Flies that Never Fail

Flies that Never Fail

They have funny names, but fish find them most alluring

Rule number one for aspiring fly fishermen: never say the word “work” to another fisherman. Instead, try peppering you conversation with words like hopper, nymph, or woolly bugger (a few commonly used flies). You'll fit right in.

Fly fishermen fish with imitation insects (flies) instead of worms or minnows, and pride themselves on the intricacy and variety of their flies. To ease your transition into the large and sometimes intimidating world of flies, here is a quick guide to some of the most popular and successful flies, according to fly guru John Bailey. From the fly shop in Livingston, Mont., Bailey has been supplying fly fishermen with his hand-tied flies for decades. He's also a fly-tier to the stars: he served as a consultant and fly fishing instructor for Robert Redford's movie A River Runs through It.

Woolly Bugger: One of the most universal flies, the woolly bugger works for both trout and bass on eastern and western waters. The woolly bugger is a streamer fly, which means it replicates minnows that swim below the surface.

Muddler Minnow: Like the woolly bugger, the muddler is a streamer that works on both trout and bass, but it is more effective on streams than it is on lakes.

Flies that never fail. Photo by Elena.

Adams:  Good for trout fishing, the Adams is a dry fly, which means it floats on top of the surface like an insect.

Royal Wulff: Another dry fly for trout. The white wings on this one allow you to keep an eye on it even in rough or choppy waters.

Hare's Ear Nymph, Prince Nymph, Bitch Creek Nymph, and Damsel: Nymph flies imitate aquatic insects in a particular developmental stage. Although nymphs are primarily for trout, the bitch creek nymph is good for both trout and bass, but is rarely used in eastern waters. The damsel is best for catching lake trout.

Elk Hair Caddis: Another good dry fly for trout. This one is made out of real elk hair. Because elk hair is hollow, the fly floats well.

Dave's Hopper: This fly, named for fly fishing expert Dave Fhitlock, replicates a grass hopper, floats on the surface, and can be used in most places.

Flawed

Flawed

By Cecelia Ahern

A few minutes later Tina opens the door, with a new female guard. “They're ready for you now.” Perhaps thinking of her daughter then, she softens her tone. “This is June.”

June speaks up. “Bark is heating up your iron, Flawed, gonna make it nice and hot for your pretty little skin.”

I look at Tina in horror and notice she in turn is looking at June in anger. I stop waling, terrified to go any farther, but they pull me along.

“Come on, keep walking,” Tina whispers.

I feel my legs weaken, I crumple, and Tina pulls me up.

“You're not being branded yet, Celestine. They have to name your flaws first,”

I allow them to pull me through the maze of corridors. I move limply with them, like a rag doll. We stop at a new door. Perhaps they took me out through it before. I can't remember, I was so stunned.

Tina looks at me. “Ready?”

“No.”

The door opens and the place explodes.

Flawed. Photo by Elena.

The first person I see is Carrick, who's standing in the same place at the back of the room. He stands up straighter when he sees me, turns his body in my direction, and almost follows me with it as I make my way to my seat. I sense his newfound respect for me; there will be no back to my cell wall tonight.

The room is hot and stuffy. I can smell sweat and excitement, my life the entertainment of others. I see one woman offer a bag of candy to the man beside her. They ram the sweets into their mouths as they watch me pass, eyeing me up and down as if I can't see them.

I take my seat beside Mr. Berry.

“What's happening?” I ask him, and he shrugs, looking just as confused as I am.

“Ms. Celestine North, please stand,” Crevan says.

I stand, my legs shaky beneath me. My mom clings to my dad. My granddad's cap is in his hand as he clutches it tightly, his knuckles white.

I stand alone in the courtroom and realize this is how it will be for the rest of my life, standing alone, branded Flawed forever because of one act.

I hear doors burst open, and the three judges look up.

“Don't do this,” a voice shouts from the door.

It's Art. I turn around, The disguise is gone.

“Art,” I say to him, afraid, and hear the quiver in my voice.

