DEFENCE MINISTER PETER MACKAY ON CANADA’S HEAVY LIFTING MILITARY AFFAIRS ANALYST DAVID PUGLIESE ON “HARD POWER” WINE: The science of screwcaps 2008: International Year of the Potato HOW TO: Best host, best dinners ESTABLISHED 1989 CDN $5.95 PM 40957514 November–December 2007 LOUISE FRECHETTE ON NUCLEAR POWER PLANT PROLIFERATION Job No.1 DEFENCE MINISTER PETER MACKAY ON CANADA’S HEAVY LIFTING MILITARY AFFAIRS ANALYST DAVID PUGLIESE ON “HARD POWER”
Transcript
DEFENCE MINISTERPETER MACKAY ONCANADA’S HEAVY LIFTING
MILITARY AFFAIRSANALYST DAVID PUGLIESEON “HARD POWER”
WINE: The science of screwcaps2008: International Year of the Potato
HOW TO: Best host, best dinnersESTABLISHED 1989 CDN $5.95
PM 40957514
November–December 2007
L O U I S E F R E C H E T T E O N N U C L E A R P O W E R P L A N T P R O L I F E R A T I O N
JobNo.1
DEFENCE MINISTERPETER MACKAY ONCANADA’S HEAVY LIFTING
MILITARY AFFAIRSANALYST DAVID PUGLIESEON “HARD POWER”
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Table of CONTENTSDIPLOMATICA|Verbatim: The year of the potato, sanitation and languages . . . . . . . . .3Good Deeds: Austria helps the Thirteen Strings Orchestra . . . . . . . . . .5Diplomatic Agenda: Macedonia’s plea to join Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Questions Asked: Louise Frechette on the world’s trouble spots . . . . .8
DISPATCHES|
Canada at WarDefence boss Peter MacKay on Canada’s ramped-up efforts . . . . . . .10 The guns of Hillier and Harper – Canada’s new attitude . . . . . . . . . .13Norris Pettis – a soldier turned diplomat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Despite criticism, there are successes in Afghanistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Canada’s military profile – 2,900 troops, 16 missions . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Two-page map: Canada’s military operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
PUBLISHERNeil ReynoldsASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Donna JacobsEDITORJennifer CampbellART DIRECTORPaul CavanaughCONTRIBUTING EDITORSDaniel DroletGeorge AbrahamCULTURE EDITORMargo RostonCOPY EDITORRoger BirdCONTRIBUTING WRITERSNipa BanerjeeStephen BecktaLaura Neilson-BonikowskyMargaret DickensonCharles EnmanGeorge FetherlingPeter MacKay Sasko NasevDavid PuglieseCONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERSLarry DickensonColin RoweFrank SchemeLois SiegelDanilo VelasquezDyanne WilsonBUSINESS MANAGEMENTJessie ReynoldsWEBMASTERLeslee McCabePUBLISHER EMERITUSLezlee CribbSUBSCRIPTIONSDiplomat & International Canada is published sixtimes a year. Subscription rates: individual, oneyear $35.70. For Canadian orders add 7 per centGST. U.S. orders please add $15 for postage. Allother orders please add $25.SUBMISSIONSDiplomat & International Canada welcomes submissions. Contact Jennifer Campbell, editor, at [email protected] or (613) 231-8476. DIPLOMAT & INTERNATIONAL CANADAP.O Box 1173, Station BOttawa, Ontario Canada K1P 5R2Phone: (613) 259-3038 Fax: (613) 259-5481E-mail: [email protected]
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DEFENCE MINISTERPETER MACKAY ONCANADA’S HEAVY LIFTING
MILITARY AFFAIRSANALYST DAVID PUGLIESEON “HARD POWER”
WINE: The science of screwcaps2008: International Year of the Potato
HOW TO: Best host, best dinnersESTABLISHED 1989 CDN $5.95
PM 40957514
November–December 2007
L O U I S E F R E C H E T T E O N N U C L E A R P O W E R P L A N T P R O L I F E R A T I O N
JobNo.1
DEFENCE MINISTERPETER MACKAY ONCANADA’S HEAVY LIFTING
MILITARY AFFAIRSANALYST DAVID PUGLIESEON “HARD POWER”
The World in Canada
DIPLOMATICA|EDITOR’S NOTE
NOVEMBER—DECEMBER 20072
The fight for peace
Blue berets and Lester Pearson; goodBoy Scouts and honest brokers. Ifyou were thinking about Canada
on the international stage even just 20years ago, those were apt symbols andmetaphors. But things have changed. Theworld has changed – international ter-rorism, the looming end of oil, the rise ofRussia, India and China have all changedthe landscape. And Canada has changedtoo. Some Canadians are nostalgic for theblue berets and complain about the coun-try’s presence in Afghanistan, calling it nolonger peacekeeping, but peace-makingor peace-forcing. They might be surprisedto hear that in September, Canada ranked60th on a list of 119 countries that con-tribute peacekeeping forces to United Na-tions missions. Pakistan leads the list andBangladesh follows. Nigeria, Ghana andUruguay are all in the top 10. That does-n’t mean the country isn’t contributing inother ways, of course. Canada’s deploy-ment of 2,500 troops to the most danger-ous parts of Afghanistan doesn’t count inthis tally because it’s a NATO, not a UN,effort.
That said, it’s clear Canada’s role as apeacekeeping nation is shift ing. InAfghanistan, its soldiers are at war. Giventhis, we decided to use our November is-sue – the month of Remembrance Day –to look at where the country is and whereit’s going. Our cover package begins witha p iece by Defence Minis ter Pe terMacKay, who gives us a look at his gov-ernment’s plans for defence. Then mili-tary affairs writer David Pugliese talksabout Canada’s new attitude, led chieflyby its top soldier, Rick Hillier.
He discovers the change has meantSenator Colin Kenny, who heads the Sen-ate’s committee on national security anddefence, now gets thank-yous from hisAmerican colleagues for Canada’s contri-
butions instead of jibesabout Canadian slack-ing. In the same pack-age, we look at the 16current Canadian mili-tary missions. From thelone soldier in Cyprusto the thousands inAfghanistan, we tell
you where Canadian troops are posted,and why. Finally, Canadian InternationalDevelopment Agency veteran NipaBanerjee assesses the progress beingmade in Afghanistan.
There’s much else in this issue. We havean interview with Louise Frechette, formerdeputy secretary-general of the UnitedNations and Kofi Annan’s right-handwoman. She talks about her new preoccu-pation with the proliferation of nuclearpower plants and gives her opinion on thewar in Iraq, how the North should be gov-erned and where Canada stands in theworld.
In our Delights section, writer MargoRoston gives us a look inside the home ofBrazilian Ambassador Valdemar CarneiroLeao, his wife Anna, and their five-year-olddaughter Isabel. Wine columnist StephenBeckta shares his views on corks versusscrewcaps, and guess what? The lowlyscrewcap comes out ahead. Food writerMargaret Dickenson brings us the maincourse in her continuing series on how tobuild a proper multi-course dinner, whileLaura Bonikowsky, deputy editor of theCanadian Encyclopedia and a self-confessedarmy brat, tells us all there is to know aboutJohn McCrae, author of In Flanders Fields.On the last page, always devoted to interest-ing travel destinations, George Fetherlingbrings us the story of Canada’s first femalepublished poet, Margaret Blennerhassett,and her troublemaking husband Harman inthe early 19th century.
Jennifer Campbell is Diplomat’s editor.
JENNIFER CAMPBELL
CONTRIBUTORS
David Pugliese, author of “Canada’s military: Limits to growth”
David Pugliese, a journalist with the Ot-tawa Citizen newspaper, has been writ-ing about mi l i tary a ffa i r s and theCanadian Armed Forces since 1982. He isauthor of two books on special forces,Canada’s Secret Commandos: The Unautho-rized Story of Joint Task Force Two andShadow Wars: Special Forces in the New Bat-tle Against Terrorism. Mr. Pugliese has re-ported from war and conflict zones inCroatia, Bosnia, the Sudan, Burma,Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Northwest Fron-tier, the Philippines, Haiti and the GazaStrip.
Nipa Banerjee, author of “Afghanistan’sremarkable successes”
Nipa Banerjee earned her master’s anddoctoral degrees, specializing in develop-ment studies, from McMaster, Carletonand Toronto universities. After workingfor CUSO and IDRC, she worked 33years in CIDA, serving both at headquar-ters and in the field. She spent 16 yearsrepresenting CIDA in Bangladesh, In-donesia, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Laosand Afghanistan. Her most recent postingas CIDA’s head of aid was in Kabul,where she spent three years (2003-2006).She joined the University of Ottawa inJuly and teaches international develop-ment at the Graduate School of Publicand International Affairs. Her research in-terests include development in post-con-f l i c t c o u n t r i e s , w i t h a f o c u s o nAfghanistan, and the effectiveness of de-velopment assistance in Bangladesh.
UP FRONTIn our cover photo, Defence Minister PeterMacKay, who was then minister of foreign af-fairs, arrives at Camp Nathan Smith to join theKandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team forthe dedication of the Glyn Berry Room in May2006. Mr. Berry was the sole diplomat amongCanada’s 65 casualties in Afghanistan since themission began in 2003. The picture was takenby Sgt. Carole Morisette, and imagery techni-cian who is part of National Defence’s “CombatCamera” team. Our cover package looks atCanada’s new military muscle.
The United Nations has declared 2008 as International Year of the Potato
“The potato is a staple food in thediet of the world’s population,”according to the UN, whichwants to focus attention on theroot vegetable “to revive pub-lic awareness of the relation-ship that exists betweenpoverty, food security, mal-nutrition and the potential con-tribution of the potato to defeatinghunger.”
According to the Lima, Peru-based In-ternational Potato Center, almost 213 mil-lion tons of potato – “this underestimatedtuber” — are grown to eat every year,making it the third most important foodcrop in the world.
The centre’s World Sweet Potato Atlasnotes: “In some areas of the world, sweetpotato is a critically important staplefood, while in others, the crop is beingdeveloped for a wide variety of products,from animal feed to industrial starch.Central and southern Africa has become aparticularly important regional focus, assweet potato is currently being developedas a means to address a serious nutri-tional challenge, Vitamin A deficiency.”
And 2008 is the UN International Year of Sanitation
“It’s a seemingly mundane thing thatmost people in the developed world take
for granted. But at least 2.6 billion people– some 41 per cent of the global popula-tion — do not have access to latrines orany sort of basic sanitation facilities. As aresult, millions suffer from a wide rangeof preventable illnesses, such as diarrhea,which claim thousands of lives each day,primarily young children.
“Improving access to sanitation is agood investment [because]:
• “Sanitation is vital for human health:Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a resultof poor sanitation. That’s 1.5 million pre-ventable deaths each year.
• “Sanitation generates economic ben-
efits: According to a recent World HealthOrganization study, every dollar spent onimproving sanitation generates an aver-age economic benefit of $7. The economiccost of inaction is astronomical.
• “Sanitation contributes to dignityand social development: Sanitation en-hances dignity, privacy and safety, espe-cially for women and girls. It improvesconvenience and social status. Sanitationin schools enables children, especiallygirls reaching puberty, to remain in theeducational system. Restricted toilet op-portunities increase the chance of chronicconstipation and is making women vul-
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THE WORLDACCORDINGTO:
TheUnited NationsGeneral Assembly
DIPLOMATICA|VERBATIM
NOVEMBER—DECEMBER 20074
nerable to violence if they are forced todefecate at night and in secluded areas.
• “Sanitation helps the environment:At present, each year more than 200 mil-lion tons of human waste – and vastquantities of waste water and solid waste– go uncollected and untreated aroundthe world, fouling the environment andexposing millions of people to diseaseand squalor.
• “Improving sanitation is achievable!Now is the time to act.
“The technologies, approaches andskilled people are ready. Households,communities, local and national govern-ments, civil society, and private compa-nies all need to work together.
“Media and public opinion around theworld can influence political leaders toact now. The estimated $10 billion annualcost to halve the proportion of peoplewithout basic sanitation by 2015 (this isthe sanitation UN Millennium Develop-ment Goal target) is modest and afford-able.
“If sustained, the same investmentcould achieve basic sanitation for the en-tire world within one or two decades.This sum is less than one per cent of
world military spending in 2005, one-third of the estimated global spending onbottled water, or about as much as Euro-peans spend on ice cream each year.
“The UN Millennium DevelopmentGoal’s target: To reduce by half the pro-portion of people without access to basicsanitation by 2015.”
Finally, 2008 is UN International Year of Languages
“The General Assembly, recognizingthat genuine multilingualism promotesunity in diversity and international un-derstanding, proclaimed 2008 the Interna-tional Year of Languages.
“Acting without a vote, the Assembly,also recognizing that the United Nationspursues multilingualism as a means ofpromoting, protecting and preserving di-versity of languages and cultures glob-a l l y, e m p h a s i z e d t h e p a r a m o u n timportance of the equality of the Organi-zation’s six official languages (Arabic,Chinese, English, French, Russian andSpanish).
“In that regard, the Assembly re-quested the Secretary-General to ensurethat all language services were givenequal treatment and were provided withequally favourable working conditionsand resources.
The Secretary-General was also re-quested to complete the task of publish-ing all important older United Nationsdocuments on the Organization’s websitein all six official languages, on a prioritybasis.
“Further, the Assembly emphasizedthe importance of making appropriateuse of all the official languages in all theactivities of the Department of Public In-formation, with the aim of eliminating thedisparity between the use of English andthe use of the five other official lan-guages.
“Introducing the resolution, France’srepresentative said the text would ensurea “global” approach to multilingualismand would promote a reasonable visionof multilingualism at the United Nations.It would help ensure adherence to theprinciples of multilingualism in the Orga-nization’s daily activities and, for the firsttime, would underline the importance ofproviding technical assistance and train-ing in the local languages of beneficiarycountries.”
Source: United Nations website
DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA 5
GOOD DEEDS|DIPLOMATICA
Austria’s amazing gifts
Austrian Ambassador Otto Ditzrefers to his embassy’s contribu-tions to the Thirteen Strings Or-
chestra as “our major do-gooder.” And soit is. The ambassador and his wife Mau-reen are carrying on a tradition of hostingthe orchestra’s largest annual fundraiser,something Austrian ambassadors havebeen doing for more than a decade.
The event is a garden party, held at theDitz’s expansive Rockcliffe home onCrescent Road, and it raises $24,000 forthe organization. The embassy donatesthe wine, the ambassador’s garden andthe desserts which Maureen Ditz pre-pares herself. In recent years, ThirteenStrings has also added a “fantasy draw”which includes airfare and a hotel in Vi-enna. The embassy has also helped securethat donation, said Sylvia Gazsi Gill, aformer executive director and now a vol-unteer for Thirteen Strings.
“The garden party happens in thesummer and the orchestra comes, andplays, and the birds sing too,” Mr. Ditzsaid, and added that having an outdoorevent without a tent can be challenging.“We’ve had everything – rain, heat, mos-quitoes.”
He remembered one year in particularwhere there was a series of sun showersthat meant the orchestra played betweenthem. When it rained, everyone tookcover inside. “So it’s been fun,” he said.
In the winter, the ambassador acts ashonourary patron of the Viennese WinterBall, a lavish affair that takes place at theNational Gallery of Canada and attracts
some 400 well-heeled guests who showup in their finery to dine and waltz to themusic of Thirteen Strings Orchestra. Thir-teen Strings Junior Orchestra is one oftwo recipients of the ball’s proceeds.
Walther Lichem, former Austrian am-bassador to Canada, was instrumental inestablishing the ball which is now in its12th year.
Today, the tradition continues with Mr.Ditz, who will host his fifth ball in February.He always enjoys the music.
“They’re really a marvelous orchestra,”
Mr. Ditz said. “We’ve sort of adoptedeach other. Hopefully, it’s good for them;and it’s fun for us.”
Ms. Gill describes the Austrian em-bassy as the orchestra’s “long-standingpatrons.” But other missions have alsocontributed. The Australian High Com-mission has hosted two wine-tastings toraise money for the band, as has theSouth African High Commission. TheSwiss ambassador also hosted a wine-tasting. “There is such a thing as Swisswine,” Ms. Gill said.
LOIS
SIE
GEL
Austrian Ambassador Otto Ditz is flanked by garden party-goers Dr. Beate Stock, of the National Galleryof Canada (left), and writer Sarah Jennings.
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DIPLOMATICA|DIPLOMATIC AGENDA
According to the polls conductedby the European Union, morethan 84 per cent of the citizens of
the Republic of Macedonia want to seetheir country become a full member ofthe Union. And 80 per cent want to seemy home country become a full memberof NATO.
