Q - HOW MANY MEMBERS DO YOU HAVE?
P.M.- (Tongue-in-cheek) You'll have to check with Statistics Canada, I think it's almost 30 million!

Q - YOU'RE KIDDING RIGHT?
P.M. - It depends on your perspective... our effort is designed to be inclusive, not exclusive, we want all Canadians to feel good about themselves, build their confidence, create bonds, not divisions.

Q - WE'VE NEVER HEARD OF YOU GUYS BEFORE, ARE YOU PART OF A GOVERNMENT CAMPAIGN?
P.M.- If you read Canada's national newspaper the Globe and Mail, you have probably heard the name... but Canadians have always been like this in spirit... it just took a non-government, non-partisan, fresh viewpoint to define the Canadian Identity and coin a name for it.

Q - HOW DO YOU PUBLICIZE YOUR GROUP?
P.M.- First, we're not really a group - we're more like representatives... we represent the positive attributes of Canadians, regardless of language, colour, background or ethnicity and encourage our "30 million members" to Be Canadian, Buy Canadian, Boost Canadian and Be Cool. ... and how do we get publicity? Every one of our members is an official ambassador for themselves and fellow Canadians. Wherever we travel in Canada or around the world we try to live up to the image and values we hold dear. As an organization we put on mall displays, hold photo shoots in schools & community centres, we participate in discussions on cable tv and radio talk shows and give talks at schools and communities that invite us! We basically encourage un-official grass-roots feedback and involvment in Cool to be Canadian.
We have a board of directors that come from across Canada, and we're always looking for Advisory Board members!

(I'd like to note a few media people with the foresight to support Cool to be Canadian, - Mark Perry of the Winnipeg Sun, Joe Aeillo of 92 CITI FM, Dag Sharman of CKND, Kirk Willliams of CBC-TV , John Bertrand CBC940, Albert Nerenberg of the Montreal Gazette and CHOM FM, Ted Bird and Terry Dimonte of FM96 and a few others found in the celebrity and media sections of the www.cool.ca website)

Q - YOU MUST GET MONEY FROM THE GOVERNMENT TO DO WHAT YOU DO... WHO SPONSORS YOU?
P.M.- Cool to be Canadian has never been offered or received any money from any government, ever. Take a look at the articles in the FAAX section of the www.cool.ca website, you'll see that all the efforts over the past 20 years have been self-financed.

Q - HOW THEN, DO YOU FINANCE COOL TO BE CANADIAN?
P.M.- To raise money for our website costs, telephone bills, rent, promotional materials, literature and so on, we sell an innovative and unique CANADIAN MADE products including a computer mousepad. Called a RatPad, it's a really cool product... both a mousepad with a message, and a colourful removable sticker. We see people sticking RatPads on their car windows, on their filing cabinets or refridgerators... sometimes they even use them with their computers!
We also have our Cool to be Canadian t-shirts, hats and other items we licence to Canadian manufacturers.
We don't ask for handouts.. Cool Canadians support themselves.

Q - HOW MUCH IS COOL TO BE CANADIAN STUFF?
P.M.- There are many designs of the apparel, ratpads, and other Cool to be Canadian™ accessories - Aboriginal themes, historical themes... this is how we raise funds. We also want people to know that we are having a design competition for the next batch of Cool to be Canadian™ products, so if anyone wants to submit a design for national exposure, specifications and address are in the package.

Q - WHY DON'T YOU JUST ASK FOR DONATIONS?
P.M.- Cool to be Canadian is as proud as the people it represents - we're not asking for charity or hand-outs... we are trying to influence people's attitudes in the opposite direction! We believe exchanging a fun, useful products with an encouraging message for a reasonable amount of money sets an example for Canadians, particularily young Canadians... we want to stimulate the economy, not drain it!

Q - WHAT DO YOU MEAN, "SETS AN EXAMPLE"?
P.M.- I'm afraid some Canadians have lost sight of their heritage... as Canadians, we are made up of peoples who bartered, exchanged and traded value for value. Early inhabitants had no welfare, no unemployment insurance, no lawyers! they had nothing to fall back on except the community they built, their spirit and shared values. Interestingly, more recent arrivals still see this as a land of opportunity, and have been instrumental in stimulating and reviving the self-sustaining principles of Cool to be Canadian. In a world gone haywire, more than ever it's Cool to be Canadian!

