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Dana Strapazzon Retirement Celebration - TICKETS
by Beth McKechnie 26 May '10

26 May '10

----- Original Message ----- From: Honey, Brian Subject: Dana Strapazzon Retirement Celebration - TICKETS *Tickets are currently being sold and going fast. To get yours, please continue reading. After years of hard work and dedication, it's time to take a permanent vacation. No more meetings or pages to fax, it's time to kick back and just relax. We welcome you in celebrating a retirement party honoring Dana Strapazzon on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010. Please join us to share happy memories and wishing her well, as she starts her long and well deserved rest. This event is not a surprise, Dana is well aware of all plans. The celebration will occur at Silverado's Nightclub located at 2100 McPhillips Street from 5:00pm - 8:00pm. Tickets are $12 and will include your choice of steak or chicken and a potato. Part of the ticket price goes towards a large retirement gift for Dana. You may purchase tickets from any of the following: Brian Honey - 990-6636 or contact bhoney(a)winnipeg.ca (7th floor 395 Main) Gail Katz - 986-7760 or contact gkatz(a)winnipeg.ca (8th floor 395 Main) Derrick Stamm - 470-9791 or contact dstamm(a)winnipeg.ca (6th floor 395 Main) Karen Glugosh - 612-2065 or contact kglugosh(a)winnipeg.ca (6th floor 395 Main Greg Ferguson - 986-4355 or contact gferguson(a)winnipeg.ca (6th floor 395 Main) Jeff Honey - 986-8366 or contact jhoney(a)winnipeg.ca (430 Langside, Magnus Eliason Rec Center) Bill Towers - 986-3214 or contact btowers(a)winnipeg.ca (8th floor 395 Main) Louie Strapazzon - 339-5105 or contact luidana(a)shaw.ca (Dana's husband) Please note Silverado's has indicated they will not be selling tickets at the door, so please purchase your ticket in advance. See you at the party, Brian Honey bhoney(a)winnipeg.ca

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Driving home the benefits of staying active
by Kevin Miller 21 May '10

21 May '10

Driving home the benefits of staying active By David Suzuki with Faisal Moola I was struggling through my routine at the gym in April when the owner came up to me. "Give me something to share on Twitter for Earth Day," he demanded. I've been working out for more than 30 years and I'm still waiting for it to be fun, or at least easy, so my brain was not operating at full bore. I panted, "How about this: Get out and exercise. It's good for your body and it's good for the environment." He seemed happy enough and wandered away, but his question got me thinking. I'm a biologist. I know that we evolved out of the natural world and lived without machines for a long time. Everything our ancient ancestors did, they did by expending some effort, especially to get from one place to another. Our bodies evolved to keep up with this required effort. Indeed, our bodies need to work in order to restore themselves. Don't believe me? Just look at one of the most effective ways to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, stroke, cancer, and more: exercise! Now, I know that a car is an amazing piece of technology, but it's just a means of getting us from point A to point B. When we climb into a car to drive five or 10 blocks instead of walking or cycling, we may come up with all kinds of rationalizations as to why it was necessary, but do we ever stop to consider that this simple act works against what our bodies need? When I walk by a school and see roly-poly kids jumping from the big cars lined up outside, I suspect that parents think they're doing their children a favour. But it's at the expense of what kids need to remain healthy. If a neighbourhood is so dangerous that we can't let our children walk to school, then we should work to make it safer, or initiate group walks. When a 90-kilogram person climbs into a 2,000-kilogram vehicle, more than 95 per cent of the gasoline is burned to move the car, not the person! That's a lose-lose-lose situation: we throw away money, waste energy, and exacerbate environmental pollution. The auto sector has dazzled us with big, fancy stuff because energy has been cheap and the environmental consequences haven't figured in its planning. With the near-death experience of the big three auto companies as the economy melted down, and with oil prices rising steadily, car companies are finding religion on being green as they tout smaller, more efficient cars. Let's hope this represents a turning point in the values that motivate them. But we also need to shift the way we all of think of cars. People seem to regard a car as an extension of themselves - bigger, sexier, noisier, faster, more powerful. I can understand the psychology, but still, it's just a machine. It's something to get us to our destination, but it has become so deeply embedded in our culture that it's impossible to think of doing without it - at least until we build cities in ways that eliminate our need for personal vehicles. We must think of a car as simply a machine to move us around, a machine that should be used sparingly because overuse is harmful. Our love of cars also sets a bad example for the rest of the world, especially China and India, where growing economies are creating huge numbers of people with the means and the desire to buy vehicles. These days you can find all kinds of books offering 10 or 100 easy ways to save the planet. But the planet is not in trouble. Whatever we do, it will continue to spin and move around the sun. We may be in trouble though. We're altering the chemical, physical, and biological features of the biosphere, making it increasingly difficult for tens of thousands of species, including our own, to survive and flourish. Changing course and reining in our demanding appetite and economy is not going to be easy. If everyone buys an electric or hybrid car, changes light bulbs, and carries cloth bags, we'll still be a long way from a sustainable way of living. But thinking about our own personal health and our relationship with the machine may at least get us started down a new road. Learn more at http://www.davidsuzuki.org

