What’s next for Canadians?

What next? If one is not careful, a Canadian can get paranoid after hearing about the endless war on terrorism on CNN along with the repeated complaints of Americans on Canada’s anti-war policies, the SARS epidemic, the summer smallpox, the debilitating ailment called Lyme disease (bacterium on infected ticks). And now we are bracing ourselves on the imminent return of the mosquito-borne disease (West Nile virus) and the re-discovery of the Mad Cow disease.

British Columbia acted immediately on the latter to dispel a major disaster. B.C.’s cattle ranchers, supported by Vancouver’s restaurant and food supply industry stressed that beef is safe. The ranchers added that the Northern Alberta case was a single case or cow and an isolated one. As can be expected, the United States of America is the first country to ban Canadian beef.

In B.C. alone, revenues from the sale of cattle, calves and beef products total over $300 million. If we include the business in Alberta, it is worth $3.5 billion of export market. I have this strange feeling that maybe the Americans will be more understanding, helpful and friendlier to our current predicaments if we heartily, hastily joined them in whatever war they want to mount.

On the lighter side, we heard that Canada’s secret weapon is Quebec songbird Celine Dion who helped in her own way to soften the strained relations between the two countries. She was recently aboard the USS Truman to entertain American troops. Her heartfelt rendition off "God Bless America" should boost ticket sales of her Las Vegas extravaganza.

Anyway, we heard that US Ambassador Paul Cellucci who once aired distaste for Canada’s non-active role in Iraq and for not helping a close ally said that relations are "pretty much back to normal" and closer energy ties are high on Washington’s agenda.

Going back to the beef issue, Canada is supposedly the third-largest exporter in the world of which $1.7 billion went to the US.

Satellite television is getting popular with the Filipinos here who are hungry for Pinoy culture 24-hours a day. Leader in the field is Rey Urrutia, manager of W.E. Satellites, distributor of the TFC-The True Filipino Channel. TFC at the moment is exclusively dedicated to Philippine programs shown through ABS-CBN, Philippines. The four TFC channels include Tagalog movie classics, news and correspondents, soap opera/talk shows and travel shows from the different regions of the Philippine Islands.

If you’re going to visit Montreal or Vancouver and you’re looking for an excellent boutique hotel, Condé Nast Traveller magazine listed two hot Canadian properties. The influential magazine gave top marks in the "best urban hotels" category.

• The Opus at 322 Davie in Yaletown, Vancouver — It was praised for its stylish modern rooms, unique lobby bar decorated with avant garde/art deco pieces and a Parisian brasserie-style restaurant.

• Hotel Gault, 449 Sainte-Helene St. in the heart of Old Montreal – The venue was a former textiles factory that was converted into a 30 loft-style rooms. It was noted for its minimalist décor, polished concrete floors and high-tech touches such as flat-screen TVs. The bathrooms also got special mention, imagine marble tubs for two with heated floors. There’s also modern and contemporary art collection of etchings and paintings.

For restaurants, Condé Nast praised two Canadian restaurants as the "hot tables of 2003.

• Savannah in the Plateau Mont Royal of Montreal for creole, Cajun and southwestern dishes, often dashed with a French twist.

• Bymark, in the Toronto-Dominion Centre offers classic and modern cuisine featuring roasted striped sea bass with field mushrooms, leeks, scallops and prawns. I thank Ottawa Citizen for the above information.

Here’s an insight on how Canadians use the cell phone:

• We use our phones on average of 19 minutes a day.

• 75 percent of Canadians use phones once a day and 45 percent check their e-mail daily.

• Canadians pay an average of $41 a month, or $19 less than the rest of the world.