| January 2008 President's Message |
| Written by David McMurray | |
| Saturday, 05 January 2008 | |
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Happy New Year from the Association of Canadian Teachers in Japan, Our association enters its 16th year. We have two more ACTJ conferences and 4 more issues of the Canadian Content journal in the works, and numerous invitations to look forward to this year. 10 members have been selected to view SILK at the embassy on January 11. Liberated from her Las Vegas contract, Celine Dion will celebrate at the Tokyo Dome on March 8 and 9 and Kyocera Dome in Osaka on March 11 and 12. In 2008, I believe our many members such as Michael Critchley, Clark Richardson, and Lawrie Hunter, including ACTJ officers Vice-President Rob McLaughlin, Past-President Gregory Strong and Journal Editor Andrew Reimann, who originally hail from British Columbia might take the opportunity to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the creation of British Columbia. I don’t know if you are from Nova Scotia, but Dr. Geoffrey Stewart Morrison who has written several articles in our association journal, the Canadian Content, has made a speech in the province where the 250th anniversary of parliamentary democracy was established. TESL Nova Scotia and TESL New Brunswick are hosting Uncovering Discourse, a May 29 through 31, 2008 TESL Canada Conference at Delta Beausejour in Moncton, NB. The deadline for proposals is January 31, 2008. See http://www.teslns.ca/conference.html If you are traveling to Canada this year, you’ll likely get less than a dollar in exchange for your 100 yen, but Adam Murray our treasurer from Port Hope likely heard the welcome news from Canadian Prime Minister’s New Year’s speech given in Ontario about GST (sales tax) in Canada being lowered to 5 percent. ACTJ members resident in Japan should probably get ready to brace for an increase in a similar kind of sales tax here. Long-time member Lorne Kirkwold and I studied at Universite Laval in Quebec, so we can look forward to the special events for alumni during the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec city by Samuel de Champlain, first governor of Canada. Other alumni from Universite Laval living in Japan include M. Etienne Lambert at the Embassy of Canada. Our next alumni event in Japan is scheduled for May 17 in consort with Teach Canada the ACTJ and Canada Project http://www.iuk.ac.jp conference. The deadline for proposals is February 29, 2008. ACTJ is an international association. In addition to members with addresses in Canada and Japan we have members in Taiwan. In my next letter to you I will try to inform you about Canadian Studies conferences and Canadian Literature programs taking place in Taiwan. In the meantime please do read more about our diverse membership and officers ; Canadian Teachers in Japan, Canada, and Taiwan -- from links on the home page. Feel free to add your own by contacting the webmaster, Adam Murray. Best wishes for a great 2008, David McMurray President |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 05 January 2008 ) |
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