bout de papier, Vol. 30, No. 2 (2017), p. 35
Emil Baran was born in Bibrika, Western Ukraine. His family moved from refugee camp to refugee camp in Allied occupied Europe until they obtained their papers for migration to Canada settling in Saskatoon in 1949.
Emil dedicated almost 40 years of his life to international development, in what was a remarkable career, first with the Canadian University Service Overseas (CUSO) then with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and External Affairs in the service of Canada and developing countries.
Emil studied Economics and Education at the University of Saskatchewan and on graduation in 1964 was commissioned as a naval officer in the Reserve — a Prairie sailor.
Adventure beckoned and he joined the newly formed CUSO to teach economics in Jamaica. His fellow CUSO cooperants in Jamaica chose him as one of the first full time CUSO Country co-ordinators managing placement of new cooperants throughout the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Emil was recruited in 1967 by the then External Aid Office from which CIDA would emerge (under Maurice Strong). Emil found his vocation immersing himself in the service of others just as Canada was expanding its international development horizons beyond the countries of the post war Colombo Plan. Those early days of CIDA coincided with the World Bank Commission’s Report “Partners in Development” under the chairmanship of then Prime Minister Lester Pearson as programs were devised and expanded in both the Commonwealth and La Francophonie as new positions and Development sections were established in Canadian embassies and high commissions.
Opportunities for leadership came soon. Emil was posted to Pakistan in 1970 but was transferred to the new nation of Bangladesh in early 1972 following its war of independence from Pakistan. A CIDA senior manager recalls “Emil was one of a three man team which established the new Canadian high commission in the hotel room next to the room where he was living…from his modest office, Emil handled most of the very large projects coming out of a mission by the CIDA President, Paul Gerin-Lajoie, for the country’s recovery — power systems, shipping, railways, and food aid for its destitute populations.”
Both at Headquarters and in the field he would consistently distinguish himself — helping establish the Afghanistan program, 1973-77, then in Africa — as (Counsellor) Dar es salaam Tanzania 1977-80, and (Director) Egypt and Sudan Programs 1982-85. He went on to Asia/South Pacific, (Counsellor) Jakarta, Indonesia, 1985-88), and then to Eastern Europe as (Counsellor) Kiev, Ukraine, 1995—2001.
Between the latter two assignments he was made Director of CIDA Education and Training 1988-92 followed by appointment as Vice-President of the Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE) Centre for Central and Eastern Europe ( 1992—95). CBIE, an NGO, delivered critical CIDA programs of health, education, advisory and policy support and training to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Emil then assumed the mantle of CIDA Country Director and was appointed (Counsellor, Development) for Ukraine.
Emil’s six years at the Embassy in Kiev began shortly after Ukraine’s independence. Canada was often consulted by its Western allies when dialogue proved difficult, thanks to the CIDA program led by Emil. The breadth of the program was impressive:
1. nuclear security assistance at the Chernobyl power plant, after its explosion;
2. establishing a Science and Technology Centre with Sweden, USA, and Ukraine, combining the expertise of scientists from different Ukrainian nuclear research Institutes;
3. funding the new Academy of Public Administration in Kiev; and
4. judicial reform enabling exchanges of Canadian judges visiting as advisors in Ukraine and Ukrainian judges visiting Canada.
Christopher Westdal, a longtime CIDA colleague and former Ambassador in Kiev said, “he was a splendid representative… in our embassy, at a dramatic stage of Ukrainian history, Emil’s understanding of the young state’s history, circumstances and prospects, as well as his fluent Ukrainian, enabled him to lead the design and management of one of Ukraine’s most effective aid programs. Canada was lucky to have him.”
Another colleague recalled, “I watched the way he treated (and managed people) and it completely changed the way that I acted in similar situations. He made people feel they were heard, that their concerns mattered while guiding them towards a constructive and mutually beneficial consensus… he combined intense humanity with true professionalism.”
Emil Baran retired in 2003 as (Counsellor Development) in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was to fulfill a dream of sailing the Caribbean, which he had harboured since his CUSO service there. He and his wife Olena sailed from Florida to Trinidad and back over three years in their 42’ sailing vessel, “Unicorn” fondly named after his naval station in Saskatoon. And for further adventure in late 2007, Emil crewed in the cross Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) between the Canary Islands and St. Lucia.
Emil contracted pulmonary fibrosis in 2014. He died in Ottawa in October 2016.
Rod Haney, a CIDA colleague and friend Sor fifty years, sailed the “Unicorn” with Emil off St. Lucia.
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 30, No. 2 (2017), p. 35. Read the rest of this issue →
