We boarded Polar Princess this morning and have traveled from Moosonee to James Bay and are now returning to visit Moose Factory Island before we return to Moosonee. Our tour of the Island is beginning.

Arriving at the dock on the island we walked a short distance to a school bus. Here too, the roads are all dirt. Our guide, Rachel*, told us a little about the island before she started the bus because she would be unable to talk over the noise. The hospital is heated by steam, along with the housing for the health care professionals. A diesel engine powers the steam machine connected to 6 inch pipes in the air delivering the steam to the hospital and staff housing. It reminded me of telephone and electric wires hanging on the poles.

This hospital serves communities up to 300 miles north, reduced from 600 in the past. The emergency medical technicians in Moosonee, although not MD’s have to perform those services while a patient is transported from the mainland to the island hospital. Patients are transported on the river during the summer and the ice road during the winter. The months of freeze up and spring break up require a helicopter to transport a patient. There is a helipad near the hospital.

The spring can bring flooding to the island with residents tying canoes to their house in case the need to escape exists. When the Hudson Bay Company first established the island as their “New World” headquarters the employees built a church, the Anglican Church was built. It still exists but is locked, needing repairs. I would have enjoyed visiting the church.

After the church was built the spring flood came, lifting the church off its foundation. Not wanting to loose their house of worship the employees boarded their canoes, tied ropes to the building and pulled it back. This time they drilled holes in the floor to hold it. If there is a flood they can pull the plugs for the water to drain, saving the church. Plans are in place requesting it to be preserved as a Heritage Site. It is hoped that it will happen.

Our first stop was a Creek Interpretive Center. Several tepees were seen. The first was a summer one built out of birch bark. It would hold up to six family members. Another one was long enough for four families. Rocks lined a spot inside where cooking took place.

Another tepee is only used for cooking after one of the hunts. A meeting room appeared to be an open air tent of about 50 feet square. It was used for meetings, wedding and other community activities. The center had various animal skins like wolf, fox and moose, which were interesting. Leaving there we drove through residential areas. Rachel* pointed out the tepees in many backyards where the game is cooked after a hunt.

The house where the Hudson Bay staff resided was part of the tour. It consisted of several bedrooms, now the downstairs bedrooms are exhibits; a bedroom, tool room, the doctors room. All rooms had different historical items displayed from that era. A cemetery was nearby which I walked into but did not really investigate.

This tour was ending as we rode back to the dock. Back on the mainland we both received certificates indicating that we have “braved the spray of James Bay and been sprinkled with the salt of the arctic waters.” It is dated and signed by the tour guide and captain, identified as “ye old tidewatcher” and the “ye old captain.”

We went back to the bed and breakfast to just relax in comfort on their “community room” comfortable chairs, relaxing. About 4:30 we walked to the Catholic Church to view its stained glass windows, including the bishops, pope, Jesus, and a unique picture of a moose.

Then we walked to the train station, met up with our new friends, visited until 5:30 when we were able to board for the 5-hour return trip to Cochrane. Visiting with one of the attendants concluded the evening and the expedition to Moosonee.
party planning blog

Lac Seul is the second largest body of water located entirely within Ontario, Canada. Because this lake is shallower compared to some of the other lakes in Canada, many anglers find it easier to find some of the hot spots that hold walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass, muskie and perch. It is one of the premier drive-in lakes in Canada for catching walleye and northern pike.

Northern pike in the 6 to 10 pound range are very common with many fish available in the 15 to 20 pound range. You should be able to catch walleye in the 2 to 4 pound range all day with many bigger fish being common. You will find many bays, islands and narrow channels where you can target smallmouth bass. Many fishermen also prefer fishing for lake trout and whitefish. There are plenty of options for fishermen on Lac Seul.

As far as lodging goes, you will find resorts, cabins and cottages in the towns of Ear Falls and Sioux Lookout. If you are interested in planning a fly-in trip, there are resorts on Lac Seul that also offer fly-in trips to some lakes where you can catch walleye and northern pike until you are too tired to fish anymore. If you are an experienced angler, you might not have to take a fly-in. If you need some help, some of the resorts and lodges do offer guided fishing trips and this might be a good idea for your first day or two up here.