“Order inn the court,” Judge Crevan says, banging his gravel.

“Don't do this to her!” he yells again.

“Restrain him,” Crevan says, looking down, moving his paperwork around, nervously.

Two members of security grab his arms, and he yells and struggles as they pull him from the room. I look away, turn to the front, eyes back to the ground.

“Shall I continue?” Judge Sanchez asks Crevan in her smooth voice, all honey and calm.

“No!” he snaps. “Celestine North,” se says, looking up at me, eyes wild and bloodshot. He means business now. “Your so-called bravery in court suggests you wish to be a poster girl, and we don't take poster girls lightly. Not when the message you portray is dangerous to society. We see you as a poison that is prepared to inflict itself on our good and proper society. So take this to the people, poster girl.

“It is rare for any accused to receive more than one branding, but if you are to be looked at and adored by some in society, then let them see your flaws wherever they look. We must also take into account the seriousness of your actions, that they were done publicly, with an audience. This was not a private event that hurt a few. It was public and has become even more so. You have attracted the world's attention, Ms. North, and for that we must send a message. I will now name your brands.”

A swirl. Illustration by Elena.

Modeling Risk: Capital Asset Pricing Model

Modeling Risk: The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)

Portfolio theory has important implications for how stocks are actually valued. If investors seek to reduce risk in anything like the manner Harry Markowitz described, the stock market will tend to reflect these risk-reducing activities. This brings us to what is called the “capital-asset pricing model”, a creation devised by Stanford professor William Sharpe, the late Harvard professor John Lintner, and others.

We’ve mentioned that the reason diversification cannot usually produce the miracle of risk elimination, as it did in our mythical island economy, is that usually stocks tend to move up and down together. Still, diversification is worthwhile – it can eliminate some risks. What Sharpe an Lintner did was to focus directly on what part of a security’s risk can be eliminated by diversification and what part can’t.

Can you imagine any stockbroker saying, “we can reasonably describe the total risk in any security (or portfolio) as the total variability (variance or standard deviation) of the returns from the security? He’d probably scare away the few individual customers who are left. But we who teach are under no such contraints, and we say such things often. We go on to say the part of total risk or variability may be called the security’s systematic risk and that this arises from the basic variability of stock prices in general and the tendency for all stocks to go along with the general market, at least to some extent. The remaining variability in a stock’s returns is called unsystematic risk and results from factors peculiar to that particular company; for example, a strike, the discovery of a new product, and so on.

Systematic risk, also called market risk, captures the reaction of individual stocks (or portfolios) to general market swings. Some stocks and portfolios tend to be very sensitive to market movements. Others are more stable. This relative volatility or sensitivity to market moves can be estimated on the basis of the past record, and is popularly know by the Greek letter beta.

Modeling risk. Photo by Elena

You are now about to learn all you ever wanted to know about beta but were afraid to ask. Basically, beta is the numerical description of systematic risk. Despite the mathematical manipulations involved, the basic idea behind the beta measurement is one of putting some precise numbers on the subjective feelings money managers have had for years. The beta calculation is essentially a comparison between the movements of an individual stock or portfolio and the movements of the market as a whole.

The calculation begins by assigning a beta of 1 to a broad market index, such as the NYSE index or the S&P 500. If a stock has a beta of 2, then on average it swings twice as far as the market. If the market goes up 10 percent, the stock rises 20 percent. If a stock has a beta of 0.5, it tends to be more stable than the market (it will go up or down 5 percent when the market rises or declines 10 percent). Professionals often call high-beta stocks aggressive investments and label low-beta stocks as defensive.

Now the important thing to realize is that systematic risk cannot be eliminated by diversification. It is precisely because all stocks move more or less in tandem (a large share of their variability is systematic) that even diversified stock portfolios are risky. Indeed, if you diversified perfectly by buying a share in the S&P index (which by definition has a beta of 1) you would still have quite variable (risky) returns because the market as a whole fluctuates widely.

