THE NEW FACE OF SAUDI ARABIA
SAUDI ARABIA’S FIRST WOMAN AMBASSADOR SPEAKS ON HER COUNTRY’S REFORMS
CANADA’S CRITICAL MINERALS
A STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITY TO COUNTER CHINA’S DOMINANCE AND ATTRACT INVESTMENT
DONALD TRUMP’S ‘GIFT’ TO CANADA
CANADA LAGS IN PRODUCTIVITY. TRUMP’S THREATS MAY BE A NEEDED PUSH
INSIDE THE WORLD OF THE NOMAD GAMES
THE ‘OLYMPICS’ OF NOMAD NATIONS
TOOK PLACE IN KAZAKHSTAN
’GIFT‘ TO CANADA
Canada lags in productivity — maybe Trump’s threats to its economy and its sovereignty are the incentive it needs.
20 FREE ADVICE
Our new prime minister hits the global stage, as host of the G7, in June. We offer advice on a smooth meeting.
24 QUESTIONS ASKED
German co-ambassadors Tjorven Bellmann and Matthias Lüttenberg answer our questions.
38 CANADA’S BIG MOMENT
This country has a chance to emerge as a global force.
Amal Yahya Almoalimi, the first female Saudi Arabian ambassador to Canada, urges patience about the pace of change in her country.
The Canadian Armed Forces are underfunded, under-equipped, under-resourced and under scrutiny by foes and allies alike.
70 CANADA’S CRITICAL MINERALS
Canada has a strategic opportunity to counter China’s dominance and attract investment.
82 THE DEADLY EFFECT OF TRUMP’S USAID DECIMATION
The fight to eradicate tuberculosis has been set back by the defunding of USAID and 68,266 more lives will be lost to TB this year.
90 SWITCHING TRACKS
Canada has had a mutually beneficial trade relationship with the United States for decades, but now it needs to look for alternatives. 58
Meet the Canadians who pay their own way to compete at the ‘Olympics’ of nomad nations in sports such as hunting with birds of prey.
A triumph of spirit and strategy, this event brought together 532 athletes from around the world who overcame their injuries to excel in sport.
116
Canadian diplomatic protocol is a story of tradition, bilingualism and multiculturalism.
Turkish Ambassador Can Dizdar hosted a fundraising event involving Turkish and Canadian musicians.
Canada really shines in the summer. We offer three ideas that will connect you to this land.
128
Our writer presents five recipes for a chic canapé-style event or as a parade of hors d’oeuvres before dinner.
134
Many a treaty has been ratified with the help of a little wine-based cheer.
We present the biographies of the heads of mission who have presented credentials at Rideau Hall since the beginning of 2025.
Your photographic guide to dipomatic events and happenings from across Canada over the past six months. 136
President
Abdel Karim Awwad
Editor
Jennifer Campbell
Art director
Laura Caceres
Graphic designer
Razieh Motiei
Contributing editor
Donna Jacobs
Contributing writers
Ülle Baum
Margaret Dickenson
Janet Dorozynski
Chris Freimond
Mick Gzowski
Fen Osler Hampson
Tim Sargent
Robert I. Rotberg
Peter Simpson
Joe Varner
Robyn Waite
Cover photo
James Park
Contributing photographers
Ülle Baum
James Park
Mohammed J. Alsaber
Director of public relations
Ülle Baum
©Diplomat International Canada 2025. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for unsolicited editorial material.
Diplomat Magazine
As the publisher of Diplomat & International Canada, it’s with immense pride that I unveil the relaunch of this iconic publication — reimagined with a bold new identity, elevated design and expanded digital presence to match the evolving world we live in.
Since 1989, Diplomat has served as a premier platform for dialogue between Canada and the world. Today, as we navigate complex domestic and global challenges the roles of diplomacy, international co-operation and informed leadership have never been more vital.
At this time, our magazine will serve as a powerful connector between Canadian institutions, global diplomats and international decision-makers.
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Photo: Brigitte Bouvier
I
’m so pleased to be able to present the new and improved Diplomat magazine to you. The redesign is in line with my editorial vision for the magazine, which is to make it a must-read international affairs publication for Canadians and beyond. We will examine the worlds of diplomacy and international politics, but we will also delve into the planet’s important industries and such subjects as global health, defence and trade.
And that’s exactly what we’ve done in this issue, beginning with our cover story on the first woman ambassador the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has ever sent to Canada and only the second woman it’s sent to represent its country anywhere. Amal Yahya Almoalimi is excited to be in Canada and she shared many of her country’s efforts to modernize. She also pleaded that Saudi Arabia’s partners respect its culture and the pace of change there.
Returning to our pages are political scientists Fen Osler Hampson and Robert I. Rotberg, as well as food columnist Margaret Dickenson. Defence expert Joe Varner is also writing for us again, this time on Canada’s less than robust military. Global health consultant Robyn Waite weighs in on the dramatic toll U.S. President Donald Trump’s cancellation of 80 per cent of USAID funding will have on the fight to eradicate tuberculosis.
We also have a piece on Canada’s unique mining assets, including the much-sought-after rare earth elements and we have a piece on where Canada should look for trading partners outside the U.S. Up front, we have an interview with the co-ambassadors of Germany, who discuss ties with Canada and the importance of increasing co-operation.
In our “delights” section, we feature sports — the World Nomad Games and the Invictus Games — as well as stories on protocol, arts and entertainment, food, wine, new heads of mission in the diplomatic corps and events.
I hope you like our new look, as well as the good reads it contains.
Jennifer Campbell Editor, Diplomat & International Canada
Donald Trump’s trade war and sovereignty threats against Canada have sparked a serious debate about how to revive Canada’s competitive edge.
By Fen Osler Hampson and Tim Sargent
Donald Trump may actually be doing Canada a favour and may make the country an exciting place to live and do business. It may not seem that way because Trump’s trade war with Canada — and others — has created a lot of political uncertainty that is scaring investors away and sending a damp chill through global — and Canadian — markets.
So, too, have his public ruminations about making Canada the 51st state, which have riled Canadian politicians on all points along the political spectrum and ignited the fire of nationalism among the Canadian public. Long gone are the days when Canadians would politely nod in agreement when their former prime minister, Justin Trudeau, suggested the country could be
considered the world’s “first post-national state.” Today, Canadians are flying the Maple Leaf and pinning it to their lapels with a fierce sense of national pride. Importantly, this is provoking a serious debate in the country about how to revive Canada’s competitive edge in order to attract investment and production, thereby reducing Canada’s dependence on the United States.
The options include deepening internal markets with the removal of interprovincial trade barriers, spurring growth and innovation through regulatory changes, especially in resource development, changing tax structures to promote capital investment and talent retention and recruitment by Canadian firms, and, more generally, creating a more competitive environment for business. Whether Canada’s new government can actually deliver on these goals remains to be seen. It will require heavy lifting, political
capital and a willingness to make some tough choices that will not prompt everyone to stand up and cheer.
However, we have to first recognize that Canada’s economic problems did not start with Donald Trump. A longstanding sour note in the country’s discordant economic arpeggio is its woeful productivity slowdown.
Canada continues to underperform compared to its economic peers. Per-capita output, a key measure of productivity — has fallen over the past 20 years. The average per capita income in Canada today is still what it was in 2015 when the Liberals came to power.
The median wages of Canadians have been stuck in neutral since the late 1970s, which is why most households
Canada has to raise labour productivity, increase capital intensity (i.e. give workers better tools so they can be more productive) and ensure that people have the right skills and training for their jobs, using capital and labour together more efficiently.
now require two wage earners to get by. The wealth gap between Canada and the United States has also grown. In 2002, our per capita GDP was roughly 80 per cent that of the U.S. — a 20 per cent spread — but the difference is now 30 per cent.
As Carolyn Rogers, Canada’s deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, starkly pointed out, Canada has to raise labour productivity, increase capital intensity (i.e., give workers better tools so they can be more productive) and ensure that people have the right skills and training for their jobs, using capital and labour together more efficiently. Ironically, by dialing back on immigration, as the government is now doing, Canadians businesses will be
forced to substitute capital for labour and will no longer be able to take the easy way out by doing the opposite, as they have done for years.
Higher tariffs in the U.S. market will also offset Canada’s lower (and falling) exchange rate, which, again, will force Canadian businesses to be more innovative and productive if they are to compete globally and south of the border.
As Trump moves to make the U.S. more competitive by lowering personal income and business tax rates, one of his key election promises, Canada will be forced to do the same. Specifically, he is planning to reduce the
corporate tax rate for domestic manufacturers from 21 per cent to 15, which, according to some estimates, would increase long-run U.S. economic output by 0.2 per cent. Although the Trump administration has paused funding for specific green programs and initiatives, he has yet to repeal the green energy tax incentives put in place by the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Trump also plans to reduce personal income taxes while eliminating taxes on social security payments to seniors.
The private sector will only invest if Canada’s tax system encourages investment, and its regulatory system is not too burdensome.
If Canada diverges too sharply from U.S. tax, regulatory and energy development policies, Canada will further lose its competitive edge regardless of Trump’s tariffs. That means reducing Canada’s tax burden on corporations and individuals, which are among the highest in the industrialized world.
