bout de papier, Vol. 28, No. 4 (2015) — Spring 2015 // Printemps 2015, pp. 30–31
Paul became a Trade Commissioner in 1970 after completing a BA in Economics and an MBA at McMaster University. He worked for a year in the UK before joining the Foreign Service. I first met him in the early 1980s, shortly after the amalgamation of the Trade Commissioner Service and External Affairs. We played on the External Affairs curling team and I quickly learned that Paul could both strategize AND sweep. It was this quality that impressed me most as I came to know him better over the years.
Both Ron McLeod and Don McLellan, who joined with Paul, recall getting to know him on their 13 week cross Canada tour in 1971. Of note was a major snowstorm which forced the cancellation of their program. The group was required to haul luggage three kilometres down Signal Hill in St. John’s NL to catch taxis to the airport. Paul vowed to pack lightly when travelling, something he did a lot of in the following decades.
His first postings were to Trinidad (promoting trade in 14 countries), Israel (during the October War) and India. Brian Baker, a TCS classmate, notes that after sailing through these high-risk posts without incident, Paul returned to Ottawa in 1979 for some well-deserved R & R. Coming out of a curling club in Ottawa, he became embroiled in a mix-up with two escaped convicts from Kingston. They were up for murder and attempting to steal a car. When the police arrived the escapees commandeered their vehicle, its driver and Paul. This turned into a seven hour chase — Paul in the back with a sawed-off shotgun in his side — from Ottawa down to the 401 and back again with other police vehicles in hot pursuit. Eventually wanting something to eat (where would one get something to eat in Ottawa of the ’70s at 3 AM?), Paul thought of a 24 hour doughnut shop at Westgate. They pulled in for coffee and doughnuts. Negotiations for his release began and concluded successfully. Paul said the worst part was the police in the car behind trying to shoot out the tires on his vehicle. He became the poster boy for TCS personnel: anyone attempting to duck a high risk posting was told: “Ah yes.
Well just look at Paul Dingledine. It can happen to anyone, anywhere!”
Paul spent two years in Ottawa as Deputy Director of Operations, and subsequently as Policy Advisor on International Trade for the Trade Commissioner Service. In 1981 he became Consul in the Canadian Consulate in Hamburg Germany. That was cut short when he was asked to serve as Senior Departmental Assistant to three consecutive Ministers of International Trade. Our paths crossed again in 1990 when he was Director of Middle East Trade Relations (and part of the Gulf War Task Force), and I was Director the Departmental Press Office. We worked long days and nights for most of that summer.
I remember Paul suggesting one day that I really needed a break from the windowless Operations Centre and the non-stop pizza feedings on which we survived. He invited me up to his cottage on Farm Lake in the Gatineau Hills for an idyllic day of sunshine and real food, without journalists or consular cases. The cottage continued to be his haven and home for many years. Family, friends and colleagues enjoyed his generous hospitality and the peace and quiet of the lake. When abroad, Paul always returned for a month in the summers to recharge. After he retired, Paul welcomed Harvard Fellows to his cottage to kick off their study tour and to ensure that they experienced what he called “the real Canada”.
In 1990, Paul was appointed the first Canadian Ambassador to Iran in the 10 years since the American hostage crisis and the “Canadian Caper”. Stuart Hughes recalls Paul saying that he liked and enjoyed Iranians but found dealing with the Iranian government a major challenge. The inescapable sense of duplicity hung heavy in the air and grew heavier with time. “The best thing the Canadian government did to restore relations was to send me there”, he said with gravitas… and then added that “the second best thing they did was to get me the hell out of there after two years!” Don McLellan, who succeeded him, remembers Paul regaling him about how he, eager to leave, was first refused an exit visa by Iranian authorities! After Tehran, Paul spent a year at the Kennedy School at Harvard where he found himself in what he described as the somewhat surreal position of defending Iran against some of its overheated critics. That was Paul: funny, perceptive, fair and sound.
Fellow Trade Commissioner, Richard Kohler, remembers Paul in the period between Germany and Harvard:
“During the eighties, we laboured together as Deputy Directors in TCS HQ — Paul Overseas Operations, me Domestic —and played squash regularly at Carleton U; he was a fierce competitor. I later succeeded him as Director of Middle East Trade Relations. His act a hard one to follow, the division was well oiled and high-performing and the staff loved him. I visited Paul several times in Tehran while he was ambassador and was amazed at his ability to function positively in such a hostile environment; he motivated constant good cheer amongst his personnel despite frequent obstacles. One time the Iranian authorities arrested all the embassy’s locally engaged staff manning the Canadian booth at a trade fair for ‘lack of decorum’ (revealing too much hair under hijabs). Paul skillfully parlayed their immediate release. He also ‘hugged and healed’ a traumatized mission following Trade Commissioner Derrick Harrow’s tragic accidental death. Paul was a consummate professional with a passion for the world around him, good friends, home décor, his beloved cottage and its architecture, cuisine, gardening and spirited debate.”
Returning to Ottawa, Paul served in several key positions including Director General for Relations with the United States and Director General for Security and Intelligence. Among other challenges, the latter involved extensive travel to negotiate international approaches to combat terrorism, particularly with the G8 countries. He retired in 2003.
Paul later did some contract work for the Department on sensitive Middle East issues but spent most of his time at the cottage. He demonstrated his design and carpentry skills in multiple renovations. He also turned his analytic ability, strategic thinking and his well-honed diplomatic skills to help build and support a coalition to oppose the local municipality’s proposal to construct a huge engineered landfill dump in a pristine area of forest and lakes. By then I also had a cottage nearby. We spent a number of days acting like spies at bridges across the Ottawa River to observe, and give chase, to truck-loads of Ontario waste (to determine whether it was ending up illegally in Quebec landfills). Paul’s thorough and well-documented report on transportation impacts was a key element in the Quebec Government’s decision to turn down the proposal. In later years Paul became too ill to maintain and enjoy his cottage and, sadly, died on June 12, 2014 in Ottawa. Richard spoke for all his friends when he said that “Paul leaves behind a great vacuum; I will miss him”.
Michael Brock joined the Foreign Service in 1972. After completing many headquarters and overseas assignments, Michael retired as Director General Cultural Affairs.
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 28, No. 4 (2015) — Spring 2015 // Printemps 2015, pp. 30–31. Read the rest of this issue →