Symbolically speaking, my country’sflag features a yellow sun. And given thatthe sun is also a star, we think the star ofthe Republic of Macedonia would fitnicely with the 12 stars on the EU flag. Todate, the EU has 27 countries with threecountries in Southeastern Europe – Croa-tia, Turkey and the Republic of Macedo-nia – as EU candidate countries. TheRepublic of Macedonia is the newest ofthe three; it got in line in December 2005.But our cooperation with EU dates backto 1992 when we appointed diplomaticrepresentative in Brussels and when theEU opened an office in our capital,Skopje.
We were the first country in the regionto sign the Stabilization and AssociationAgreement in 2001. The agreement is thelegal framework of bilateral cooperationin advance of a country’s EU accession.The agreement has opened a regular dia-logue between Macedonia and the Euro-pean Union.
The Republic of Macedonia is also in-volved in common European foreign andsecurity policies. Our army and medicalpersonnel are part of the EU mission inBosnia and Herzegovina. Together withCanadian troops and those of other EUand NATO countries, we are part of themission in Afghanistan. We have 126 sol-
ders under Britishcommand in Kabuland several medicaldoctors at the Czechhospital there. Likemany EU countries,t h e R e p u b l i c o fMacedonia is alsoa member of theFrancophonie andw e a re p l e a s e dthat Canada, ourFrancophoniecompatriot, de-
cided to recognizeour constitutional name in bilat-
eral communication.My country’s goal is to meet all Euro-
pean requirements for a functionaldemocracy and a market economy and tocomplete our membership obligations by2010. To this end, the goal of the currentgovernment and the president is to im-plement the European reform agenda andstart accession negotiations in 2008.
But in t rue love , one s ide i s notenough. We are in love with the EU be-
cause we believe we are Europeans. Weare Europe’s citizens, the same as peoplefrom every country on the old continent.We are also optimists as we wait andwonder whether European Union will re-ciprocate our love.
The Republ i c o f Macedonia hasslightly more than two million citizens.It’s tiny, about 25,500 square kilometers(about four times larger than Prince Ed-
ward Island, Canada’s smallest province.)But, packed into that space is consider-able ethnic diversity. On election day, vot-ers have a choice of six languages on theirballot.
Since 1992, they have put in coalitiongovernments, all of which have includedone of the country’s ethnic Albanian par-ties. Our citizens are very proud of themulticultural society we have, and after thebiggest political parties, with assistance ofEU and the U.S., signed the frameworkagreement in 2001, the Republic of Mace-donia became one of the most functionalmulti-ethnic democracies in southeasternEurope.
Our dedication to European cultureand sport is strong and my compatriotsrespect the most fundamental EU values– freedom, security and justice. Freedomof speech, human rights and the rule oflaw have been the basis of the new Mace-donian democracy since September 8,1991, when the state organized a referen-dum for separation from the former Yu-goslav federation.
Almost every young man and womanknows Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, the EU an-them. We celebrate May 9 for two reasons– it is Victory Day, marking the end of theSecond World War in Europe, and it isalso the Day of Europe. On that day, theoffice of the EU in Skopje gives an awardto a prominent journalist for promotingEU values to the domestic audience.
Our citizens have empathy, not justsympathy, for the European Union. It is,after all, a way of life familiar to the hun-dreds of thousands of European Unioncitizens whose country of origin is the Re-public of Macedonia.
We are linked to Europe through trade– about 63 per cent of our imports comefrom the EU and about 54 per cent of ourexports go into EU countries. The biggestforeign investments in our economycome from Austria, Greece, Germany,Hungary, Slovenia and the United King-dom.
We are not the poorest would-be EUmember but challenges do exist. We mustfight corruption and we do. On the WorldBank’s list of corrupt countries, the Re-public of Macedonia moved forward by21 positions in just one year.
Also, negotiations and misunderstand-ings between the government and the op-
FIRST NAME: Sasko
LAST NAME: Nasev
CITIZENSHIP: Macedonian
PRESENTED CREDENTIALS AS
AMBASSADOR: Dec. 8, 2004
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
University of Ss. Cyril and
Methodius in Skopje
Macedonia: Will the EU reciprocate our love?
7DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA
DIPLOMATIC AGENDA|DIPLOMATICA
position from time to time are too slowlyresolved. But these are the conditions ofany young democracy. We have been in-dependent only for 16 years, the same assome other Central European countriesthat are already members of the EU andNATO, while we are still just cousins.
My country has good credit ratingswith international banks and it has thebest possible cooperation with the Inter-national Monetary Fund. The economicreform process is very fast. We are rankedfourth among reforming countries, ac-
cording to the last report by the WorldBank. Our business taxes are among thelowest in Europe (they are now at 12 percent and will go down by two percentagepoints in 2009). Further, our dedication tonew technologies and sustainable devel-opment is evident. Information technol-ogy and services accounted for more than60 per cent of our GDP in the last severalyears. We take care of the environment.
I don’t think of yesterday any more.Instead, I would like to know when theEuropean future will come to my frontyard. In Pascal Fontaine’s book, Europe in12 Lessons, he writes that “the enlargedEuropean Union is part of a rapidly andradically changing world that needs tofind new stability.” My country couldhelp bring that new stability closer. TheEU project with the Republic of Macedo-nia and all countries from the WesternBalkans would be complete.
The sun is a star, just like the 12 starson the EU flag. The sun gives life to us,we who are citizens of the Europe’s soil.
MY COUNTRY HAS GOOD CREDIT
RATINGS WITH INTERNATIONAL
BANKS AND IT HAS THE BEST POSSI -
BLE COOPERATION WITH INTERNA-
TIONAL MONETARY FUND. THE
ECONOMIC REFORM PROCESS IS
VERY FAST. WE ARE RANKED
FOURTH AMONG REFORMING COUN-
TRIES, ACCORDING TO THE LAST RE-
PORT BY THE WORLD BANK. OUR
BUSINESS TAXES ARE AMONG THE
LOWEST IN EUROPE (THEY ARE NOW
AT 12 PER CENT AND WILL GO
DOWN BY TWO PERCENTAGE
POINTS IN 2009) .
Marilyn WilsonSales Representative165 Pretoria Avenue,Ottawa, Ontario K1S 1X1Email: [email protected]
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NOVEMBER—DECEMBER 2007
Louise Frechette is among Canada’s mostaccomplished diplomats. She joined theforeign service in 1971 and received herfirst posting as ambassador in 1985 whenshe was sent to Argentina. In 1998, UNSecretary-General Kofi Annan created anew position – deputy secretary-general– and Ms. Frechette was chosen from alist of eminent candidates. After a seven-year post, she returned to Canada towork as a distinguished fellow with theCentre for International Governance In-novation (CIGI). On the October dayshe delivered the Bronfman lecture atthe University of Ottawa, she sat
down with Diplomat’s editor, JenniferCampbell , to talk about everythingfrom the Middle East to the Arctic.
DIPLOMAT MAGAZINE: Can you iden-t i fy what you see as the world’sbiggest trouble spot and offer somesolutions?
LOUISE FRECHETTE: Is that all youwant? (laughs) Well , I think theworld’s biggest trouble spots don’thave easy solutions. The numberone that comes to my mind is theMiddle East and by now it’s notjust Israel and Palestine. It’s alsoLebanon, Syria. All of i t is ex-tremely complex and the reper-cussions of not finding solutionsare worldwide. They’re world-wide in terms of the divisionsthat they create amongst theplayers and their friends andsponsors. They create economicuncertainty because it’s an arearich in oil. It is one of the rea-sons—but I think it’s an over-simplification to say that it’sthe biggest reason—for thesudden emergence of interna-tional terrorism. When you
put a l l o f th is together, Ithink if there’s one troublespot , this is i t . I f therewere some progress onIsrael-Palestine conflict,t h a t w o u l d h e l p . I t
would take real lead-ership in Israel
a n d P a l e s -tine. The space
is very narrow because their concernsand their requirements are sometimesalmost irreconcilable. But there havebeen episodes in the past where, whenwe have had strong leadership andpositive, helpful engagement from theUnited States, we have appeared close– certainly a lot closer than we are to-day.
DM: Tell me about the nuclear energyproject you’re working on with CIGI. LF: My project is based on the assump-tion that we are likely to see a signifi-cant increase in the number of nuclearpower plants because oil will becomee x p e n s i v e a n d w e h a v e t o re d u c egreenhouse gases. My project is to ex-amine the common ru les we havegiven ourselves to make sure nuclearenergy is exported in as safe and se-cure way as possible and [to assess]whether these tools are robust enough.
There is, of course, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but attached to thisthere are all kinds of other conventionson the transport of nuclear material, ondisposal of nuclear material and safeexploitation and security. There are in-formal groupings like the nuclear sup-pliers group which are countries thathave nuclear power plants and haveagreed on a common set of rules abouthow and to whom they will export.There are all these international agree-ments and arrangements but how solidare they, and are they really respected?
I think, faced with the possibility ofm a n y m a n y m o r e n u c l e a r p o w e rplants, it’s worth looking to see if thereare things that could be done to ensurethat nuclear material doesn’t fall intothe wrong hands and to ensure that wedon’t have nuclear incidents like wehad at Chernobyl because that didn’taffect only the people at Chernobyl, itaffected people around the region.
This whole nuclear issue is a bigpiece of unfinished business and thereare big problems, for example withNorth Korea and with Iran. I’ve beenthinking about it for a while. There area lot of think-tanks looking at what todo with Iran and North Korea butthere aren’t so many that are looking atnuclear energy. The Non-Proliferation
Nuclear power plant proliferation:Louise Frechette’s preoccupation
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Treaty says it’s perfectly okay to haveit. So I thought, let’s look at that.
DM: What are your thoughts at thispoint on the war in Iraq?LF: In terms of the American presence,I don’t see an easy way out. In the fore-seeable future, over the next few years,if you stay, I don’t think you can reallycome out of it with Iraq stable. But youleave, and I’m not sure it’s going tohelp and there will certainly be contin-ued tension. I don’t think they have agood option. I wouldn’t want to be thenext president of the United States,having to decide from a number of dif-ficult and unsatisfying options. TheIraqis themselves don’t appear to becoming together.
DM: What are your thoughts on howthe Arctic should be governed? LF: I’m a Canadian – so that’s my an-swer.
DM: What’s Canada role in the world? LF: I think we see ourselves as a small-ish country because we tend to com-pare ourselves with the United States.But the rest of the world doesn’t see usas a small country, they see us as a ma-jor country that rightly sits with theG8. There’s a group of maybe 10-15countries in the world that have a crit-ical mass, that are big players thathave the skill, knowledge, resourcesand the capacity to try to influence theaffairs of the world, and we’re one ofthem.
I’m always surprised when I hearcomments that describe our traditionalrole of honest broker, helper-fixer as ifit were just naiveté or a dereliction ofduty – that we were somehow neglect-ing our own interests when really, ifyou help to forge a compromise, thefirst interest you’re not going to sacri-fice is your own. Why this is seen assomehow detrimental to our interestshas always astounded me.
One of the things that’s often citedis that we ran afoul of the Americans.But I think we’ve been very skillful inmaintaining the relationship. Everyonce in a while, the U.S. gets angrybut the sky doesn’t fall. The U.S.A. isour number one partner so we can’tdismiss them but still there’s plentyof room for a very ac t ive ro le forCanada that should be based on whatkind of world we want, what we be-lieve is best.
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DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA
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ToughLove
Protecting Canadians and their interestsare priorities for our government. That iswhy we are determined to enhance theCanadian Forces’ ability to defend ourcountry’s sovereignty and protect Cana-dians both at home and abroad.
To protect our sovereignty, we have focused on ex-tending Canada’s reach into the Arctic. To that end, wehave announced the establishment of a new ArcticTraining Centre, an increase in the Canadian Rangersby 900 people, and the creation a new deep water Arc-tic docking and refueling facility at Nanisivik,Nunavut.
These initiatives clearly demonstrate an increase in Canadiansurveillance capabilities and influence in the North. However, weare also doing much more. In just over a year and a half, we haveextended Canada’s influence, in a more vigilant manner, as a forcefor good in global affairs.
To achieve a more robust foreign policy, the Conservative gov-ernment is buying four strategic lift C-17 aircraft and 17 tactical air-craft so that the Canadian Forces can quickly and independentlymove people, equipment and supplies in support of humanitarianor tactical missions.
Further, we committed $2.9 billion to buy new ships for theNavy and $4.7 billion for 16 medium- to heavy-lift helicopters. Thisbadly needed equipment will modernize and improve the Forces’capabilities to train with our allies, support domestic and interna-tional operations and, most importantly, provide security to thepeople of Canada.
DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA 11
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military to make it –
in the words of
Defence Minister
Peter MacKay – “a force for
good in global affairs”
By Peter MacKay
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It ’s this kind of investment thatdemonstrates how we follow through onwhat we have promised. We are ensuringthat our Canadian Forces have the toolsneeded to do the jobs they are asked todo on behalf of all Canadians – domesti-cally and internationally. On the domes-tic front, the Forces will continue toimprove surveillance of Canada’s land,air and seas. My department is workingmore closely with other government de-partments and agencies in conductingsearch and rescue activities, which savedthe lives of 1,200 people and helped morethan 20,000 last year alone.
With this government’s support, theForces will stand ready and more capa-ble than ever to respond to disaster reliefin all parts of our country, including as-sistance to victims of forest fires, floodsor hurricanes.
But the protection of Canadians can-not be done solely within our borders.Therefore, Canadian Forces personnelwork closely with allies so that our secu-rity is better assured.
Our strongest security relationship iswith our closest neighbour, the UnitedStates. Since the 1940 OgdensburgTreaty, Canada and the United Stateshave collaborated to protect NorthAmerica from external threats.
To this end, Canada works with theU.S. on the North American AerospaceDefence Command (NORAD), the Per-manent Joint Board on Defence, the Mili-tary Co-operation Committee and manyother important bilateral and multilat-eral activities vital to Canada’s security.
The prime example among all of theseis NORAD. This alliance can detect andintercept airborne threats to NorthAmerican airspace through a network ofradar stations and satellites spreadacross and above Canada and the U.S.This allows both governments to react ina co-ordinated and efficient way to
threats against the North American con-tinent. Under the Conservative govern-ment, the NORAD Agreement renewalof 2006 added a maritime dimension toour surveillance capabilities.
During my inaugural meeting withU.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gatesthis past September, we further acknowl-edged our continued support for NO-RAD and, indeed, our two nations’ closesecurity relations.
Beyond North America, Canadamaintains close security relations withcountries in Europe and the Westernhemisphere, as well as Australia, NewZealand and Japan. I met with my coun-terparts in the Netherlands, Norway andthe United Kingdom recently to betterfamiliarize myself with the work doneby these countries to ensure global secu-rity. Of course, much of this work isdone through the North Atlantic TreatyOrganization, of which Canada was afounding member.
NATO does important work in theMediterranean, Kosovo, Iraq, Sudan andAfghanistan. As Canadians are aware,the bulk of this country’s current militarycontributions to international security arepart of a NATO-led International Secu-rity Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
Following the terrorist attacks of Sept.11, 2001, Canada answered a call fromthe international community, includingNATO, to help ensure our global secu-rity and to stand up for the values offreedom, democracy, human rights andthe rule of law in Afghanistan. The scaleof the challenge in Afghanistan has notbeen underestimated.
As Afghan President Hamid Karzaistated in his address to Parliament in2006, “Terrorists are prepared to crossany boundaries and commit horrific actsof violence to try to derail Afghanistanfrom its path to success.” In helpingAfghanistan, Canadians are continuing
the noble tradition of taking an activerole in assisting those less fortunate thanourselves.
At present, there are 2,500 Canadiantroops in Kandahar province at the invi-tation of the democratically elected gov-ernment of Afghanistan. These bravemen and women are part of a large coali-tion whose mission is to help establishand maintain a safe and secure environ-ment a l lowing the government ofAfghanistan to foster development, re-construction and governance. Canadiancontributions have focused on rebuild-ing Afghan infrastructure, sustainingAfghan institutions and reforming andrebuilding the Afghan National Armyand Afghan National Police.
I believe these changes are occurring.P r o g r e s s i s b e i n g m a d e a l l o v e rAfghanistan. Presidential, parliamentaryand provincial elections have taken placeand women are sitting in the Afghanparliament. Legitimate and representa-tive government is in place. Institutionsof governance – be they the Wolesi Jirga,the Supreme Court or the Afghan Inde-pendent Human Rights Commission –are emerging, providing Afghans withthe foundations of statehood.
Perhaps the best example of interna-tional successes in Afghanistan is themanner in which children are returningto school. In 2001, only a fraction of chil-dren, and all of them boys, were attend-ing school. Now, more than six millionchildren – more than one-third of themgirls – are in classes. These children arealso among more than 80 per cent ofAfghans who have access to health serv-ices. Only five years ago, a mere nine percent of Afghans had such access.