As the Canadian Tax Federation points out, there is already a stark gap between Canadian and U.S. personal income tax levels. “For example, a taxpayer in Ontario earning $75,000 a year pays an income tax rate of about 30 per cent. Compare that to the two states bordering Ontario: Michigan and New York. In Michigan, a taxpayer earning $75,000 a year pays a 26.3 per cent income tax rate. And in New York, one of the highest-taxed states in the U.S., that taxpayer would face a 27.5 per cent income tax bill.
Canada will also have to reduce its regulatory overburden, particularly in the resource sector. Canada’s overtly complicated and lengthy regularly processes for new project approvals and drug approvals), along with interprovincial trade barriers, are also brakes on investment and growth
Considering that sales taxes and hydro rates are lower south of the border, Canada is clearly at a disadvantage. Although Prime Minister Mark Carney eliminated the consumer carbon tax shortly after taking office, the carbon tax on industry remains in effect and is scheduled increase by $15 per tonne over the next five years, reflecting an 80 per cent increase over the current rate. Carney’s proposed carbon border adjustment tax would impose further costs on Canadians.
As many are now urging, more business and personal tax reductions will almost certainly be necessary to keep Canada competitive. At the same time, Canada will also have to reduce its regulatory overburden, particularly in the resource sector. Canada’s overly complicated and lengthy regulatory processes for new project approvals and drug approvals, along with interprovincial trade barriers, are also brakes on investment and growth.
Canada’s premiers and federal officials are moving toward cutting interprovincial trade barriers, with some
already having been cut, to offset the economic damage of the trade war with the United States. Doing so could “lower prices by up to 15 per cent, boost productivity by up to seven per cent and add up to $200 billion to the domestic economy” as former Liberal internal trade minister Anita Anand noted earlier this year.
The real barriers to greater interprovincial trade, of course, are provincial and local government public procurement policies for goods and services and labour regulations, which benefit local workers and unions, which are hard political nuts to crack.
Canada’s premiers and federal officials are moving toward cutting interprovincial trade barriers, with some already having been cut, to offset the economic damage of the trade war with the United States.
However, as Ottawa ramps up public spending on major infrastructure projects to rebuild roads, sewers, pipelines, transportation networks (including ports, airports and rail systems) and the country’s communications infrastructure, it can attach conditions to jointly funded or federally funded projects by insisting that they be open to suppliers and workers from across Canada.
Trade and investment diversification must also be at the forefront of Canada’s economic policies in order to reduce Canada’s dependence on and vulnerability to the American market, which has grown increasingly protectionist during the 21st century.
There are promising prospects in Asia and not just with India and China, with which Canada has difficult and problematic relations, but other countries in the region that need our agricultural and energy exports, such as Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
In the case of Europe, Germany and the U.K. are potentially key trading partners, especially for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the case of Germany. However, that will require building a West-to-East pipeline and not rejecting the “business case” outright as former prime minister Justin Trudeau did when several European leaders first floated the idea of Canadian LNG shipments to Europe with him.
Although Trump’s tariffs and protectionist measures clearly pose a major threat to Canada and the world economy, if his actions force us to get our economic house in order and do the things we should have done a long time ago, we can turn this crisis to our advantage.
LNG is vital to reducing the carbon footprint of countries that still rely on coal, as Germany, Poland, Czechia, Italy and other European countries do, for power generation. Converting coal-fired plants to natural gas is a much simpler transitional step than the alternatives and modern combined cycle gas turbines can reduce carbon emissions by 60 per cent or more compared to similar coal-fired power plants. According to a recent study by the National Bank of Canada, “partially replacing India’s coal-fired power generation with Canadian LNG would have a more profound impact on the planet than shutting down the Canadian economy entirely.”
The drag of big government on the country’s economic growth will also have be addressed. The federal government has been running a structural deficit of 1.3 per
cent of GDP because spending has outpaced revenues. One of the main drivers of program spending is public service growth.
In 2015, when the Liberal took office, there were 257,000 federal public servants. In 2024, there were 368,000 — a whopping 40 per cent increase. As a result, growth in the federal public service has been roughly three times greater than the general workforce over this same period. This has diverted capital and labour from the private sector, a situation that is simply not sustainable.
The newfound sense of Canadian nationalism in reaction to Donald Trump is also proving to be a boon to local businesses as Canadians turn to buying locally made goods and produce. It is not just grocery stores that are looking to ride this wave. Restaurants, hotels, retail outlets and sporting events are promoting national pride to ensure that what is now a fad becomes an ingrown consumer habit.
The same is true of tourism. Canadians are cancelling their travel plans to the U.S., which presents a newfound opportunity to market Canada as a travel destination for Canadians so that they see their country and spend their dollars at home and not abroad.
Although Trump’s tariffs and protectionist measures clearly pose a major threat to Canada and the world economy, if his actions force us to get our own economic house in order and do the things we should have done a long time ago, we can turn this crisis to our long-term advantage, Canada will be stronger as a nation — and sovereign and independent.
Fen Osler Hampson is the Chancellor’s Professor and professor of International Affairs at Carleton University.
Tim Sargent is a senior fellow and the director of the domestic policy Program at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and distinguished fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
In 2015, when the Liberals took office, there were 257,000 federal public servants. In 2024, there were 368,000 —a whopping 40 per cent increase. As a result, growth in the federal public service has been roughly three times greater than the general workforce over the same period.
Canada is hosting the G7 in June and it’s Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first time hosting on a global stage. We asked the experts to weigh in on what he needs to do.
By Jennifer Campbell
When Canada hosts the G7 Leaders’ Summit at Kananaskis, Alta., in June, it’ll be Mark Carney’s hosting debut on the world stage.
“It’s important to have a meeting that’s substantive and, at the same time, delivers,” says Fen Hampson, professor of international affairs at Carleton University, Diplomat columnist and president of the World Refugee & Migration Council.
“This is where they can make their foreign policy mark. It’s make or break for the new prime minister on the international stage as he’s going to be pressing the
flesh with his G7 counterparts, including, possibly, the president of the United States.”
Many of the players — old and new — will be hoping for a workaday meeting during which they don’t once again see an “eruption” from U.S. President Donald Trump, the likes of which happened in 2018 in Charlevoix, Que., the last time Canada hosted.
As Roland Paris, professor of international affairs at the University of Ottawa and former adviser to prime minister Justin Trudeau says, “the G7 agenda is deep and wide. Much of it continues from year to year in the form of
working groups on issues such as economic resilience, science and technology, public health, climate change and sustainable development.”
But he says, even though that is so, the challenge will be the new U.S. president.
“The challenge this year will be to avoid the kind of eruption from Donald Trump that we saw after the 2018 G7 summit at Charlevoix,” Paris says. “Certain issues, including climate change, risk becoming flashpoints. Trump may not only oppose particular initiatives; in the worst case he may decide to demonstrate his disdain for
the G7 and its members by sabotaging the entire event.” Paris therefore says that the role of Canada, which holds the presidency of the G7 this year, is to work with the incoming Trump Administration to “identify issues of common interest and to focus the summit agenda on those items — and then hope for the best.”
The other potentially complicating factor, Paris points out, was that by the time the summit rolls around, there could have been a different federal government in place, so Canadian officials who were discussing the G7 agenda in the leadup to the summit might have had to change course, but with Carney’s win, that is no longer a threat.
“The G7 agenda is deep and wide. Much of it continues from year to year in the form of working groups on issues such as economic resilience, science and technology, public health, climate change and sustainable development.”
The German co-ambassadors spoke to Diplomat about everything from defence spending to co-operation with Canada.
By Jennifer Campbell
Tjorven Bellmann and her husband Matthias Lüttenberg share a lot. Among those things are three children, a professional interest in international affairs and, as it turns out, a job. The two, who are married, are in Canada as co-ambassadors from Germany.
The arrangement, part of the German foreign ministry’s efforts to be more family-friendly, has one of them serving as ambassador for eight months, while the other stays home and looks after their children, aged 11, 13 and 16. And then they switch. They share one salary. They sat down together with Diplomat magazine editor Jennifer Campbell on March 7, just three weeks before Bellmann wound down her first eight-month stint.
Diplomat magazine: Your federal election took place on Feb. 23. At press time, it looked as though the Conservatives [CDU/ CSU] and Social Democrats [SPD] were set to form a coalition government led by Friedrich Merz, but the Alternative for Germany Party [AfD] made considerable inroads by coming second and taking 20.8 per cent of the vote, particularly in the east. What does this tell you about German society at the moment?
Tjorven Bellmann: First of all, I think there’s a clear mandate for a coalition between the Conservatives and the Social Democrats, which are in talks right now to form such a government. You will have seen that before they’ve even formed the government, both parties made an important announcement this week about an attempt at reform of our debt brake
and setting up a new approximately $750-billion (Cdn.) fund for infrastructure. Both of these measures would require constitutional change, and require a twothirds majority of parliament, and talks are underway now to generate that.
In terms of the signal that those parties that are to form the next German government are sending, they are cognizant of the extraordinary times we live in and are ready to take over the leadership that is expected of them. Of course, the fact that one fifth of the vote went to a party that is under supervision by our internal intelligence services is something that we need to address.