Unsystematic risk is the variability in stock prices (and therefore, in returns from stocks) that results from factors peculiar to an individual company. Receipt of a large new contract, the finding of mineral ressources on the company’s property, labor difficulties, the discovery that the corporation’s treasurer has had his hand in the company till – all can make a stock’s price more independently of the market. The risk associated with such variability is precisely the kind that diversification can reduce. The whole point of portfolio theory is that, to the extent that stocks don’t move in tandem all the time, variations in the returns from any one security will tend to be washed away or smoothed out by complementary variation in the returns from other securities.

Suppose we randomly select securities for our portfolio that tend on average to be just as volatile as the market (the average betas for the securities in our portfolio will always be equal to 1). As we add more and more securities the total risk of our portfolio declines, especially at the start.

When 10 securities are selected for our portfolio, a good deal of the unsystematic risk is eliminated, and additional diversification yields little further risk reduction. By the time 20 well diversified securities are in the portfolio, the unsystematic risk is substantially eliminated and our portfolio (with a beta of 1) will tend to move up and down essentially in tandem with the market. Of course, we could perform the same experiment with stocks whose average beta is 1 ½. Again, we would find that diversification quickly reduced unsystematic risk, but the remaining systematic risk would be larger. A portfolio of 20 or more stocks with an average beta of 1 ½ would tend to be 50 percent more volatile than the market.

Burton G. Malkiel. A Random Walk Down Wall Street, including a life-cycle guide to personal investing. First edition, 1973, by W.W. Norton and company, Inc.

Resource Index

Resource Index

Most of the companies listed below have multiple locations in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and even internationally. The predominantly downtown locations are chosen randomly as examples. Some institutions are omitted altogether, so again, the list fails to be exhaustive. Also, the activity fields and categories of several of the following organizations significantly overlap.

One last thing, unless otherwise specified, all locations are in Montreal; and, in alphabetical order.

The Montreal financial services industry alone counts more than 100,000 employees and over 3000 companies. Finance jobs are concentrated predominantly in the banking, credit union, securities and insurance areas.

Accounting

    KMPG

600 Boulevard de Maisonneuve West

H3A 0A3

Telephone: 514 840-2100

    Ernst & Young

800 Boulevard Rene-Levesque West

H3B 1X9

Tel.: 514 875-6060

    Deloitte

1 Place Ville-Marie Suite 3000

H3B 4T9

Tel.: 514 393-7115

    Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton

600 de la Gauchetiere West

Tel.: 514 878-2691

Not all persons doing accounting work are certified accountants. The requirements vary and may be established through the appropriate order.

    Ordre des Comptables Agrees du Quebec (CA)

680 Sherbrooke Street West

18th floor H3A 2S3

Tel.: 514 288-3256

    Ordre des Comptables en Management Accredites du Quebec (CMA)

393 Saint-Jacques Street suite 920

H2Y 1N9

Tel.: 514 849-1155 or 1 800 263-5390

Fax: 514 849-9674

Montreal, Old Port. Photo by Elena

    Ordre des CGA du Quebec

500 Place d’Armes Suite 1800

H2Y 2W2

Tel.: 514 861-1823

Toll-free: 1 800 463-0163

Fax: 514 861-7661

Banking

    BMO Bank of Montreal

670 Ste-Catherine Street West

H3A 2A4

Tel.: 514 877-1456

    RBC Royal Bank of Canada

1140 Ste-Catherine Street West

H3B 1H7

Tel.: 514 874-3043

    Caisse Desjardins

1255 Berri Street

H2L 4C6

Tel.: 514 849-3581

    TD Toronto Dominion Financial Group

1201 Laird Ville Mont-Royal

Tel.: 514 289-0352

    Scotiabank (Bank of Nova Scotia)