Q - HAVE YOU ANY OTHER PLANS FOR COOL TO BE CANADIAN?
P.M.- Absolutely! but you'll have to look at www.cool.ca for details. However in the meantime, keep your eyes open for Be, Buy, Boost™ Cool to be Canadian™ tags and stickers on Canadian manufactured items. With this cool new project, we are encouraging students and young entrepreneurs to go out into their communities, speak with local manufacturers and retailers, learn about the businesses in their community and sell a Cool to be Canadian licensing kit to them. The kit contains a roll of 500 small stickers and a license to use the Cool to be Canadian trade name in promoting their products. The businesses the students sign up will also get promoted on the Cool to be Canadian website, which we hope will further stimulate work opportunities, and become "the place" to find Cool to be Canadian products and people!

Q - VOLUNTEERISM IS BEING TALKED ABOUT ALOT THESE DAYS... YOU WERE ON THE NEWS A COUPLE OF TIMES RECENTLY, SHOWN VOLUNTEERING TO DRIVE HOSPITAL STAFF AND PATIENTS AROUND DURING THE BLIZZARD... WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON VOLUNTEERISM?
P.M.- Let me explain the basis of my thoughts on what it is to be Cool to be Canadian. Cool to be Canadian is about stimulating the elements of the Canadian character that define the make up of a Canadian... Volunteerism is one of those fundamental characteristics. This is a harsh land, a land of extremes, and a place where the First Peoples voluntarily helped the Europeans survive in the New World. Once here, the settlers voluntarily helped each other establish themselves, and of course responded when another pioneer was in trouble. This is how we got here, through our ancestors helping each other. Although most of us now live in cities and have become complacent, expecting the Government or someone else to "save us" from all problems, I think real Canadians, whether they have been here 5,000 years or 5 years, understand the responsibility and opportunity that helping each other through volunteering provides.

Q - WHAT ABOUT MOTIVATING PEOPLE... HOW DO YOU DO IT?
P.M.- One word. Recognition.

Q - WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
P.M.- Let me give you an example... although I have personally had much more than my allotted 15 minutes of fame, it was still a huge motivator and reward to visit Earl's restaurant on Main a few days ago, and have the maitre d', Jennifer Patterson, track me down as "the guy on TV who volunteered to drive hospital staff" and then offer me "a dinner on us"! Jennifer then introduced me to my server, Stacy Burrows, who was friendly and genuinely interested why I was being treated to dinner. After dinner, Earl's manager Luke Wells came by the table, and after a heartfelt discussion, committed himself to volunteering with Cool to be Canadian in any way that would help! .... clearly, simple recognition is the most powerful reward and motivator for Cool Canadians!

Q - ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT EVERYONE WHO VOLUNTEERS SHOULD BE GETTING A FREE RIDE?
P.M.- No. In the case of Earl's, I was fortunate that the staff recognized and appreciated my efforts and voluntarily offered a complimentary dinner - I didn't ask for it, I wasn't trying to capitalize on the goodwill generated by my efforts, I just felt appreciated and rewarded that others shared the Cool to be Canadian view. I think as the Cool to be Canadian concept spreads, and people begin to realize that being nice to volunteers and adequately recognizing them keeps 'em coming back for more, we'll find fewer and fewer examples of selfish attitudes where people hesitate until they're sure of what's in it for them.

Q - WHAT IS COOL TO BE CANADIAN?
P.M.- Whenever anyone asks me that question, I turn it around and ask them "what does being Cool to be Canadian mean to YOU?"

But if you want my view on it, Cool to be Canadian is about Canadians discovering their identity, we agree there is no ONE identity... everyone is an individual with their own interpretation of what it is to be Canadian. Cool to be Canadian is about Being Canadian... whether as a volunteer, entreprenuer or voyageur..

My own little verse about Cool to be Canadian was published in 1992, here goes:

Philip McMaster is the founder of Corp. Cool d'etre canadien /Cool to be Canadian Corp.,
a federally incorporated non-profit organization.
933 Station H
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3G 2M9
info@cool.ca - http://cool.ca
Be Canadian, Buy Canadian, Boost Canadian, Be Cool.