The fact that young voters showed that they are not happy with some of the politics that the current government undertook — that’s a task for the next government to address and make sure that we offer policies that are convincing.
DM: Does the rise of the AfD mean Germany will be pressured to soften its pro-EU, pro-NATO stance at all?
TB: I don’t see that happening. I mean, the parties that will form the next government are strong supporters of EU and NATO, and will be leading in both these organizations.
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DM: Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz said [in March] that “in view of the threats of our freedom and peace to our continent, whatever it takes, must now apply to the country’s defence.” Canada and Germany are both spending below NATO’s two per cent target. What strategy will Germany, as Europe’s largest economy, consider to hit and exceed the two per cent benchmark?
Matthias Lüttenberg: We’re actually at 2.1 per cent in defence spending at the moment, according to NATO criteria, so that’s not a problem we face, but it is clear that we need to do even more for our defence. You will recall that the current, still incumbent government, set up one $150 billion [Cdn.] special defence fund in order to re-arm our armed forces.
That money will last until 2027 and the next government will have to ensure that the investments we took are sustained, because with re-arming, a lot of the weaponry investments are long term. And this is why the parties that are in all likelihood going to form the next general government took this decision.
This means that any defence spending above one per cent GDP will not count against the debt rules — what we call the debt brake, which is a strong limit on making debts for the government. So that’s part of the reforms they are attempting.
DM: Your government will also have to be focused on stimulating the economy and preventing a recession. Is Trump’s latest defence spending demand of five per cent of GDP, in spite of the U.S. only spending 3.4 per cent, even possible?
TB: First, the next government will want to address the
The fact that young voters showed that they are not happy with some of the politics that the current government undertook — that’s a task for the next government to address and make sure that we offer policies that are convincing.
economy, the proposal for an approximately $750-billion (Cdn.) special fund for infrastructure is one of the answers to that question.
In terms of what future NATO defence spending targets will look like, we are very cognizant of the fact that two per cent will not be enough anymore. This is not because of some artificial figure of GDP or because of U.S. demands, it’s because of the security threat we face in Europe. We are in a race against time, given a very acute Russian threat in Europe.
You will have heard a debate in Germany — and that’s one of the issues the next government will address — of reintroducing conscription. And all of that is because we see what’s happening on the Russian side, how the Russians are re-arming, doubling their military forces and clearly preparing for a possible confrontation beyond Ukraine. That’s something that European leaders and German leaders take very seriously. And this is why, if we want to underpin the defence plans we have with capability — and that’s really what it’s all about — and you make the calculation of what that will cost, you will end up significantly higher than two per cent and this is what the discussion should be about.
What exact percentage NATO leaders will end up with — that’s a decision that has to be taken by the heads of state and government of the NATO Alliance. We have a summit this June in The Hague so I would expect discussions to start around where we end up at that summit.
DM: U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested he’d like Europe to enforce a settlement between Ukraine and Russia, without U.S. backing, while Europeans meet to try to come up with a plan of their own. Where do you see that ending up?
ML: The German government has said time and again that any settlement regarding Ukraine, first and foremost, has to be in the hands of the Ukrainians. We will never accept any dictated arrangement. European leaders and the Ukrainian president have been very clear that we need a settlement that really ends this war and not something that is just a prelude to the next aggression.
‘We are in a race against time, given a very acute Russian threat in Europe.’
And this concerns questions like territorial integrity, security guarantees, the size and might of future armed forces in Ukraine, political sovereignty and choice of alliances. Putin could end this war today, if he wanted to, but we don’t see any serious readiness on the Russian side to even engage in serious talks.
All of what we see and the answers that the Russian president has given these past days and weeks is only more aggression and bloodshed and continuing the war. All of us want this war to end — nobody more than the Ukrainians — but it has to end in a way that brings true peace and not the next aggression.
DM: And Europe will be leading that?
TB: You saw already a series of meetings by European leaders and including Canada’s prime minister on these issues. We’ve had several summit-level meetings on Ukraine these past days and weeks. Early yesterday, we had an extraordinary European Council where European leaders sat around the table to discuss how Europe can ramp up defence production, both in terms of our own defences, but also in view of continuing to support Ukraine.
This morning, the leaders, the president of the European Council, the president of the European Commission and the high representative for foreign policy sat down in
a video conference with non-EU NATO allies, including [then-]prime minister [Justin] Trudeau, but also the president of Turkey, the British prime minister and others, to debrief them on these plans and talks.
There is a new very close co-operation in ad hoc formats to address the shortfalls of the regrettable decisions by the American government to stop sending military support to Ukraine. You will also have seen that the German and British defence ministers have decided to co-chair and continue the important work that was done with a defence minister support group for Ukraine. I think the message is very clear that we will step up and we will continue this support, because it’s the right thing to do, and it’s a matter of our own security as well.
DM: Moving on to Canada, what are the top three goals for you as Germany’s co-ambassadors to Canada?
ML: I’ve never really thought about the top three, but there were some issues which were very dear to our mind, even before we came. One of them is the trade relations between our countries, but I think our focus has changed a little over time, and especially now, after the elections in the U.S. and everything that comes from that. I think we feel even closer to Canada as a partner of values, as a partner in the Western world, because we see that our international order is under attack and that we have to be closer.
And I think this is something which is added on our to-do list, and it’s a very good feeling to give this reassurance to the Canadians that we want to work together, in view to Ukraine, but also when it comes to stabilizing our international rules-based order. And I think that Germany and Canada are partners for sure. Another item that came to my mind is our brilliant science cooperation between Germany and Canada, which is going far beyond what I had expected. From the Arctic to the universities and back and forth, this is a real asset that we have.
TB: The third to me would be our military co-operation. And all of these three, I think, are very concrete at the moment. In terms of trade, we have CETA [Canada-Europe Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement], which has increased trade significantly between the EU and Canada — up 65 per cent or so — and Germany and Canada up 43 per cent. But there is still potential for more.
The Hannover Messe, which is the biggest industrial technology trade fair in the world took place at the end of March. Canada was the official partner country this year, so 1,000 Canadians came to Hannover with more than 250 companies. It’s a huge fair. You can walk an hour if you don’t stop anywhere — that’s how big it is. It’s five million handshakes in five days. So that’s very exciting.
If you talk about diversification of trade, this is how it can be done concretely. In terms of science, also, there is a science component, as a lot of universities will be at Hannover Messe, because the whole R and D aspect a very critical element in trade as well. And AI [artificial intelligence] is a big topic at the fair as well. The 15 leading Canadian universities have just been meeting the
Our brilliant science co-operation between Germany and Canada, which is going far beyond what I had expected. From the Arctic to the universities and back and forth, this is a real asset that we have.
15 leading German universities. It’s amazing how much co-operation there is on very exciting areas, like quantum technology and AI.
On military co-operation, we’ve had an unprecedented level of high-level visits. This year alone, we had the deputy defence minister here, we had our chief of defence here. We had our chief of the army here and just this week, we had our chief of the navy here for the Ottawa security conference. All of them tell me that never before had co-operation with Canada been so close.
Our armies are serving next to each other in the Baltic countries. Canada, as you know, has the battle group in Latvia and we are setting up a fully armed permanent combat brigade in Lithuania, and that has triggered a lot of co-operation between us, because they coordinate how they exercise, how they do everything. The navies have just decided to have talks bilaterally and last summer at the NATO summit, we set up a trilateral co-operation with Norway, Canada and Germany, with Norway on maritime security in the North Atlantic. Part of what [this three-country group] will go into is maritime aerial surveillance.
We all fly the same maritime patrol aircraft, and they will discuss how to co-ordinate on situational awareness and things like that.
DM: We’ve also read about Germany and Norway offering Canada early access to new diesel-electric submarines.
TB: If Canada were to decide on the German-Norwegian option, then you can see how big the potential is to increase this nascent co-operation even more. The offer from our side is on the table. It’ll be the most modern conventional submarine that will be on the market then. The first one comes in 2029 and will be all NATO certified — no Chinese products in there — and everything will be ready to become not only interoperable, but interchangeable.
DM: With respect to the tariff threats from the U.S., do you think Merz will look inward to the EU or try to change Trump’s mind, or both?
ML: The next German government will be a strong European leader and will work hard to unify Europe and and lead European policy, but that doesn’t mean that it’s
inward-looking. Of course, the trans-Atlantic relationship, both with the U.S. and with Canada for us is vital and will remain strong. We all know that we are faced with challenges with this American government, and it’s the same challenges, essentially, for Canada as for us. I mean, it’s the tariff policy we all believe is unjustified and not helpful for American consumers in the end.
It’s our security alliances that we need to remain strong and things like the Ukraine war and how we want to bring it to an end. The challenges are the same.
I’m sure the next government will continue as the past government has done, to co-ordinate very closely with our Canadian friends. And the current government has made very clear that we don’t believe these tariffs are in any way justified, that we believe the trade war will lead to [consequences] that are deeply unhelpful. We want to do more trade, not less. And in the end, it’s our consumers and all of us who will pay the price, but it’ll be American consumers as well.
DM: We talked a little bit about the relationship between Canada and Germany. On trade, where is the room for growth?