By any measure, this is a clear demon-stration of progress. We can all be proudthat Canada is one of the biggest contrib-utors to Afghan progress. We are amongthe top donors of development and re-construction assistance there. We haveset aside more than $1 billion for aidthrough the year 2011 to enable Afghansto rebuild their country.
Afghanistan is a good example ofhow our government has adopted a ro-bust policy of standing up for freedom,democracy, respect for human rights,and the rule of law. This government iscommitted to doing our share of thework to help the international commu-nity and contribute to global stability.
Peter MacKay is Canada’s minister ofnational defence.
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Defence Minister Peter MacKay says his government has developed a “robust policy of standing up forfreedom, democracy, respect for human rights, and the rule of law.”
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In December 2006, a column of Cana-dian Army Leopard tanks rumbledthrough an Afghan village and took up
firing positions at a forward operatingbase in the disputed Panjwai district.
Insurgents didn’t waste time in react-ing to the arrival of the armour. Theyfired two rockets towards the base andone of the tanks responded by openingup with its 105mm gun.
In a country that has known decades
of war, the sound of such cannon fire wasnot out of place. The Russians had usedtanks in the same area when it fought in-surgents in the 1980s. Wrecked Talibantanks still litter the region, left over frombattles with U.S. forces and their Afghanallies in late 2001 and early 2002.
But for the Leopard crew, it was thefirst time in half a century that Canadiantanks had fired their guns in combat.
The insurgents in the Panjwai were on
the receiving end of one of the most tan-gible examples of Canada’s new attitudetowards defence, and a historic change indirection.
It’s an attitude which dictates a morepro-active, and some argue aggressive,approach to military missions. That ap-proach was embraced for a short time byprime minister Paul Martin, who wantedCanada to have renewed prominence onthe international stage. The succeeding
Canada’s military: Limits to GrowthOur return to “hard power” is already paying dividends at home and abroad – but how long can we sustain it?
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Conservative government incorporated itinto its “Canada First” defence policy.
But the driving force behind it was andis Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. RickHillier, who set the country’s military onthe path to more combat-oriented opera-tions while at the same time trying totransform the Canadian Forces into an or-ganization capable of responding quicklyto missions in the world’s hot spots.
The new attitude in defence is charac-terized by tough talk, whether it’s PrimeMinister Stephen Harper ’s announce-ment that Canada won’t cut and run fromAfghanistan or Gen. Hillier telling jour-nalists that troops there are going to takeon “scumbags” and terrorists.
As a result, Canadian soldiers in Kan-dahar are engaged in combat on a levelnot seen since the Korean War. With thathas come casualties; since the summer of2005 when the Kandahar mission started,64 soldiers and one diplomat have diedand more than 300 military personnelhave been injured, most in combat-re-lated incidents.
“Soft power,” the mantra of the Liberalgovernment and its foreign affairs minis-ter Lloyd Axworthy in the 1990s, is now adistant memory in Ottawa. The peace-keeping missions so loved by the publicare a thing of the past, partially becausethere are fewer such operations, but, aswell, because senior officers in the Cana-dian Forces have shifted focus away fromthem.
At the heart of all this is Gen. Hillier’sview of how international operationsshould be run. In the past, the Canadianmilitary took on many foreign missionsall at once, with troop commitments rang-ing from a few dozen to a couple of thou-sand. But the general argues that thecountry never got its due in internationalcircles for such contributions and neverhad a say in major decisions affecting re-gions the military was operating in.
The future should therefore see theCanadian Forces instead concentratinglarge numbers of troops in a few key re-gions. That would, in turn, give Canadianpoliticians more clout in such areas.“We’re trying to give Canada a seat at thetable, an opportunity to influence a re-gion, a country, an event in accordancewith our interests and with our values be-cause of our contribution,” Gen. Hillierhas said on several occasions in inter-views and public speeches.
Prime ministers Martin and Harperboth supported the general in his visionand both agreed to commit the dollars
necessary for a major re-equipment andrecruiting program necessary for it towork.
Last summer, the Harper governmentannounced $18 billion for arms and sup-port equipment, with programs underway to buy new long-range heavy-liftplanes, tactical transport aircraft, trucks,supply ships and transport helicopters.And the top brass, which several yearsago turned its back on tanks and was inthe process of destroying its remainingstocks of them, is now overseeing a $1.2billion program to buy and support 120modern Leopard 2 tanks.
This past summer, Mr. Harper broughtthis defence approach into the domesticarena, outlining a tough-sounding Arcticpolicy dominated by military power.Worried that other nations were eying thenatural resources in the North, the primeminister committed $3.1 billion to buildnew Arctic patrol ships.
“Canada has a choice when it comes to
defending our sovereignty over the Arc-tic,” Mr. Harper said in announcing thenew ships. “We either use it or lose it.And make no mistake, this governmentintends to use it.”
Less than a month later, Mr. Harperfollowed up with the announcement thathisgovernment had approved the cre-ation of an Arctic warfare training centreas well as a deepwater seaport on thenorthern end of Baffin Island.
But the mission to Afghanistan, firststarted under the Liberals and extendedunder a Conservative government, is theshining example of Canada’s new robustattitude. Although aid and diplomacy arefactors in the Kandahar mission, and agovernment public relations campaign istrying to highlight that contribution, themilitary aspect still dominates the coun-try’s contribution to Afghanistan.
And according to military officers andgovernment officials, that mission hasgiven Canada new clout on the worldstage. NATO generals meeting in Victoriain September praised Canada’s contribu-tion to the south Asian nation, saying itwas extremely important in bringing sta-bility to the Kandahar region and sup-port ing Pres ident Hamid Karzai ’ sstruggling government.
Michael Wilson, Canada’s ambas-sador in Washington, arguesthat the mission has already
paid dividends, noting that Americanlawmakers often mention the Canadiancontribution and sacrifice in Afghanistan.
Liberal Senator Colin Kenny, chairmanof the Senate’s committee on national se-curity and defence, says he has also no-ticed a change of attitude south of theborder. Previously, U.S. officials wouldgently prod the senator and his col-leagues on the need for Canada to con-tribute more. But in recent Washingtonmeetings Mr. Kenny and his colleagueswere instead repeatedly thanked by theirAmerican counterparts for the CanadianF o r c e s o n g o i n g c o m m i t m e n t t oAfghanistan.
But there is a downside to the hardermilitary policy, critics say. Canada’s mili-tary, totally committed to the Afghan war,is absent from most other missionsaround the world. Of the 80,000 soldierscurrently serving under the United Na-tions flag, only 54 are Canadian, pointsout Walter Dorn, an associate professor atRoyal Military College. The top contribu-tor of troops for most of the history of the
CANADA’S MILITARY, TOTALLY
COMMITTED TO THE AFGHAN
WAR, IS ABSENT FROM MOST
OTHER MISSIONS AROUND THE
WORLD. OF THE 80,000 SOL-
DIERS CURRENTLY SERVING UN-
DER THE UNITED NATIONS FLAG,
ONLY 54 ARE CANADIAN,
POINTS OUT WALTER DORN, AN
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT
ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE.
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UN, Canada now ranks 60th, he says,adding that while the Afghan mission op-erates under a UN mandate, it is not con-sidered a UN mission.
“Canada is doing pretty shamefully oncontributing to the UN,” said Dr. Dorn.“Our contribution is minuscule.”
The Canadian military has also beenlargely absent in mustering any tangiblesupport for the African Union mission inDarfur, forcing Gen. Hillier to acknowl-edge that as long as the Afghan war con-tinues, the military won’t be contributinganything substantial to other worldcrises.
International affairs analyst Gerald Ca-plan agrees that Canada’s direction in for-eign policy, particularly on Afghanistanand the Arctic, appears dominated by themilitary. “I don’t know what other direc-tion the government has articulated in thelast two years,” said Dr. Caplan, who hasadvised UN agencies and is a specialist inthe study of genocide.
“It’s a shame. It seems to me that ourleast important contribution is a militaryone and the most important is a potentialpolitical one, a diplomatic one.”
There are also questions about howmuch real influence Canada has gainedinternationally from its Afghanistan role.Canada has not been able to convinceother NATO nations to send more troopsto Afghanistan or persuade others to al-low their soldiers to actually fight.
Dr. Dorn argues that though theAfghan mission has given Canada morerespect at NATO, it has resulted in less in-fluence at the UN and other internationalareas. He notes that Canada pulled itstroops from the Golan Heights last year,leaving just seven observers as the na-tion’s main military presence in thevolatile Middle East.
Some officers have also privately wor-ried that Gen. Hillier’s view of defencemight be too ambitious for a middlepower like Canada, which may not havethe political and public will over the longterm to spend the money or absorb thepotentially high casualties, needed tosupport it.
Already cracks are appearing in someareas.
In a January report to Gen. Hillier,three retired senior officers warned thatthe Canada Command, formed in 2006 tohelp at home in the event of a terrorist at-tack or natural disaster, was not gettingthe attention it should because the Forcesleadership was focused almost entirely onAfghanistan.
At the same time, the threesome re-ported that personnel assigned to theCanadian Expeditionary Force Command– the organization in charge of theAfghanistan mission – were burning outfrom overwork to the extent that the com-mand was unsustainable in the long run.
The study, prepared at Gen. Hillier’srequest as a review of his plan to trans-form the Canadian military into a moreresponsive force, suggested the armedforces were being overloaded. TheAfghanistan mission, combined with amilitary hastily recruiting many newtroops and quickly buying major equip-ment, is too much.
Further, will there be enough troops infuture to follow through with Gen.Hillier’s plans? Officers say recruiting tar-gets are being met, Canadians seem eagerto serve their country. But that’s new re-cruits. What isn’t talked about is the con-cern in National Defence Headquartersthat many experienced older military per-
sonnel, particularly non-commissionedofficers, are becoming eligible for early re-tirement.
In a 2006 report, Defence Departmentanalysts warned that the Canadian Forceswill soon be feeling the effects of an exo-dus of skilled personnel as the oldest ofthe baby-boom generation reaches retire-ment age. High attrition can be expectedstarting this year and continuing through2020, according to the report.
Gen. Hillier has acknowledged theproblem but he suggests it may not be asgreat as his staff fear. According to thegeneral, he has heard from a growingnumber of soldiers with 15 to 25 yearsservice and they are indicating they arewilling to stay in the ranks.
But the situation might not be that up-beat. In March, the military sent out 2,000letters, mainly to former non-commis-sioned officers, captains and majors, ask-ing them to rejoin. In the letter, Lt.-Gen.Walter Natynczyk, the vice chief of the
Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier wants to set the country’s military on the path to accepting more com-bat-oriented operations while, at the same time, trying to transform the Canadian Forces into a nimbleorganization that can respond quickly to international crises.
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defence staff, explained the extent of theshortage of skilled personnel. He pointedout that the military is simultaneouslytrying expand, support overseas opera-tions and ensure there are enough troopsat home to respond to a domestic crisis.
Of the 2,000 letter recipients, only 200indicated they might be interested incoming back into the ranks.
The biggest question, however iswhether there will be enough money tofinance a Canadian Forces capable of car-rying out Gen. Hillier’s vision. The gov-ernment says there is, and points tosteady increases, including this year ’sboost in the defence budget, as proof. De-fence Minister Peter MacKay noted in aspeech in September that increasing mili-tary spending continues to remain one ofthe Conservative government’s priorities.
But some analysts, as well as the Sen-ate’s committee on national security anddefence, warn there is not enough money.
Retired vice admiral Ron Buck ac-knowledged the government has so farbeen meeting its promise to add $5.3 bil-
lion to the defence budget over the nextseveral years. That, combined with theConservative’s ongoing defence budgetplan, should ensure enough money forthe new equipment announced by Mr.Harper in the summer of 2006.
But Mr. Buck questioned whether thecurrent fiscal plan could handle an in-crease in the regular military to 75,000 bythe end of the decade, and a significantboost to the military’s Arctic presence.
“The big question mark is what hap-pens to the (defence) budget after 2010,”said Mr. Buck, who was also the formervice chief of the defence staff. He notedthat defence budgets beyond 2010 willdepend on the outcome of the next fed-eral election as well as the fiscal health ofthe nation.
The military has already mapped outwhat money it believes it needs for thefuture. In a financial report produced forthen defence minister Gordon O’Connorearlier this year, military planners recom-mended boosting the budget from thecurrent $17.7 billion to $36.6 billion in
2025, or about 1.3 per cent of the coun-try’s projected gross domestic product.That much cash would buy even moreequipment, particularly replacements forthe navy’s aging frigates and destroyersaround 2015.
The report also noted that Canadawould then be financially closer to its al-lies, such as Holland and Portugal, whichspend about 1.7 per cent of GDP on de-fence. The increased funding would alsostrengthen defence ties with the U.S.,Britain and Australia, the report argued.
Lt.-Gen. Natynczyk, the vice-chief ofthe defence staff, has made presentationsto Treasury Board and other agenciesover the past several months in an at-tempt to convince federal bureaucrats tosupport the $36-billion budget option.
Senator Kenny says that option is notenough if the military wants to fund fu-ture re-equipment programs and play agreater role in international and domesticmissions. Instead, his Senate committeehas recommended the government in-crease the military’s annual budget to be-tween $25 billion and $35 billion by 2012.
But Senator Kenny says the Harpergovernment appears reluctant to movesoon to increase the defence budget be-yond $20 billion a year. “Even if the mili-tary got its $36 billion by 2025, it’s still notenough,” Mr. Kenny said. “They have toomuch planned and not enough money topay for it.”
Military analyst Eric Lerhe agrees thatthe Canadian Forces’ cash needs are farbeyond what the government appearswilling to spend. He estimates that an an-nual defence budget of at least $30 billiona year is needed to finance the modern-ization and re-equipment programs themilitary needs. “I don’t think the govern-ment wants to go beyond $20 billion ayear, so that is at the heart of the prob-lem,” said Mr. Lerhe, a retired com-modore and analyst with the CanadianDefence and Foreign Affairs Institute.
Gen. Hillier has acknowledged that hisplans to transform the Canadian militarymay have overreached somewhat. TheAfghanistan war, ongoing recruitment,billions of dollars in new equipment, andgetting ready for providing security at the2010 Olympics in Vancouver has over-loaded commanders.
“Given the impact of all of them to-gether, I have to help our commanders torationalize what they’re doing, to balancewhat they’re doing,” noted Gen. Hillier.“I’ve had to take a bit of an appetite sup-pressant.”
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Stephen Harper’s promise to add $5.3 billion to the defence budget over the next several years shouldmean there’s enough money to buy the new equipment promised, but analysts wonder if it will also sup-port costs of additional troops and a beefed-up presence in the Arctic.
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That suppressant includes putting offhis plan to create an amphibious taskgroup – a type of shipborne 9-1-1 forcecapable of intervening in world hotspots– at least until after the Olympics. Thattask group would have required an am-phibious assault ship outfitted with heli-copters and up to 700 troops.
Gen. Hillier has also ordered that aslowdown in the expansion of the mili-tary’s special forces, which tend to drawsome of the most highly trained soldiers.Again, the problem is that personnel arein short supply and needed not only forAfghanistan but for the upcomingOlympic security mission.
“I can’t keep demanding everythingfrom my commanders and expect them tobe successful on operations and trainmore people that are coming in and helprecruit more people and (do the) re-equipment programs,” Gen. Hillier ac-knowledged.
As well, buying some equipment hasbeen delayed because of the need to fun-nel money towards the Afghan war. A$1.2 billion program to buy new search-and-rescue aircraft, which just three yearsago was a priority, has been sidelined. AirForce officers remain hopeful, but noclear date has been set on when new air-craft might be bought to replace the 40-year-old planes now in use for search andrescue.
Others have questioned whether theemphasis on projecting military power,instead of concentrating on diplomaticand other efforts, is the right way totackle some of the issues Canada faces,particularly in the Arctic.
International law professor MichaelByers of the University of British Colum-bia argues that the Canadian military isnot the proper organization to enforcesovereignty and the rule of law in theNorth. He contends that is the job of civil-ian agencies such as the Royal CanadianMounted Police and the Coast Guard. Dr.Byers points out that the navy’s proposedArctic patrol ships announced by Mr.Harper will be severely limited since theyare designed to operate only in light iceconditions. In addition, the ships aren’texpected to be outfitted with sensors totrack foreign submarines, raising ques-tions about just how useful the vesselswill be in detecting intruders.
Dr. Byers says the Canadian govern-ment should instead begin constructing afleet of heavy icebreakers, similar to thoseoperated by the U.S. and Russia. Such afleet would be under the control of the
Coast Guard. “The principle threat in theArctic is not a military one,” said Dr. By-ers. “It is about the need to enforce do-mestic law, anywhere, anytime.”