7885 Boulevard Decarie

Tel.: 514 499-5432

    CIBC Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

600 Cathcart

Tel.: 514 876-2114

    HSBC Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation

8999 Boulevard l’Acadie

Tel.: 514 381-8566

    National Bank of Canada

2290 Ontario Street East

Tel.: 514 527-9837

    Laurentian Bank

1981 McGill College Avenue

Tel.: 514 252-1846

    CDIC Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation (Crown Corporation)

Tel.: 1 800 461-2342

Business Schools

    HEC Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, UDM Universite de Montreal

3000 Chemin de la Cote-Sainte-Catherine

H3T 2A7

Tel.: 514 340-6000

    Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University

Bronfman Building, 1001 Sherbrooke Street West

H3A 1G5

Tel.: 514 398-4000

Fax: 514 398-3876

    JMSB John Molson School of Business, Concordia University

1455 Boulevard de Maisonneuve West

H3G 1M8

Tel.: 514.848.2424

    Ecole des Sciences de la Gestion, UQAM Universite du Quebec a Montreal

Room J-M320 Judith-Jasmin Building

405 Ste-Catherine East

H2L 2C4

Tel.: 514 987-3000

Emergency: 514 987-3131

    The Institute of Canadian Bankers

1002 Sherbrooke Street

10th floor H3A 3M5

Tel.: 514 282 9480

Toll-free: 1 800 361 7339

Fax: 514 282-8881

    [Alternative] Ecole du Show Business

7093 du Parc Avenue

H3N 1X7

Tel.: 514 271-2244

Credit Unions

    Ukrainian National Montreal Credit Union

3246 Beaubien Street East

H1Y 1H7

Tel.: 514 722-7845

    Fraternite des Policiers et Policieres de Montreal

460 Gilford Street

Tel.: 514 847-1004

A credit union, such as PAPT Credit Union, is a cooperative, often not for profit, designed to promote members’ happiness and thrift by several means, one of them being permitting borrowing at advantageous rates. Although aforementioned Caisse Desjardins is hereby classified as a bank, it is in fact a cooperative - the reason behind the organization’s ristourne program as well as acceptance of projects other banks frown upon, such as European flavoured undivided condominiums.

Finance

    Montreal Exchange

Bourse de Montreal Inc

Exchange Tower

P.O. Box 61

800 Victoria Square

H4Z 1A9

Tel.: 514 871-2424

Fax: 514 871-3514

Toll-free Canada and USA 1 800 361-5353

Toll-free Great Britain and France 00 800 36-15-35-35

    International Financial Centre Montreal

1130 Sherbrooke Street West

16th Floor H3A 2M8

Tel.: 514 287-1477

Fax: 514 287-1694

    Macquarie:

Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd.

1250 Boulevard Rene-Levesque West Suite 3910

H3B 4W8

Tel.: 1 514 925-28.50

Fax: 1 51 925-2860

    Macquarie Private Wealth Inc.

1250 Boulevard Rene-Levesque West suite 4215

H3B 4W8

Tel.: 514 937-3250

Fax: 514 937-4501

Toll free 1 877 925-2850

    Macquarie Financial Ltd.

L23, CIBC Tour

Tel.: 514.393.3799

    Macquarie premium Funding Ltd.

1155 boulevard Rene-Levesque West Suite 2350

H3B 2K2

Fax: 1 888 753-5842

Toll-free: 1 866 393-3977

    ING Direct Internationale Nederlanded Group (Groep)

1141 Boulevard de Maisonneuve West

H3A 1N4

Tel.: 416 756-2424 or 1 800 464-3473 or 1 866 464-3473

    CFA Institute – The Global Association of Investment Professionals

Tel.: 1 434 951-5499

Fax: 1 434 951-5262

Toll-free: USA and Canada: 1 800 247-8132

Finland: 0 800 1247-8132

Israel: 014 800 1247-8132

South Africa: 09 800 1247-8132

    Montreal CFA Society - Laval

408 - 3131 Boulevard de la Concorde

H7E 4W4

Tel.: 514 990-3772

Fax: 514 990-3772

    Investments PSP *Crown Corporation

1250 Boulevard Rene-Levesque West Suite 900

H3B 4W8

Tel.: 514 937 27-72

Fax: 514 937 31-55

    Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) - Toronto, Ontario

79 Wellington street West Suite 610

P.O. Box 75 M5K 1E7

Tel.: 416 866-8366

Toll-free: 1 866 243-6981

Fax: 416 360-8441

    Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC)

