Guests
Margaret Atwood
Internationally Acclaimed Canadian Author
Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa, Ontario on November 18, 1939. She is the author of more than twenty-five books, including fiction, poetry, and essays. Among her most recent works are the novels The Blind Assassin, Alias Grace, Cat's Eye and The Robber Bride, and the collections Wilderness Tips and Good Bones and Simple Murders.
Among the many honours she has received are the Booker Prize, the Canadian Governor General's Award, The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence in the U.K., and Le Chevalier dans l'Ordre de Arts et Les Lettres in France.
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Gaston Barban
Canada's Acting High Commissioner to Australia
Gaston Barban (BA Carleton University, Ottawa) has contributed to Foreign Affairs Canada for more than 25 years. Mr Barban joined the Passport Office of the Department of External Affairs in 1978. From 1989 to 1993 Mr Barban was first Secretary and Head, Public Affairs and Culture at the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italy.
Mr Barban returned to the Bureau of Communications in 1993 as Deputy Director, Foreign Policy Communications Division. In 1999, he was named Director of the new Communications Programs where he worked to expand public awareness of Canada's international relations.
On 13 August 2001, Mr Barban arrived in Canberra, Australia to assume duties as Deputy High Commissioner at the Canadian High Commission. He has been the Acting High Commissioner since 9 July 2004.
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Professor Leroy Little Bear is an accomplished scholar, author, and legal advisor. In addition to being one of the founding members of Canada's first Native American Studies Department and an instrumental part of the creation of a Bachelor of Management in First Nations Governance at the University of Lethbridge, Chief Little Bear served as Director of the Harvard University Native American Program. Among his many achievements, Chief Little Bear has been awarded the prestigious National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Education - the highest honor bestowed by Canada's First Nations community - and the University of Lethbridge 2003 Alumnus of the Year Award. He has co-authored several books on self-government and Aboriginal rights, including Pathways to Self Determination, Quest For Justice , and Governments in Conflict.
His current research interests include a comparison of Indigenous and Western sciences as pathways to knowledge, and the exploration of Blackfoot knowledge through songs, stories, and landscape. |
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Peter Bregg
Canadian Photojournalist
For the past 14 years, Mr Bregg has been Chief Photographer at Maclean's, Canada's weekly news magazine. He has travelled to over 60 countries in his 35-year career and has photographed some of the most influential people in the world.
He has covered seven Olympic Games, the Iran hostage crisis in 1979-80 and was also in New york to cover the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre.
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Roch Carrier
Canada's National Librarian
1 October 1999 - 25 May 2004
Mr Carrier was born in Sainte-Justine, Quebec, and alongside his early aspiration to hockey greatness was his desire to become a writer.
The novel La Guerre, Yes Sir! (1968) received tremendous praise, and since his writing has included novels, short stories, plays, film and television scripts, essays, travel books and poetry. Mr Carrier is also known for his books for children, most notably The Hockey Sweater that plucks the patriotic heart strings of Canadians.
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His Excellency M. Jean Fournier
Canadian High Commissioner to Australia
Jean T. Fournier (BA, Queen's University; MA [Economics] Université Laval) was a research assistant with the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism from 1964 to 1966.
He began his federal government career in 1968 as a Special Assistant to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and was appointed Executive Assistant to the Minister in 1971. In 1973, he was named Associate Director, Territorial and Social Development, Northern Affairs Branch, and became Director in 1974. From 1976 to 1978, he was Executive Director, Office of Native Claims. In 1978, Mr. Fournier was named Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy, at the Department of Communications, a position he held until 1982, when he was named Assistant Deputy Minister, Department of Finance, responsible for the Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy Branch.
He was a member of the Board of Directors of Telesat Canada from 1978 to 1988 and of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation from 1982 to 1987. In 1986, Mr. Fournier was appointed Under Secretary of State, Department of the Secretary of State. In this role he was also a member of the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada. In 1991, he became Executive Director of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. In 1993, he was appointed Special Advisor to the Privy Council Office and, later that year, was named Deputy Solicitor General, a position he held until recently.
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Terry Goldie is Professor of English at York University in Toronto. He is author of Fear and Temptation: the Image of the Indigene in Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Literatures (McGill-Queen's Press, 1989) and Pink Snow: Homotextual Possibilities in Canadian Fiction (to be published by Broadview 2001). He is editor of Queer Nation?: Gay and Lesbian Studies in Canada (to be published by Arsenal 2001) and co-editor with Daniel Moses of An Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English (Oxford 1998). |
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L. Richard Kohler holds a B.A. in English from Carleton University and a Diploma from the York University Management Institute.
Mr. Kohler began his career as a Travel Counsellor with the Canadian Government Office of Tourism in Sydney, Australia in 1966 and moved within that office to Los Angeles, USA, in 1970. From 1973 to 1980 Kohler served as Second Secretary (Commercial) at the Canadian Embassy in Paris, Consul and Trade Commissioner in Sao Paulo, Brazil and as First Secretary (Commercial) at the Canadian Embassy in Bucharest, Romania.
Returning to Ottawa in 1980 Rick was appointed Deputy Director, Federal/Provincial Relations, Trade Commissioner Service; then Deputy Director, Domestic Operations; Deputy Director, Foreign Operations; Deputy Director, Recruitment and Training; Head EX Conversion Task Force; and Director, Training and Development Division.