Senator Kenny, a strong supporter ofthe Canadian Forces, agrees. “We’re notgoing to solve any Arctic issues by usingmilitary force,” he said. “We could putthe entire Canadian Forces up there andwe still couldn’t stop the Russians, theFrench, the Chinese or the Americansfrom going through the Northwest Pas-
sage. And even if we tried, are we goingto go to war with the U.S. or Russia overthe Arctic?”
Senator Kenny sees Arctic issues as be-ing decided in part through diplomacy, aswell as through the work of other govern-ment agencies and departments such asthe Coast Guard and the RCMP.
And while boosting the Canadian mili-tary’s presence in the Arctic is seen as im-portant, most of the country’s experts onthe North say that furthering civilian andeconomic growth in the region is the keyto asserting sovereignty.
National Inuit leader Mary Simon andJoe Handley, the premier of Canada’sNorthwest Territories, have both arguedthat economically sound and growingcommunities in the North will send a sig-nal to other nations that Canada is seri-ous about its presence in the Arctic.
Michael Turner, the former deputycommissioner of the Canadian CoastGuard, has also recently questioned theHarper government’s decision to buildnew navy ships for the Arctic when theCoast Guard is trying just to keep its ag-ing patrol vessels afloat.
Mr. Turner maintains that the success-ful enforcement of a nation’s sovereigntyis based on what he calls the “80-20” rule.The ability of a country’s armed forces toprevent another nation from claiming ter-ritory or waters accounts for only 20 percent of enforcing sovereignty. The other80 per cent is the ability to demonstratethe effective management and adminis-tration of a country’s territories and off-shore waters. And the way to do that isthrough civilian agencies or police forces,he contends.
Dr. Dorn, the Royal Military Collegeprofessor, predicts the “hard power”stance that currently dominates the think-ing of the Canadian Forces and govern-ment will change. He notes that much ofit is based on Gen. Hillier’s views, andwhen he leaves there might be a changein attitude. At the same time, changes inthe international scene may force the mili-tary to alter its operational focus fromAfghanistan and its emphasis on combat.
“The pendulum will swing back tosofter approaches,” Dr. Dorn predicted.“Hard power won’t be eliminated. But wecan’t be a single-mission military focusedon Afghanistan for the rest of eternity.”
David Pugliese writes about defencematters for The Ottawa Citizen and is theauthor of Shadow Wars: Special Forces inthe New Battle Against Terrorism.
“WE’RE NOT GOING TO SOLVE
ANY ARCTIC ISSUES BY USING
MILITARY FORCE,” SENATOR
KENNY SAID. “WE COULD PUT
THE ENTIRE CANADIAN FORCES
UP THERE AND WE STILL
COULDN’T STOP THE RUSSIANS,
THE FRENCH, THE CHINESE OR
THE AMERICANS FROM GOING
THROUGH THE NORTHWEST
PASSAGE. AND EVEN IF WE
TRIED, ARE WE GOING TO GO
TO WAR WITH THE U.S. OR
RUSSIA OVER THE ARCTIC?”
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Senator Colin Kenny, chairman of the Senate’s na-tional security and defence committee
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Diplomacy is surely part of politics,and if war, as 19th Century mili-tary strategist Karl von Clausewicz
once said, is “the continuation of politicsby other means,” then there’s somethingfitting when a career spans the life both ofthe soldier and of the diplomat.
Norris Pettis is a diplomat now, cur-rently ensconced in Dallas as Canada’sconsul general serving Texas and four ad-jacent states. But going to Dallas was the25th move of a life that has taken him,mostly as a soldier, to Croatia, the Ara-bian peninsula, and the Canadian farnorth—among many other places.
“I’m the son of a career military officer,so I’m an army brat, proof that the mili-tary grows its own,” Mr. Pettis, who is 55,said in a recent interview.
He was 19 and enrolled in an arts pro-gram at the University of Western On-tario when he realized that money was inshort supply.
“I did the cash flow analysis and sawthat I’d better march myself down to the
ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) tosee if there were any vacancies.
“With a military father, the idea of join-ing the armed forces was in no way in-timidating, but I don’t think I had anynotion of making it a full career. But Iguess a career is what I’d had by the timeI left, 35 years later.”
And that transition, in his mid-50s, todiplomatic work, was still in service tothe government.
“It seems to be a family thing. Mygrandfather was a soldier, my father andhis brothers all served in the SecondWorld War, and my younger son serves inthe military.
“The money certainly wasn’t the lure –we just seemed to have that sense of serv-ice.”
The first 20 years of his career was agradual upward trajectory to his appoint-ment, at 37, as the commanding officer ofthe 1st Battalion of the Royal CanadianRegiment, a mechanized infantry battal-ion of over 600 people.
“Becoming an infantry officer hadbeen my whole focus – and I achievedthat with that appointment.”
It was a plateau he sat on only briefly.In 1991, he became an educational direc-tor at the Canadian Land Forces Com-mand and Staff College in Kingston,where he taught advanced tactics anddoctrine for three years. From that timeforward, new appointments came inquick succession.
In 1994, as a newly named colonel, hewas sent to Croatia as chief of staff at theCroatia Command Headquarters. He hadtwo responsibilities – to build a head-quarters for UN forces in Croatia, and toserve as deputy commander for all Cana-dian forces in the former Yugoslavia,which were concentrated in Bosnia andCroatia.
“The fighting between factions wasstill going strong,” he recalls. “There wastremendous conflict and tremendous ha-tred, something Canadians don’t easilyunderstand.”
From soldier to diplomatNorris Pettis’ military career took him to countries around the world. He got an MBA while serving in seven ofthem. Now he’s Canada’s consul general in Dallas. Charles Enman reports.
DI SPATCHES|CANADA AT WAR
DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA 19
But being Canadian was an advantagefor Canadian forces, he says.
“We’re not at all like the Belgian troopsin Rwanda, for example, who carriedheavy historical baggage. We had a kindof clean slate and could develop our ownreputation.”
From 1995 to 1997, he was back inCanada, advising on operations andtraining policy for the army.
This kind of home respite ended whenhe was appointed defence attaché on theArabian Peninsula. Based in the Saudicapital, Riyadh, he analyzed security is-sues for the seven countries on the penin-sula – besides Saudi Arabia, there wasYemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates,Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.
“On the surface, they might appearidentical, but each is unique, with differ-ent approaches to issues,” Mr. Pettis says.
Security on the peninsula was not hisonly focus. He also represented theCanadian government with regard to de-fence agreements, and occasionallyhelped Canadian companies in tradematters.
The geopolitical awareness of theArabs casts strong light on the British, theFrench, and the Americans. Canadians, intheir dimmer light, “have to work harderto make ourselves noticed and to developrelationships,” Mr. Pettis says.
Though busy with his duties, he some-how found time to pursue a personal am-bition – to complete a graduate degree,“which, after all, is starting to become abasic qualification for the executiveworld, whether you’re in government orthe private sector.”
Obviously, from the Arabian penin-sula, it would have to be a course hecould take by correspondence over the In-ternet. His brother had done an MBA pro-gram from Athabasca University’s Centrefor Innovative Management in St. Albert,Alberta. Athabasca specializes in distanceand online education.
Mr. Pettis did the due diligence, foundthe course appealing, and enrolled.
“I can tell you it was a long, hard slog,but if I could tie into a phone line – and Iremember an evening of crawling undertables in Yemen to find one – I could passthe work back and forth and carry on.”
Arrangements were simple enough inRiyadh, but two weeks of the month hewas on the road, and might have to juryrig an Internet connection, any givenevening, in a hotel in Yemen, Oman, theUnited Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain orKuwait.
All of this became infinitely more com-plicated in the aftermath of 9/11, whenCanada was getting ready to deploy toAfghanistan. Mr. Pettis was gettingphone calls virtually 24/7 from his supe-riors in Ottawa and was arranging per-mission for Canadian troops to deploy toseveral countries on the peninsula.
“Things were frantic – for four months,my cell phone rang day and night, and Iwas bouncing between Kuwait, Bahrain,Qatar and the UAE.
“It was extremely challenging, but Istill squeezed in my studies.”
Three years of intense study were allworth it, he says. The MBA he now holdsrepresents a lifelong commitment to per-sonal development. Moreover, it maywell have spelled the difference betweensuccess and failure in his efforts to be-come a consul general.
“I’ll never know about that. They did-n’t tell me that a master’s was required tobe come a consul – but I have to note thatmost people in such positions have atleast a master’s degree.”
In 2002, he returned to Canada and be-gan a two-year stint as commander ofCanada’s northern military region, com-prising the Yukon, the Northwest Terri-tory and Nunavut. The distance fromRiyadh to his headquarters in White-horse, he says, was as great meteorologi-cally as geographically: “I went from 50above to 50 below.”
Mr. Pettis closed out his military careerwith a final two years in Ottawa, wherehe was director of protocol and foreign li-aison, responsible for managing defenceattachés in 20 offices around the world.
In 2006, the Department of Foreign Af-fairs and International Trade appointedhim consul general in Dallas. He began in
September of last year and will continuein the post till 2010.
Though hardly his most exotic foreignposting, Texas and the adjoining fourstates – Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, andOklahoma – are of real import for Cana-dian interests, with a total populationgreater than Canada’s.
Considering Texas alone, the two-waytrade with Canada, very evenly divided,was $20 billion (USD) in 2005. In Texas,this economic activity supports more thanhalf a million jobs, Mr. Pettis says.
As an export partner, only Mexico ismore important to Texas than Canada.The 886 Canadian-owned companies inTexas employ 30,954 people.
“People would be surprised at the sizeof the Canadian footprint in this region.”
Part of his job is to educate Americansabout bilateral issues of importance toCanada – softwood lumber, the restrictinginfluence of passport requirements ontravel, potential restrictions on importa-tions of beef.
He also seeks to inform American busi-nessmen of investment opportunities inCanada. But one of his biggest challengesis to educate Canadian businessmenabout opportunities in the Texas region.
“ Te x a s m a y b e a l o n g w a y f ro mCanada, but it has one of the fastest-growing populations and economies inthe United States. And with a culturethat’s similar to our own, in some wayscoming in is easier than in other parts ofthe world.”
He hasn’t lost that quest for personaldevelopment that led him to seek anMBA. Recently, Mr. Pettis has begun tak-ing Spanish lessons. Spanish could proveuseful in his current position, and the ac-quisition of another language wouldmark continued growth of the kind hecherishes. “You’re either growing oryou’re shrinking,” he says.
Mr. Pettis doesn’t know what he’ll dowhen the time comes to make that 26thmove, after his appointment runs out inAugust 2010.
He and his wife could happily moveback to Canada, where they have twosons – the older, an Ottawa police officer,the younger, in the military.
But he’d be entirely open to anotherdiplomatic posting.
“Canada in the world has always beenmy focus. And even if it sounds corny, theideal of public service has always been inmy fabric.”
Charles Enman is an Ottawa writer.
AS AN EXPORT PARTNER,
ONLY MEXICO IS MORE
IMPORTANT TO TEXAS THAN
CANADA. THE 886 CANADIAN-
OWNED COMPANIES IN TEXAS
EMPLOY 30,954 PEOPLE.
“PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED
AT THE SIZE OF THE CANADIAN
FOOTPRINT IN THIS REGION.”
CANADA AT WAR|DI SPATCHES
20 NOVEMBER—DECEMBER 2007
The combined accomplishments ofthe Afghanistan government andthe international community, in-
cluding Canada, are greater than ac-knowledged in the news media. But tolock in the country’s early post-Talibansuccesses means planning for state insti-tutions to provide ordinary Afghans basicphysical security, access to justice, jobs,health and education. Such basics wouldearn legitimacy for the government, pre-vent conflict and eventually build stabil-ity for the fragile state.
First, let’s catalogue Afghanistan’s suc-cess stories. It is little known that com-pared to other South Asian countries, thepace of change and development inAfghanistan has been remarkable .Afghanistan’s transition to the post-Tal-iban period was marked with violencewhereas the rest of South Asia had asomewhat non-violent transition to inde-pendence. Yet, it is difficult to visualizeBangladesh, India, Pakistan or Nepalachieving within five years of their inde-pendence the benchmarks of success at-tained in five years by Afghanistan in thepost-Taliban period.
All four of these countries inherited atrained civil service, well-developed edu-cation systems, and an administrativeand political elite that provided the lead-ers with a strong human resource base toundertake the difficult nation-buildingtasks. But these countries still haven’treached some of the successes attained byAfghanistan that entered the post-Talibanperiod with almost no trained personnelto help build the nation.
While Afghanistan, with a little helpfrom its international friends, stabilizedits currency, the Bangladesh taka, and theIndian, Nepalese and Pakistani rupeesare hardly a gold standard. Nor is thedouble-digit GDP growth attained byAfghanistan common in South Asia. Pak-istan’s social indicators reflect decliningtrends. Poverty is rampant in India. Girls’
basic education is lagging behind in all ofSouth Asia except Sri Lanka. And it’s arough neighbourhood: Sri Lanka has notresolved its decades-old civil conflict andpolitical stability is under threat in Nepal,Bangladesh and Pakistan.
On top of stabilizing its currency andgrowing its economy, Afghanistan hasreached its tax collection targets. This au-gurs well. A stabilized currency meansfuture Afghan traders can play in theglobal market. GDP growth (yes, even ex-cluding opium dividends) provides theresources to reduce rural poverty andprovide basic health and education forvulnerable citizens.
Findings of a survey undertaken byJohns Hopkins University reveal a 25 percent improvement in health care in al-most every Afghan province. Maternaland infant mortality has been reduced,within a short period, in a country wherethe rate of these afflictions was once thehighest in the world, according to the UNHuman Development Report of 2004.
The Ministry of Rural Rehabilitationand Development brought in commu-nity development and micro-credit
banking on the back of a participatoryprocess involving thousands of the ruralpoor. There was a resulting investmentin small village infrastructure. One ex-ample was tube wells for safe waterwhich drastically reduced the death ratefrom childhood diarrhea. One-roomcommunity schools, built with commu-nity labour, provide safe havens for girls’primary education. None of these com-munity-owned schools has been burntby the Taliban, not one – the communi-ties protect them. Micro-credit helpswomen set up small businesses, earnmoney and enhance their dignity in fam-ily and society.
What can education do for women?One of my local staff at the Canadian em-bassy in Kabul, Tamim Asey, and hisbrother Farid, now studying at the Uni-versity of Waterloo, speak of their fam-ily’s pride in their sister, Maryam, whowas allowed to complete her education inthe post-Taliban period and emerged as ajournalist – a women’s rights reporterwith Ariana TV in Kabul. She won a pres-tigious journalism award for exceptional
DI SPATCHES|CANADA AT WAR
Afghanistan’s remarkable successesDouble-digit GDP growth. Big advances in health care. Education for millions of children. Although huge problems remain, an international development expert argues that the war-torn country is doing better thananyone thought possible
By Nipa Banerjee
Six million Afghan children are now in school and a third of them are girls.
Continued on page 25
21DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA
Canada currently has close to 2,900military personnel on operationalmissions overseas, ranging from
Afghanistan, where the largest Canadianforces are deployed, to Bosnia, to parts ofAfrica, and, in our own hemisphere, toHaiti.
The Canadian Forces have a history ofoverseas deployments, having completed72 international operations over the lastsix decades. Sixteen are currently run-ning.
Operation Athena, in Afghanistan,with its 2,500 personnel, is the largest de-ployment. A battle group, composedlargely of soldiers from the Royal 22ndRegiment (the Van Doos) from CFB Val-cartier, is in Kandahar, scene of some ofthe most intense encounters with Talibaninsurgents. Personnel from other units arealso in Kandahar, supplying medical andcommand support and other services. InKabul, the capital, other personnel areworking at the headquarters of theNATO-led mission and at the Canadianembassy.
Maj. Richard Moffet, the deputy com-manding officer of the battle group inKandahar, says morale is higher than re-ports in the media might suggest.
“The local populace understands thatwe respect their culture, their childrenand their women and like all human be-ings, they return respect for respect.”
There may be some confusions due tovery different cultural assumptions, Maj.Moffet adds: “Modernity has not arrived,and the more remote areas seem like partof another world – maybe like the Quebecof 70 years ago, when the police were cor-rupt and women couldn’t vote.”
He adds that the soldiers understandthat there are no quick solutions inAfghanistan – that a full resolution ofAfghan problems could take 15 or moreyears.
