Canadians are the peace-makers..once again...

I couldn't resist this story. Once again, Canadians are at the forefront of peacemaking:

A mussel and chips festival, intended to unite Belgium's feuding Dutch and French-speakers through their shared love of moules frites, has instead provoked a political row over who provides the potatoes.

It was only resolved when McCain, the Canadian manufacturer famous for its oven-ready chips, stepped in.

Piping hot chips, whether served with stewed mussels or just a dollop of mayonnaise, are the country's unofficial national dish.

They are one of the few subjects guaranteed to unite Dutch-speakers from the north and the French-speakers of Brussels and the south. Both declare Belgium the birthplace of the frite and dismiss what they consider wholly erroneous talk of "French fries".

Thus there were high hopes when the Museum of Natural Sciences decided to organise a mussels fair in the capital, offering free chips and mussels for up to 15,000 visitors as part of the celebrations to mark 175 years of Belgian unity and independence.

The museum contacted the chip-fryers' union, the Union Nationale des Frituristes, which agreed to provide five tons of chips in traditional paper cones.

Alas, when the rival agriculture ministers of Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia were asked to sponsor the £5,000 cost of potatoes, a squabble broke out.

The row proved so intractable that the museum gave up and ordered the chips from McCain, global food giant.

Kind of makes me proud to be a Canadian!