Vignettes
…extracts of three articles on a common theme: women in the foreign service.
Good and Faithful Servants
Quand j’arrivai à Ottawa en 1953, un de mes bons amis, Jean Gabriel Maranda, faisait ses débuts au ministère. À cette époque, les novices étaient deux par bureau. Maranda était un Montréalais passé par Paris; c’était la fantaisie faite homme, plus latin…
Lance et compte, version chinoise
L’hiver à Pékin, même s’il est moins rigoureux qu’à Ottawa, peut quand même paraître long et ennuyeux. En fait, puisqu’il ne neige pratiquement jamais, c’est plutôt du sable que les vents du nord amènent du désert de Gobi, dont il faut se…
Leaving Tibet
It was dark in the early hours of the morning in Tingri, Tibet.
Sport in Diplomacy
On October 28, 1987, pursuant to a decision by Cabinet, the Secretary of State for External Affairs formally announced the department’s intention to use sport actively as an instrument of cultural diplomacy. Joe Clark said that sport unites us more regularly than…
The Honours List: Sylvia Ostry and Genji Okubo
Members of the Canadian foreign service have, over the years, received many honours national and international. In the following articles, we look at two persons recently honoured in two different ways. Mark Schacter prepared a piece on Sylvia Ostry on the occasion…
Getting our Message Across
On May 21, 1987, the Professional Committee held an evening seminar on the relationship between the media and the foreign service. Chaired by David Adam, then Chairman of the Professional Committee and now Minister-Counsellor (Commercial) at the Canadian Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela,…
Making the Best of Media Interviews
Shocking is not too strong a word to describe the fact that the Soviet Union has been in firm control of the international communications agenda for some time. Moscow is now associated in many people’s minds with the Peace Conference, several offers…
Ham-Fisted at High Altitude
Whenever, in retirement, I read in the newspapers that a Head of State or Head of Government is going to visit Ottawa, and when I reflect on all the arrangements that have to be made and all the flaps that can occur,…
Robinson’s Island: A paean to past pleasures
Kiny’Ole is a slinky sand dune separated from the mangrove swamp by an opportunistic sea channel. To rename it Robinson’s Island requires considerable idealistic optimism. To establish a four star restaurant miles over rutted dirt road in the back of beyond of…