TB: CETA is still underused, and if Canada would seriously take steps in terms of getting rid of non-tariff barriers to internal trade in Canada, that [would make] your market more attractive. And also, if you’re seriously [about looking] into diversifying trade, we, as Europeans and as Germans, want to be part of that answer. So that’s definitely an area where I see potential.
Critical minerals are a subject where there’s potential for increased co-operation. Canada has everything in the ground that Europe needs. The challenge so far is to get it out of the ground, so it’s a question of investment, it’s a question of procedures. I think that’s a discussion we need to have.
Germany set up a special raw materials fund last year, under which Canadian companies can apply for co-
funding or an investment into equities by our bank for reconstruction.
We hope that some concrete co-operation can come out of that. There is still an energy piece that I think has potential. We will continue to be interested in your hydrogen, especially green hydrogen. There are other parts of Europe that will also be interested in LNG [liquefied natural gas.] Germany, at the moment, has enough LNG, but we will see how that develops in terms of energy needs in the future. The military co-operation, as we discussed, I think, has huge potential for more.
ML: We do see a lot of interest by German companies in the most modern technologies — from battery production or semiconductors or carbon catching technology.
We see huge potential for more investments from Germany.
TB: In all truth, a lot of investment potential for both countries will depend on where the trade piece goes
The current government has made very clear that we don’t believe these tariffs are in any way justified, that we believe the trade war will lead to [consequences] that are deeply unhelpful. We want to do more trade, not less. And in the end, it’s our consumers and all of us who will pay the price, but it’ll be American consumers as well.
from here. If both countries are faced with large tariffs, that will limit the investment power companies have. Our hope is to put an end to this and use the investment opportunities that our companies have for things that will generate growth for all of our citizens.
DM: What sort of non-tariff barriers would you have Canada eliminate?
TB: As far as I understand it, it’s mostly regulatory discrepancies so different regulations in provinces with regard to movement of vehicles, movement of people, standards. We’ve gone through harmonizing all of that
in Europe with 27 different countries. So it’s maybe something to look at how we managed to do this. I sense an earnest willingness from a lot of premiers to address this question, which has been discussed for years now. And I think that’s a very encouraging development.
DM: Are there other concrete ways — low-hanging fruit — in which we could be co-operating?
TB: We’re already co-operating on a joint support ship where the Canadian side has bought the design of the German side, and that will go to production.
We are also co-operating on the industry side and the development of an anti-torpedo torpedo for submarines. That’ll be a very groundbreaking development. If you are on a non-nuclear propelled submarine, that’s the kind of weapon you want to have to fight against a nuclearpropelled submarine that potentially is faster than you are.
Also, our frigate [procurement program is] buying certain communication systems from Canada, so [the trade] goes both ways. And, of course, with the submarine deal, if it came to bear, the maintenance will have to happen also in Canada, which is something all sides are clear about.
And that in turn will establish a supply chain that will bring a lot of investment and a lot of business
opportunities for Canadian companies. We also can imagine closer co-operation in the Indo-Pacific. We’ve taken up a bigger role there. And Canada is a Pacific nation, too.
I can also imagine more co-operation in the Arctic. But that is in the hands of the Arctic nations, who will have to guide us on how much co-operation you want from nonArctic nations.
DM: Speaking about the threat that Russia poses, in Eastern Europe, particularly, can or will Germany do anything outside of NATO?
ML: When we set up the brigade in Lithuania, part of that was not formally inside NATO structures. It has now been incorporated into NATO structures, so we’ve shown that we can be flexible and move ahead, even if NATO policy isn’t at the same pace.
It’s important for us to keep NATO intact and credible, and we will do everything to ensure that this defence alliance, which has been so successful for the past decades, will remain successful for hopefully many decades to come. At the same time, it’s clear that we have a renewed debate on increasing all of our defence setup.
The German defence minister and the German chief of defence have said publicly that our armed forces
have to be war-ready by 2029 in order to prevent future Russian aggression by showing that the price of any such aggression would be high. It’s a question of keeping NATO as strong as possible, but in order to do this, nonU.S. NATO allies have to continue to invest even more into their armed forces and into the capabilities for these armed forces.
That’s a sense that is shared between Germany and Canada, and we heard [then-defence minister Bill] Blair very clearly on that at the Ottawa Security Conference.
DM: The G7 Summit happens in Kananaskis this year. What do you hope gets done there?
TB: I think first and foremost, it’s important that the G7 come to a common understanding on trade and investments, on financial questions, but also on geopolitical issues, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and war of aggression against Ukraine and other geopolitical issues such as the Middle East. For those
leaders, this is an incredibly important group. It’s a very small room, and many of the leaders will be new. There will be a new German chancellor. There will be new U.K. and Canadian prime ministers and there’s a new American president. It’s important that these leaders, who have so far done one phone call, sit together and discuss those most pressing issues — anything from economic security to the global crises we face.
ML: I think first and foremost, it’s important that all of these leaders actually come to the table. Depending on how Canada-U.S. relations may turn out.
DM: There have been a series of attacks in Germany that seemed to be perpetrated by asylum-seekers and Merz seems to lean toward stricter immigration policies. Where do you see the new government going on this issue?
TB: It’s illegal migration that Germans are concerned about. We have a mixed policy in terms of legal migration. We are actually attracting certain types of migration — qualified labour, especially. In terms of refugees or asylum-seekers, you can see that the numbers are constantly going down.
This year, [there are] more than 40 per cent fewer asylum-seekers coming to Germany than the year before. [Illegal migration] is an issue that is of concern to Germans. In the polls out of the election, the three top topics for Germans were migration, security and the economy, so I think any government has to address these issues. Last year [we took] common decisions on the European level on migration policies that now need to be implemented.
The process to put them into law is on its way and I think
The German defence minister and the German chief of defence have said publicly that our armed forces have to be war-ready by 2029 in order to prevent future Russian aggression by showing that the price of any such aggression would be high.
It’s a question of keeping NATO as strong as possible, but in order to do this, non-U.S. NATO allies have to continue to invest even more into their armed forces and into the capabilities for these armed forces.
that the next German government will continue on this path. It’s a concern for the population that we have to get better at tracking people who are a danger to the public.
And you often see in the aftermath that these people [attackers] partly were known and that there were concerns that were raised about them, and still we didn’t manage to prevent these attacks. [We also need to] make sure that those who have no legal grounds to be in the country actually leave the country. Those who have legal grounds and who are real refugees, we want to continue to protect — it’s actually part of our constitution to protect them.
ML: I think there’s broad consensus about Ukrainian refugees. We have more than one million people who came from Ukraine since the war started.
This is a distinct topic, but I think it’s also important in this discussion not to confuse the two topics.
TB: The Ukrainians have special status outside the normal procedures and it’s the biggest group. There are about six million Ukrainian refugees and Germany is the biggest recipient.
A press time, Friedrich Merz was expected to form a coalition government in Germany and become its new chancellor. | Photo: INSM
This country has a chance to emerge as a global force simply by following in the footsteps of its Nobel Prizewinning prime minister Lester B. Pearson.
By Robert I. Rotberg
This is the perfect moment for a new Canadian government to play an invigorated and decisive role in the conduct of the world’s political and economic affairs. With dictators and wannabe dictators now ruling so much of the developed and much of the developing world, a morally charged, ideologically centred Canadian administration could help steady international affairs, dampen conflict and re-assert the rule of law against unbridled attacks on sovereignty and constitutionalism.
Canada may have suffered from fiscal and other policy misjudgments. But in a contemporary world beset with violence and human rights’ abuses, Canada can stride the high road and demonstrate how one formidable middle power can exert a moral influence in the international arena. Canada should step up to restore sanity to the world.
With U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy initiatives creating chaos daily, and with the United States consequently losing stature and respect across the globe, Canada should become the “sensible,” sane, North American power and rise internationally above its middle ranking in world affairs.
Given Trump’s promotion of bad ideas, such as the expulsion of Gazans from the strip, clamping and removing heavy tariffs on Canada and Mexico, threatening Europe with much of the same, pulling critical monetary backing from the Haiti anti-gang mission, installing an unqualified intelligence czarina and refusing to restrain Russian President Vladimir Putin from bombing Ukraine, there is now abundant room for Canada to return itself to the expression of a modernized Pearsonian moral leadership.
Prime minister and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lester B. Pearson, coming from a stern Methodist household, catapulted Canada to international prominence in the 1950s and 1960s by insisting that there were right and wrong answers to problems between nations.
Given Trump’s entirely transactional and amoral approach to the calamitous problems of the world, Prime Minister Mark Carney could shine a bright light on principle, rather than expediency, if he emerged as an advocate of integrity and honesty in contrast to the shambolic political huckstering that Trump is about. The contrast between a newly assertive Canada and foolish United States would be stark and much welcomed by a 21st century world of nations looking for guidance, not gun fights and personal attacks.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau briefly held off Trump’s tariffs by smartly inventing a new way to patrol the common border — the longest between two friends or enemies in the world — and by threatening retaliatory imposts that would cause prices to rise in the United States. After all, Canada and U.S. are each other’s largest trading partner; punishing your friends makes no economic or political sense. Some $3.6 billion worth of goods is traded across the common border every day. That’s $1.3 trillion a year.