There are two smaller Canadian mis-sions in Afghanistan. Operation Archer, a
contribution to the U.S.-led Operation En-during Freedom, sees roughly 30 Cana-dian personnel helping with efforts totrain the Afghan National Army and theAfghan National Police and other effortsto build security infrastructure. In Opera-tion Argus, 22 Canadian personnel, aspart of a strategic advisory team, are em-bedded in Afghan ministries and agen-cies. Working under Afghan leadership,they bring training and strategic planningskills to bear on civil problems.
Canada is one of some 35 countriescontributing 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.Most of them are not fighting on the frontlines, however.
Operation Foundation sees sevenCanadian personnel deployed to U.S.CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa,
Florida, and to the subordinate CENT-COM headquarters in Bahrain. CENT-COM maintains U.S. security interests in25 nations from East Africa, the MiddleEast, and Central Asia. Roughly 65 na-tions, including Canada, work withCENTCOM as part of Operation Endur-ing Freedom, the American-led coalitionagainst terrorism.
The Canadians in Operation Founda-tion keep the Tampa CENTCOM head-quarters aware of intelligence reports,requests for forces, and the activities ofother coalition members.
Canada has four operational missionsin Israel or on the country’s border.
In the Sinai Peninsula, 28 Canadianpersonnel, as part of Operation Calumet,
CANADA AT WAR|DI SPATCHES
Canada’s military contribution: An around-the-world profileWe have close to 2,900 troops deployed on 16 missions, ranging from a single soldier in Operation Snowgooseto 2,500 in Operation Athena.
By Charles Enman
Operation Crocodile: Village children from an island in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) greetMajor Louis Xenos. Maj. Xenos is part of a nine-person Canadian forces contribution to a United Nationsmission to bring peace and security to the DRC.
Continued on page 24
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OPERATION CROCODILECurrent deployment: 9 Location: DemocraticRepublic of the CongoCanadians serve as staffofficers in the UN missionhere; six at UNheadquarters in Kinshasa,three in Kisangani.Date: September 1999
OPERATION HAMLET Current deployment: 4Location: Haiti Canadians serve with the UnitedNations Stabilization Mission inPort-au-Prince. They support lawenforcement on theimpoverished island.Date: May 2004
OPERATION FOUNDATIONCurrent deployment: 8Location: Florida andBahrainCanadians are at U.S.CENTCOM headquartersin Tampa, Florida and inBahrain. CENTCOMmaintains U.S. securityinterests in 25 nations. Date: August 2003
OPERATION BRONZECurrent deployment: 8Location: Bosnia Canadians serve in staffpositions at NATOheadquarters where theyencourage defencereform in Bosnia.Date: September 2004
OPERATION SNOWGOOSECurrent deployment: 1Location: Cyprus The officer is part of a UN peacekeepinggroup that monitors the ceasefirebetween Greek and Turkish Cypriots onthe divided island.Date: March 1964
OPERATION SCULPTURECurrent deployment: 8Location: Sierra LeoneThis is Canada’s militarycontribution to a British-led effort to help SierraLeone build an army,accountable todemocratically-electedleaders. Date: November 2000
Canada’s Deploymentsat a Glance
OPERATION SEXTANTCurrent deployment: 235Location: The ship sails traditionally in theNorth Atlantic This is Canada’s contribution to the Maritimetask force, a squadron of ships from NATO-member nations. Date: January 2006
DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA 23
CANADA AT WAR|DI SPATCHES
OPERATION PROTEUSCurrent deployment: 4Location: IsraelOfficers coordinateIsraeli and Palestiniansecurity forces as andwhen Israeldisengages from Gazaand the West Bank.Date: June 2005
OPERATION GLADIUSCurrent deployment: 2 Location: IsraelSenior Canadianofficers help the UNDisengagementObserver Forcemaintain peace on theGolan Heights. Date: March 2006
OPERATION JADECurrent deployment: 4Location: IsraelCanadians serve in the UN Truce SupervisionOrganization, established after the 1948creation of Israel, to keep peace in theMiddle East. Date: June 1954
OPERATION ATHENACurrent deployment: 2,500Location: AfghanistanA battle group, made up of soldiers from theRoyal 22nd Regiment is in Kandahar, whereTaliban insurgents are most active. In Kabul,other personnel work at the NATO-ledmission’s headquarters and Canada’s embassy.Date: May 2003
OPERATION ARGUSCurrent deployment: 22Location: Afghanistan Canadians work on civil problems in Afghanministries and agencies under Afghanleadership.Date: August 2005
OPERATION ARCHERCurrent deployment: 30Location: Afghanistan Canadians help train members of the AfghanNational Army and the Afghan NationalPolice and help build security infrastructureas part of the American Operation EnduringFreedom. Date: July 2004
OPERATION SAFARI Current deployment: 33Location: Sudan Part of the UN Mission inSudan, 25 troops serve asmilitary observers insouthern Sudan and eightmore serve at the UNheadquarters inKhartoum and in ElObeid. Date: March 2005
OPERATION AUGURALCurrent deployment: 11Location: Sudan This deployment supportsthe African Union Missionin Darfur, maintainingpeace between forces ofthe government of Sudanand the Sudan People’sLiberationMovement/Army. Date: September 2004
OPERATION CALUMETCurrent deployment: 28Location: Sinai PeninsulaCanadians make surepeace between Israel andEgypt, achieved in the1979 Camp DavidAccords, is maintained. Date: September 1985
NOVEMBER—DECEMBER 200724
help ensure that the peace between Israeland Egypt, achieved in the 1979 CampDavid Accords, is maintained. Calumet ispart of the Multinational Force and Ob-servers, a peacekeeping force funded bythe United States, Israel and Egypt thatbrings together the forces of 11 differentnations.
Cpl. Bill Davage, who tracks the posi-tions of aircraft within a given area, saysthe foreign soldiers are welcomed bySinai residents.
Canadian soldiers may find the heat ofsummer, which has reached as high as 51degrees in recent months, a bit difficult tocope with, especially on more humiddays.
“But basically, I think we enjoy beinghere. We feel proud to be keeping thepeace.”
The three other missions include Oper-ation Gladius, in which two senior Cana-dian officers help the United NationsDisengagement Observer Force maintainpeace on the Golan Heights; OperationJade, Canada’s longest-running overseascommitment, in which seven personnelserve in the United Nations Truce Super-vision Organization, established after the1948 creation of Israel to keep peace in theMiddle East; and Operation Proteus, inwhich four military staff officers supportefforts to coordinate Israeli and Palestin-ian security forces as and when Israel dis-engages from Gaza and the West Bank.
Besides the four Israel-centred mis-sions, there are two other missions classi-fied as Middle East operations, one inCyprus and the other part of a NATOMaritime task force.
Operation Sextant is Canada’s contri-bution to the Maritime task force. Some235 off icers and sa i lors , on HMCSToronto, a Halifax-class patrol frigate, arecurrently participating in exercises with asquadron of ships from NATO-membernations to ensure readiness should thefleet be tasked to engage in operations.Some of the exercises have been in theMediterranean, but some ships from thetask force, including HMCS Toronto, havecircumnavigated Africa, far from NATO’straditional area of operations in the east-ern Atlantic.
Lieutenant Commander Angus Top-shee, speaking by phone from just off thecoast of Somalia, said the crew is excitedto be on this cruise, which he said marksthe first time a Canadian navy ship hascircumnavigated Africa.
The crew has been very vigilant, espe-cially in the waters off the Horn of Africa,where pirates have been known to oper-ate freely.
“But ships are comfortable,” he said.“We know we’re doing much better thana guy in a foxhole in Afghanistan.”
Canada’s mission to Cyprus, Opera-tion Snowgoose, is modest, comprising asingle staff officer. His efforts are part ofthe United Nations Force in Cyprus, apeacekeeping group that monitors theceasefire between Greek and TurkishCypriots on the divided island.
Canada has four operational missionsin Africa.
Operat ion Augural supports theAfrican Union Mission in Darfur, whichseeks to maintain peace between forces ofthe government of Sudan and the SudanPeople’s Liberation Movement/Army.Augural has 11 personnel – five operatingfrom Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia,four in Darfur, and two in greater Sudan.Among other tasks, the personnel mentorAfrican officers in peacekeeping opera-tions, support logistics, and train Africansoldiers in the use of the 105 armoured ve-hicles which Canada has loaned to theAfrican Union forces.
Deputy Commander Nicholas Smith,in Addis Ababa, describes the situation inDarfur as “extremely complex, thoughwe do have a feeling of making someprogress.”
The climate in Addis Ababa is congen-ial for a Canadian, he says, but the per-sonnel in Darfur face “deser t - l ikeconditions, with 40-degree heat, sand-storms and, in the rainy season, some dif-ficult driving on the roads.”
In Operation Safari, part of the UnitedNations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), 25personnel serve as military observers insouthern Sudan and eight more serve atthe UN headquarters in Khartoum and inEl Obeid.
UNMIS supports the implementationof the Comprehensive Peace Agreementreached in January 2005, besides offeringhumanitarian assistance and supportinghuman rights.
In the Congo, nine Canadian person-nel, as part of Operation Crocodile, serveas staff officers in the United Nations Or-ganization Mission in the Democratic Re-public of the Congo (MONUC). Six serveat the UN headquarters in Kinshasa, andthree at the headquarters in Kisangani.
In July 1999, the Congolese govern-ment and five regional states signed theLusaka Ceasefire Agreement to end hos-
tilities between all belligerent forces.MONUC acts as a liaison between theparties.
Lieut.-Col. Peter Brown says that theCongolese welcome the UN forces. “Theyunderstand that they have to rebuild theircountry – in natural resources, one ofAfrica’s richest – from zero, and they’rehappy to take whatever support they canget. And if they succeed, they will be anexample to all of Africa.”
A Canadian can hardly comprehendthe devastation of many years of war.
“When you drive down the main streetof Kinshasa, you feel you’re in a demoli-tion derby,” he says. “Things are buildingup, but it will be slow.”
Eleven personnel serve in OperationSculpture, Canada’s military contributionto a British-led effort to help Sierra Leonebuild an effective army, accountable todemocratically-elected leaders. TheBritish-led effort was set up following theJuly 1999 peace agreement between allparties in the country’s civil war.
Eight personnel serve in OperationBronze, which fills staff positions atNorth Atlantic Treaty Headquarters inSarajevo (NHQSa). NHQSa was estab-lished by NATO to encourage defence re-form in Bosnia, including creation of asingle army with multi-ethnic brigadesand unified training and logistic com-mands.
In this hemisphere, four Canadian staffofficers, as part of Operation Hamlet, arecurrently serving with the 7,000-strongUnited Nations Stabilization Mission inHaiti (MINUSTAH). Working at MINUS-TAH headquarters in Port-au-Prince, theofficers promote the mission’s mandate tosupport law enforcement on the poverty-stricken island.
Col. Norman Lalonde, third in com-mand of the overa l l miss ion , saysprogress is being made.
“Security is fragile but stable,” he says.“You can say there’s now room for UNorganizations and civilian organizationsto do their work.”
Haiti remains extremely poor and theinfrastructure woefully weak. Electricity,Mr. Lalonde says, may only flow for twoor three hours every other day.
The mission is also offering humanitar-ian assistance in such ways as buildingschools and playgrounds, and repairingwater tanks.
“Small stuff,” he describes it, “but im-portant to the local population.”
Charles Enman is an Ottawa writer
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Continued from page 21
DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA 25
CANADA AT WAR|DI SPATCHES
journalism on women’s rights, given bythe Afghan minister of women’s affairs,Masooda Jalal. This year, she was namedthe best female news reporter by Ehsan-ullah Bayat, president of Afghan Radioand Television.
Replacing imported Madrassas (reli-gious schools) with homegrown Madras-sas reflects growing strength in theeducation system. These schools offer amix of religious and secular instructionwith preferences given to girls. Six mil-lion Afghan children are in school nowand a third of them are girls.
To help create the conditions for post-conflict reconstruction and peace-build-ing, the defence ministry led the way bydemobilizing combatants. This initially si-lenced many of the guns and helped en-sure that citizens would not be underconstant threat of firearms.
Four million returned refugees anddisplaced people inside the country weresustainably settled. Such settlement dis-suaded many refugees from joining thefractious groups that would destabilizethe society.
Reforms initiated by Afghan govern-
ment ministers, combined with foreignaid, helped the Afghan government de-liver basic development services. Chil-dren go to school, mothers serve at healthclinics and many busy and bustling citystreets are now cleared of the threats offirearms. This allows Afghans to enjoybasic personal freedoms they never hadunder the Taliban.
But some mistakes by the internationalcommunity should be taken into accountin planning the next steps. While people-friendly reconstruction came out of someof the reformed Afghan ministries, otherswith no reform efforts stagnated and fos-tered corruption. Donors lacked the fore-sight to demand reforms that wouldgenerate genuine peace dividends forcommon Afghans. Elections, attainedwith an investment of more than $130million (including a substantial Canadiancontribution), failed to protect civil rightsin the absence of honest, well-trained po-lice and a free and fair justice system.
The international community (Canadaincluded) ignored the lack of state institu-tions capable of implementing a monop-oly of power and a unitary legal order.
People worry that countries whichcontribute troops and the accompanying
mindset favour short-term and visiblefixes, especially in southern provinces.They are ignoring the need for statebuilding and institution strengthening.The international community needs tolink these crucial efforts to the headline-grabbing counter-insurgency conflict.
Meanwhile, the insurgency thrives. Inthe words of Mullah Zaeef (former Tal-iban Ambassador to Pakistan) “the Tal-iban, is not one, they are not two, they arenot a hundred, they are not a thousand,they are not tens of thousands, they aremillions in the country, with many layersand different elements” who cannot all bekilled. Reconciliation with the non-ex-tremist element and support in drivingout the extremists might be the only wayfor curbing this insurgency. Governanceand nation-building can serve as criticalinstruments to foster Afghan solidarity,earning people’s loyalty to the govern-ment and persuading the people to lockout the Taliban.
Nipa Banerjee recently joined the Univer-sity of Ottawa after 33 years with CIDA.Her most recent posting (2003-2006) wasin Kabul as head of Canada’s aid pro-gram in Afghanistan.
Continued from page 20
NOVEMBER—DECEMBER 200726
Af ter having focused on horsd’oeuvres, appetizers, soups, sal-ads and Trou Normands in my
series on the menu, it’s time to considerthe main course. This is the hub aroundwhich a menu is planned. A host or host-ess first decides on the choice of maincourse because it is the principal part ofthe menu and deserves careful consider-ation.
When entertaining, be aware of anyfood restrictions guests may have beforemaking final decisions on a menu. Theywill appreciate this attention to detail,and will be impressed by the obviouscommitment to accommodate andplease them. I recently hosted a charitydinner for eight, and all but one guesthad a dietary limitation. They rangedfrom no fish or seafood to strictly Halalfoods.
Beef, lamb, veal, chicken and fish areamong the favourite choices for the maincourse. Throughout the menu-planningprocess, I try to be strategic. Marinades,rubs, drizzles, sauces and toppings arecritical in my repertoire of main-courserecipes. I also like to design recipes whichare stuffed, crusted, glazed, stacked,seared and barbecued or grilled. Whenpreparing the main course, I pay close at-tention to both the principal elements (themeat, poultry, fish) and the accompani-ments (vegetables, rice, pasta). No matterhow fabulous flavours, combinations andpresentations are, all will suffer if theseprimary items aren’t cooked to perfecti-ion.
I regard an exciting main-course plateas proof of exquisite team work. Every-thing must come together to contributenot only to the overall critical balance offlavours and textures but to the visual en-ticement as well. Today, as never before,even a good cook needs to be part-artistto create an impressive main-course plate.How, where and in what quantity ele-ments are placed on a plate, can have aremarkable effect on the final product.
Even the choice of plate has a role toplay. Unfortunately, too many of us havedinner plates that are far too small to re-spect the present-day culinary philoso-phy which insists food on a plate shouldnot be crowded. And have you experi-enced the joy of dining from bistro
bowls? Some recipeslook and taste better inthem.
When purchasingdishes, one is oftentempted by beautifulcomplex patterns. Buthere’s a note of cau-tion. Before you buy,ask yourself, “What
would food look like on that plate?” Usu-ally a monochromatic or subtly decoratedchoice is best. Bento boxes, which don’talways have to contain Japanese or Asianfood, are also fun.
Most frequently, the main course isserved to guests (individually) at thetable, from trays or on individuallyarranged plates which have been pre-pared in the kitchen and set in front ofeach person. The latter is my preferredmethod because it gives me control overthe quantity of food that must be pur-chased and prepared, portion sizes, andthe artistry of the final presentation. Serv-ing from dishes at the table, or doing itbuffet-style, requires much more food (sofood costs rise), and the host loses controlover the composition and the visual ap-
peal of guests’ plates. To keep the foodwarm, heat the plates and serve extrasauce separately (and piping hot) at thetable.