5 Place Ville Marie Suite 1550

H3B 2G2

Tel.: 514 878-2854

Fax: 514 878-3860

Enforcement matters only fax: 514.878.6324

    Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC) - Toronto, Ontario

902 375 University Avenue

Tel.: 416 593-8587

Toll free: 1 800 305-9886

Fax: 416 593-6903

Other mentions include Fidelity Investments, Penson Financial Services Canada, Dorchester Investment Management and Pictet Canada LP. (wealth and asset management). Limited partnership (LP.), sole proprietorship and incorporation (Inc., Co.) are the three existential routes companies can take, each with different consequences, pros and cons.

Gouvernement

    Industry Canada – Ottawa, Ontario

Mailing address

Industry Canada Web Service Centre

Industry Canada

C.D. Howe Building

235 Queen Street

K1A 0H5

Tel.: 613 954-5031

Toll-free: 1 800 328-6189

TTY (for hearing impaired only): 1 866 694-8389

Fax: 613 954-2340

    Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) [not to confuse with the banks’ bank or central bank – the Bank of Canada]

5 Place Ville Marie Suite 400

H3B 5E7

Toll free: 1 877 BDC-BANX (232-2269)

Fax: 1 977 329-9232

    The Canadian Chamber of Commerce

1155 University Street Suite 709

H3B 3A7

Tel.: 514 866-4334

Fax: 514 866-7296

    Ministere des Finances du Quebec - Quebec City

12 Saint-Louis Street

G1R 5L3

Tel.: 418 528-9323

Fax: 418 646-1631

    Societe Generale de Financement du Quebec (SGF)

600 de la Gauchetiere Suite 1500

H3B 4L8

Tel.: 514 876-9290

Fax 514 395-8055

    Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF)

General Information

800 Square Victoria

22nd Floor, C.P. 246, Exchange Tower

H4Z 1G3

Tel.: 514 395-0337

Fax: 514 873-3090

Toll-free: 1 877 525-0337

    Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions – Centre-du-Quebec Business Office - Drummondville

1100 Boulevard Rene-Levesque Suite 105

Tel.: 819 478-4664 or 1 800 567-1418

Taxation is dealt with by the Ministere du Revenu du Quebec and Canada Revenue Agency, for, respectively, provincial and federal taxes (consumption and income), and Ville de Montreal for school, water, welcome and municipal taxes.

Insurance

    Industrial Alliance

Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Head Office - Quebec City

1080 Grande Allee West

P.O. Box 1907, Station Terminus

G1K 7M3

Tel.: 418 684-5000

Toll-free: 1 800 463-6236

    Standard Life

1245 Sherbrooke Street West

H3G 1G3

Tel.: 514-499-8855 or 1 877 499-9555

Fax: 514 499-4908

    Sun Life

1155 Metcalfe Street

Tel.: 514.866.5811

    Manulife

300-2000 Mansfield Street

H3A 3H8

Tel.: 514 288 62-68

Other companies such as XN Financial Services (Canada) Inc. as well as most banks and many financial services sector firms provide insurance. Insurance may also come from elsewhere, such as the Quebec mandatory Regie de l’Assurance Maladie du Quebec (RAMQ) contribution for those lacking employer or professional insurance, which is in fact a medication policy.

Management corporations

    Fairway Management Corporation Ltd. - Westmount

4430 Ste-Catherine Street West

Tel.: 514.935.1212

    Corporation de Gestion Econo Malls - Westmount

1 Car Westmount

H3Z 2P9

Tel.: 514 938-2266

    The Chequers Management Corporation

9790 Meunier Street Suite 100C

Tel.: 514 388 71-77

Other examples of management corporations are the Societe de Gestion Cogir S E N C and Moteli Property Group, companies that oversee residential properties. In Quebec, the legal aspects of rent are enforced by the Regie du Logement du Quebec and the Regie des Rentes du Quebec.

