Radio Canada International: Projecting Canada to the World
In downtown Kishinev, a Moldovan technician adjusts a satellite dish to downlink a “live” signal to be broadcast on local stations throughout his country. In the Adriatic Sea, Canadian sailors tune their radio frequencies carefully. In Southern Chile, a Canadian tourist checks…
Looking Forward, Looking Back:
by Daryl Copeland
Cultural Diplomacy: A Question of Government Policy
On March 17 last, I gave a lecture at the University of Victoria to the students of a course on cultural policy on the theory and practice of cultural diplomacy, or, as it is more generally called, international cultural relations. The main…
Interview with Rick Hansen
Many of us had the pleasure of meeting Rick and Amanda Hansen during the “Man in Motion” tour. I had the added privilege of being associated with them when he served as Canadian Commissioner General at Expo 88.
Media Diplomacy or Pin-striped Television —
A debate is raging furiously between a number of diplomatic historians and TV critics. Has the Gulf crisis changed the nature of diplomacy through the use of television?
The Great Totem Pole Caper
Was it Murphy who said that anything that can go wrong will go wrong? If so, when he formulated his law, he must have had in mind what I will call the great “totem pole caper.” We, in the foreign service, are…
The Mechanics of Media Relations
I would love to meet the civil servants who troll the halls of government departments inspecting press releases to make sure they’re boring. They must exist, because the average public sector press release reads like this:
Mastering the Public Platform
William Henry Harrison, the 9th president of the United States got up on his inaugural day, gave the longest such speech to date, caught a cold and died. He’s the only person I know of to have actually died from speaking in…
The Value of International Students to Canada
Can there be any doubt that hosting international students is beneficial to Canada? Yes, there can. Certainly the general public perception of international students is one of a “burden”, taking the place of Canadian students at the expense of Canadian taxpayers. In…
Sport in Diplomacy
On October 28, 1987, pursuant to a decision by Cabinet, the Secretary of State for External Affairs formally announced the department’s intention to use sport actively as an instrument of cultural diplomacy. Joe Clark said that sport unites us more regularly than…