To avoid unnecessary frustration, pro-vide serrated-edged knives when thefood served requires more serious cut-ting. Salt and pepper shakers are alwaysplaced on our table. Everyone’s palate isdifferent; guests should feel comfortablemaking modest modifications.
In closing, from time to time, peopleask me if chicken is chic enough to serveas a main course for elegant dinners. Myanswer? It depends on the recipe. Whatfollows is a keeper recipe for chicken. Thechicken is exquisite in flavour and visu-ally stunning with its layered filling ofspinach, portobello mushrooms, cheeseand oven-dried tomatoes. It is a splendidmain course choice for any occasion.
Margaret Dickenson is author of the inter-national award-winning cookbook Mar-garet’s Table - Easy Cooking & InspiringEntertaining and is creator and host of Mar-garet’s Entertaining Minutes on Rogers TV.See www.margaretssenseofoccasion.comfor more.
And now, the main event
DELIGHTS|ENTERTAINING
MARGARETDICKENSON
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DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA 27
ENTERTAINING|DELIGHTS
PORTOBELLO DELUXE STUFFED CHICKENBREASTSMakes four servings
1 very large portobello mushroom cap (3 ozor 85 g), sliced (thickness: 1/3 inch or 0.8 cm)3 to 4 tbsp (45 to 60 mL) herb garlic butteror butterTo taste, salt and crushed black peppercorns1 cup (250 mL) (well packed) fresh spinachleaves (stems removed)4 single chicken breasts, boneless with skin(each: 6 oz or 175 g)1 1/2 tsp (8 mL) dried crushed tarragon 4 oz (115 g) oven dried tomatoes*1 1/2 oz (45 g) mozzarella cheese, sliced1/3 cup (80 mL) flour, lightly spiced **2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil1 1/4 cups (300 ml) roasted red peppercream sauce (recipe follows)Garnish (Optional)16 spears of freshly cooked asparagus
1. Sauté mushroom slices briefly in herbgarlic butter in a large preheated skilletover medium-high heat. Season with saltand crushed black peppercorns; transfer toa platter.2. Place spinach leaves on a largemicrowave-proof plate. Microwave at highheat, turning leaves a couple of times, untilspinach is slightly wilted (less than oneminute). Season with salt and pepper.3. Slit chicken breasts horizontally to form apocket. (Avoid piercing the top or bottomto prevent contents, particularly cheese,from escaping during cooking process.)4. Sprinkle interior of pocket with salt,crushed black peppercorns and tarragon.On one interior surface of pocket (skin-side), arrange 1/4 of oven-dried tomatoes,top with 1/4 of cheese, mushrooms andspinach. 5. Close breasts around filling and secureedges together with strong woodentoothpicks or fine metal skewers. 6. Dust stuffed breasts carefully with lightlyspiced flour. Place breasts (skin side down)in hot oil in a preheated large skillet or grillpan over medium to medium-high heat;brown all surfaces.*** Reduce heat tomedium-low or lower; cover pan looselyand cook until chicken in tender and done.(Total cooking time: about 20 to 24minutes. Juices run clear when chicken ispierced with a fork and meat thermometerregisters 170 °F or 77 °C.)7. Remove picks/skewers while chicken iswarm (count them to ensure all have beenremoved).8. Cut each stuffed chicken breastdiagonally in half and serve with Roasted
Red Pepper Cream Sauce. Garnish withcooked asparagus spears.
* To make oven-dried tomatoes, cut 1/2 lb(225 g) of whole tomatoes (e.g., plum)horizontally in half; arrange on a bakingsheet (cut side up), drizzle with 1 1/2 tsp (8mL) of olive oil, season with salt andcrushed black peppercorns. Bake in a 225 °F(110 °C) oven until the tomatoes arereduced to about half of their original size(about 2 1/2 to 3 hours). Cool and storerefrigerated.
** To make the lightly spiced flour, combine1/3 cup (80 mL) of flour, 1/2 tsp (3 mL) ofcurry powder, 1/3 tsp (2 mL) of both salt andcrushed dried tarragon leaves, and a pinchof crushed black peppercorns, garlicpowder, ground nutmeg and powderedmustard.
*** Note: Alternatively, at this time,transfer the chicken to a parchment-linedbaking tray and place it in a preheatedoven (350 °F or 180 °C) until done.
- - - - - -ROASTED RED PEPPER CREAM SAUCEMakes 1 1/2 cups or 375 mL
4 large whole red bell peppers (totalweight:1 lb or 450 g)2 tsp (10 mL) olive oil1 tbsp (15 mL) crushed chicken bouilloncubes (or powder)1 tsp (5 mL) finely chopped fresh garlic1/2 cup (125 mL) heavy cream (35% fat)1/4 tsp (1 mL) (Indonesian) hot chili paste(optional)
1. Rub whole red bell peppers with olive oiland arrange on a parchment paper-linedbaking tray.2. Place in a preheated 400 °F (200 °C) oven;turn every 5 minutes, until skins blister andare lightly charred.3. Remove roasted peppers from oven;place in a pot and cover securely; allowpeppers to cool.4. Remove and discard stem areas, skins,seeds and membranes.5. Place red pepper flesh (and any juice)into a blender jar; purée well.6. Place red pepper purée in a looselycovered small saucepan over medium-lowheat. (Beware of splattering.) Add crushedbouillon cubes, garlic, cream and if desired,hot chili paste; bring to a boil. Reduce heatimmediately. Stirring frequently, allow sauceto simmer for a few minutes until thick.7. Serve sauce hot or warm.
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NOVEMBER—DECEMBER 200728
DELIGHTS|RESIDENCES
Visiting with Brazilian AmbassadorValdemar Carneiro Leao and hiswife, Anna, in their Wilbrod Street
residence is like taking a mini-tour oftheir homeland.
Colourful paintings and prints dot thewalls, many of them scenes of Brazil,some of them the work of contemporaryBrazilian artists. There is a scene of colo-nial buildings in the state of Bahia.There’s a seascape of Ipanema, and an-other of the heights of Sugarloaf Moun-tain, both in Rio de Janeiro. A hillside inTeresópolis and a view of Recife in 1936are also part of a collection which adds tothe charm of one of Ottawa’s more im-pressive homes. Some of these works areowned by the Brazilian government, oth-ers belong to the ambassador and hiswife.
“We brought many of our own things,”says the 61-year-old diplomat. Their fur-
niture and paintings fit in perfectly intothe historic house, colourful accents onthe already brightly painted walls.
The house, a standout in the area, wasbuilt in 1909 and owned by John SkirvingEwart, a Toronto-born lawyer and authorwho moved to Ottawa in 1904. In his lateryears, he was best known as an advocatefor Canadian independence.
The Tudor-Revival house, a favouritestyle at the turn of the last century, is builtin brick veneer and features a pitchedroof with an offset gable. Its site on a dou-ble lot gives it a commanding presence inthe neighbourhood. Cut-stone windowsurrounds and a two-storey bay windowwith a battlement cap, add to its architec-tural weight. The house is rivalled on thestreet only by the nearby residence of theAustralian ambassador.
The house is such a showpiece, almosta thousand people dropped by during
Doors Open Ottawa 2007 in June, muchto the ambassador’s surprise.
“We printed 200 brochures about thehouse and there were so many people wehad to copy them in black and white asquickly as we could during the day,” hesays.
The main floor is used as the formal re-ception area, with an elaborate paneledentranceway and an enormous fireplacein the foyer. There are at least eight fire-places, but none works, says the ambassa-dor. “It would cost about $100,000 to fixthem,” he says regretfully.
The wooden stairway and banisterlead to a gallery with a large leaded-glasswindow that allows sunlight to filterdown to the main hall.
In keeping with the colourful spirit oftheir homeland, the residence is a seriesof brightly painted rooms; the main re-ception rooms are bright yellow and dec-
Brazilian colour in the heart of Ottawa
Margo Roston
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The home of Brazilian Ambassador Valdemar Carneiro Leao and his wife, Anna, is a Sandy Hill gem built in 1909. Today, it’s brimming with Brazilian flare.
DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA 29
RESIDENCES|DELIGHTS
orated with furniture covered in livelyflowered chintz, the wooden floorsdressed up with oriental carpets.
A charming winter garden, painted ina shade of salmon, is where the ambassa-dor often holds small luncheons. Next toit is a small sunroom with red tile floor.
The family actually lives on the secondfloor, says Mrs. Leao, with their five-year-old daughter, Isabel. Staff includes a live-in nanny, a helper to look after thereception area and the basement, and anArgentinean-Canadian cook who hasworked in the residence for many years.
The joie de vivre of Brazil translates intolively parties. The paneled dining room isa hub for entertaining, with a table thatcan seat at least 20. Small tables in the of-ficial reception rooms handle larger din-ners where there are often 80 guests. Andabout 700 are invited for Brazil’s nationalday celebration each year on Sept. 7,when a huge tent dominates one of thetwo side gardens.
The couple almost always includes a
Brazilian dish for guests. A favourite ismuqueca, a Bahia–style shrimp stew withpalm oil and coconut milk and sometimescassava.
One of the pleasures of life in the resi-dence is its location next door to the em-bassy’s office at 450 Wilbrod. It’s just aquick walk to work for AmbassadorLeao, a rare treat in most ambassadorialpostings. The house containing the officesburned down in the 1970s but was re-stored and is back in business.
The family has taken advantage oftheir time in Ottawa. Mrs. Leao, a lawyer,took a script-writing course at AlgonquinCollege and little Isabel has learned howto sing O Canada at Fernbank School,where she is in Grade 1.
But she’ll soon have another song toadd to her international repertoire. Thefamily will be leaving their Sandy Hillhome and moving on to a new postingin Colombia “when the snow flies.”
Margo Roston is an Ottawa writer.
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The reception rooms are many at the residence.Mr. and Mrs. Leao
Brazilian art adorns the colourful walls of the Leao's home.
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Remembrance Day plays a signifi-cant role in my childhood memo-r i e s ; I w a s a n a r m y b r a t . We
learned about Canadian surgeon, soldier,and poet John McCrae, memorized hispoem, In Flanders Fields, and recited it atschool assemblies. On some bases, wewere marched to the cenotaph to see ourfathers on parade. Red felt poppiesbloomed on our parkas and were fixedprecisely on soldiers’ hatbands. Dad’spostings were most often to bases whereNovember meant cold and snow. As westood shivering and watching, I thoughtabout soldiers in war, what war meant tofamilies, and about my grandfathers, oneburied at sea, leaving behind a wife andfive children, and the other who returnedfrom several years’ absence to childrenwho barely remembered him.
What did it all mean? I reflected ontextbook descriptions of trenches—themuck, the blood, the drifting clouds ofgas. Reciting John McCrae’s poem, Icouldn’t connect grainy images of war to“larks, still bravely singing” and rows ofpoppies.
But I came to see those poppies, newl i fe amid rugged c rosses mark ingmakeshift graves, as little symbols of de-termination to live on despite war’s de-struction. Surely they were inspirations toLt. Col. McCrae. It was the day after hisfriend, Alexis Helmer, was killed that hewas moved to speak for fallen soldiers,employing a common poetic device of thetime: the voice of the dead. As a child, I
i m a g i n e d h i ms c r i b b l i n g h i spoem while wait-ing in his dugoutfor more woundedto arrive. Lt. Col.
McCrae must have felt frustration anddespair at not being able to save all thesoldiers who came in a seemingly endlessstream from the front lines.
Lt. Col. McCrae knew about war; hehad served in the South African War. De-
spite the bloody horror of battle, he be-lieved that injustice must be fought.When Britain declared war on Germanyon August 4, 1914, Canada was automati-cally at war. Within three weeks, 45,000Canadians, including John McCrae, hadenlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary
Force. Before he left, he wrote to a friend:“It is a terrible state of affairs, and I amgoing because I think every bachelor, es-pecially if he has experience of war, oughtto go. I am really rather afraid, but moreafraid to stay at home with my con-science.”
John McCrae’s poem challenges theliving to continue the fight, to ensure thatlives were not lost in vain:Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch, be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields
The dramatic third stanza was ex-ploited to further Canada’s war effort—torecruit, raise money, comfort widows, at-tack pacifists and profiteers—and in thecampaign to draw the U.S. into the war.Although poetry may seem an unlikelytool to promote war, the conflation of Lt.Col. McCrae’s skills and beliefs lends thatapplication an appropriate authority.
In Flanders Fields was published inPunch in December 1915, and quickly be-came an enduring monument to lives lostto war. John McCrae died of pneumoniaon January 28, 1918, and was buried withfull military honours in Wimereux Ceme-tery, north of Boulogne, near Flanders’fields.
Laura Neilson Bonikowsky is the associ-ate editor of The Canadian Encyclopedia.
DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA 31
DELIGHTS|CANADIANA
Reflections on John McCrae
By Laura Neilson Bonikowsky
NOVEMBER—DECEMBER 200732
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It used to be easy to tell a good winefrom a bad one just by looking at thebottle. The bad (or cheap) wine had a
screwcap that evoked all of the romanceof cracking open a can of Coke. “Good”(or expensive) wines required the skilland elegance to use a corkscrew, sniff acork and pronounce a wine acceptable.Times certainly have changed. Now youcan buy a $5 bottle of plonk with a realcork or shell out hundreds of dollars for atrophy wine topped with a metal capsulethat opens just like a Budweiser.
So what started all of this role-reversal?It is a l i tt le compound called 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, or TCA, which is the re-sult of fungi that occur naturally in thecork tree (where all natural corks comefrom). What this can do, to varying de-grees, is make a wine smell moldy, mustyand very similar to wet cardboard. It’s justnot pleasant at all, although some drinkersare more sensitive to it than others. Corktaint occurs in roughly 10 per cent of allwines with natural cork closures so ifyou’ve had more than 10 bottles in your
life, you’ve probablytasted it. Unfortu-nately for many pro-ducers, you mighthave just thoughtthey made bad wineand avoided their of-ferings in the future.
No wonder winer-ies began looking for
ways to avoid this nasty impression.The first thing some did was try to re-
place the potentially faulty corks with asynthetic cork, so you still had the samerituals as with real corks and the winesstill seemed “premium.” These closureshad their own issues, however. Manywineries that have used synthetic corksfor more than five years find they some-times impart a synthetic taste. The plasticversions can also be really difficult to re-move from the bottle if they are not ex-actly the right size.
So wine producers started looking forother options and the Stelvin closure wasborn. This is not a run-of-the-mill screw-cap. It typically costs twice the price of anaverage cork, and has none of the odoursassociated with either type of cork.They’ve been using the Stelvin closuresfor 30 years in Switzerland and 10 yearsin New Zealand and Australia. Theyhaven’t found the liner imparts any syn-thetic tastes.
So what are the downsides? The first isconsumer acceptance. Although mostwines coming out of New Zealand, andmany from Australia, California andCanada, along with a smattering from the
old world, now use Stelvin, there is still abit of a stigma in certain circles that nowine with a screwcap could possibly begood. But there are plenty of beautifulwines I would have loved to have seensaved from corkiness by being bottled un-der a Stelvin capsule.
The other concern with Stelvin issomething called reduction. Where bothnatural corks and oak barrels allow smallamounts of oxygen into a wine, leavingthem completely open to air will result inan “oxidized” wine that resembles vine-gar. However, depriving a wine com-pletely of air can produce the opposite ofoxidation, reduction. This is a broad termto describe all the bad things that canhappen in what scientists call anaerobicconditions. These conditions involve sul-fur chemistry and can lead to aromas ofburned rubber, cabbage and rotten eggs.In the first study of its kind in England,these aromas were found, in at leastminute quantities, in roughly 2 per centof wines under Stelvin.
Still, the lack of pomp and circum-stance around opening a bottle of expen-sive wine, along with the small risk of“reduction” with a Stelvin closure, is asmall price to pay to make sure yourwine is what the winemaker put in thebottle. And besides, it will save a wholegeneration of sommeliers like me fromcarpal tunnel syndrome.
Cheers!
Stephen Beckta is owner and sommelierof Beckta dining & wine.
WINE|DELIGHTS
The screwcap’s vindication
STEPHEN BECKTA
PHO
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PAU
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CORK TAINT OCCURS IN ROUGHLY
10 PER CENT OF ALL WINES WITH
NATURAL CORK CLOSURES
SO IF YOU’VE HAD MORE THAN 10
BOTTLES IN YOUR LIFE, YOU’VE
PROBABLY TASTED IT.