Miscellaneous

    Insta-Cheques-Western Union (some open 24 hours) - Longueil

2001 Chemin de Chambly

Tel.: 450 646 2274

SAMSUNG DIGITAL MOVIE

    SAMSUNG DIGITAL MOVIE

Chèques Encaissés. Western Union. Photo : © MagicPhotoDesign

    FX Foreign Exchange Services – Calforex Corporate Currency Services

1230 Peel Street

H3B 2T6

Tel.: 514 392 91-00

    Montreal Cash for Gold

1255 Square-Phillips Street

H3B 3G1

Tel.: 514 866-1770

Mortagage Corporations

    Multi-Prêt (mortgage broker)

Tel.: 514 287-1211

Toll-free: 1 800 798-7738

    Financial LP First National – Montreal Chartered Real Estate

2000 Peel Street Suite 200

H3A 2W5

Tel.: 888 499-1733

Fax: 866 516-4074

    Hypotheques FirstLine

416 865-1999 or 1 800 970-0700

Fax: 416 945 65-00 or 1 800-267 20-80

Real Estate

    SITQ Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (real estate company)

Centre CDP Capital

1001 Square Victoria Street

H2Z 2B1

Tel.: 514 287 18-52 or 1 888 599-IMMO

    Re Max Signature (agency)

1411 Amherst Street

Tel.: 514 524-5566

    Royal Le Page (agency) - Outremont

1175 Bernard Avenue

Tel.: 514 271-4820

    La Capitale Centre-Ville (agency)

2048 St-Denis

Tel.: 514- 844 01-00

    Sotheby’s International Realty Quebec (agency) - Pierrefonds

3872 Boulevard Saint-Charles

H9H 3C6

Tel.: 514 620 00-99

    Groupe Immobilier Londono (agency) - Westmount

4150 Sherbrooke Street West

H3Z 1C2

Tel.: 514 937-1717

    McGill Real Estate (agency)

407 McGill Suite 810

H2Y 2G3

Tel.: 514 255-0550

    Du Proprio (direct)

Tel.: 514 605 22-02

Fax: 514 798 09-27

    Quebec Commerce - a board dedicated to sales of commercial properties and small to medium sized business or enterprises (correspondingly, SMBs or SMEs).

Tel.: 514 704 04-52

Additional interest is directed towards the CCAB (the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business). The non-profit organization was established in 1984 and is located in Toronto, Ontario.

Moreover, the province stands out with the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program. Conditions are revised periodically. In 2011, the eligibility criteria were worth of legally obtained CAD $1,600,000 in net assets and ready to invest 800,000. Back in 1993, the minimum investment was closer to half a million dollars. Other requirements such as experience in management apply and there is a list of financial intermediaries deemed acceptable on the Immigration et Communautes Culturelles du Quebec Website.

*Although the information provided above was methodically researched and prepared, the reader is referred to companies’ respective websites to ensure accuracy and/or further details.

Australia and Oceania

Australia and Oceania

1971 — 1995

Island Nations Yearn to Be Free

Australia dominates a region still isolated from much of the world. Oceania is a checkboard of social and economic conditions. But Australia, the most populous country of the region, boasts 100 percent literacy, a low infant mortality rate, and a relatively healthy standard of living. At the same time. Tiny Tuva has a per capita GDP lower than many African nations…

The white man – not the indigenous peoples of the South Pacific islands – controls Oceania today. Although some islands have gained independence in recent decades, Australia and New Zealand, each populated primarily by descendants of European settlers, dominate the region politically and economically. Both countries have been independent for nearly a century. But for some of the younger island nations, independence remains a turbulent experiment.

