Financial Post, Weekly edition, Sat 17 Jun 95, page 14

Summit Notebook

Neville Nankivell

AFTER IT'S OVER: When James Blanchard, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, arrived at the Halifax airport, reporters were surprised to see him pick up a set of golf bags from the carousel. ''The president ordered me to bring these,'' he said sheepishly when they said they thought it was supposed to be a working summit. ''He told me to stand by.'' While Bill Clinton hopes to get a golf game in afterwards, Prime Minister Jean Chretien will take Germany's Helmut Kohl to the Far North to fish.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE: It was not just Russian President Boris Yeltsin who wanted to give his country a greater presence at the summit. About 150 Russian journalists arrived and were much in evidence at social events. At a lobster feast in the nearby village of Hubbards, one jumped on to the stage to bring greetings on behalf of Russia and to thank Canada for inviting them.

SOLAR SEWAGE: One of the most unusual exhibitions featured on the Halfifax harborfront was ''Solar Aquatics,'' an environmentally friendly waste treatment system. Bear River in Nova Scotia is the first community in Canada to be completely dependent on a solar sewage treatment facility. Built by Applied Environmental Systems Ltd., Halifax, the $480,000 plant is housed in a large greenhouse that has become a top tourist attraction.

THE ANNE FACTOR: Neighboring Prince Edward Island hopes to cash in on the summit by attracting more tourists from the G-7 countries. Its tourism officials expect the international exposure will produce ''a windfall of visitors'' to P.E.I. two or three years from now, especially from Japan where the Anne of Green Gables stories are so popular. The Japanese had a huge media delegation present, keeping several buses on standby to take them to and from events.

LOBSTER KIROSHI: Nova Scotians like their lobster dipped in melted butter. But Kiroshi Araki, the economic counsellor with the embassy of Japan in Ottawa, introduced them to a new dipping sauce - half a cup of Japanese rice vinegar with one teaspoon of soya sauce. The verdict: delicious.

BLITZER BLITZ: A local classic rock radio - Q104 -set up a Wolf Blitzer hotline for sightings of the famous CNN White House correspondent. Prizes for its spot Blitzer contest - contestants had to get his autograph on the back of his business card - included a $10 gas coupon, a dozen doughnuts, and dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

NO DAMP SPIRITS: The weather was, well, frankly lousy as the summit opened and heavy rain meant a lot of no-shows at some of the early social events. But it didn't dampen the warmth and friendliness of Haligonians. Three times as many as were needed applied for 700 volunteer positions, including manning various technology exhibits.

	This information is provided by the Financial Post.
	Please send comments to: g8@utoronto.ca Revised: June 3, 1995

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