Mehul (Mike) Shah (1964–2001)
Friends and colleagues of Mehul (Mike) Shah will be saddened to learn of his sudden passing on Friday, June 22, 2001. Mike joined the Political/Economic stream of the Department in 1993. He served with distinction in the Oceans, Environmental and Economic Law…
From Here to the Sun
Hello, faithful readers. Who would have thunk it? Nortel at $120 after two splits, now costing less than that other great Canadian staple, a case of beer. Pity the poor portfolio managers in their struggle to counsel their clients on how to…
Eclipsing the ARF (and what I did about it)
Leslie and I came back to Ottawa on home leave one dusty June. Returning from a hardship post was more bizarre than I had anticipated, but a week of decompression and trips to both Canadian Tire and Tim Horton’s restored my sensibilities…
Good Bye to All of That
by Bill Dymond
Universal Classification Standard (UCS)
What, I hear you asking, is the UCS?
Family Friendly Policies
To paraphrase Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a happy, stable couple will consider having a child at some time. Or it might be an unplanned but welcome event. In the case of the foreign service, odds are this…
Foreign Affairs and Mental Health
Editor’s Note: This article on mental health and working conditions in the Canadian public service was the first of a series being prepared by the author. A second paper was presented in Paris in June 2000 that dealt more specifically with the…
Diplomatic Immunity
In response to a recent discussion among users of the informal chat room of foreign service officers, the “e-whine” messages urging that we stop using the word “diplomat” to describe ourselves, I would like to offer a somewhat different perspective on this…
Workforce of the Future
• Y the Future (WFF), I had little idea of the intellectual journey that I would take in producing my report (most easily accessed on the DFAIT intranet). The process, which lasted almost a year, allowed me to talk with colleagues in…
Dealing with the Reality of Elder Care in the FS
While the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade is beginning to accommodate the shift in demographic realities taking place within the Department’s rotational workforce, there is still some unexploded ordnance out in this field. As a cautionary tale, rotational employees of…