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Globe & Mail: Ontario aims to increase cyclist safety
by Beth McKechnie 20 May '10

20 May '10

Globe & Mail Ontario aims to increase cyclist safety Karen Howlett Toronto - From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published on Tuesday, May. 18, 2010 9:19PM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, May. 18, 2010 9:39PM EDT Making Ontario's roads a little more bike-friendly has become a key priority for Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne, a cycling enthusiast from her days living in the Netherlands. Ms. Wynne has launched a review of the province's cycling policies. She also appeared receptive to a private member's bill introduced in the legislature on Tuesday that would require drivers to leave a buffer zone of three feet when passing cyclists on city streets, and five feet on highways. "I obviously believe that we should make whatever changes we need to make sure that cyclists are safe on the road," Ms. Wynne told reporters. New Democratic Party transportation critic Cheri DiNovo, who introduced the bill, said similar laws already exist in France, Spain and Germany. In the United States, sixteen states have approved, or are in the process of approving, bicycle-passing laws. The bill would go a long way toward making roads safer for cyclists, Ms. DiNovo said, urging Ms. Wynne to "rise above partisan differences and . for once, do the right thing." Ms. DiNovo added that the leading cause of cyclist fatalities is collisions involving drivers passing bikes. Ms. Wynne acknowledged that Ontario's cycling laws lag well behind those in European countries, which have a long tradition of cars and bikes sharing the road. She related her own experience commuting by bike in the Netherlands, where she lived for three years and where her first two children were born. "I would ride my bike with one child in the front and one child on the back," she said. Ms. DiNovo said her bill would reduce the number of bicycle-related injuries and deaths. Every day, she said, 80 people in Ontario visit an emergency department because of a cycling injury. And cyclists are between seven and 70 times more likely to be injured than those who drive cars. That grim statistic hit home last weekend, when four riders in Quebec were run down and killed. One cyclist died after a collision on a rural highway in the Laurentian Mountains on Saturday; three others died on Friday in a ghastly accident south of Montreal. Ms. DiNovo's bill comes just days after a plan to establish separated bike lanes along Toronto's University Avenue was defeated. Premier Dalton McGuinty said he is not sure the province needs a three-foot rule for cyclists, even though he has his own buffer zone with the media: reporters in the Queen's Park press gallery have been asked to stand at least five feet from him when asking questions. "Just personally, I'm not sure if it's a matter of needing more laws, or a greater sense of respect for one another on the road," he told reporters on Tuesday. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-aims-to-increase-cycli…

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Globe & Mail: Spate of cycling deaths sparks fear in Quebec's commuter culture (May20'10)
by Beth McKechnie 20 May '10

