bout de papier, Vol. 25, No. 4 (2011) — Winter/Spring 2011 // Hiver/Printemps 2011, pp. 31–32
Bill Dymond, a veteran of Canadian trade and other negotiations, and a mainstay of Carleton’s Centre for Trade Policy and Law over the past 10 years, passed away November 24, after a brief but brave struggle with cancer.
Bill was in many ways the Rumpole of Canadian trade policy. What you saw and heard was what you got. A bit rumpled and sometimes gruff, easygoing about clothes, entertainment, and cars, but demanding in wine and food, he had a penetrating intellect and a prodigious knowledge of history, literature, and, of course, trade and economic policy. He adored a succession of dogs and was a regular walking the current incumbent, Willie, along the river in New Edinburgh. Ironically, for a man who chose diplomacy as a career, he did not much like small talk nor the idle chatter that marks diplomatic receptions. For him, diplomacy was a matter of policy and negotiations, not relationships and cocktail parties.
He came to Ottawa in 1967 and joined the then-department of External Affairs. Armed with a brand new MA in economics he was, uncharacteristically, assigned to the economic division. There he found his métier and developed an outstanding grasp of the intricacies of trade policy. For the next 33 years, he was involved in a wide range of trade negotiations, from GATT and UNCTAD to bilateral air agreements and a multilateral investment accord. Part of his career was spent at Industry, Trade and Commerce, but most of it at External Affairs and its successors. Even after retirement, Indian Affairs asked him to take on native land claims. He worked with two groups in the interior of British Columbia, the Yale Nation and the In-SHUCK-ch Nation, and was able to sign off on both negotiations.
The pinnacle of his professional career was achieved as a key member of the team that negotiated the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement. It proved a terrific but all-consuming assignment, and defined who he was for the rest of his life. Bill captured well the special bond among those of us who worked on the negotiations from beginning to end by reminding us of the St. Crispin’s Day speech in Shakespeare’s Henry the Vth:
From this day to the
ending of the world,
we in it shall be remembered
we few, we happy few,
we band of brothers
After retiring in Z00U, Bill moved to Carleton to become director of its Centre for Trade Policy and Law and, later, its senior executive fellow, a perch that allowed him to train a new generation of trade negotiators, to work with other governments on such matters as accession to the WTO, and, most importantly, to write. Bill loved to write and he was good at it, both as a matter of craft and of intellectual rigour. Some pieces took more work and spirited debate than others. We did a lot together, from Decision at Midnight, our memoir of the Free Trade Negotiations, to Commentaries for the CD Howe Institute, but some he did alone, such as his reviews of military history, or in collaboration with others, particularly Derek Burney.
The two most important preoccupations of the last few years were grandchildren and golf. Both involved weighty competition with his friends. Bill is survived not only by his wife Patricia and two sons, Michael and Christian and their wives Rebecca and Ann, but also by three grandchildren: Abigail, Sabena, and James. He loved visiting them and sharing their accomplishments. Because the grandchildren were not in Ottawa, he extended his grandfatherly instincts to the two little girls next door, squiring them to ballet practice and on other errands.
Golf was another matter. He had regained his form in Brazil, and worked away at it over the past 15 years, whittling his score down to a respectable low 90s, with occasional forays into the 80s.
A year ago this September, Pat and Bill celebrated 40 years of marriage by renewing their vows in their garden and embarking on a second honeymoon, completing an important milestone on Bill’s bucket list: following the steps of the last few stages of the famous medieval pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella in northern Spain. It requires a 140-kilometre walk over the course of six days through the foothills of the Pyrenees. Bill and Pat completed the journey, sore feet and all, and could proudly wear the cockleshell emblem.
On November 30, at a moving memorial service at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church in New Edinburgh, nearly 300 friends and family joined in celebrating Bill’s life. He had lived a good life and a productive one. He was loved by many and will be missed by more.
Fond memories of a dear friend
Bill Dymond was a tremendous colleague, a happy trade warrior who shared with me the rigours of initiating, negotiating and then implementing the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. With a fine mind and a keen wit, Bill hada unique flair for lightening and leavening debates that were at times acrimonious, including those within the Canadian team! It was a defining moment in the careers of many of us.
Bill’s passion for history and literature was exceptional — particularly for a charter member of the trade mafia — and gave him a special flair for incisive debate and stylish writing. He was a gifted wordsmith, deftly using a stiletto, never the broadsword, to cut through bureaucratic bombast or political rhetoric and get to the point. Whether on trade, on investment, on energy or on economics writ large, Bill was always “on point” and ready to deliver. A wonderful and dear friend who leaves many fond memories along with a significant record of personal achievement.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 25, No. 4 (2011) — Winter/Spring 2011 // Hiver/Printemps 2011, pp. 31–32. Read the rest of this issue →