To get some information on the resorts and lodges on Lac Seul, take a look at our Lac Seul visitor’s guide page.
wordpress theme

My old laptop is dead unfortunately, and im now planning to buy a new macbook pro. But i didn’t see any budget plans on apple inc.’s website. I doubt it.
About the Author:

flying? Driving? or taking a train? websites please! thanks so much for the answers.
seo consulting

Hi there,

we’re in a rental unit right now and even though we’ve pretty much not even touched the thermostats this winter -baseboard heating – (kept them all at ten Celsius) our hydro usage is ridiculous. We just received a three month bill from Hydro where our monthly kw usage is 3296, and daily 110.89 Kw. We’re paying 630.00 dollars for this bill. Is this normal?
wedding fans

INTRODUCTION

I write this piece to share my personal and professional experience with all of you aspiring entrepreneurs in out there regarding issues that you will likely have to face when starting your own business. Please note that some of the legal topics in this piece apply to someone starting and operating a business in Ontario, Canada.

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

Experience and education

You need the technical education and experience in your area of interest to provide a great service or product, whether you’re an accountant, a furniture salesman or a web-designer. But if you have only this, it only qualifies you to be great employee. It doesn’t mean you are able to run a business.

To successfully run a small business, you need to be a “jack of all trades” with a working knowledge in the areas of sales & marketing, accounting & finance, business law, and human resources management.

No one expects you to be an expert in these areas to be a successful entrepreneur, but you should know enough to identify potential problems or issues so you can hire an expert to deal with them quickly before problems get worse. If you cannot even identify a problem, then you’re setting yourself up for some major trouble.

If you’ve considered starting up a business, you ideally should first find a job with a successful employer in the industry that interests you and learn all aspects of how the business is run. You should also enroll in some introductory courses in accounting, finance, business law and marketing at a local college or university.

Personality traits

From our experience, most successful entrepreneurs have the following personality traits:

1. They are highly organized

2. They love their work – they are truly passionate about what they do and that gives them an edge over their competition. This translates into a strong work ethic, and the best entrepreneurs are considered “workaholics”.

3. They have a broad range of interests and talents. In the context of running a business, they are good at selling, financial management and working with people. This goes back to being a “jack-of-all trades” in order to succeed in business.

4. They can tolerate risk but carefully assess risks before making any major decisions.

To be more specific, there are people who are highly intelligent and educated, but require the emotional security blanket of having a job with a steady paycheque. At the other end of the scale are business people who will make decisions recklessly without first getting facts, analyzing them and then weighing the risks. Neither of these types can be successful entrepreneurs in the long run.

PREPARE A BUSINESS PLAN

Why? Because you need to know who you’re selling to – what’s the point of being in business if you can’t sell your product or service?

You also need to know how much it’s going to cost to set up and run your business. After all, if you spend more than what you sell, you’ll be losing money. Why be in business if you’re losing money all the time?

Finally, unless you already have a lot of money in the bank, you need to figure out how you’re going to finance the start up costs of your business.

Who are you selling to (define your market)?

If you took our advice previously and worked for a company specializing in your industry of interest, you should have an idea of who you can sell to and at what price.

If you didn’t, and have no idea whatsoever, then stop right here – you shouldn’t be starting a business at all.

Will I make any money (preparing a cash-flow projection)?

The most common costs you’ll incur can be separated into two categories:

Setup costs

Legal fees if you’re incorporating your business First and last months rent if you’re operating from rented premises Costs of setting up an IT network, phone and fax system Office furniture
Monthly operating costs

Rent Wages Inventory purchases if you’re selling goods Professional fees (accounting, legal) Leasing costs for business equipment Advertising
Once you’re able to estimate what you can sell and your cost of doing business, you (or you and your accountant) are in a position to put together a cash-flow projection.

The purpose of putting together a cash-flow projection is to determine if it makes sense to go into business in the first place.

Therefore, get accurate information about what how much you can sell and how much it costs to set up and operate. If you don’t do this before proceeding with actually going ahead with the business, it could lead to disaster.

Getting financing

You’ve now estimated how much it will cost to set up the business. It’s now time to get the start-up capital. You have a number of options:

Your own money

Many people get the start up money they need by mortgaging or re-mortgaging their homes, or selling property or possessions Banks and other lenders rightfully expect you to make a personal financial commitment – this is called putting “skin in the game”.
Family and friends

If you’re fortunate enough to have them believe in your ability to succeed, family and friends may be willing to provide a business start up loan Never, ever approach friends and family unless you have a detailed business plan that will demonstrate why your business will succeed. If you cannot factually demonstrate how your business will succeed, and how you’ll repay them, you are just throwing their money away We’ve seen this scenario play out, which results in broken friendships and strained family relationships
Canada Small Business Loan Program