For many of Oceania’s island nations, independence has come withing the last two decades. Several islands remain territories, some controlled by the United States. French Polynesia and New Caledonia are still overseas territories of France. More than 25,000 islands (not including the islands of Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia) are spread across Oceania. The area includes the world’s smallest continent (Australia), and large islands groups such as New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji, as well as three other main island groups – Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. Island tribal languages and customs still exist, but English is the region’s dominant language and Christianity its dominant religion.

1970 – Antiwar Fever: Public opinion condemns Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War, causing the largest antiwar protest in the nation’s history. Australian Labor Party opposition members and prominent clergy urge Australian youths not to register for military service. In response to the opposition, the government declines to enforce the National Service Act, which requires young people to register.

1975 – Papua New Guinea Gains Its Freedom: Papua New Guinea’s governor-general lowers the Australian flag and declares the nation an independent parliamentary state and member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Papua New Guinea’s leaders pledge to maintain good relations with Australia and to reach out to China. Shortly thereafter, the new minister for defense, trade and foreign relations, Sir Maori Kiki, visits Beijing.

Oceania Girls. Credit photo: Elena

1978 – Anti-Immigrant Fever Sweeps Australia: As boatloads of poor Vietnamese refugees flood the country after the fall of Saigon to the Vietcong, Australian public opinion turns against the government’s liberal immigration policy. Media reports of Vietnamese refusing to learn English, receiving preferential employment treatment, and bringing existing old rivalries and conflicts with them frighten the populace.

1983 – 84 – Trouble in Hawke’s Paradise: Robert Hawke establishes himself as Australia’s most popular prime minister ever. Public opinion polls put his popularity at 73 percent after his first year in office. But his image tarnishes when opposition politicians declare hos low inflation figures are tainted by convenient miscalculations. Later, a Hawke minister is involved in a spy scandal involving secret material leaked to a Soviet diplomat. Amid a deep recession in 1991, Hawke is ousted by Paul Keating, the first time an Australian prime minister is removed from office by his own party.

1985 – The Rainbow Warrior Bombed: The Rainbow Warrior, the flagship of the environment advocacy group Greenpeace, is bombed in New Zealand’s Auckland Harbor. New Zealanders jail two French military agents who plead guilty to manslaughter in the incident. When France threatens to impose trade sanctions if New Zealand does not release the prisoners into French custody, both countries agree to international arbitration. In 1986, the U.N. Orders the prisoners to serve their terms in French Pacific territory and demands that France formally apologize and compensate New Zealand.

1989 – Unrest in Tonga: Public dissatisfaction with the government reaches a climax when peasants’ representatives stage a two-week parliamentary boycott in protest of the cabinet’s refusal to boost public servant salaries. Underlying the protest ins discontent with the 1875 constitution, which guarantees that the king’s nominees and Tonga’s nobles will dominate parliament. When they demand that more representatives be elected by popular vote, police urge citizens to respect their king, as required by law.

1991 – Micronesia Gains Its Independence: Once know as the Caroline Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia gain independence after Fiji and 80 other countries nominate them for admission into the United Nations. Micronesia had been ruled at different times by Spain, Germany, Japan, and the United States.

1992 – Explosive Borders: Bougainville, legally part of Papua New Guinea but culturally part of the Solomon Islands, triggers a border dispute between the two nations when it tries to secede. When a blockade imposed on the island by Papua New Guinea is breached by the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinean forces attack civilians across the border and destroy fuel supplies.

Sizing Up Australia and Oceania’s Countries and Territories (Capital, Independence Day, Relative Size, Form of Government, Dominant Religion, Official Language, Currency)

    Australia – Canberra. January 01, 1901. 7,686,850 sq. km. – Slightly smaller than the United States. Federal parliamentary state. Christianity. English. Australian dollar.

    Papua New Guinea. Port Moresby. September 16, 1975. UN trusteeship under Australia. September 16, 1975. Parliamentary democracy. Christianity. Pidgin English. Currency: Kina.