Half of the U.S.’s oil imports come from Alberta. Quebec and Ontario hydropower lights all of New England. And then there is the Canadian potash, uranium and other metals that the U.S. receives. Trudeau was wise to placate Trump and stall him and Prime Minister Mark Carney then succeeded in further pauses on broad tariffs. It is also true that the U.S. relies on Canada much more than Trump is aware.
Trudeau did not publicly object to or interrogate Trump’s reprehensible methods. Pearson, in a similar situation, might have questioned the ethics and idiocy of picking a fight with one’s friendliest and most supportive neighbour. He would have denounced messing with legal agreements and treaties between two nations that have long seen eye to eye and that share something Trump
hardly appreciates — a strategic and insecure Arctic region.
Nor has Trump appreciated that as much as he may hanker after Greenland because of its rich mineral resources, Greenland is in Canada’s backyard, and more important to Canada’s line of defence than to the U.S.’s. North America should be considered as one joint land mass worth defending by Washington and Ottawa in unison.
Under Prime Minister Mark Carney, Canada needs to stiffen its shoulders and begin to play a more prominent role in NATO. That will mean spending more on defence generally, but particularly on putting more Coast Guard icebreakers into service to guard the Northwest Passage in order to secure North America and keep a close eye on Russian and Chinese manoeuverings. The early warning sentinels in Northern Canada require refurbishing.
After all, Canada and U.S. are each other’s largest trading partner; punishing your friends makes no economic or political sense. Some $3.6 billion worth of goods is traded across the common border every day. That’s $1.3 trillion a year.
Pearson understood, when Canada was less peopled and less prominent than it is now, that the advance of prosperity and the protection of the peoples of both countries were mutual objectives that both North American nations shared. One could not gain if the other lost.
But, most of all, Canada needs to play a more decisive role in NATO, and in support of Ukraine’s war effort. Since Trump is likely abandoning Ukraine and undercutting NATO, there is a role in the defence of the world that Pearson would have appreciated.
Canada could influence the manner in which decisions about Ukraine are made and even begin to reinforce existing troop detachments there. But, as Pearson would easily have understood, there are ways to provide moral clarity on behalf of a re-energized, re-internationalized Canada.
The Trump-imperiled world needs a strong voice for ethical behaviour that Canada could now supply. Canada, for example, could raise its voice on behalf of Gazans and against ethnic cleansing. It could voice support for Panama and the sanctity of international treaties. It could, echoing Pearson, show that the fate of the world’s poor mattered, and that human rights cannot just be discarded.
Canada could affirm its support for the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and for the reality of global warming and the requirement that the nations of the world continue to reduce CO2 transmissions, plus methane. It could reiterate its support for the World Health Organization, also under siege by Trump.
Given Trump and Elon Musk’s destruction of U. S. foreign assistance efforts, a newly vigorous Canada could help pick up some of the slack. It could articulate a desire to replace some of what Trump has discarded: food assistance in the developing world, especially Africa, technical training, democracy support, water improvements, HIV-AIDS drugs and much more. Canada may not have the financial resources available to the U.S., but it could take on some of the burden that the Trump administration is dropping.
By so doing, Canada could add to its quiet reputation for soft power. Pearson would have liked that, for he raised Canada’s stature in the world by clearly articulating the need for integrity and clarity in dealings among nations.
In a Trump-dominated world, with the U.S. shedding its reputable soft power and its reliability as an ally, Canada could gain credibility. There are major differences
between the U.S. and Canada with regard to immigrants. Under Trudeau and his predecessors, immigrants have been welcome — Trump says too welcome. But they have helped Canada to grow and prosper, just as they have in the U.S., whatever Trump chooses to believe. Pearson began Canada’s sensible approach to immigrants.
Admittedly, both countries have experienced a backlash, and both have stopped receiving immigrants and asylum-seekers with open arms. Both countries were born of immigration, however, and both would not be the strong, prosperous, places they are without the sweat and toil of generations of immigrants. Canada’s next prime minister needs to make a case for at least modest immigration and asylum receiving. Again, there is a moral imperative.
Haiti is case in point, too. Given what Trump has done to destroy its Kenyan police mission, Canada could easily show its moral and physical muscle by helping to finance the anti-gang effort and, in time, to restore governance in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country. Haitians speak
French, which the Kenyans, the Jamaicans, the Guatemalans and the Salvadorans of the small peacekeeping force do not. Canada has a mighty role to play in rescuing Haiti and in propelling it back toward peace.
Can Canada step up its international pace? Under the right leadership and in the face of the U.S.’s turbulent agenda, there is hardly any reason why Canada could not assert itself much more on the world stage. Doing so would mean recalling much of the Pearsonian initiative, of course, and re-fashioning it for today’s very different era. There is no Cold War, but hostilities between the three big powers are palpable. And Canada has had abundant experience dealing with President Xi Jinping’s China and its territorial, trade and military aggression. Canada needs to square its shoulders and think of itself as more than a mere middle power. It needs gently to set Trump aside and deftly to suggest that Canada is internationalist, not isolationist, and believes in compelling moral imperatives.
Robert I. Rotberg is the founding director of Harvard Kennedy School’s Program on Intrastate Conflict and president emeritus of the World Peace Foundation. He was Fulbright Distinguished Professor at Carleton and Waterloo Universities.
Human rights reforms are coming to the kingdom — maybe not as quickly as Westerners would like, but Amal Yahya Almoalimi, the first female Saudi Arabian ambassador to Canada, urges patience.
By Jennifer Campbell
Saudi Arabian Ambassador Amal Yahya Almoalimi remembers it well. It was 2017 and she had been travelling the country detailing the ideas behind Vision 2030, her government’s radical manifesto that would bring dramatic change to the country and, specifically, to the way women were treated.
She finally had a night at home only to find out everyone in her family had other plans.
“Then I saw an ad on TV about the first play ever in Saudi Arabia and it was at a building in my old university — the biggest university for women in the world. There was a barcode where I could buy a ticket and I did and then I went out and drove myself to the play.”
Almoalimi says the building had changed completely from the time when she was a student there in 1982. “I went in and had the best time of my life,” she says. “The play was a nice comedy.”
After the play, she went back to her car — a car she’d never driven because as a woman she hadn’t been allowed to drive for her first 53 years — and she cried. She cried for many reasons, chief of which was that her “very progressive” father — eminent writer Lt. Gen. Yahya Al-Muallimi — who was “way ahead of his time” wasn’t alive to witness this change in Saudi society. He died in 2001 when this level of change wasn’t even close.
“He taught me to drive when I was 14 years old and he hoped that by the time I was 17, it would have been possible for women to drive,” the 60-year-old ambassador says. She also cried because of her memories of her time at the old college and the way she was treated there.
“Why did we accept that?” she asks. “Finally, I cried for the years of my youth when I wasn’t able to have this kind of fun.”
She says her family did enjoy such things when they travelled abroad on holidays so they knew what was out there, but they were deprived of it all in their own country. Almoalimi does, however, take heart in the fact that her three daughters are living this dream.
“They’re enjoying their lives, practising sports, acting, modelling and doing whatever they wish,” she says, adding that one of her daughters is the face of Chanel in Saudi Arabia. “They symbolize the change that happened between the time I was their age and now.”
Just as her daughter is one of the faces of Chanel in Saudi Arabia, in many ways, Almoalimi is Canada’s new face of Saudi Arabia, a country that just served as an honest broker in discussions between Russia and the United States on the war against Ukraine, and a country that will host the Asian Winter Games in 2029, World Expo in 2030 and the FIFA World Cup in 2034. While some have been quick to accuse the regime of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of “sportswashing” its bad reputation on human rights, there’s no question the country is undergoing significant change. Almoalimi says Saudi youth are also playing
a role in improving the country’s global image. “Saudi people, they are very active in social media,” she says.
“So you see a lot of video clips here and there about women driving women going to the stadium, watching [Portuguese footballer Cristiano] Ronaldo in a football match, or whatever. You see the young Saudis celebrating, dancing, going to concerts and dancing in the streets.”
Almoalimi has been an advocate for the arts in Saudi culture, too. She says the arts will foster an appreciation of beauty and “the soul that appreciates beauty won’t be willing to destroy it.” In other words, if young people are taught to appreciate beauty, they won’t want to ruin their lives or property through suicide bombings. “If you want peace, you have to give them a good life,” she says. “That is what I hope will happen in Gaza and other territories, too. Give them a reason to live.”
“I’ve always believed that to convince the West about the changes we are making, they have to witness it. It’s not enough to tell them: ‘We have this and we have that’,” she says. Of course, having doubters witness anything in Saudi
Arabia was a tall order as the country was not open to tourism until 2019. Prior to that, only business people and Muslim pilgrims to the Hajj were permitted entry.
Now, would-be visitors can get a visa online in about 30 minutes for less than $100 euros, the ambassador says, adding that the country is “open” and boasts five UNESCO World Heritage sites. “And we have the best shopping malls in Saudi Arabia,” she says with a smile.
The much-reviled guardianship laws against women have also been loosened. Beginning in 2019, women over 21 were allowed to travel abroad without a male guardian’s permission.