NOVEMBER—DECEMBER 200734
DELIGHTS|ENVOY’S ALBUM
THIS PAGE 1. Indonesian Ambassador Djoko Hardono and his wife Ulfah Hanif Hardono hosted a re-
ception in celebration of their country’s 197th independence day Sept. 6. These girls are students of
traditional Indonesian Hindu and Islamic Kingdom wayang orang unmasked dance. • 2. Mr. Hardono
with a dancer. (Photos: Frank Scheme) • 3. A group of three Canadian high school students went to
the Norwegian Arctic in September where they researched weather patterns and examined retreating
glaciers as part of a project supported by the British Council. Shown the day before they left: British
Council Canada climate change program manager Rebecca Zalatan, second from right, with students,
left to right, Amélie Tremblay-Martin, from St. Lambert, Que.; Shona Couturier, of St. Hubert, Que.;
and Doriana Sammurtok, of Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut. (Photo: Colin Rowe) • 4. French Ambassador
Daniel Jouanneau and his wife Odile hosted an event to mark the kick-off to Ottawa Dance Lab’s new
season that started with the work of French choreographer Lionel Hoche. The Dance Lab launched its
new endowment fund that evening in front of a group of 150 supporters. It received its first donation
from Manitoba philanthropist Gail Asper earlier this year. Shown: Odile Jouanneau (centre) gets ex-
pressive with two dancers. (Photo: Dyanne Wilson)
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THIS PAGE 1. The University of Ottawa and Croatia’s Split University signed a cooperation agreement
October 18 in Ottawa. First row from left: Ivan Pavic, rector of Split University and Gilles Patry, presi-
dent of the University of Ottawa. Top row from left: Croatian Ambassador Vesela Mrden Korac; Sti-
pan Jankovic, dean of Split University; Peter Turgwell, director of the centre for global health.
(Photo: Mélanie Provencher) • 2. Diplomats took in the National Arts Centre gala Sept. 29. Shown:
British High Commissioner Anthony Cary and his wife Clare. (Photo: Dyanne Wilson) • 3. Gov.-Gen.
Michaelle Jean receives credentials from Greek Ambassador Nikolaos Matsis (Photo: Rideau Hall) •
4. Egyptian Ambassador Mahmoud El-Saeed hosted a dinner Sept. 11 for his country’s minister of
manpower. From left: Mr. El-Saeed, Minister Aisha Abdel-Hady, and MP Deepak Obhrai, parliamen-
tary secretary for foreign affairs. • 5. Carleton University signed an agreement in October with the
National Board of Universities and Colleges of Peru. Shown: Carleton president Samy Mahmoud
(right) and Peruvian Ambassador Guillermo Russo. (Photo: Yvonne Clevers) • 6. Rafael Arismendy
Jimenez, consul of Colombia, and Jose Luis Parra (far right) join Krizia Zamora in representing Colom-
bia at the Latino American Parade celebrations Sept. 9. (Photo: Danilo Velasquez)
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NOVEMBER—DECEMBER 200736
Edda MukabagwizaAmbassador of Rwanda
Ms. Mukabagwiza, who has a bachelordegree and a master’s of law from theNational University of Rwanda, wasRwanda’s minister of justice for threeyears before being appointed ambassa-dor to Canada. Prior to that, she wasgeneral secretary at the ministry of jus-tice.
Between 1999 and 2000, she worked asexecutive secretary of HAGURUKA, anon-governmental organization that pro-vides legal assistance to women, offerstraining on women’s rights and conductsresearch into such issues as marital andinheritance law. Prior to that, she workedas a lawyer for the ministry of agricul-ture and the ministry of justice for threeyears.
Ms. Mukabagwiza, 39, is married andhas three children.
Luis Eladio Arias NuñezAmbassador of Dominican Republic
Dr. Nuñez comes to his job as ambassa-dor from the field of academia. He has amaster’s degree in international relations
and a doctorate degree in law from theUniversity of Santo Domingo. He alsohas a doctorate in legal services from theUniversity of Warsaw.
He has taught social sciences at fourdifferent universities and, between 2003and 2006, he was president of the centralelectoral board. For five years prior tothat, he was a titular judge with theboard. Between 1984 and 1990, he wasdean of the legal sciences faculty at theUniversity of Santo Domingo, and fortwo years prior, he was vice-dean.
Dr. Nuñez speaks Spanish, Russian,Polish, French and English.
Dr. Dusan T. BatakovicAmbassador of Serbia
Dr. Batakovic, 50, was born in Belgrade.He has a master ’s in history from theUniversity of Belgrade and a doctorate inhistory from the University of Paris–Sor-bonne.
He has been a research fellow of vari-ous institutions and, since 1998, hastaught history at Belgrade University. Forthe past two years, he was director of theInstitute for Balkan Studies of the Ser-bian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
He served as president of the Council
New Heads of Mission
DIGNITARIES|NEW ARRIVALS
OUTSKIRTS
DIPLOMAT AND INTERNATIONAL CANADA 37
NEW ARRIVALS | DIGNITARIES
for Democratic Changes in Serbia and ac-tively campaigned against the regime offormer president Slobodan Milosevic.From 2001 to 2005, Dr. Batakovic served asambassador to Greece and, in July 2005,he became advisor to Serbian PresidentBoris Tadic. Most recently, he was a mem-ber of the Belgrade negotiating team atthe UN-sponsored talks on the future ofthe Serbian province of Kosovo and Meto-hija in Vienna.
AustraliaGreg Hamilton McCarthyFirst Secretary
AustriaPeter Storer Minister and Deputy Head of Mission
Jesus Alejandro Adame CabreraDeputy Military and Air Attaché
MoroccoMohammed MeskaouniMinister-Counsellor
RussiaSergey AntropovThird Secretary
Saudi ArabiaSaud Faleh Gh. AlgharbiAttaché
Hadi M. AlqahtaniAssistant Attaché
South AfricaJohannes Lodewyk NelFirst Secretary
SwedenIngegerd Birgitta EwingSecond Secretary
Trinidad And TobagoAnthony David EdghillMinister-Counsellor and Acting HighCommissioner
TurkeyVakkas ArslanAttaché
United KingdomSimon James KnapperDefence Advisor
United States Of AmericaScott Douglas BellardMinister-Counsellor
Gerald Edward Kaphing JrAttaché
Lisa Loretta GilliamAssistant Attaché
Non-Heads of Mission
38
AFGHANISTANHis Ex. Omar SamadEmbassy of the Islamic Republic ofAfghanistan246 Queen Street, Suite 400Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5E4TEL 563-4223 FAX [email protected]
ALBANIAHis Ex. Besnik KonciEmbassy of the Republic of Albania130 Albert Street, Suite 302Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL 236-4114 FAX [email protected]
ALGERIAHis Ex. Smail BenamaraEmbassy of the People’s DemocraticRepublic of Algeria500 Wilbrod StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 6N2TEL 789-8505 FAX 789-1406www.embassyalgeria.ca/eng.htm
ANGOLAHis Ex. Miguel Maria N. PunaEmbassy of the Republic of Angola189 Laurier Avenue EastOttawa, Ontario K1N 6P1TEL 234-1152 FAX [email protected]
ARGENTINAHis Ex. Arturo BothamleyEmbassy of the Argentine Republic81 Metcalfe Street 7th FloorOttawa, Ontario K1P 6K7TEL 236-2351 FAX 235-2659embargentina@argentina-canada.netwww.argentina-canada.net
ARMENIAMr. Arman AkopianChargé d’AffairesEmbassy of the Republic of Armenia7 Delaware AvenueOttawa, Ontario K2P 0Z2TEL 234-3710 FAX [email protected]
AUSTRALIAHis Ex. William Fisher Australian High Commission50 O’Connor, Suite 710 Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L2TEL 236-0841 FAX 236-4376www.canada.embassy.gov.au
AUSTRIAHis Ex. Otto DitzEmbassy of the Republic of Austria445 Wilbrod StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 6M7TEL 789-1444 FAX [email protected]
AZERBAIJANMr. Farid ShafiyevChargé d’AffairesEmbassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan275 Slater Street, Suite 904-COttawa, Ontario K1P 5H9TEL 288-0497 FAX 230-8089
BAHAMASHis Ex. Philip P. SmithHigh Commission for TheCommonwealth of The Bahamas50 O’Connor Street, Suite 1313Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L2TEL. 232-1724 FAX [email protected]
BANGLADESHMr. Syed Masud MahmoodKhundokerActing High CommissionerHigh Commission for the People’sRepublic of Bangladesh275 Bank Street, Suite 302Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2L6TEL 236-0138 FAX [email protected]
BARBADOSHis Ex. Glyne Samuel MurrayHigh Commission for Barbados55 Metcalfe St. #470Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 6L5TEL 236-9517 FAX [email protected]
BELARUSHer Ex. Nina MazaiEmbassy of the Republic of Belarus130 Albert Street, Suite 600Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL 233-9994 FAX [email protected]
BELGIUMHis Ex. Jean LintEmbassy of Belgium360 Albert Street, Suite 820Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7X7TEL 236-7267 FAX [email protected]/ottawa
BENINMrs. Awahou Labouda Chargé d’Affaires
Embassy of the Republic of Benin58 Glebe AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1S 2C3TEL 233-4429 FAX [email protected]
BOLIVIAHis Ex. Edgar Torrez Mosqueira Embassy of the Republic of Bolivia130 Albert Street, Suite 416Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL 236-5730 FAX [email protected]
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINAHis Ex. Milenko MisicEmbassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina130 Albert Street, Suite 805Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL 236-0028 FAX [email protected]
BRAZILHis Ex. Valdemar Carneiro LeäoEmbassy of the Federative Republicof Brazil450 Wilbrod StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 6M8TEL 237-1090 FAX [email protected]
BULGARIAHis Ex. Evgueni StoytchevEmbassy of the Republic of Bulgaria325 Stewart StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 6K5TEL 789-3215 FAX 789-3524
BURKINA FASOHer Ex. Juliette BonkoungouEmbassy of Burkina Faso48 Range RoadOttawa, Ontario K1N 8J4TEL 238-4796 FAX [email protected]
BURUNDIHer Ex. Appolonie SimbiziEmbassy of the Republic of Burundi325 Dalhousie Street, Suite 815Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7G2TEL 789-0414 FAX [email protected]://ambabucanada.le-site.info
CAMEROONMr. Martin Agbor MbengChargé d’AffairesHigh Commission for the Republicof Cameroon170 Clemow AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1S 2B4TEL 236-1522 FAX 236-3885
CHILEHis Ex. Eugenio Ortega RiquelmeEmbassy of the Republic of Chile50 O’Connor Street, Suite 1413Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L2TEL 235-9940 FAX [email protected]
CHINAHis Ex. Lu Shumin Embassy of the People’s Republic ofChina515 St. Patrick StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 5H3TEL. 789-3434 FAX 789-1911www.chinaembassycanada.org
COLOMBIAHis Ex. Jaime Giron DuarteEmbassy of the Republic of Colombia360 Albert Street, Suite 1002Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7X7TEL 230-3760 FAX [email protected]
CONGO (ZAIRE)Ms. Louise Nzanga RamazaniChargé d’AffairesEmbassy of the Democratic Republicof the Congo18 Range RoadOttawa, Ontario K1N 8J3TEL 230-6391 FAX 230-1945
COSTA RICAHer Ex. Emilia Maria AlvarezNavarroEmbassy of the Republic of Costa Rica325 Dalhousie Street, Suite 407Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7G2TEL. 562-2855 FAX [email protected]
CÔTE D’IVOIREHer Ex. Dienebou KabaEmbassy of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire9 Marlborough AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1N 8E6TEL. 236-9919 FAX [email protected]
NOVEMBER—DECEMBER 2007
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CROATIAHer Ex. Vesela Mrden KoracEmbassy of the Republic of Croatia229 Chapel StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 7Y6TEL. 562-7820 FAX [email protected]
CUBAHis Ex. Ernesto Antonio Senti Embassy of the Republic of Cuba388 Main StreetOttawa, Ontario K1S 1E3TEL. 563-0141 FAX [email protected]
CZECH REPUBLICHis Ex. Pavel VosalikEmbassy of the Czech Republic251 Cooper StreetOttawa, Ontario K2P 0G2TEL. 562-3875 FAX [email protected]
DENMARKHis Ex. Poul Erik Dam KristensenRoyal Danish Embassy47 Clarence Street, Suite 450Ottawa, Ontario K1N 9K1TEL. 562-1811 FAX [email protected]
DOMINICAN REPUBLICHis Ex. Luis Eladio Arias NunezAmbassadorEmbassy of the Dominican Republic130 Albert Street, Suite 418Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL. 569-9893 FAX 569-8673www.drembassy.org
ECUADORHis Ex. Fernando RibadeneiraFernández-SalvadorEmbassy of the Republic of Ecuador50 O’Connor Street, Suite 316Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L2TEL. 563-4286 FAX 235-5776
EGYPTHis Ex. Mahmoud F. El-SaeedEmbassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt454 Laurier Avenue EastOttawa, Ontario K1N 6R3TEL. 234-4931 FAX [email protected]
EL SALVADORHis Ex. Mauricio Rosales RiveraEmbassy of the Republic of El Salvador209 Kent Street Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1Z8TEL. 238-2939 FAX [email protected]
ERITREAHis Ex. Ahferom BerhaneEmbassy of the State of Eritrea75 Albert Street, Suite 610Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5E7TEL. 234-3989 FAX 234-6213
ESTONIARasmus LumiChargé d’AffairesEmbassy of the Republic of Estonia 260 Dalhousie Street, Suite 210Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7E4TEL. 789-4222 FAX [email protected]
ETHIOPIAHis Ex. Getachew HailemariamEmbassy of the Federal DemocraticRepublic of Ethiopia 151 Slater Street, Suite 210Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5P2TEL. 235-6637 FAX [email protected]
EUROPEAN UNIONHis. Ex. Dorian PrinceDelegation of the EuropeanCommission to Canada 45 O’Connor Street, Suite 1900Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1A4TEL. 238-6464 FAX [email protected]
F.Y.R. OF MACEDONIAHis Ex. Sasko NasevEmbassy of the Former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia130 Albert Street, Suite 1006Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL. 234-3882 FAX 233-1852
FINLANDHis Ex. Pasi Mikael PatokallioEmbassy of the Republic of Finland55 Metcalfe Street, Suite 850Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L5TEL. 288-2233 FAX [email protected]
FRANCEHis Ex. Daniel JouanneauEmbassy of France42 Sussex DriveOttawa, Ontario K1M 2C9TEL. 789-1795 FAX 562-3704www.ambafrance-ca.org
GABONHis Ex. Joseph Obiang NdoutoumeEmbassy of the Gabonese Republic4 Range Road, P.O. Box 368Ottawa, Ontario K1N 8J5TEL. 232-5301 FAX [email protected]
GERMANYHis Ex. Matthias Martin HöpfnerEmbassy of the Federal Republic ofGermany1 Waverley StreetOttawa, Ontario K2P 0T8TEL. 232-1101 FAX [email protected]
GHANAHer Ex. Margaret Ivy AmoakoheneHigh Commission for the Republicof Ghana1 Clemow AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1S 2A9TEL. 236-0871 FAX [email protected]
GREECEHis. Ex. Nikolaos MatsisEmbassy of the Hellenic Republic80 MacLaren Street, Suite 76Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0K6TEL. 238-6271 FAX [email protected]
GUATEMALAHis Ex. Manuel Estuardo Roldán Embassy of the Republic ofGuatemala130 Albert Street, Suite 1010Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL. 233-7237 FAX [email protected]
GUINEAMrs. Hawa DiakitéCounsellor & Chargé d’AffairesEmbassy of the Republic of Guinea483 Wilbrod StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 6N1TEL. 789-8444 FAX [email protected]
GUYANAHis Ex. Rajnarine SinghHigh Commission for the Republicof Guyana151 Slater Street, Suite 309Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H3TEL. 235-7249 FAX 235-1447
HAITIMs. Marie Nathalie Menos-GisselChargé d’AffairesEmbassy of the Republic of Haiti130 Albert Street, Suite 1409Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5P2TEL. 238-1628 FAX [email protected]
HOLY SEEHis Ex. The Most Rev. Luigi VenturaApostolic Nunciature724 Manor AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1M 0E3TEL. 746-4914 FAX 746-4786
HONDURASHer Ex. Beatriz ValleEmbassy of the Republic ofHonduras151 Slater Street, Suite 805Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H3TEL. 233-8900 FAX 232-0193
HUNGARYHis Ex. Pál VastaghEmbassy of the Republic ofHungary299 Waverley StreetOttawa, Ontario K2P 0V9TEL. 230-2717 FAX 230-7560www.docuweb.ca/Hungary