Administered by Industry Canada. Although you borrow the money from a bank, the Canadian government basically guarantees that the bank will be repaid in the event your business fails Provides up to $500,000 of financing You must be carrying on business for profit with gross annual revenues of $5 million or less Loan proceeds can only be used to purchase business equipment, leasehold improvements to leased premises, or to purchase land for business operations You cannot use the proceeds to finance working capital, like inventory or accounts receivable You apply by completing a loan application at your bank. If the bank decides to grant you a loan, they register it with Industry Canada If you give a personal guarantee, you’re only personally liable for 25 percent of the initial amount borrowed. This is a big advantage over conventional loans, which usually require you to personally guarantee 100 percent of the loan borrowed by your business
Canadian Youth Business Foundation

This is a national charity that provides young entrepreneurs (18 to 34 years) of up to $15,000 in start up capital There is a mandatory 2-year mentoring program where you are matched up with an experienced businessperson to allow knowledge sharing and a higher business success rate
Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)

BDC is a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Canada Its goal is to support small businesses in Canada, by providing consulting and financing services Its “Co-Vision” loan program can provide up to $100,000 in financing, which can be repaid over 6 years. If needed, borrowers can postpone principal payments for 12 months The program targets businesses in manufacturing, distribution, services and tourism Loan proceeds can be used to finance working capital, fixed assets, marketing and start-up costs as will as purchasing an existing business or a franchise Must be able to demonstrate realistic market and sales potential Must also be able to demonstrate relevant experience and knowledge about your industry Must be able to give personal and financial references
WHAT IS THE BEST LEGAL STRUCTURE?

Most people start their businesses on a small scale and operate initially as sole proprietorships. You only need to register your business name through Service Ontario, either at one of their kiosks or online. As of this writing, the registration fee is $60.00.

However, if you expect your business to regularly incur debt as part of its operations (e.g., purchase of inventory on credit terms, leasing of equipment) or your industry is known to be highly litigious (i.e., there may be a good chance you can be sued someday), then we advise you to incorporate from the outset.

So what is a corporation anyway? A corporation is a legal person, just like you. It can purchase assets, incur debt, file lawsuits or be sued just like a “natural” person. It has many of the same rights as a natural person. Corporations exist as virtual or fictitious persons, granting limited protection to the actual people involved in the business of the corporation. This limited liability is the major advantage of incorporating your business.

So why is the protection “limited” and not “absolute”? Because a director of a corporation (who is usually also the shareholder who owns the company) has personal exposure to certain statutory business debts, such as:

GST collected by your business but not remitted to Canada Revenue Agency Payroll taxes deducted from your employees’ wages, but not remitted to Canada Revenue Agency Employer premiums for EI and CPP Up to 6 months unpaid wages and vacation pay of your employees Retail Sales Tax collected by your business but not remitted to the Ontario Ministry of Finance
Also, if you gave any personal guarantees to any of your business creditors, for example, the bank for your loan or your landlord when you signed the lease agreement, incorporating your business will not protect you personally if you fall behind in these obligations. Therefore, to the extent possible, negotiate your way out of giving any personal guarantees for your business.

The easiest way to incorporate is to see a lawyer, who will prepare, have you sign and register the necessary documents to incorporate your business. Unfortunately, between legal fees and government registration fees, it costs quite a bit more to incorporate compared with registering a sole proprietorship.

PREPARING PLAN B: WHAT IF IT FAILS?

A frequent cause of personal financial difficulties is the failure of a business and the attendant business-related liabilities personally owed by the company owner. Here are some simple suggestions to preemptively protect your personal assets in the event the business fails:

1. As we suggested in the previous section, consider incorporating the business. Incorporation will provide you with a level of creditor protection. So long as you’ve been current on paying your statutory liabilities (listed in the previous section) and those creditors for which you gave a personal guarantee, you’ll be personally protected from your other business debts.

2. Consider transferring personal assets to a spouse’s name or a family trust. After the transfer, these assets no longer owned by you and are therefore not subject to claims of your personal creditors.

3. If you are putting away money for retirement, consider investing in RRSPs that are exempt from the claims of your personal creditors; for example, segregated funds. The distinction between segregated funds and mutual funds is that segregated funds are insurance contracts. The Ontario Insurance Act provides that:

“where the beneficiary of the insurance contract is a spouse, child, grandchild or parent of a person whose life is insured… the rights and interests of the insured in the insurance money and in the contract are exempt from execution or seizure…”

Therefore, insurance products held in RRSPs will be exempt from seizure by your personal creditors.

A very important point: you should make these arrangements before you get into personal financial trouble, not after you’ve become exposed to personal debts. If you were to say, transfer your home to your spouse when the bank is trying to collect on the personal guarantee you gave to them, these arrangements will not work. There are laws that can set aside transfers of assets where the intent is to hide your assets from your creditors as they’re trying to collect their debts.