Women are now allowed to register marriages, divorces and births without a male guardian’s permission and mothers can be legal guardians of children.
They can own a business or rent a space on their own and the sexes can mix in public spaces such as movie theatres and sports arenas. They can also seek employment without a male guardian’s permission.
It’s progress but many male guardianship rules remain culturally. Also women still require male permission to marry according to Shariah Law, but there are legal provisions for a woman to appeal the decision of her male guardians. Regarding the progress, the ambassador says it’s a cultural and a domestic issue and her country is proceeding through a balanced approach that harmonizes cultural values, religious principles and progressive legislation aimed at advancing women’s empowerment.
Almoalimi is the first woman Saudi Arabia has ever sent to Canada as ambassador and she held the same distinction as ambassador to Norway. After Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al Saud, ambassador to the United States, Almoalimi is the second woman the kingdom has sent to a foreign country as head of mission. The ambassador’s brother, Abdallah Y. Al-Mouallimi, is ambassador to the United Nations.
The ambassador, who holds a post-graduate certificate in mass communications and journalism from the University of Denver, a bachelor’s degree in English from Princess Nourah bint Abdul Rahman University in Riyadh and had a fellowship at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, spent her early career in education — five years as a teacher, eight years as a mentor and one year at the ministry of education. Prior to coming to Canada, she was director general of Organizations and International Co-operation at the Saudi Human Rights Commission
Regarding the progress, the ambassador says it’s a cultural and a domestic issue and her country is proceeding through a balanced approach that harmonizes cultural values, religious principles and progressive legislation aimed at advancing women’s empowerment.
(HRC or Commission). Before that, she was assistant secretary-general at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Centre for National Dialogue between 2013 and 2015.
“Maybe it seems kind of strange for Westerners to have a need to teach [dialogue], but in our country, we were raised not to even look the teacher or our parents in the eye. If you needed to talk, you had to look down.”
When she asked students what dialogue was, they would say it’s one party convincing the other of their argument or opinion.
“But that’s not dialogue. Dialogue is just opening channels to speak,” she says. “We may not agree, but we will respect each other’s opinion, and we can show tolerance.”
The program she ran reached 10 million Saudis over the course of five years as her team taught trainers, who fanned out across the country to teach it to students. She recalls a particularly positive partnership with the King of Sweden and the World Scouting movement.
“We had Scouts from all over the world come to Riyadh
and spend two weeks getting trained in the same skills of dialogue,” she recalls. “We had 150 Saudi youth — boys and girls — and 150 youth from 35 countries around the world and we had our Saudi youth stay in the hotel with someone who’s not Saudi. At the end of the conference, the chief Scout said he always knew Saudi Arabia as a country that exported oil, but that we demonstrated we could also export dialogue. We’re very proud of that.”
Another initiative called Dialogue for Peace took place after the Arab Spring. “We needed to teach the youth that demonstrating is fine but what comes after that? How do you follow it up?” she says.
Almoalimi says Saudi Arabia — which sits on the G20 with Canada — doesn’t have “distinguished co-operation” with Canada, except in the field of education, where there is a dynamic relationship, particularly between Saudi students and Canadian medical schools. That relationship was tested, however, in 2018 when thenforeign minister Chrystia Freeland issued a statement on Twitter expressing Canada’s concern over the arrest of Samar Badawi, a human rights activist, and advocated for her release. Saudi Arabia responded swiftly and
The ambassador sees good opportunities for Saudi investors in Canada and room to grow the current trade levels, which in 2022 sat at $5.3 billion in merchandise trade with $1.3 billion worth of exports coming from Canada and $3.8 billion in exports coming from to Canada from Saudi Arabia.
dramatically, suspending trade and investments and ordering the many students studying in Canada on Saudi Arabian scholarships to relocate to another country.
Today, the ambassador calls that diplomatic row, which escalated quickly and affected many sectors — “a pause, a misunderstanding, and not showing enough respect for cultural values.” She says the two countries — which have had diplomatic relations for 40 years — emerged from it with new resolve to work together and have recently started co-operating in the field of mining.
“We received a visit from the minister of mining and industry in May 2024,” she says. “Last month, we had an international conference on mining and we had 50 Canadian companies represented there.” The minister also visited some universities because Saudi Arabia needs
to develop the know-how to do the mining. The ambassador sees good opportunities for Saudi investors in Canada and room to grow the current trade levels, which in 2022 sat at $5.3 billion in merchandise trade with $1.3 billion worth of exports coming from Canada and $3.8 billion in exports coming from to Canada from Saudi Arabia. The same year, Saudi Arabia was Canada’s most important two-way trading partner in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and 23rd globally. Canada sends defence and heavy machinery to Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia sends oil to Canada. Global Affairs Canada’s website states that it sees opportunity in areas such as ICT, manufacturing, entertainment and tourism now that the kingdom is diversifying its own economic goals.
Almoalimi notes that in addition to mining and oil trade, SALIC, a Saudi Arabian investor in the global agrifood value chain, is investing in Alberta, as is Aramco. “But I see other fields for co-operation,” she says.
“For example, we are really good in the field of public of private clinics and hospitals, and our doctors study in Canada, so they know the measures and the standards of Canada.” In Canada, she has travelled throughout Ontario, to Montreal and Regina, and she has other travel planned.
“There is no winning in war. Both sides have victims and both sides have suffered. I hope we can find a way to get out of this dilemma, which has lasted more than 78 years.”
In terms of what Saudi Arabia could offer to Canadians with expertise and know-how, Almoalimi references Vision 2030, in which she says that Crown Prince Mohammed, who also serves as prime minister, calls “for all ambitious people who wants to share their ambition and dreams, to come to Saudi Arabia and fulfil whatever they like — to invent, innovate and create. “We are welcoming them and their foreign direct investment [FDI],” she says, adding that FDI from Canada totalled $5.6 billion in the first half of 2024 and that the country has attractive incentives such as loans or exemptions from taxes for the first 20 years.
“Tim Hortons is now No. 1 in Saudi Arabia over Starbucks. The country is developing rapidly. We need everything. We have 13 regions and there are strategic development plans for each, with the Royal committee supervising this and hiring in the field of mining, industry, hospitality, hotels, restaurants, cafés and more.”
She says the government’s industrial strategy focuses on diversifying its economy. It is building industrial cities in the north and south, including Dammam and Ras al-Khair Minerals Industrial City, which will join Yanbu Industrial City and Jubail Industrial City, the world’s largest.
There’s also a boon on the cultural front. “We are going to build 500 museums in Saudi Arabia,” Almoalimi says. “We have only three or four right now, so we need to increase this and spread it to almost every region. We also have a film industry and we just launched Media City in Riyadh with the largest studios and they are producing a film right now with the biggest budget.”
Almoalimi is a mother of five — three daughters and two sons as well as a granddaughter named Lulua, which means “pearl” because she is “the top of the crown of our family.” The youngest two — a boy and a girl — are with her in Ottawa. Her son is studying public relations and her daughter is studying business at Carleton University.
Almoalimi spends 15 minutes each evening learning French from her daughter.
“My husband comes and goes, but he usually stays a few months — longer than he did when I was in Oslo,” she says. Her older children are with their father in Riyadh, where they are enjoying the country’s new freedoms. Her 25-year-old son, who studied marketing, is going to come to Canada to do film studies as that was his dream but when he went to school, cinemas didn’t even exist in Saudi Arabia. One of her older daughters was always fascinated by design and fashion and she studied in Paris and was planning to move to Dubai.
“But with Vision 2030, she is now representing Chanel in Saudi Arabia,” Almoalimi says, with an air of motherly pride. “I’ve been in Canada for a year and I’ve been begging them to come and visit me, but they’re not interested because they’re too entertained there.”
During an hour-long interview with Diplomat, Almoalimi said she’s also grateful for her mother-in-law, pointing to some jewelry she gave the ambassador that Almoalimi considers good luck charms.
“She’s proud of me and she has supported me all the way through my career as have my husband, my sister-in-law and my friends,” she says. “I have four brothers, but I don’t have sisters so my sister-in-law is like a true sister to me.
You are lucky if your mother-in-law admires your work. She says I’m a model for the new generation.”
Almoalimi says life in Ottawa is great, with a very active and social diplomatic corps.
“And when I meet Canadians, they are happy that Saudi Arabia has sent a woman to Ottawa,” she says, adding that she entertains at home often. “Work at the embassy takes most of my weekdays, but I love walking here in
Ottawa. I walk five to seven kilometres a day. I change my route to discover new places. I love the city — especially spring, summer and autumn.”
Almoalimi says Saudi Arabia is building the biggest port on the Red Sea, which will be a great opportunity for Sudanese and Egyptian investors.
“All we need is peace, which is why Saudi Arabia is active on conflict resolution,” she says. “Even in Palestine and Jordan and Egypt, you can’t start these mega-projects if things aren’t settled [in the region.]”
On that front, she says they have an agreement with Yemen and Iraq. “We can’t change geography so we have to live with what we have,” she says. “We may disagree but at least we will not be a threat to each other in the neighbourhood where we are living.”
