September 5, 2017 / Le 5 septembre 2017
Association News / Nouvelles des associations
CCGA Damage Prevention Symposium
Canadian Common Ground Alliance
September 19-21, 2017
Delta Hotels, Ottawa, ON

Register for the Symposium. Be a part of Canada's unified damage prevention voice at this event that attracts members from the many Canadian organizations and associations who share the responsibility of damage prevention and public safety solutions. An excellent opportunity to network with peers across Canada and share knowledge and ideas.

Topics under development include: 

  • Ground Disturbance Standard
  • Abandoned Facility - A Panel Discussion
  • Excavating Effective Strategies
  • International Best Practices
  • Protecting the Infrastructure through Public/Private Partnerships
  • Municipal Best Practices - A Panel Discussion

Symposium 2017 du CCGA sur la prévention des dommages
Canadian Common Ground Alliance
Du 19 au 21 septembre 2017
Hôtel Delta, Ottawa (Ont)
September Webinar: "Cyber Security in the Workplace: Are you a target?"
How to Protect Yourself from Ransomware and other Cyber Threats to Your Business
Association of Ontario Land Surveyors
The AOLS Webinar will take place on Wednesday, September 20, 2017, 12:00-1:00 pm.

Cybercrime is the fastest growing cause of computer downtime, up from 2% in 2010 to 22% in 2016, and small businesses are not immune!

Global attacks and high-profile organizations that have paid millions of dollars to recover their data are making ransomware a hot topic in the news.

What's not as well-known is that thousands of small and mid-sized businesses fall victim to malicious code every year, costing time, money and untold frustration for business owners.

Join ALOLS on Wednesday, September 20th for an entertaining and informative webinar about how you can better protect yourself and your business from cyber criminals. Led by the founder and Chief Technology Officer of Appsonnet, provider of IT services to AOLS, this webinar will include:

  • Myths and realities of cybercrime
  • Common threats
  • 5 steps to better protect yourself
  • What to do if you've been attacked

Register here for the webinar.
4th Annual 2017 GoGeomatics Back to School Social: Dates, Venues & Sponsors Announced
GoGeomatics Canada
Join the Canadian geospatial community as GoGeomatics Canada welcomes new and returning students to this sector. This year GoGeomatics Canada is proud to announce that 12 groups are hosting Back to School Events. GoGeomatics hopes that you, your company or organisation can join them at these fun free networking events.  Read more
In the Media / Dans les médias
When a property survey is more important than the deed
The Star
A 2015 study showed that of 1.2 million freehold residential properties in the Greater Toronto Area, almost half of them have significant boundary issues, most of which would not be covered by title insurance.  Read more
Did a Newfoundland town really sell its water system?
Ownership dispute causing friction, uncertainty in Wabana
CBC News | Newfoundland & Labrador
A Newfoundland and Labrador town that is no stranger to controversy and friction is once again in the spotlight, with a potentially embarrassing error casting doubt on who owns a critical water distribution system in Wabana.
A business owner who purchased the old firehall on Quigley's Line two years ago says an adjacent system that provides potable water to residents, and the land on which it sits, was inadvertently included in the deal. Read more
History Corner - Metis Scouts of The International Boundary Commission
Yorkton This Week
Former Prime Minister Joe Clark once said that one of Canada’s problems is that too many Canadians do not know our history! For years, we watched a lot more American history on TV than Canadian history. For one example, in the 1950s, there was a great interest by boys to buy a raccoon or fake raccoon hat to emulate the current American craze over Davy Crockett – portrayed as a frontier hero in a Hollywood movie King of the Wild Frontier. Crockett died in 1836 at the Battle of the Alamo in Texas. This was totally remote from our own history. What is more — Crockett does not hold a candle to the exploits of many of our own explorers and our consummate frontiersmen, such as Radisson and Groseilliers that I have written about in recent History Corners. Yet, the story of these “coureurs-de-bois” has not really been told enough except in the CBC documentary CANADA.
Take this photo of Métis scouts, buffalo hunters and interpreters who were hired by the Dominion government, to accompany the survey party of the International Boundary Commission in 1872. Read more
Bang On!: Respect lot grading when landscaping
The London Free Press
One aspect of new home construction people often don’t think about is lot grading.
It’s not a thrilling subject, but it’s an important one.
Lot grading involves sloping the dirt around a home and on a lot to ensure surface water flows away from the building’s foundation and toward a suitable outlet where it can safely be disposed of without effecting surrounding homes. A good grading plan with proper drainage is essential when building a new home. Poor drainage can lead to the ponding of rainwater on your lawn and in some cases a wet or flooded basement. Read more
La « pire » route de la région sera rénovée
Radio Canada
Québec et la ville de Saint-Hubert-de-Rivière-du-Loup annonceront, mardi après-midi, les détails entourant les travaux effectués sur la route 291 et le chemin Taché Est.
Selon les informations obtenues par Radio-Canada, le coût total des travaux est évalué à près de 6 900 000 dollars. Lire plus
William Francis Ganong: recognizing a contribution to N.B. history
William Francis Ganong is not famous for chocolate, but rather his contribution to New Brunswick geography
CBC News
Ganong may be a household name in New Brunswick, but one lesser-known member of the chocolatier family is getting some overdue recognition.
A statue of William Francis Ganong, who eschewed the family chocolate business to pursue his passion for botany, cartographry, and history, will be erected on the banks of the St. Croix River in the coming months. Read more
A celebration for the ages
The Mason-Dixon Line, often viewed as where the north meets the south, turns 250 this year. And you better believe it’s a milestone that’s being recognized.
Observer-Reporter
Retired Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editor Pete Zapadka remembers a thought that crossed his mind in 2008 as he wrote a news release for the first annual hike that follows the footsteps of surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon along the banks of Dunkard Creek. This first trek into the past at Mason-Dixon Historical Park near Core, W.Va., just happened to be the 240th anniversary of the days between Oct. 8-20, 1767, when the line that would help define a nation was stopped in its tracks by frontier conflict and a last marker was placed atop Browns Hill. Read more
Marking the 250th anniversary of the Mason-Dixon line
The Northern Echno
MUSICIAN Mark Knopfler is tonight presenting a television programme about the 250th anniversary of the Mason-Dixon line.
The famous border, which separates northern states in the east of the USA from the southern states, was mapped by Jeremiah Dixon who came from County Durham and Charles Mason.
In tonight’s episode of Inside Out, at 7.30pm on BBC One, the Dire Straits singer and guitarist will tell Dixon’s remarkable story as well as giving an exclusive performance of a song he wrote about the surveyor from Cockfield, near Bishop Auckland. Read more
Surveyor on shaky ground after absence from Bibb, Monroe border hearing
The Telegraph
A surveyor caught in the middle of a border dispute between Bibb and Monroe counties could be in trouble for failing to attend a hearing on the matter.
A court date for Terry Scarborough is set for Thursday in the Griffin Judicial Circuit court after the surveyor apparently ignored subpoenas requiring him to testify during a two-day hearing earlier this month, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Secretary of State Brian Kemp has been tasked with making a decision on the border feud that would determine whether millions of dollars in property taxes remain in Bibb or go to Monroe. Read more
360 M$ investis pour des routes au Yukon
Radio Canada
Le premier ministre du Canada, Justin Trudeau, et celui du Yukon, Sandy Silver, annoncent un investissement de 360,2 millions de dollars pour améliorer l'accès routier à des endroits riches en minéraux sur le territoire. Lire plus
Editorial: Narratives
The American Surveyor
No, not the kind that fills our news nowadays. The kind I believe surveyors should be preparing. In this issue, Carl Clinton, a former county surveyor in Oregon, makes an eloquent case for why we should be leaving a written record of our surveys.
Like Carl, I have long felt that narratives should be a requirement of almost any survey. As with survey recording laws, these devices serve to document our footsteps, thereby reducing the amount of, and explaining past work for future work on the same parcel. My first license was in Texas, and we routinely wrote what we called a Surveyors Report. This was used by both the clients and the attorneys interested in the boundary. Read more
Repenser les villes pour se préparer aux catastrophes
Le Devoir
Les infrastructures de nos sociétés doivent prendre en compte les risques croissants d’un désastre naturel, estiment des experts
Une autoroute transformée en océan, des voitures disparaissant sous les eaux, des sinistrés secourus à l’aide de bateaux en plein centre-ville : le passage de l’ouragan Harvey au Texas la semaine passée a rappelé la fragilité des infrastructures et l’impact des changements climatiques en milieu urbain. Lire plus