From 1985 through 1988 he was Counsellor (Commercial) at the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand and returned to Ottawa as Director, Trade Commissioner Service Personnel. In 1990 Kohler was appointed Director, Africa and Middle East Trade Development Division and in 1992 moved as Minister-Counsellor (Commercial and Economic) for a second tour in Paris. Returning from France in 1994 Kohler was named Chief Information Officer and Director General, Information Management and Technology Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs, leaving that position in 1998 to serve for a second time in Brazil as Canadian Ambassador to the Federative Republic.
He returned to Ottawa as Chief of Protocol of Canada in 2000 and finally was assigned - for a second time in Australia - to Sydney as Consul General in 2003. Rick Kohler is married to Edwina and they have two children.
(biography reprinted from Government of Canada website: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/australia/richard_kohler-en.asp)
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The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Honourable Pierre S. Pettigrew was born in Quebec City in 1951. He received a BA in philosophy from the Université du Québec à Trois Rivières in 1972 and an MPhil in international relations from Oxford (Balliol College) in 1976.
Mr. Pettigrew served as Director of the NATO Assembly's Political Committee in Brussels from 1976 to 1978. Mr. Pettigrew also served as Executive Assistant to Claude Ryan, Opposition Leader and co-chair of the 'No' campaign of the 1980 referendum. He was Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau from 1981 to 1984.
Mr. Pettigrew first joined the Canadian government in January 1996 as Minister for International Cooperation and Minister responsible for La Francophonie. He then served as Minister of Human Resources Development from October 1996 to July 1999. Appointed Minister for International Trade in August 1999, he has since chaired the Ministerial Meeting of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in Toronto in November 1999, chaired the Working Group on Implementation at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Seattle in December 1999, and chaired the Working Group on Singapore Issues at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar in November 2001.
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Senator Vivienne Poy
First Chinese Canadian Senator
A fashion designer, entrepreneur and author, Vivienne Poy is the first Canadian of Chinese descent to be appointed to the Senate of Canada. She was appointed to the Senate in 1998.
Senator Poy was educated in her native Hong Kong, England and Canada. She has earned an Honours B.A. from McGill University, a Diploma in Fashion Arts from Seneca College and an M.A. in History from the University of Toronto, where she is currently pursuing her PhD in History.
She founded Vivienne Poy Mode in 1981 and over the following fourteen years enjoyed great success in fashion design, manufacturing and retail. She is currently President of Vivienne Poy Enterprises, President of Calyan Publishing, Chairperson of Lee Tak Wai Holdings, Ltd and a Member of the Board of the Bank of East Asia (Canada).
Senator Poy has also authored two books: A River Named Lee and Building Bridges: The Life and Times of Richard Charles Lee, Hong Kong, 1905-1983.
Senator Poy has received an International Woman's Day Award (1996) and the Arbor Award for outstanding Volunteer Service to the University of Toronto. |
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Andy Quan is an accomplished writer and singer/songwriter who was born in Vancouver, Canada, and presently resides in Sydney, Australia. After completing a Bachelor's degree in International Studies from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, and a Masters degree in Political Science from York University, Mr. Quan has worked extensively in organizations addressing Gay and Lesbian issues, and currently works as the International Policy Officer for the Australian Federation of AIDS. In addition to his global contributions and travels, Mr. Quan has written works of poetry and short fiction, which have been widely published in literary magazines. Mr Quan is the author of poems and short stories including the anthology Slant , Calendar Boy , Striking the Wok: Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Canadian Fiction, and Penguin Australian Summer Stories 4.
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Dr David Reiter is an award-winning author of poetry, fiction, scripts and multimedia. A resident of Brisbane, David Reiter has received many accolades for his creative work, which include winning the Queensland Premier's Poetry Award (1989) and receiving high commendations for the Queensland Poetry Award (1994), the Steele Rudd Award for Short Fiction (2001), and the South Australian Award for Poetry (1998). His current interests involve cross-discipline collaborations in text and visual media. His expertise in creative writing, cover design, and interactive software has contributed to his success as the Director of the Brisbane-based print and digital publishing house, Interactive Publications Pty Ltd. He has written Changing House , The Snow in Us, Hemingway in Spain and Selected Poems, Triangles, Letters We Never Sent, Kiss and Tell, Selected and New Poems 1987-2002, Sharpened Knife, and most recently, Liars and Lovers. |
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Yuko Shibata is a Research Associate at the Centre for Japanese Research, Institute of Asian Research, at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Her PhD dissertation, which she completed at the University of British Columbia in 2003, used longitudinal research to explore shifting identities of five generations of Japanese Canadian women. Currently, she is writing a book on cultural sharing among Japanese Canadians through life narratives of pre- and post-war Japanese Canadian (Nikkei) women and their descendants. Born in Sapporo, Japan, she presently resides in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. |
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Pamela Sing is a Professor at Faculte St-Jean, University of Alberta in Edmonton. She specialises in French-Canadian literature.
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Dr David Suzuki
Scientist, Author, Broadcaster
Dr Suzuki translates the mysteries and complexities of science and nature into compelling stories that have been seen by viewers of all ages in over 80 countries.
The current holder of 16 honorary doctorates and author or co-author of 42 books, Dr David Suzuki is know to millions of people as the host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's popular science television series, The Nature of Things. Dr Suzuki has received numerous awards including a UNESCO prize for science, a United Nations Environment Program medal and the Order of Canada.
Dr Suzuki delivered the sixth and final Nortel Canadian Studies Lecture on 4 March 2005. |
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Andrew Thompson has a PhD in Canadian History and teaches part-time at Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Waterloo and St. Jerome's University all in Waterloo, Ontario. He is also involved in private contract research which, at the moment, includes projects on family history and on the history of a manufacturer of farm machinery. His past projects include working as a researcher for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's television coverage of Canadian and Ontarian politics. |
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