20 May '10

Globe & Mail Spate of cycling deaths sparks fear in Quebec's commuter culture Les Perreaux Montreal - From Monday's Globe and Mail Published on Sunday, May. 16, 2010 11:09PM EDT Last updated on Sunday, May. 16, 2010 11:11PM EDT Cyclists in Canada's most bike-friendly province are riding in fear and disbelief after four riders were run down and killed in less than 48 hours. Leading a group of a about 100 cyclists on a weekly 70-kilometre Sunday tour, Steve Abramson noticed a change in attitude this weekend among drivers, too, on the suburban streets and quiet country roads just west of Montreal. "We noticed right away that drivers were suddenly extra careful, way more observant than usual, stopping to let us pass," said Mr. Abramson, 77-years-old and a long-time member of the Club Cycliste Beaconsfield. "It's early in the season, so drivers still aren't used to us being out there. It takes three or four dead to suddenly wake them up, it seems. It's unbelievable. . . It's scary, alright." A cyclist died after a collision on a rural highway in the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal Saturday evening, on the heels of a ghastly accident south of the city on Friday in which six riders were run over, killing three triathletes and injuring three others. Police reported the 44-year-old driver in the Saturday accident on Highway 117 near Val-Morin had two times the legal limit of alcohol in her bloodstream. Jacques Michaud, 57, died in hospital Sunday morning. Alcohol was not a factor in the Friday accident involving six cyclists and a 29-year-old male driver. No charges have been laid as the investigation focused on driver inattention and the condition of the road. The provincial government promised on the weekend to immediately pave the gravel shoulder on the busy secondary Highway 112, which was supposed to have been completed years ago. "I have no doubt the lack of a paved shoulder played a role in this accident, but it's truly an extremely exceptional, almost unbelievable event. I've never heard of anything like it in Quebec," said Suzanne Lareau, the president of Vélo-Québec, after returning from her own Sunday ride. While Quebec has a longstanding image associated with potholes and fast, reckless drivers, no other province has proportionally more cyclists or spends more money to make room for them. Quebec has spent $200-million over 15 years promoting the sport and creating dedicated bike lanes, including the systematic paving of shoulders on small highways. About $88-million has gone into creating a 4,000-kilometre provincial network known as the Route Verte. Municipalities have spent millions more creating their own networks. More than half of Quebec adults identify themselves as cyclists who ride at least once a week, about 50 per cent more than the two provinces next on the list, Ontario and British Columbia. Quebec has a critical mass of cyclists that makes the province safer for the sport than most places in North America, experts say. Quebec has had 12-20 deaths per year since 2000 - about a third the number of deaths in the 1980s, when there were about half as many cyclists on the road. In Canada, about 52 to 73 cyclists died each year from 2003 to 2007 according to the most recent tally available from Transport Canada. "Quebec is the envy of the rest of Canada, the province is much farther ahead in promoting the sport and reducing injuries and fatalities," said Eleanor McMahon, an Ontario cycling safety activist. "Cyclists there have political champions, effective legislation, money invested, they've done so much to encourage the sport." The Quebec accidents were all cyclists were talking about in Burlington, Ont., where Ms. McMahon was wrapping up her Sunday ride. "We really do have a shared vulnerability. Do you know of another pastime where you pack ID before you head out on the road in case you get run over and don't see your loved ones again?" said Ms. McMahon, who founded the bike safety lobby group, Share the Road, after her husband, OPP Sergeant Greg Stobbart, was struck and killed by a vehicle in 2006. Riding in a group dramatically improves cyclist visibility. Multi-bike accidents are rare but trigger a shockwave when they happen. In 2008, two bicycle tourists were killed and two others injured when they were struck by a Honda Civic on the Trans-Canada Highway in Manitoba - a province where paved shoulders are rare on rural highways. Manitoba is one of the shortest stretches for cross-Canada cyclists, but it is often cited as being among the scariest. Last summer, five cyclists were struck but survived after a hit-and-run near Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa. Charges were laid against the vehicle drivers in both cases. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/spate-of-cycling-deaths-sparks…

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Commuter Challenge kickoff - 10 am, Tues May 18th, MB Hydro
by Beth McKechnie 17 May '10

