Fortunately, the sidewalks had been cleared of snow but the wind was fierce.

Upon reaching the museum, I unfortunately found a note on the entrance stating that it was closed for its annual maintenance. I was extremely disappointed and after peering through the windows at the tank collection, headed back to the hotel.

So it was with great interest that I read today Mark Abley’s article on the Museum (“Of war and regeneration,” CG Sept/Oct 2005) because it made me feel as though I had visited it myself. It was beautifully written! As a subscriber since 1983, I am glad I have the article. I think that anyone interested in Canadian history and war would appreciate the story it tells.

Oleg Kuzin

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* Letters may be edited for length, accuracy and liability.