She says Saudi Arabia’s defence is to help its neighbours realize peace, partly as a defence mechanism.
“By the way, I visited General Dynamics, the Canadian company that is sending small tanks to Saudi Arabia,” she says, adding that the tanks are only used on Saudi land to protect buildings and were not used in Yemen.
“A lot of the people working there were grateful for the partnership with Saudi Arabia for 25 years. They told me that they could send their kids to schools and they can maintain their job security for all these years because of this partnership that gives them that.”
Regarding Gaza, she says Saudi Arabia is willing to do whatever it can, but it wants to be sure that what happened there recently won’t happen again. “Because we’ve rebuilt before and then a rocket comes from Hamas and then Israel comes in and demolishes everything.”
She says that to create peace in Gaza, Israel has to compromise and build one or two settlements in Israel for Palestinians, just as they are building them for themselves.
“Building more settlements inside their lands will do nothing, but make anger and hatred grow,” she says. “There is no winning in war. Both sides have victims and both sides have suffered. I hope we can find a way to get out of this dilemma, which has lasted more than 78 years.” Of the much-maligned plan of U.S. President Donald Trump to force the Palestinians out of Gaza and rebuild it as a “Riviera of the Middle East,” Almoalimi says, “it’s good if you want to build it without kicking the people who own the land out.
“The Palestinians want their own land,” she says, adding that Saudi Arabia has clearly said “no” to taking refugees if the Trump plan goes ahead. “We support their right to stay in their homeland. [Trump’s plan is] not what they want; it’s not what we want.”
Shortly after Diplomat spoke with the ambassador, the Arab states adopted a $53-billion Egyptian reconstruction plan that would avoid resettling the
Palestinians. The government of Egypt worked with the Palestinians to create an administrative committee that would be in charge of governing Gaza in terms of humanitarian aid and managing its affairs before the Palestinian Authority returns to govern. Soon after, Hamas endorsed the plan.
When it comes to Syria, Almoalimi acknowledged that it’s significant that the first two places Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa visited were Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
“We always wanted to help Syrian people,” the ambassador says.
“We received two to three million Syrians — we call them Saudi residents, and we don’t put them in tents outside the cities. They live with us and practice normal life.”
Jennifer Campbell has been the editor of Diplomat International Canada magazine since 2004
The Canadian Armed Forces are underfunded, under-equipped, under-resourced and under scrutiny by foes and allies alike.
By Joe Varner
When the Second World War (1939-1945) came to an end, Canada had the third-largest navy and the fourthlargest air force in the world. And the battle-hardened First Canadian Army in Europe had three infantry and two armoured divisions, as well as two armoured brigades and support troops. The equivalent of three more divisions were serving on home defence duties in Canada.
Canadian Northwest Atlantic was the only Allied theatre of operations commanded by a Canadian
during the war. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was the victor in the Battle of the Atlantic and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was a significant player in war over Europe.
Members of the 1st Canadian Division were the first Allied troops to land in Europe with Operation Husky and the successful invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The 3rd Canadian Division seized Juno Beach in the D-Day invasion of Normandy in June 1944. The 1st Canadian Corps broke the strategic German Gothic defence line in Northern
Italy in one of the great allied feat of arms of the war in August 1944. Beginning in 1944 and concluding in May 1945, the First Canadian Army liberated the Netherlands from Nazi German occupation. A country of just over 11.5 million people had 1.1 million serving in uniform in defence of humanity — without a doubt an amazing achievement.
Fast-forward to today and the geostrategic environment continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate, and German Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Carsten Breuer has said that Russia is an “imminent threat” and is preparing to attack Europe. Indeed, Russia is engaged in an advance hybrid warfare campaign against NATO and the EU, employing sabotage, arson, attempted assassination, destroying undersea infrastructure and jamming the GPS signals of civilian aircraft. Chinese President Xi Jinping has threatened to take Taiwan by force by 2027. China is pushing the Japanese in the East China Sea, pressing all of its neighbours in the South China Sea and lurking along the Indian border looking for opportunities to seize more territory.
North Korea continues to test a range of missiles that can strike the U.S. and its allies in the region, not to
mention North America, and to advance its nuclear weapons program. The Middle East seems poised to have a showdown between Israel and Iran over Iran’s nuclear military program and what is left of Tehran’s proxy terrorist militias. Worse, China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are co-operating with each other in challenging the Liberal democracies and the rule of law. The Chinese, Iranians and North Koreans are supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Russia is boosting China, Iran and North Korea on a variety of fronts — from its best technology for nuclear submarines and missiles to likely assistance with nuclear weapons technology. Russia is actively supporting China’s drive to enter the Arctic domain with direct national security implications for Canada. The security
Indeed, Russia is engaged in an advance hybrid warfare campaign against NATO and the EU, employing sabotage, arson, attempted assassination, destroying undersea infrastructure and jamming the GPS signals of civilian aircraft. Chinese President Xi Jinping has threatened to take Taiwan by force by 2027.
implications of Russia’s military buildup in the Arctic, and its strategic partner China increasingly engaged in the region, are not just security concerns for Canada, but also for the U.S., Denmark and Greenland, Iceland, the U.K., Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Canada is now a frontline state on NATO’s northern flank and guardian of North America’s Arctic approaches and now all eyes in the Atlantic alliance are on us. Canada is not prepared in the Arctic, at home or abroad in Latvia, which is the most important NATO mission since the one in Germany during the Cold War.
Canada’s lack of apparent interest in its own defences, as outlined below, could have a profound impact on its allies’ defences as well. Canada’s Arctic region is the Achillies heel of North America and a potential hole in NATO’s bid to contain Russia and China on NATO’s northern flank. So what is the state of Canada’s military, what are the implications for NATO’s northern flank, and what does this mean for Latvia?
Canada has continued its characteristic slow-going cognitive dissonance approach to the unravelling
international situation, placing itself and its allies at risk. After promising for a decade that Canada would spend the agreed-upon NATO benchmark of two per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, this country still only spends 1.37 per cent.
At its current rate of spending, the Canadian government won’t reach the NATO benchmark until at least 2032. The federal government has promised to spend an additional $8.1 billion over the next five years on capital, but then clawed back more than $1.7 billion over two years from the day-to-day operations and maintenance funding envelope.
Canada is projected to spend $39 billion in 2024–25, but this would almost have to double to reach the two per cent of GDP mark, and National Defence has underspent by about $12 billion over the last decade. Most of that was either carried forward, reprofiled or returned to the fiscal framework for reallocation.
While almost all of Canada’s NATO allies are now looking at spending three per cent of GDP, and U.S. President Donald Trump is demanding member states spend five per cent, Canada cannot seem to break two per cent for another seven years in the best-case scenario.
At its current rate of spending, the Canadian government won’t reach the NATO benchmark until at least 2032.
The federal government has promised to spend an additional $8.1 billion over the next five years on capital, but then clawed back more than $1.7 billion over two years from the day-to-day operations and maintenance funding envelope.
Canada is a G7 country, a founding member of NATO, NORAD and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, but now ranks 28th on the GlobalFirepower’s 2025 Military Strength Ranking, one rank above Singapore.
The truth is that government lack of action, lack of interest and chronic underfunding of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) have left Canada’s defences in a poor state.
Overall, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is supposed to be a force of 71,500 regular force members and 28,500 reserve members. Sadly, it is 16,000 people short of what it needs to serve national interests at home and abroad. When 15 per cent of a military force is unavailable for deployment, it is viewed as no longer an effective fighting formation, and Canada is there.
The Canadian Army (CA) is short 10,000 personnel. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) is under-crewed by at least 1,000 sailors. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) needs 150 fighter pilots and has fewer than 100 ready to go in times of crisis — some knowledgeable experts have said that number is actually fewer than 50.
No trade in the CAF is staffed at more than 85 per cent and the shortage of skilled trades is desperate. When coupled with a lack of modern equipment and chronic lack of defence spending over several Canadian governments, it means Canada’s days as a reliable ally are gone. Almost 75 per cent of its troops are overweight and
not in good physical condition for overseas deployments. Recruiting and training people takes time, money and other resources.
The CAF overall is only taking in about 3,400 recruits per year when it needs to take in about 6,500. But there is some good news: The new defence policy update, titled, “Our North, Strong and Free” plans to increase the regular force to 86,000 people by 2042 and the reserve force will stand at its current 30,000 personnel.
Canada is a three-ocean nation. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) has 12 aging Halifax-class frigates and four Victoriaclass conventional-powered submarines to defend Canada’s interests at sea — and, more important, in the Arctic.
Its submarines are unable to operate under the Arctic ice pack, and instead would operate around naval
chokepoints in times of crisis. Its maritime coastal defence vessels (MCDVs) and Arctic Patrol Ships (AOPS) are not equipped to fight a war and are used for constabulary purposes.
It will be years if not a decade before Canadians see new frigates, submarines and supply ships. Keep in mind that the Halifax-class frigates are more that 30 years old and the Victoria-class more than 40 years of age.
The submarines spend more time in maintenance than at sea and there’s been an increasingly worrying trend of technical issues with Canada’s frigates.