17 May '10

Looking for an excuse to be outdoors in the sunshine tomorrow morning? Come out for the 2010 Commuter Challenge kick-off ! 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 18th Manitoba Hydro (360 Portage Ave) Bring your bike, grab a bus or walk on over to join us. Hope to see you there! cheers, Beth * * * * * Green Commuting Initiatives Workplace TDM Coordinator Resource Conservation Manitoba Tel: (204) 925-3772 www.resourceconservation.mb.ca

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in motion @ the Library - Getting "in motion" Safely!
by Deanna Betteridge 14 May '10

14 May '10

Hello, Can you please assist Winnipeg in motion by publicizing the following FREE event and forwarding this information on to your networks? Thanks, Deanna ******************************************************** Do you have an injury that is keeping you from being "in motion"? Are you afraid of injuring yourself while exercising? Or are you interested in just staying safe while being active this summer? Join Winnipeg in motion and athletic therapist Christine Johnston of Balance Chiropractic & Wellness Centre to find out how to prevent injuries and to learn how to exercise safely. Christine will walk you through a sample warm-up, cool-down and stretching routine; when to apply pressure, ice or heat and when to seek professional advice. What: Getting "in motion" Safely! When: Friday, May 21, 2010 Time: 12:10 - 12:50pm Where: Carol Shields Auditorium, 2nd Floor Millennium Library (251 Donald) Admission is FREE, all are welcome and registration is NOT required. For more information please contact Winnipeg in motion at 940-3648 or visit www.winnipeginmotion.ca <http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/> . Getting "in motion" Safely! is part of "in motion Fridays", a series of monthly workshops that promote physical activity for better health. The in motion @ the Library series is sponsored by Winnipeg in motion and the Millennium Library. For a complete list of workshops, visit http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/resources/in_motion_library <http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/resources/in_motion_library> . ******************************************************** See you at the library! Cheers, Deanna ** Sign-up to receive Winnipeg in motion email updates http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/signup/form.php ** ------------------------------------------------------------- Deanna Betteridge, BESS, M.Sc. in motion Coordinator 2 - 189 Evanson St. Winnipeg, Manitoba R3G 0N9 204-940-3264 (w) 204-232-3297 (c) 204-940-8409 (f) E-mail: dbetteridge(a)wrha.mb.ca Web site: www.winnipeginmotion.ca This email and/or any documents in this transmission is intended for the addressee(s) only and may contain legally privileged or confidential information. Any unauthorized use, disclosure, distribution, copying or dissemination is strictly prohibited. If you receive this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and return the original. Ce courriel et tout document dans cette transmission est destiné à la personne ou aux personnes à qui il est adressé. Il peut contenir des informations privilégiées ou confidentielles. Toute utilisation, divulgation, distribution, copie, ou diffusion non autorisée est strictement défendue. Si vous n'êtes pas le destinataire de ce message, veuillez en informer l'expéditeur immédiatement et lui remettre l'original.

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FW: SOS Celebrates International Trails Day June 5
by Stacy Matwick 14 May '10

