We are officially into gardening season now!

I have been sitting here debating whether to put off this post until next week. It seems that there is not much new to post since two weeks ago. I just returned from P.E.I. a few hours ago. I went home for my older brother's birthday. It was a beautiful weekend on the Island and from what I see it appears that the weather was the same in Saint John. I have actually noticed some of my spring bulbs starting to sprout some new growth. Soon I will be able to get to work on the stone patio and pond which I promised myself (and others) I would complete this summer. Not too mention all the other recurring spring work that needs to be completed.

The past couple of weeks have been filled with many of the usual commitments. I was on call for the Victim Services Unit for a few nights. I attended meetings for Fusion Saint John Inc., CQS Care Centres, Domestic Violence Community Action Group and the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative. In fact, now that I am writing about it, I am pleased to say that the Domestic Violence Community Action Group received about $35,000 to do a "Mother/Child Educational Program" on domestic violence. I helped with the proposal and budget.

We are now in the final weeks before the annual P.R.O. Kids dinner. Being chair of this year's dinner, I urge everyone to come out and support us. As always, it is one of the cheapest fundraising dinners in terms of ticket prices. There will be a silent and live auction. See the plug below. Anyone can obtain tickets by sending me an email at dannyj@nbnet.nb.ca.

One obvious event that I wanted to speak to in my post this week is the fact that CommunityLens.com in closing down. CommunityLens was an excellent service for the Greater Saint John community. For may years now, it highlighted all the wonderful events in the area and was a portal through which people could view the many wonderful aspects of the Greater Saint John community. I am sure I will not be the only one to miss this coverage. I want to commend CommunityLens on their many years of excellent service. On a more personal note, I have decided to continue my blog. It can be reached through my personal website at personal.nbnet.nb.ca/kjd or directly at dannyjardine.blogspot.com.

After completing my management certificate course recently, I have decided to apply to Dalhousie to do a Master of Public Administration through distance learning program. Therefore, if any of you thought you were finished hearing of my educational endeavors, you're not! French will be starting again soon as well!

Well, like I said at the beginning, there is not a whole lot to report this week. I hope everyone has a great week and that the weather remains beautiful. On a side note, I would love to hear if anyone has any pumpkin growing tips as I think I will attempt to grow some this summer.

Three C's Night Out
Curry, Cantonese & Canadian Cuisine

Proudly sponsored by Aliant in support of P.R.O. Kids (Positive Recreation Opportunities for Kids)

An evening of international cuisine, award presentations, silent and open auctions and an inspirational guest speaker.

Saturday, April 14, 2007 Delta Brunswick Hotel

Cash Bar: 6:00 pm

Dinner: 7:00 pm

Award Presentations: 8:00 p.m.

Guest Speaker Hon. Roly McIntyre: 8:20 p.m.

Silent & Open Auction to follow

2007 P.R.O. Kids Sponsor Recognition Award Recipients:

The Greater Saint John Community Foundation

The New Brunswick Children's Foundation (NBPOH)

The Dickie Crossman Memorial Foundation

Tickets: $60 per person

Springing Ahead......Very Appropriate

Spring ahead..........yes as I was writing the title it became apparent that this is exactly what I wish some of the Members of our Legislative Assembly would do.......spring ahead to the 21st Century. Obviously, I was unimpressed by the actions of a Conservative MLA who attempted to re-introduce a piece of divisive legislation last week. In fact I want to use this blog to publish a letter that I sent to all the MLAs in the province. The letter also appeared in the Telegraph Journal last week.

Dear Members of the Legislative Assembly,

I wish to express my outrage over the piece of legislation (Bill 37) being introduced into the Legislature around civil servants being allowed to pick and choose who they marry. While I completely agree with religious institutions being able to pick and choose who they marry as they run their own “business”, I cannot agree with civil servants being able to pick and choose. A civil service is not a religious service so religious beliefs should not be a factor here. These civil servants are paid by the tax dollars of many New Brunswickers (around 50% according to recent polls) who support same sex marriages. If they can pick and choose who to marry then I should be able to pick and choose where my tax dollars go and I think that you would agree that this makes no sense. The Conservatives are simply wasting everyone’s tax dollars introducing legislation, to protect a few, that will be defeated by human rights tribunals in a matter of months. A better idea would be to simply offer the few civil servants that are affected jobs in other government departments. When individuals become civil servants they should be required to leave all prejudice and racist attitudes at home. It only makes sense. If we had to create legislation for all the civil servants in this province to protect their religious rights in the workplace we would have a mess. There are a lot of different religions in existence and I would hate to see Department of Health employees refusing condoms to teens or Department of Education refusing to teach health curriculum. Everyone in this province should be treated equally by government and this is clearly not the case. Creating public policy that puts one individual’s rights above another is risky business. As politically advantageous as the Conservatives might think it is for them to introduce this legislation, I would suggest reconsidering. It may back fire when all minorities in the province realize that this could potentially impact them (e.g. civil servants rejecting Muslims due to religious beliefs) and the everyday citizen finds out the cost to introduce the legislation and then fight it at a human rights level. It’s no wonder why people (especially youth) are leaving our province in droves. I hope and urge the Liberals do the right thing and oppose Bill 37.

In addition, I quickly wanted to mention that I have finished my Management course so I will have a little more free time. However, I have been looking into the possibility of beginning a Masters in Public Administration through Dalhousie distance learning. If anyone has had any experience with this program I would love to hear from you.

A couple of nights ago I attended the 2007 International Women's Day celebrations in Saint John. We had a table for our Many Faces of Violence initiative. There were many tables at the event representing the many organizations in our city that offer services to women. It was a good event although it appeared that there were fewer people in attendance than in the past. Coverdale Centre for Women organizes the event each year and let's hope that attendance increases next year.

Do not forget to move your clocks ahead this weekend and check your fire alarm batteries. It will be great to have light longer in the evenings. However, I think the U.S. claim of saving on energy is flawed in that most of us will now require extra light in the morning plus other studies have found the costs and savings to equal out in the long run. Oh well, what can you expect, it was probably Bush who thought of it.

Have a great week!