fantastic news
this perennial but great idea is actually 86 years old
but my rooting about for the most recent previous mention of it
has led me to notice
that our beloved search engine has just been totally resurrected
& is again as good as ever
yesss
& i have also found that this topic is indeed perfectly new to bp
so my deju vu of it must have occurred elsewhere
but anyway i would call this a multiple win win for all parties
--- In
BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, Doug Murray
<doug@d...> wrote:
>
> Put on the Beach Boys song "Wouldn't it be nice..." and read
the
> following.
>
> Doug
>
> Thursday » June 12 » 2003
> Canada urged to create a 'sunshine province'
> Turks and Caicos
>
> Mary Vallis
> National Post
>
>
> Thursday, June 12, 2003
> CREDIT: CanWest News Service
>
>
> The Turks and Caicos Islands are famous for their
powder-white beaches
> and scuba diving.
>
>
> With winter a fading memory, two Ottawa men have started a
campaign
> urging Canada to reconsider annexing the idyllic Turks and
Caicos
> Islands so the Caribbean paradise can become a "sunshine
province" for
> snowbirds.
>
> "Canadians deserve a place in the sun," said Richard
Pearson,
> vice-president of regional sales for a mutual fund company,
who is
> helping to organize the initiative. "I think we'll have tons of
> support."
>
> He and Brad Sigouin, an investment advisor, say Canada
should revisit a
> failed 1987 idea to bring the archipelago under Canadian rule.
>
> The Turks and Caicos are a British territory about 900
kilometres
> southeast of Florida. Offshore banking is the largest revenue
source
> after tourism. The islands are famous for their immaculate
beaches and
> scuba diving.
>
> Mr. Pearson said the issue has been on his mind for years.
His parents
> stopped wintering in Florida because the cost of medical
insurance
> spiked and the Canadian dollar plunged.
>
> And with international security reaching new heights since the
> terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Canada's snowbirds would
welcome
> the chance to head south without leaving Canada, he added.
>
> The pair have registered a Web domain, aplaceinthesun.ca,
and are
> hoping to meet with the people who were involved in the issue
during
> the 1980s to pinpoint what went wrong. They also plan to
approach
> business leaders and form a formal board of directors to
strengthen
> their lobbying efforts.
>
> "Governments, especially in the last 10 years, have been very
> managerial. There haven't been projects," Mr. Pearson said. "I
think
> people are thirsting for a vision, thirsting for a project that can
> bring people together."
>
> He is hoping to meet with government officials on the islands
to
> discuss the idea during a trip south this year.
>
> Mr. Sigouin envisions more hotels and restaurants on the
islands and
> five or six direct Air Canada flights every day. In exchange, the
> estimated 20,000 island residents would have more jobs,
medicare and
> the opportunity to travel to Canada, he said.
>
> "I think we have a great way of life here," he said. "Isn't this the
> best Canadian way, we help other people? Isn't that what we're
known
> for?"
>
> Canadians certainly seem ready to take up the issue. After the
issue
> was discussed on Global Sunday, 92% of those informally
polled on
> canada.com (a Web portal owned by CanWest, publisher of
the National
> Post) said Canada should offer some sort of special territorial
status
> to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
>
> "It would be great for the tourism industry in this country," one
> viewer wrote. "We already have some of the best scenery in the
world in
> this great land of ours, but it seems the only thing missing is a
> tropical place for us Canadians to go and spend Canadian
dollars rather
> than going to some other island and having to exchange our
hard-earned
> cash for that of the almighty greenback of the U.S.
>
> "Think about it, thousands, possibly millions, of tourists from
around
> the world travelling to a remote island, exchanging their
currency for
> the great Canadian dollar, spending Canadian cash, on
Canadian
> products, with the benefits going to the Canadian people. I
know where
> my next vacation is heading...."
>
> Canada rejected the idea of annexing the islands twice, in
1974 and in
> 1987.
>
> mvallis@n...
>
> © Copyright 2003 National Post
>
>
> Doug Murray Productions
> 1211 Cotton Drive
> Vancouver BC