Andrew Pocock » High Commissioner, Ottawa

Celebrating our contributions to polar research

by Andrew Pocock | April 27, 2012 | Reply

This week, Montreal is hosting the International Polar Year conference, IPY 2012: From Knowledge to Action. IPY 2012 brings together over 3000 international experts from across a variety of fields, with the ambitious agenda of using the knowledge accumulated by researchers during international polar year activities, and developing concrete actions to move forward. The polar regions of our planet hold a special mystique, buried under snow and ice, and their … Read more »Celebrating our contributions to polar research

Climate and resource security

by Euan Wallace | April 24, 2012 | Reply

Last month I found myself at Lancaster House attending an Foreign Office/Wilton Park Conference: “A climate and resource security dialogue for the 21st Century.” The conference had been many months in the planning and I was lucky to get a place alongside a few other attachés from posts in the US, India and elsewhere. Wilton Park events take place under a rigorous protocol which means that apart from a few … Read more »Climate and resource security

100 days to go

by Andrew Pocock | April 18, 2012 | Reply

Today we begin the 100 day countdown to the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the 30th Olympiad – in London, on 27 July 2012. There will be events at many other sites around the United Kingdom. But eyes will turn to London: the only city to host the Games three times. It’ll be a little different to 1908, when we won most of the medals, and live pigeon shooting … Read more »100 days to go

A great pre-Olympic experience

by Andrew Pocock | April 4, 2012 | Reply

I had a great pre-Olympic experience last weekend. I was invited by Pierre La Fontaine to witness the Olympic and Paralympic swimming trials. Pierre is CEO of Swimming Canada, and National Coach to boot. It was fun going into the Stade Olympique in Montreal, meeting officials and swimmers, and offering them a public welcome to the London Games. I used to swim myself, deep in the last century, and you … Read more »A great pre-Olympic experience

“Some chicken! Some neck!”

by Corin Robertson | March 29, 2012 | Reply

On Monday evening the High Commissioner and I attended a reception at the Canadian House of Commons to celebrate the opening of a Library exhibit commemorating 70 years since Churchill’s world-renowned “Some chicken! Some neck!” speech. Few Canadians, I know, will be confused by that reference. But for the uninitiated, this was from Winston Churchill’s speech to the Canadian Parliament on 30 December 1941. It was a reference to a … Read more »“Some chicken! Some neck!”

Low-carbon opportunities

by Andrew Pocock | March 27, 2012 | Reply

I was at GLOBE 2012 in Vancouver, from 14-16 March. The conference looked at environmental, energy and sustainability issues. I’ve recorded a short video blog, which touches on the subjects and talks briefly about the London Olympics. Do watch it, and I hope it’s of interest. Many thanks. Andrew

In the name of equality

by Corin Robertson | March 8, 2012 | Reply

Today is International Women’s Day – a day that has been observed since the early 1900’s – a time that saw great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world, and women’s inequality and oppression was starting to spark debate and active campaigning for change. The day has now become recognised globally – across developed and developing countries alike – as a day to take stock, celebrate the role of women … Read more »In the name of equality

From host to host

by Alex Budden | February 3, 2012 | Reply

This week I had the pleasure of both attending the inaugural global Cities Summit in Vancouver and hosting Gordon Innes, CEO of London’s promotional organization London & Partners. At the Summit’s Gala Reception, which I co-hosted along with the Mayor of Vancouver Gregor Robertson, we were able to pull together the interlinked and supportive themes of cities as centres of innovation, the strength of the Olympics as an economic and … Read more »From host to host

Scotland’s gifts to Canada

by Andrew Pocock | January 25, 2012 | Reply

January the 25th is Burns Night, an anniversary globally celebrated. It’s right and proper, therefore, to reflect for a moment on the Scottish contribution to Canada. I was given a book the other day, modestly titled: How the Scots Invented Canada, by Ken McGoogan. It points, not without evidence, to the seminal contribution made by Scots to Canada’s exploration, politics, economy, education and literature. It claims that almost 5 million … Read more »Scotland’s gifts to Canada

The War of 1812

by Andrew Pocock | January 11, 2012 | 2 comments

As we approach the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, Canadians have begun to reflect on its role in shaping what Canada is today. But this is also a chance for Britain to consider its own contribution to the conflict, and how its relationship with Canada has evolved over the past two centuries. The War of 1812 came at an interesting time in North America’s history. It was the … Read more »The War of 1812

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