The Traitor Who Wasn’t
Herbert Norman was a senior and respected Canadian diplomat hounded to his suicide, in Cairo in 1957, by American McCarthyites seizing on his dalliance with the ideas of communism. Norman was interested in Marxist thought, and probably remained a moderate socialist throughout his life… but he was not a life-long communist and did not betray […]
Concours de photo de l’APASE 2017
Le thème du concours 2017, « une journée dans la vie », avait pour objet de donner aux membres de l’APASE une occasion de démontrer leurs compétences photographiques en captant leur expérience unique de la vie des agents du service extérieur dans des photos prises partout dans le monde.
An End to Diplomacy
While their colleagues in northwestern Europe had fled their missions ahead of the advancing forces of Nazi Germany, often in harrowing and difficult circumstances and with little opportunity to prepare for their departure, the experience of the Canadian Legation and other Allied…
Five Lacquer Boxes
bottom of a glass of rye. He showed me another design for our letterhead. It said:
Finding JAPAN: Early Canadian Encounters with Asia
Canada’s fascination with Japan, and Asia generally, seems to come back into fashion every generation or so. We are currently going through another of those surges of interest as a result of trade and diplomatic initiatives. A trade agreement with Japan is…
Dick Gorham
On June 18, 2011, Dick Gorham died and Canada lost a dedicated public servant and a passionate citizen. Tributes and memorials flowed in from kings, governors, premiers, businessmen, journalists, colleagues and friends. The canvas of Dick’s life and achievements was vast but…
Better Thistles than Wolves?
In the last issue of bout de papier, we paid tribute to one of our most distinguished and beloved former diplomats, Arthur Menzies, who passed away in early March. One of his least-known diplomatic involvements came during his posting to Japan in…
James Joachim McCardle
Jim McCardle was one of the generation of officers whose lives and careers spanned many of the momentous years of the 20th century.
A Canadian In Japan
Ranald Macdonald, attempted single handed to break through Japan’s closed society. Although he apparently failed, his efforts indirectly contributed to the opening of Japan to the West.
Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
Inside Herbert Bix’s monumental Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan are two books struggling to get out. One is an impressively detailed academic study of the Japanese emperor’s education, character and rule in the context of post-Meiji Japan’s intellectual, political and…
