It's 10 AM, do you know where your Mayor and council are?

The annual gathering of municipal and provincial politicians is underway in Vancouver.

The UBCM convention, opened the doors at 8 am today, as delegates from across the province have invaded the big city to take part in five days of study and socializing.

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It's an ambitious little agenda that they have in place for the week long festival of politics, this years theme is the environment, with a number of workshops planned for the first day to ease the participants into the weighty topics of the week.

Today, participants will have tours of the Port of Vancouver, sit down to discuss the pine beetle and explore partnerships on climate change with First Nations communities across the province.

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There is always the popular trade show component to the gathering to take in, where "Exhibitors at the 2007 UBCM Convention will meet with over 2,000 BC local government decision makers face-to-face," a stop which we assume our local crew may just as well take a pass on, considering the latest revelations of financial shortfalls at city hall.

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There's not much use kicking some tires and taking a test drive, if you can't pay for the product we suppose. Though it must be tempting to wander the aisles and aisles of the latest gadgets and gizmos and dream of what you could have brought home as a souvenir other than the obligatory tee shirts and fridge magnets.

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While we can't be there in person, we can follow along at home, the entire convention program has been posted to the internet, so you too can immerse yourself in the joys of convention life, alas without the benefit of the social networking and happy hours...