3rd May 2013 Vancouver, Canada
“Why am I doing this?” I ask. There’s no-one listening of course – it’s a private conversation with myself, the sort that people running on their own often have I suppose. My legs have turned to warm lumps of tissue paper, my lungs heave and burn like bellows cast into a fire, and I’m sure […]
24th April 2013 Calgary, Canada
Students these days have it easy. I remember when I graduated from Calgary’s Mount Royal University not so long ago, things were different. Sure, I knew that a British Consul-General was coming to Calgary, but he wasn’t interested in hearing my opinion… was he?
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8th April 2013 Ottawa, Canada
If you watch the news later this week you’ll see that G8 Foreign Ministers will be meeting in London on 10-11 April to discuss global conflict: how to prevent it, how to end it and how to deal with its consequences …
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19th March 2013 Montreal, Canada
As a country that embraces the transition to a low carbon economy, the UK has very much adopted the idea that Green is what makes Britain GREAT. This is a concept that resonates not just with the UK but also with our valued partners, like Quebec. The challenge we face now is to convince people […]
8th March 2013 Vancouver, Canada
Her name was Bimla… I think. It has been 26 years since I saw her so my memory may have distorted the truth. What I am certain of is her image – high cheek bones, deep hazel eyes, pure skin, long dark hair. She wore a green sari with gold trim and worn sandals. She […]
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6th March 2013 Ottawa, Canada
Outside my office there is a wall of portraits of previous British High Commissioners to Canada. I call it, with just a hint of a smile, the “wall of diversity”. As you can imagine, the portraits are all of white men of a certain age…
1st March 2013 Ottawa, Canada
It’s well known that the Year of the Dragon is one of the luckiest years in the Chinese calendar; to the Welsh, every year is the year of the dragon, and the red dragon proudly adorns the Flag of Wales. But today is a particularly special day in the Welsh calendar – St David’s Day…
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1st February 2013 Vancouver, Canada
As January ends, it is already too late for discussion of new year’s resolutions. For many of us, the quickly laid plans for health and financial prudence have already slipped away. But a recent collection of disparate events, which reminded me how fortunate I am to be doing this job, also left me with a […]
16th January 2013 Calgary, Canada
Music is GREAT. I challenge you to debate that point. And in my obviously biased opinion, British music is the greatest. I grew up listening to the tunes of The Clash, Rolling Stones, Queen, David Bowie, Duffy, The Spice Girls, The Who, and Elton John. I still do (Spice Girls at Christmas and birthdays only). The […]
21st December 2012 Ottawa, Canada
We’re into that final pre-Xmas flurry of activity, and I’m sure you’re all frantically getting ready for the holiday season. I know I am, and I’m ashamed to say that I’ve bought most of my Christmas presents online this year, which removes some of the romance of shopping, but makes life a lot easier! But […]