    New Zealand – Wellington. September 26, 1907. Parliamentary democracy. 268,680 – About the size of Colorado. Christianity. English language. New Zealand dollar.

    Solomon Islands – Honiara. July 7m 1978. UK. Parlamentary democracy. 28,450 – Slightly larger than Maryland. Christianity. Melanesian language. Currency: Solomon Islands dollar.

    New Caledonia (overseas Department of France) – Noumea. 19,060 – Slightly smaller than New Jersey. Religion – Catholicism. French language. Currency: Comptoirs Français du Pacifique Franc (CFP franc).

    Fiji – Suva. October 10, 1970, Uk. 18,270 – Slightly smaller than New Jersey. Republic. English language. Fiji dollar.

    Vanuatu – Port-Vila. July 30, 1980. France and UK. 14,760 – Slightly larger than Connecticut. Republic. Christianity. English and French languages. Currency: Vatu.

    French Polynesia (overseas Department of France) – Papeete. 3,941 – Slightly less than one-third the size of Connecticut. Religion – Christianity. French and Tahitian. languages. Currency: Comptoirs Français du Pacifique Franc (CFP franc).

    Western Samoa (UN trusteeship under New Zealand). – Apia. January 1, 1962. 2,860 – Slightly smaller than Rhode Island. Constitutional democracy under native chief. Christianity. Samoan and English languages. Currency : Tala.

    Tonga – Nuku’Alofa. June 4, 1970. UK. 748 – Slightly more than 4 times the size of Washington, D.C. Hereditary constitutional monarchy. Christianity. Tongan and English languages. Currency: Pa’anga.

    Kiribati – Tarawa. July 12, 1979. Republic. 717 – Slightly more than 4 times the size of Washington, D.C. Christianity. English language. Currency: Australian dollar.

    Federated States of Micronesia – Kolonia. UN trusteeship under U.S. Constitutional government in free association with the U.S 702 – Slightly less than 4 times the size of Washington, D.C. Christianity. English language. U.S. dollar.

    Guam (U.S. Territory) – Agana. 541.3 – Slightly more than 3 times the size of Washington, D.C. Religion – Catholicism. English, Chamorro, Japanese languages. Currency: U.S. dollar.

    Northern Mariana Islands (Commonwealth, in political union with the U.S.) – Saipan. Commonwealth in political union with the U.S. 477 – Slightly more than 2.5 times the size of Washington, D.C. Catholicism. English, Chamorro, Carolinian languages. Currency: American dollar.

    Pacific Islands/Palau (U.S. Administrated UN trusteeship) – Koror. U.S. Trusteeship under U.S. 458 – Slightly more than 2,5 times the size of Washington, D.C. Religion – Christianity. English, Sonsorolese, Angaur, Japanese, Tobi, Palaun languages. Currency: U.S. dollar.

    American Samoa (U.S. Territory) – Pago Pago. 199 – Slightly larger than Washington, D.C. Religion – Christianity. Somoan and English languages. Currency: U.S. dollar.

    Marshall Islands – Majuro. October 21, 1986. UK trusteeship under U.S. Constitutional government in free association with the U.S. 181 – Slightly larger than Washington, D.C. Christianity. English language. U.S. dollar.

    Tuvalu – Funafuti. October 1, 1978. UK. Democracy. 26 – About one-tenth the size of Washington, D.C. Christianity. Tuvaluan and English languages. Currency: Tuvaluan dollar.

    Nauru – Yaren District (no official capital, government offices are located in Yaren District). 21 – About one-tenth the size of Washington, D.C. Republic. Christianity. Nauran language. Currency: Australian dollar.

(Source World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency).

Australia and Oceania

    Largest Lake – Lake Eyre, Australia, 3,700 square miles.

    Longest River – Murray-Darling, Australia, 2,330 miles.

    Highest Point – Mount Wulhelm, Papua New Guinea, 14.794 feet.

    Lowest Point – Lake Eyre, Australia, 52 feet below sea level.

    Largest City – Sydney, Australia.