14 May '10

FYI Hope the attachment comes through. If not you can find the map and brochure here http://www.winnipegtrails.ca/2010/05/11/bois-des-esprits-trail-grand-openin… Cheers Stacy Matwick Information Centre International Institute for Sustainable Development 161 Portage Ave. E., 6th floor Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 0Y4 Voice: (204)958-7755 Fax: (204)958-7710 Email: smatwick(a)iisd.ca Library website: http://www.iisd.org/ic/ "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read" Groucho Marx "Life is like a bicycle, to keep your balance your must keep on moving" Albert Einstein From: Bev Sawchuk [mailto:bevsawchuk@shaw.ca] Sent: May-13-10 7:34 PM To: 'James, Alena (WSD)'; 'Craig and Connie'; 'Derhak Semeniuk, Bonnie'; 'Gordon Goldsborough'; Henry David (Hank) Venema; 'Britt Hilton'; 'Kisti Thomas'; 'kim laird'; 'Mike Grandmaison'; 'Natalie Gerardy'; 'Bohemier, Rene'; 'The Ladybug Foundation'; 'Vicki Burns'; kgeisel(a)mtsm.blackberry.com; 'Pike, Susan' Subject: 11 a.m. June 5 - SOS Celebrates International Trails Day Thought you might be interested in attending this event on June 5. Bring your family and friends to visit Winnipeg's newest and most unique City Park! Regards, Bev * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * On Saturday, June 5, Save Our Seine is inviting the public for a fun time on the trails of the the Seine River Greenway's forest Bois-des-Esprit - Winnipeg's largest continguous and river bottom and upland forest. This is the second year that Save Our Seine, in conjunction with the Winnipeg Trails Association, will be hosting an International Trails Day event to showcase Winnipeg's Bois-des-Esprit, a 117 acre forest located in South St. Vital adjacent to the new Royalwood subdivision. The event is aimed particularly at residents of the neighbourhoods located near the Bois-des-esprit, including Royalwood, St. Anne's Road and Meadowood. Highlights of this year's event will include: - opening of the new 2km long gravel trail that extends the length of the forest from the Royalwood Bridge to John Bruce Road. - guided tours of the forest along the new trail. Save Our Seine tour guides will provide information about the history and natural features of the forest, including the five ecosystems and diversity of wildlife that occurs in the forest. - Bois-des-Esprits contains the largest collection of forest sculptures in Winnipeg. Participants in the guided tours will get to see the 7 wood spirit and owl sculptures that Murray Watson carved into dead tree stumps this winter and spring fall. They will also visit Woody, the 3 metre high carved tree spirit that guards the forest. Carvers of the forest scuptures will also be on hand to talk about their carvings. - A free lunch will be served while a Metis fiddler entertains. Costumed Metis interpreters from Union Natinale Metisse St-Joseph du Manitoba will tell stories about the history of the area and Wildlife Haven Rehabilitiation Centre will have one it ambasssodors, a live raptor on hand. The event takes place on Saturday, June 5 at 11 a.m. Visitors are asked to gather at the greenspace east of the Royalwood Bridge, next to Bois-des-Esprit. Parking is available at Morrow Gospel Church. The event will last about 2 hours. A brochure about the event including a map of Bois-des-Esprit is attached.

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Vancouver pushes $25-million plan for more bike lanes
by Beth McKechnie 12 May '10