Therefore, make arrangements to protect yourself personally with these tips before you open the doors to your business, not after you’ve closed them!

SETTING UP YOUR BUSINESS

Finding a location

Many entrepreneurs start their businesses from home. If that suits you, then read no further.

However, if you require actual business premises, you should consider the following factors:

How will your customers get to you? Is it conveniently located by public transportation? Is there free parking? How much space will you need to operate? What is the reputation of the landlord? Do they regularly maintain the upkeep of the building premises? You don’t want to turn off potential customers because they think your place looks like a slum. How are the views and lighting? You don’t want rent a place with a view of the wall from the next building. You want to create a nice work environment for your staff so they’re happy and productive. Will you be able to get the landlord to waive a personal guarantee for the lease?
After considering these factors, review the price per square foot and negotiate a mutually agreeable arrangement with landlord. For example, you may be able to get at few months free rent as part of the final lease agreement.

Interviewing and hiring staff

Getting people to submit resumes is always easy. Hiring the right person out of that stack of resumes is not.

It’s been said that the first thirty seconds of a job interview will ultimately determine if the candidate gets the job or not. You either like someone or you don’t. However, even though you might “click” with the candidate, it would be a mistake to hire someone without performing a thorough background check.

It is important that you verify a candidate’s employment history and references as well as their educational background. Even if their previous job experience and educational background have no bearing whatsoever on the position that they’re applying for, it is crucial that you confirm that they’re being truthful to you. If not, then this is a significant character flaw – if they can lie to you so easily, they can just as easily steal from you.

You should also consider performing a credit history search and criminal background check. It is not unusual to meet job applicants who filed bankruptcy or who’ve been convicted of a criminal offence. Everyone has made mistakes in their life and you should not necessarily hold this against the applicant. The honest ones will usually tell you up front about their past before you even perform such a background check. That being said, it is a factor for you to consider in making your final hiring decision.

Advertising your business

Whether you advertise using “traditional” methods like print media and television, or “modern” methods such as internet advertising depends on your audience.

If for example, you are targeting an older demographic (say over 55 years), then traditional advertising may be the way to go. On average, this demographic tends to spend more time reading newspapers and watching television than younger people.

On the other hand, if you are targeting a younger demographic, then internet advertising may be the way to go. It is not surprising that traditional print media like newspaper companies and television stations are in serious financial trouble. Their audience (and advertising revenue) is shrinking because more people are getting their news and entertainment through the internet.

Advertising in print media like the Yellow Pages or in newspapers can be very expensive (especially in a market like Toronto). From our personal experience, we’ve found that advertising on the internet is the most effective and cost efficient way to reach out to our audience.

There are many freelancers who can help you design and place a website on the internet. However, you also want people to find your website when a prospective customer types in a search term into a search engine like Google or Yahoo! For this, you’d need to hire a Search Engine Optimization consultant (SEO).

An SEO will essentially make your website more “searchable” by search engines. This is usually done by, among other things, integrating certain keywords into the text of your site, building “links” to your site from other websites, creating “cost per click” web advertising campaigns with Google Adwords or Yahoo Search Marketing, and listing your business in Google’s Local Business directory

TAXES: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

GST

If you provide a good or service in Canada and your annual revenue will exceed $30,000, you’re required to register your business and collect GST If you’re operating as a sole proprietor or you are the director of a corporation, you’ll be personally liable if you don’t collect and/or remit.
PST

If you sell goods to “end-user” consumers (as opposed to reselling to another business), you’re required to collect and remit provincial sales tax If you’re operating as a sole proprietor or you are the director of a corporation, you’ll be personally liable if you don’t collect and/or remit.
Payroll tax

You are required to deduct income tax, CPP and EI withholdings from your employees’ wages and remit these withholdings to the Canada Revenue Agency every pay period You are also required to pay CPP and EI premiums, calculated as a percentage of your employees’ wages If you’re operating as a sole proprietor or you are the director of a corporation, you’ll be personally liable for failure to remit withholdings and/or premiums to the Canada Revenue Agency
Corporate Income Tax

The federal corporate tax rate is 38 percent of net income If you’re operating as a Canadian Controlled Private Corporation (essentially a company incorporated in Canada whose shares are privately owned by a Canadian resident), this rate is reduced to 28 percent For the first $500,000 of net income earned by a CCPC, there is a further reduction to 11 percent In Ontario, the provincial corporate tax rate for a CCPC is 14 percent of net income. The first $500,000 of net income earned is taxed at 5.5 percent The combined federal and provincial corporate tax rate in Ontario on net income under $500,000 is 16.5 percent There is no director liability for non-payment of corporate income tax.
EMPLOYER OBLIGATIONS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