La reconstruction se fera avec la cartographie actuelle
Le Devoir
Québec convient qu’il faudra ensuite entamer une « réflexion à long terme » afin d’actualiser la cartographie en tenant compte des changements climatiques.
Le Québec ne fera pas l’économie d’une « réflexion » sur les causes et les conséquences des inondations printanières, avertit le ministre de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, David Heurtel. Lire plus
Vantage Point: What's in a Name?
The American Surveyor
During introductions under social circumstances and asked what I do for a living, I say, "I am a surveyor." In four states, that also means licensed professional land surveyor, but in terms of what I do, it is surveying. Based on the turmoil in Oregon recently, though, I am wondering how to rephrase that introduction outside of those four states. It seems that strict adherence to regulatory definitions of practice mean that a mere verbal claim to be a practitioner is sufficient to violate many states' rules about who can use certain words to describe themselves. Read more
Drones & Flood Zones
xyHt
In Juniper Flats, California, county land surveyors use drones with advanced mapping capabilities to save tax dollars, slash project times, and improve public safety. Read more
MAPPS Member Firms Provide Geospatial Data and Services for Hurricane Harvey Responses and Recovery
The American Surveyor
Reston, VA - MAPPS, the national association of private sector geospatial firms, is pleased to announce that several of its member firms are assisting with response and recovery activities in Texas and other locations affected by Hurricane Harvey, providing aerial imagery, surveying, mapping and other valuable data and services. Read more
International News / Informations internationales
Australia, East Timor reach agreement on maritime border
Yahoo News
MELBOURNE/THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Australia and East Timor have reached a breakthrough agreement on a maritime border, ending a decade-old row between the two nations that has stalled a $40 billion offshore gas project.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague announced on Saturday that the neighboring countries had reached an agreement "on the central elements of a maritime boundary delimitation between them in the Timor Sea" – but that details would remain confidential until the deal was finalised. Read more
WA’s first female surveyor general
Australia ECU Daily
For the first time in Western Australian history, the Surveyor General role has been awarded to a woman.
Dione Bilick will join the historic list of WA Surveyor Generals that includes John Septimus Roe and John Forrest. Read more
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