ICELANDHis Ex. Markus Örn AntonssonEmbassy of Iceland360 Albert Street, Suite 710Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7X7TEL. 482-1944 FAX [email protected]
INDIAHis Ex. Rajamani Lakshmi Narayan High Commission for the Republicof India10 Springfield RoadOttawa, Ontario K1M 1C9TEL. 744-3751 FAX [email protected]
INDONESIAHis Ex. Djoko HardonoEmbassy of the Republic ofIndonesia 55 Parkdale AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1Y 1E5TEL. 724-1100 FAX 724-1105
LESOTHO Her Ex. Mots'eoa SenyaneHigh Commission for the Kingdomof Lesotho130 Albert Street, Suite 1820Ottawa, ON K1P 5G4CanadaTEL: 234-0770 FAX: 234-5665
LIBYAHis Ex. Ahmed Ali JarrudEmbassy of the Great SocialistPeople’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 81 Metcalfe Street, Suite 1000Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6K7TEL. 230-0919 FAX [email protected]
LITHUANIAHer Ex. Siguté JakstonytéEmbassy of the Republic ofLithuania130 Albert Street, Suite 204Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL. 567-5458 FAX 567-5315
MADAGASCARHis. Ex. Simon Constant HoraceEmbassy of the Republic ofMadagascar65 Macnabb Place, Rockcliffe ParkOttawa, ON K1L 8J5TEL: 567-0505 FAX [email protected]
MALAYSIAHis Ex. Dennis IgnatiusHigh Commission for Malaysia60 Boteler StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 8Y7TEL. 241-5182 FAX [email protected]
MALIHis Ex. Mamadou BandiougouDiawaraEmbassy of the Republic of Mali50 Goulburn AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1N 8C8
MAURITANIAHis Ex. Mahfoud Ben DeddachEmbassy of the Islamic Republic ofMauritania121 Sherwood DriveOttawa, Ontario K1Y 3V1TEL. 237-3283 FAX 237-3287
MEXICOHis Ex. Emilio Rafael JoseGoicoecheaEmbassy of the United MexicanStates45 O’Connor Street, Suite 1000Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1A4TEL. 233-8988 FAX [email protected]
MONGOLIAHis Ex. Gotov DugerjavEmbassy of Mongolia151 Slater Street, Suite 503Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H3TEL. 569-3830 FAX [email protected]
MOROCCOHis Ex. Mohamed TangiEmbassy of the Kingdom ofMorocco38 Range RoadOttawa, Ontario K1N 8J4TEL. 236-7391 FAX 236-6164
MYANMARMr. Maung Maung Chargé d'AffairesEmbassy of the Union of Myanmar85 Range Road, Suite 902Ottawa, Ontario K1N 8J6TEL. 232-9990 FAX [email protected]
NETHERLANDSHis Ex. Karel de BeerEmbassy of the Kingdom of theNetherlands350 Albert Street, Suite 2020Ottawa, Ontario K1R 1A4TEL. 237-5030 FAX [email protected]
NEW ZEALANDHer Ex. Kate LackeyNew Zealand High Commission99 Bank Street, Suite 727Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6G3TEL. 238-5991 FAX [email protected]/home.cfm?c=38
NIGERHer Ex. Nana Aicha FoumakoyeEmbassy of the Republic of theNiger38 Blackburn AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1N 8A3TEL. 232-4291 FAX 230-9808
NIGERIAMrs. Ifeoma Jacinte Akabogu-Chinwuba Acting High CommissionerHigh Commission for the FederalRepublic of Nigeria295 Metcalfe StreetOttawa, Ontario K2P 1R9Tel. 236-0521 Fax 236-0529
NORWAYHis Ex. Tor Berntin NaessEmbassy of the Kingdom of Norway90 Sparks Street, Suite 532Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5B4TEL. 238-6571 FAX [email protected]
O/OF EASTERN CARIBBEANSTATESHis Ex. Brendon BrowneHigh Commission for the Countriesof the Organization of EasternCaribbean States130 Albert Street, Suite 700Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL. 236-8952 FAX [email protected]/ottawa/index.html
PAKISTAN His. Ex. Musa Javed ChohanHigh Commission for the IslamicRepublic of Pakistan10 Range RoadOttawa, Ontario K1N 8J3TEL. 238-7881 FAX [email protected]
PALESTINEMr. Amin Abou-HassiraHead of the General Delegation45 Country Club Dr.,Ottawa, OntarioK1V 9W1TEL: 736-0053FAX: [email protected]
PANAMAHer Ex. Romy Vásquez de GonzálezEmbassy of the Republic of Panama130 Albert Street, Suite 300Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL. 236-7177 FAX 236-5775embassyof [email protected]
PARAGUAYHis Ex. Juan E. Aguirre MartinezEmbassy of the Republic ofParaguay151 Slater Street, Suite 501Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H3TEL. 567-1283 FAX [email protected]
PERUHis Ex. Guillermo RussoEmbassy of the Republic of Peru130 Albert Street, Suite 1901Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL. 238-1777 FAX [email protected]
PHILIPPINESHis Ex. Jose S. BrillantesEmbassy of the Republic of thePhilippines130 Albert Street, Suite 606Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL. 233-1121 FAX [email protected]
POLANDHis Ex. Piotr OgrodzinskiEmbassy of the Republic of Poland443 Daly AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1N 6H3TEL. 789-0468 FAX [email protected]
PORTUGALHis Ex. Joao Pedro Silveira CarvalhoEmbassy of Portugal645 Island Park DriveOttawa, Ontario K1Y 0B8TEL. 729-0883 FAX 729-4236embportugal@embportugal/ottawa.org
ROMANIAHer Ex. Elena StefoiEmbassy of Romania655 Rideau StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 6A3TEL. 789-3709 FAX [email protected]://ottawa.mae.ro
RUSSIAHis Ex. Georgiy MamedovEmbassy of the Russian Federation285 Charlotte StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 8L5TEL. 235-4341 FAX [email protected]
RWANDAHer Ex. Edda MukabagwizaEmbassy of the Republic of Rwanda153 Gilmour Street Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 0N8 Tel. 569-5424 Fax 569-5421 [email protected]
SAUDI ARABIAHis Ex. Abdulaziz Bin Hussein Al-SowayeghRoyal Embassy of Saudi Arabia201 Sussex DriveOttawa, ON K1N 1K6TEL 237-4100 FAX 237-0567
SENEGALHis Excellency Issakha MbackeEmbassy of the Republic of Senegal57 Marlborough AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1N 8E8TEL. 238-6392 FAX [email protected]
SERBIAHis Ex. Dusan BatakovicEmbassy of the Republic of Serbia 17 Blackburn AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1N 8A2TEL. 233-6289 FAX [email protected]
SLOVAK REPUBLICHis Ex. Stanislav OpielaEmbassy of the Slovak Republic50 Rideau TerraceOttawa, Ontario K1M 2A1TEL. 749-4442 FAX [email protected]
SLOVENIAEx. Tomaz KunsteljEmbassy of the Republic of Slovenia150 Metcalfe Street, Suite 2101Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1P1TEL. 565-5781 FAX [email protected]
SOUTH AFRICAHis Ex. Abraham Sokhaya Nkomo High Commission for the Republicof South Africa15 Sussex DriveOttawa, Ontario K1M 1M8TEL. 744-0330 FAX 741-1639
40 | EMBASSIES | HIGH COMMISSIONS | OTHER INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
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SPAINHis Ex. Mariano Alonso-BurónEmbassy of the Kingdom of Spain74 Stanley AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1M 1P4TEL. 747-2252 FAX [email protected]
SRI LANKAHis Ex. W.J.S. KarunaratneHigh Commission for theDemocratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka333 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 1204Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1C1TEL. 233-8449 FAX 238-8448www.srilankahcottawa.org
SUDANHer Ex. Dr. Faiza Hassan TahaArmousaEmbassy of the Republic of the Sudan354 Stewart StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 6K8TEL. 235-4000 FAX 235-6880
SWEDENHer Ex. Ingrid Maria IremarkEmbassy of Sweden377 Dalhousie StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 9N8TEL. 244-8200 FAX [email protected]
SWITZERLANDHis Ex. Werner BaumannEmbassy of Switzerland5 Marlborough AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1N 8E6TEL. 235-1837 FAX [email protected]
SYRIAHis Ex. Jamil Haidar SakrEmbassy of the Syrian Arab Republic151 Slater Street, Suite 1000Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H3TEL. 569-5556 FAX 569-3800www.syrianembassy.ca
TAIPEI Economic & Cultural officeDavid Tawei Lee, Representative45 O’Connor Street, Suite 1960Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1A4TEL. 231-5080 FAX [email protected]
TANZANIAHis Ex. Peter KallagheHigh Commission for the UnitedRepublic of Tanzania50 Range RoadOttawa, Ontario K1N 8J4TEL. 232-1509 FAX [email protected]
THAILANDHis Ex. Snanchart DevahastinThe Royal Thai Embassy 180 Island Park DriveOttawa, Ontario K1Y 0A2TEL. 722-4444 FAX [email protected]
TOGOHis Ex. Bawoumondom AmeleteEmbassy of the Togolese Republic12 Range RoadOttawa, Ontario K1N 8J3TEL. 238-5916 FAX 235-6425
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGOMr. Anthony David EdghillActing High CommissionerHigh Commission for the Republicof Trinidad and Tobago200 First Avenue, Third LevelOttawa, Ontario K1S 2G6TEL. 232-2418 FAX [email protected]
TUNISIAHis Ex Abdessalem HetiraEmbassy of the Republic of Tunisia515 O’Connor StreetOttawa, Ontario K1S 3P8TEL. 237-0330 FAX [email protected]
TURKEYHis Ex. Aydemir ErmanEmbassy of the Republic of Turkey197 Wurtemburg StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 8L9TEL. 789-4044 FAX [email protected]
UGANDAHis Ex. George Marino AbolaHigh Commission for the Republicof Uganda231 Cobourg StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 8J2TEL. 789-7797 FAX [email protected]
UNITED ARAB EMIRATESHis Ex. Hassan Al-SuwaidiEmbassy of the United Arab Emirates45 O’Connor Street, Suite 1800Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1A4TEL. 565-7272 FAX [email protected]
UNITED KINGDOMHis Ex. Anthony CaryBritish High Commission80 Elgin StreetOttawa, Ontario K1P 5K7TEL. 237-1530 FAX 237-7980www.britainincanada.org
UNITED STATES OF AMERICAHis Ex. David WilkinsEmbassy of the United States ofAmerica490 Sussex DriveOttawa, Ontario K1N 1G8TEL. 238-5335 FAX 688-3080www.usembassycanada.gov
URUGUAYHis Ex. Alväro M. MoerzingerEmbassy of the Eastern Republic ofUruguay130 Albert Street, Suite 1905Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4TEL. 234-2727 FAX 233-4670
VENEZUELAJose Antonio Manlio Rodriguez dela Sierra LlerandiChargé d’AffairesEmbassy of the Bolivarian Republicof Venezuela
32 Range RoadOttawa, Ontario K1N 8J4TEL. 235-5151 FAX 235-3205www.misionvenezuela.org
VIETNAMHis Excellency Duc Hung NguyenEmbassy of the Socialist Republic ofVietnam470 Wilbrod StreetOttawa, Ontario K1N 6M8TEL. 236-0772 FAX 236-2704
YEMENHis Ex. Dr. Abdulla AbdulwaliNasherEmbassy of the Republic of Yemen54 Chamberlain AvenueOttawa, Ontario K1S 1V9TEL. 729-6627 FAX 729-8915www.yemenincanada.ca
ZAMBIAHis Ex. David Clifford SaviyeHigh Commission for the Republicof Zambia151 Slater St., Suite 205Ottawa, OntarioK1B 5H3TEL: 232-4400 FAX: 232-4410
ZIMBABWEHer Ex. Florence Zano ChideyaEmbassy of the Republic ofZimbabwe332 Somerset Street WestOttawa, Ontario K2P 0J9TEL. 237-4388 FAX 563-8269
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THE LAST WORD | DESTINATIONS
and culture. She liked to play the pi-anoforte, go riding in long gloves and acape, and write verse. They fell for Mr.Burr’s charm, and made arrangements tohave him visit again soon, which he did.
What happened next is still debated inhistorical circles. What’s clear is that Mr.Jefferson had his old nemesis arrested fortreason, claiming that Mr. Burr intendedto take over some piece of U.S. territoryby force, in an expedition mounted fromBlennerhassett Island. Poor Mr. Blenner-hassett was arrested as well, and troopsdestroyed his fine white house with thetwo crescent-shaped wings, though Mar-garet Blennerhassett was able to escapedownriver with some of the furniture.The two men were tried by the chief jus-tice of the federal Supreme Court, whohappened to be Mr. Jefferson’s brother-in-law. Nonetheless, they were found inno-cent. Mr. Burr went into European exile.The Blennerhassetts were ruined, andtook to wandering.
When you come ashore on the island, anarrow trail takes you through thickwoods to a sudden clearing—and there itis, a perfect reconstruction of the manor.So many of the r iver travel lers theBlennerhassetts entertained left detaileddescriptions of the interior and groundsthat West Virginia, in whose waters it lies,was able to make this excellent recreationin the 1970s atop the original foundation.As many Blennerhassett possessions aspossible were brought together therefrom wherever the four winds had scat-tered them.
In the early morning, smoke is comingfrom the kitchen and two horses, stillhitched to a wagon, are neighing for theirbreakfast. The soil is damp and rich andthe past seems very close because the ur-ban world is far away.
So what I am doing here? A dozen years after the trial , the
Blennerhassetts went to Montreal whereHarman practised law, unsuccessfully,and Margaret found comfort in her writ-ing. She was the first woman in Canadato publish a book of verse and has beencalled “the mother of English-Canadianpoetry.” Her collection The Widow of theRock, And Other Poems (1824) includes“The Deserted Isle” in which she asks outloud, “O! why, dear Isle, are thou not stillmy own? Thy charms could then for allmy griefs atone.”
George Fetherling’s most recent book isTales of Two Cities: A Novella Plus Stories.
(continued from page 44)
Harman Blennerhassett was arrested for treason because of his association with one-time vice-presidentAaron Burr. The Blennerhassetts eventually fetched up in Montreal where he became a lawyer.
Poet Margaret Blennerhassett President Thomas Jefferson
Lib
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Editor’s note: Now magnificently restored, the Blennerhassett mansion is part of BlennerhassettIsland Historical State Park in West Virginia, which is open daily in the spring and summermonths. Directions: Go to the riverboat landing in Parkersburg and take a sternwheeler to thepark, a ride of only 20 minutes. Allow three hours or more for your visit.
DESTINATIONS | THE LAST WORD
NOVEMBER—DECEMBER 200744
In Greek mythology the souls of thedead were taken by ferry across a river(originally the Acheron, in later ver-
sions, the Styx) on whose other side layHades. The ferry operator, Charon, ex-pected to be paid. This morning, I’m re-minded of this because I’m one of fourpassengers on a small ferryboat that seemsto be gliding through the water withoutany source of power. Visibility is low, andevery so often there is a short blast from itsbass-baritone foghorn. It’s all a bit spooky.When travelling outside the country I’malways alert to sites with some connectionto Canadian history. This time I’m on theOhio River, going to Blennerhassett Island.Thereby hangs a yarn.
Before the U.S. constitution started toundergo reforms, the presidential candi-date who received the most votes inCongress became the chief executive andthe person with the next greatest num-ber became vice-president. In 1800, therewas a tie. In the end, Thomas Jeffersonbecame president and Senator AaronBurr his VP. The two were equally smartbut of different parties, and they de-spised each other. The relationship fi-na l ly exploded in 1804 when, in apersonal matter, Aaron Burr kil ledAlexander Hamilton, the former secre-tary of the treasury, in a duel. Mr. Jeffer-son was furious at Mr. Burr and hissubsequent flight to other jurisdictions.The disgraced defendant went west tostart over, as people did then.
Travelling down the Ohio to reachNew Orleans and then maybe Texas orMexico, Mr. Burr stopped at the large fig-ure-eight-shaped island part way be-tween what are now southern WestVirginia and Ohio but were then wilder-ness. There, an aristocratic Anglo-Irish ex-ile, Harman Blennerhassett, had built aGeorgian mansion that still seems incon-
gruous in such a place. A lawyer by train-ing but an avid amateur scientist and all-round child of the Enlightenment, Mr.Blennerhassett had come there to escapescorn for having married his niece, theformer Margaret Agnew. She was evenhigher up the social scale than he was.Both were far-famed for their hospitality
Canada’s connections to historic scandals on the Ohio RiverBy George Fetherling
The home of Harman and Margaret Blennerhassett has been recreated and is now a tourist draw becauseMr. Blennerhassett was implicated in fugitive Aaron Burr’s scheme to take over a piece of U.S. territory.Canadians may be interested because Mrs. Blennerhassett became the first woman in Canada to publish abook of verse.
(continued on page 43)
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