Canadian Foreign Service Officer Award Night
For the second annual PAFSO Canadian Foreign Service Officer Award, we decided to hold an Awards Dinner at the National Arts Centre.
The Foreign Service on Strike!
What the Canadian public had long feared finally happened. The Canadian foreign service went on strike, part of the national public service action. As expected, the strike spared no Canadian.
Distressed Canadian: A Tale
It was no nine days’ wonder. It was only a small part of work “as usual” in the life of the Canadian High Commission in Wellington, New Zealand.
A Swiss Bank Account: Do You Need One?
A recent article on “Swiss Banking” by Betty Lee in the March issue of Canadian Business caught my attention. I was always under the impression that Swiss bank accounts were designed exclusively for the very rich or for characters in spy novels…
Letters // Correspondance
Bob Burchill’s article in Vol. 8 #2 (“A Funny Thing Happened…”) is a reminder that we all have highly individualized low points in our foreign service assignments which may prompt one to ask oneself the question, what am I doing here?
In Defence of Diversity: Towards the Legitimization of Dissent
The lack of an established channel through which dissenting analysis might reach decision-makers has been highlighted repeatedly in the recent past, most strikingly, in the wake of the Gulf crisis. While it is clearly important that the Department, and indeed the government,…
Reflections on an Ottawa Spring
bout de papier, Vol. 8, No. 3 (1991) — Summer 1991 // Été 1991, p. 39 by Terry Jones “When winter comes can Spring be far behind”.Yes, if you live in Ottawawhere winter lasts November until May.Spring, the stuff of poesie and daydreams,of “blossomed pear tree in the hedge” and thyme,of “chaffinch singing in the […]
The Prisoner
“I am sorry, but we must be sure that there are no mistakes,” said the Deputy Superintendent (DS), sensing my irritation and fatigue. It was dusk, and I had returned, once again, for the Prisoner. I found the DS in his underwear…
A Scrap of Paper
As one of bout de papier’s supporters and contributors, from time to time I am asked why PAFSO’s quarterly was given its distinctive name.
The Department and the Country
(In this excerpt from a book he is writing about the Canadian foreign service, the author argues that foreign service officers must do much more to explain their profession to the Canadian public.)