12 May '10

Vancouver pushes $25-million plan for more bike lanes Council to consider 55 km of new routes in 10-year master cycling plan By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun May 6, 2010 http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Vancouver+pushes+million+plan+more+bike+… Vancouver is proposing to invest $25 million in additional bike paths over the next two years as part of the city's ambitious goal to become the world's greenest city by 2020. A city report on a proposed 10-year Cycling Master Plan, which will go to council Thursday, calls for another 55 kilometres of bike lanes and routes around Vancouver. This includes the long-awaited Comox Helmcken Greenway project to connect the seawall, the West End and downtown Vancouver to the Central Valley Greenway, which stretches all the way to New Westminster. The additional bike paths and routes would give Vancouver a 415-kilometre bike-route network and help the city reach its target of having 10 per cent of all urban trips in Vancouver made by bicycle by 2020, Mayor Gregor Robertson said. Right now, only 3.7 per cent of trips, or 60,000 trips a day, in Vancouver are made by bike on average, although some neighbourhoods boast up to 12 per cent. "This will definitely get more people on bikes," Robertson said. "Most data shows that cities don't go much beyond five per cent until they create separated bike lanes. That's about the percentage of people that will take their chances in traffic." The report, which will initiate the planning process for the new plan, recommends that council on Thursday approve an immediate $1.25-million investment in the city's bike network for 2010 and 2011. This money would be used to draft a new 10-Year Cycling Program Master Plan, develop a comprehensive cycling monitoring program, add on-street bicycle parking and do spot improvements - such as more traffic lights - on existing bikeways to address safety concerns. It also recommends council approve plans in principle to develop a new cross-town bikeway along 45th Avenue from Balaclava to Nanaimo, the North Arm Trail Greenway, generally along 59th Avenue from West Boulevard to Vivian, and create better cycling connections to the Canada Line Bridge and the Cambie Street bike lanes, which carry traffic over the Fraser River to Richmond. The proposals are in addition to plans underway to complete separated bike lanes from the Burrard Bridge to the Dunsmuir Viaduct across the downtown core. The total investment would be $25 million, which is roughly 30 per cent of the city's $90 million streets-and-roads budget for the same period, city engineer Jerry Dobrovolny said. The new cycling plan will form a component of a new transportation plan, to be initiated later this year. The money for the cycling paths and improvements has already been set aside in various budgets, including $3.7 million in the city's developer "greenlink" fund, which is for pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. Another $3 million earmarked for major arterial roads will also go toward projects that benefit cyclists, while the city has another $8.3 million that isn't allocated to any specific projects. Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs said about 12 per cent of the funding would be used for new infrastructure, while the rest would maintain or upgrade cycling paths. He noted many of the projects have been waiting for years to be built. Vancouver's bicycle network comprises five primary types of facility: off-street paths, local street bikeways, painted bike lanes, painted shared-use lanes and separated bike lanes. Robertson said one of the considerations would be to look at separated-bike-lane trials on major arterial routes such as Main or Commercial and on residential-street bike lanes. "We have a really good bike infrastructure but it really needs a catch-up in investment," he said. "For many years all city investment went into roads and sidewalks and the city ignored safe bike options." Margaret Mahan, executive director of Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST), welcomed the city's report. "It marks the first time we've seen that kind of significant commitment to a future that is going to be greener," she said. "The single thing most people say keeps them from riding is the perceived safety issue. "[They'll get on their bikes] when they're not afraid of being hit by two tonnes of moving vehicle." If approved by council, a public consultation process would probably start immediately and take about a year. ksinoski(a)vancouversun.com

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Commuter Cycling course - May 18 & 20
by Beth McKechnie 11 May '10

11 May '10

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Fw: Dana Strapazzon Retirement Celebration
by Beth McKechnie 11 May '10

11 May '10

----- Original Message ----- From: Honey, Brian Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 2:04 PM Subject: Dana Strapazzon Retirement Celebration After years of hard work and dedication, it's time to take a permanent vacation. No more meetings or pages to fax, it's time to kick back and just relax. We welcome you in celebrating a retirement party honoring Dana Strapazzon on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010. Please join us to share happy memories and wishing her well, as she starts her long and well deserved rest. This event is not a surprise, Dana is well aware of all plans. Please see attached poster. The celebration will occur at Silverado's Nightclub located at 2100 McPhillips Street from 5:00pm - 8:00pm. Tickets are $12 and will include a gift and food. Tickets will be available by the middle of next week. You may purchase tickets from any of the following: Brian Honey - 990-6636 or contact bhoney(a)winnipeg.ca (7th floor 395 Main) Derrick Stamm - 470-9791 or contact dstamm(a)winnipeg.ca (6th floor 395 Main) Karen Glugosh - 612-2065 or contact kglugosh(a)winnipeg.ca (6th floor 395 Main) Gail Katz - 986-7760 or contact gkatz(a)winnipeg.ca (8th floor 395 Main) Greg Ferguson - 986-4355 or contact gferguson(a)winnipeg.ca (6th floor 395 Main) Bill Towers - 986-3214 or contact btowers(a)winnipeg.ca (8th floor 395 Main) Jeff Honey - 986-8366 or contact jhoney(a)winnipeg.ca (430 Langside, Magnus Eliason Rec Center) Louie Strapazzon - 339-5105 or contact luidana(a)shaw.ca (Dana's husband) Please note Silverado's has indicated they will not be selling tickets at the door, so please purchase your ticket in advance. Hope to see you at the party, Brian Honey bhoney(a)winnipeg.ca

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