bout de papier, Vol. 21, No. 2 (2005) — Spring 2005 // Printemps 2005, p. 6
Charles Woodsworth, journalist and diplomat, died on January 4, 2005 at his home in Puyvert, southern France. The son of J.S. Woodsworth, founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the predecessor of the NDP, Charles had a long and distinguished career in journalism working for the Vancouver Province, the Ottawa Citizen where he became editor and eventually the Toronto Daily Star. As editor of the Citizen he was a well-known figure in Ottawa circles, active in the Ottawa Branch of the Canadian Institute for International Affairs, the setting in which many of the retired members of the Department of External Affairs will remember him as an articulate defender of broadly left-of-centre views. Fired in 1955 in a disagreement with the publisher, Robert Southam, over editorial policy, Charles found a happy refuge in the Department of External Affairs where his political sensibilities found a more congenial home. After beginning as a consular and information officer at the Consulate General in New York, he was appointed in 1960 Canadian Commissioner to the International Commission for Supervision and Control, Vietnam. In 1965, he was made Ambassador to South Africa with subsequent concurrent appointments to Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland. In 1969, he became Ambassador to Ethiopia, Madagascar and Somalia. In retirement he lived in Chelsea for many years before moving to France in 2002.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 21, No. 2 (2005) — Spring 2005 // Printemps 2005, p. 6. Read the rest of this issue →