WSIB

Employers contribute to WSIB, which is a provincial insurance fund. The amount of premium payable is based on the size of your payroll and the accident experience in your industry. For example, a mining company will pay a higher premium for its employees than an accounting firm Injured workers are compensated by the WSIB on a “no fault” basis; that is, compensation is paid no matter who is at fault, the employer, the employee or someone else. In return for automatic compensation, the employer is shielded from any other liability. An employee cannot sue your company for negligence if that negligence causes a work-related injury The main focus of the WSIB system is to get the injured employee back to work as soon as possible. If injured employee cannot perform his or her regular work, your company may offer suitable modified work that the worker can perform without aggravating the injury. If the work is, in fact, suitable the injured worker must accept it. There is no director liability for unpaid WSIB premiums of a corporation
Wages and vacation pay

In Ontario, your obligations to your employees are governed by the Ontario Employment Standards Act. You are required to give your employees:

Two weeks vacation Termination pay, which increases with the length of employment Severance pay where: (1) an employee has worked at your company for at least 5 years and; (2) your annual payroll is $2.5 million or more. The amount payable increases with the length of employment If you’re operating as a corporation, a director of the corporation is personally liable for up to 6 months’ unpaid wages and vacation pay
FINANCIAL CONTROLS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Segregation of duties

The basic concept is this: the person responsible for the recording of assets coming in and going out of your company should not be the same person who handles those assets. For example:

The person who approves invoices for payment should not be responsible for writing and signing cheques. He has an opportunity to defraud the business by making payments to fictitious companies If the purchaser orders and receives the goods, he can place an order for more than is needed and keep the rest. If the person who writes the checks handles the bank reconciliation, no one will know if he writes checks to himself or relatives.
When starting out your business, this usually won’t be an issue as you will be the only employee along with perhaps a handful of staff. However, as your company grows and you hire more staff, internal control through segregation of duties becomes extremely important.

Periodic Financial Statements

This would include a balance sheet, profit & loss statement and cash-flow statement. It is crucial that you regularly monitor your businesses’ financial performance on a periodic basis. This is particularly important during the first few years of business – you need to know if you are making money or losing money, and when to call it quits if you’re operating at a loss.

Ideally, you should prepare financial statements on a monthly basis, so you can make the necessary adjustments to your business operations if you determine that you’re spending too much in certain areas or whether your sales targets are being met. If you wait until the end of your business year to prepare the financials, you may not realize the problem areas in your business operations until it’s too late.

CONCLUSION

As a professional accountant in Toronto, Canada, the country’s largest city and financial and business capital, I have come across many poor souls who’ve lost everything after having failed in business. This article was written to assist the reader in avoiding the pitfalls that hinder many entrepreneurs. However, it is an overview rather than a complete analysis of issues facing a prospective Canadian entrepreneur. Before applying any of these suggestions, consult your professional advisor.
About the Author:

Ontario is a province located between the province of Quebec to the east, and Manitoba to the west. To the north is Hudson Bay and James Bay. To the south are the United States of America, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and New York, Pennsylvania. The border between the two countries are filled with rivers and lakes, Saint Lawrence River, it passes through the four Great Lakes, Lakes Superior, Erie Huron (which includes Georgian Bay), Huron, Ontario. There are approximately 250,000 lakes and 100,000 kilometers of river in the province in the province of Ontario.

The weather is nice and hot (15-30 days above 30?C or 86?F) in the summer so you can enjoy traveling and visiting the beach. There are many neat things to see there, Niagara Falls [http://www.ontario-canada-guide.com] is the most visited waterfall in Canada, the Toronto Stock Exchange is a very neat place to visit. You get to learn the history and how it affects the world everyday. You can take tours through out the province seeing all the history that the province has to offer.

Some quick facts

-Largest city is Toronto

-Population is 12,541,410(2005)

-3rd Province in Canada July 1, 1867

-English speaking province

This is a province that you don’t want to miss because there is so much of Canada’s history here. If you come from a smaller city this is going to be a experience of a life time seeing the towering buildings and just the mass size of the city’s.
vegas wedding favors

I really really want a horse but I need to know more about the cost. please give me an accurate price of vet fees, approximate boarding fees, and anything you can think of. (I need 2009′s prices, obviously)
vegas wedding favors

I have already tried looking all over, and no luck.
About the Author: