bout de papier, Vol. 2, No. 2 (1984) — June 1984 // Juin 1984, p. 1
I have been asked to make some comments on Canada’s foreign service as I perceived it in my days as Secretary of State of External Affairs, which were from June, 1959, to the defeat of our government in 1963.
During the whole of this time the Under-Secretary was the late Norman A. Robertson and my first comment would be that he was outstanding; he rendered excellent service and had the highest possible standing not only in Ottawa but also with the nations with which we dealt. He set the tone for the department and had with him a very able group of senior officers.
Their dedication existed right through all the other ranks of the department and to me was an inspiration. Canadians were well served by these men and women.
Personally I tried to keep closely in touch with them, for example by interviewing every beginner before he or she went abroad on posting and every returning ambassador.
And there were many problems to be dealt with; for example, peace-keeping, disarmament, the commissions in Indo-China, law of the sea and many other activities through the United Nations, the North Altantic Alliance, increasing contacts with the French-speaking nations and promoting relations with Latin America. There were few dull moments and we were all very proud to be representatives of Canada.
The Honourable Howard Green
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 2, No. 2 (1984) — June 1984 // Juin 1984, p. 1. Read the rest of this issue →