The RCN’s goal is to have the fleet at 60 per cent readiness for operations, but the percentage of ships prepared for operations dropped to 51.2 per cent in 2022–2023 and 45.7 percent in 2023–2024. Canada’s only supply vessel, although a great ship, is a militarized civilian vessel.
Additionally, in terms of air power, an air force without a combat-effective fighter fleet is not an air force. The previous Conservative government procured C-17 Globemaster and C-130J transport aircraft, new naval helicopters in the CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopter and new CH-147 Chinook helicopters to support the army, but that was more than 15 years ago.
Trudeau’s government purchased, but hasn’t realized in capability, F-35 stealth fighters, CC-330 passenger aircraft and tanker aircraft from Airbus, CC-295 Kingfisher search and rescue (SAR) aircraft that have problems, MQ9B reaper drones and the P-8 Poseidon to replace the 45-year-old Aurora maritime patrol aircraft. Except for the fixed wing SAR fleet, it will be years before the new fleets come online.
Which brings us back to Canada’s once-decisive CF18 fleet. Its CF-18s are not technically sufficient with
defensive systems to face-off with fifth-generation fighter aircraft or modern ground-based air defence systems. Further, Canada is critically low on trained fighter pilots and skilled trades people to maintain its fighter fleet. In the meantime, aging fleets with strained maintenance staff and routines and less experienced pilots are a recipe for flight safety problems.
One could argue that with contracts in place, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has been recapitalized, but it will be years before these new capabilities are realized. And the clock is ticking on the fleets purchased by the Harper Conservatives for mid-life upgrades. The Cormorant helicopters bought by the Chrétien government for SAR operations in 1998 and brought into service in 2001 are now 24 years old.
Lastly, the Canadian Army (CA) does not have enough soldiers to provide forces for more than one major ground force mission at a time. In this case, that mission is the NATO Brigade guarding Latvia. The most recent
The new defence policy update “Our North Strong and Free” plans to grow the regular force to 86,000 people by 2042 and the reserve force will stand at its current 30,000 personnel.
defence update by the Trudeau government called for long-range rockets for the CA and a study of the acquisition of tanks, artillery and equipment for the North and it outlined no expeditionary role for the CA.
None of it was funded, nor were the submarines and several air programs. The CA has been hit very hard by a lack of trained personnel, skilled technicians and an aging and sometimes sensitive vehicle fleet. It set a goal of 80 per cent of its vehicle fleet ready for operations. And yet, less than 49 per cent of its vehicles are actually ready for operations at home and abroad.
At present, the CA lacks: a modern ground-based air defence system, modern man-portable (shoulder-
launched) anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, drone and counter-drone capabilities, long-range artillery and a modern electronic warfare-resistant command and communications system interoperable with its allies. Even basics such as spare parts, ammunition, uniforms and boots are in short supply. The “bins” have been emptied and sent to Ukraine and few, if any, contracts have been signed for replacements.
Urgent operational requirements such as air defence, man-portable anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles and drones and counter-drone capabilities are off-the-shelf purchases, but in many cases, it will be two or three years before they make it to the front line in Latvia.
If true to form, Canada will buy the bare minimum for the Latvia mission, not enough or, perhaps none, for the rest of the CA at home training for the next rotation to theatre. The country likely has less than six days of ammunition for operations and not the NATO-stipulated 30-day supply required of allies.
So what does this all mean to NATO’s northern flank and the mission in Latvia so key to NATO’s defences? There is a view in this country that it has no natural predators. Geographically, that used to be the case, but no longer.
With the Russian military buildup in the Arctic region and China’s newfound interest in Canada’s Arctic, the predators are now on its doorstep. And then there is Canada’s forward deployment in Latvia. Russia’s military buildup in the Arctic is illustrative. It has a third more military bases in the region than all of NATO combined and more ground forces bases in the region than NATO. New and old Soviet-era airbases have been upgraded to support Russian military aviation in the Arctic, including fighter aircraft. The powerful Russian Northern Fleet based in the Kola Peninsula has been upgraded to a military district with both ground and air assets. By way of contrast, Canada has a signal listening post at Alert, an Arctic Army Training Centre at Cambridge Bay, a naval port facility at Nanisivik and several forward airfields to support NATO. In naval terms, in a crisis in the Arctic, NATO’s northern flank and North America’s ‘Achilles heel’
could at most send and sustain, in real combat capability, three frigates and one submarine. And that is if Canada takes no casualties in ships and sailors. It could sortie its entire fleet, but the ability to sustain the force and the distances and time required to deploy would make it a challenge to bring forces to face the Russian bear.
In terms of air power, it is true that Canada’s CF-18s can still play a meaningful, although increasingly limited, role in NORAD operations and are still capable of deterring Russian strategic aviation assets along with the U.S. in the Arctic and NORAD’s air defence identification zones, but time is running out on that critical venture.
It will be several years before Canada receives the F-35 fighter jets, let alone before they become fully operational and ready for action. Its venerable CP-140 Aurora fleet also has a part to play in guarding Canada’s northern approaches, but its technical limitations and availability are increasingly a concern.
The Canadian Army, once a world leader in Arctic warfare and supported by Canada’s much-heralded Rangers, can provide reactive forces in the North and situational awareness, but it is no better equipped to fight in the North than it is in Europe. All the modern tools of war seen now in Russia’s war with Ukraine would also be used in the Arctic when facing Russia’s war machine.
Latvia is arguably Canada’s most important NATO operation in Europe since it had a so-called “light division” of 6,700 soldiers and later a brigade of 2,800 soldiers in Germany during the Cold War.
NATO has deployed a series of battlegroups and built them up into brigades, each led by a NATO member country in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine.
These groups also serve as a deterrent to further Russian aggression in the Baltic States, Poland and Romania.
Russia’s military buildup in the Arctic is illustrative. It has a third more military bases in the region than all of NATO combined and more ground forces bases in the region than NATO.
These three countries are frontline states and critical to the security of NATO’s northern and eastern flank. Poland and the Baltic States with NATO members Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany and Denmark turn the Baltic Sea into a “NATO lake” — a bulwark that helps safeguard NATO’s northern flank against Russian military power in the Arctic region.
By all indications, when Russia finishes with Ukraine and rebuilds its military power, usually a six-to-seven-year period, the vulnerable Baltic States so critical to NATO’s defence will be next on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hit list and subject to Russian invasion. Observers could rightly ask, “If Canada is challenged to defend its Arctic without allied assistance, how it can send forces to Latvia in Europe?” And they would have a point. But the NATO Arctic theatre and Latvia are interconnected in that the Baltic states are defenders of NATO’s northern flank’s underbelly.
Therefore, at the NATO Summit in Lithuania in July 2023, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would advance its previously announced commitment to increase the Canadian NATO “trip wire”
battle group in Latvia. He said Canada would lead a combat-ready brigade.
Latvia is the lynchpin that connects the Baltic States and is critical to maintaining land lines of communication between Lithuania and Estonia. The goal was to more than double Canada’s current force in Latvia from 1,000 personnel to as many as 2,200 persistently deployed troops, plus Canada was to have the ability to add hundreds of additional people as needed over a threeyear period in 2025.
To come up with another 1,200 troops is going to take two years and Canada is at about 1,500 deployed soldiers now. Fortunately, Canada’s allies have come to its aid with additional soldiers and sent additional equipment standard in most Western armies to build the brigade that Canada is responsible for and expected to lead.
Canada’s mission in Latvia has a reinforced infantry battalion of 1,700, a headquarters for a brigade, a battery of artillery, a squadron of 15 Leopard II tanks, and other supporting arms, and last summer four-armed Griffon helicopters. This sounds good on paper, but the hollowedout CAF presents real challenges to maintaining, and more important, leading a mission in Latvia.
It should be a national concern that the CA lacks the modern equipment needed on today’s battlefield, as witnessed next door in Russia’s war on Ukraine. Russia is firing between 4,000 and 5,000 artillery shells per day
and using more than 1,500 suicide drones each day by way of comparison. Canada would be out of ammunition in as little as a day, and has no suicide drones or effective defence against them. Canada’s battlefield communications are not interoperable with some of its allies’ and the devices are vulnerable to Russian jamming and interception. Latvia is not a training exercise.
All that stands between this small NATO member state and Russia is Latvia’s small professional armed forces and the Canadian-led brigade now being built.
Very sadly, the CAF is a bare-bones organization that has carried the Canadian flag and showcased its professionalism around the world, but it is underfunded, under-equipped, under-resourced, under scrutiny and, in Latvia — Canada’s most important NATO mission in Europe since the Cold War — under Russian guns. The Canadian military has been allowed to deteriorate to the point that it is ill-prepared to protect Canadian sovereignty in its far North and ill-prepared to contribute to the defence of NATO’s northern flank. Finally, agreeing to support and help fund NORAD modernization was
a long-overdue decision. Canada’s reluctance to take part in missile defence was a further strategic liability. Geography no longer protects this country and recent events south of the border suggest that if it doesn’t bolster defences, counting on the U.S. for support may not be in the cards.
Interconnected to Canada’s northern vulnerabilities are its forward-deployed forces in Latvia on NATO’s Eastern flank. The country’s army-centric mission in Latvia and its leadership of the NATO brigade is in jeopardy due to military weakness. Canada’s credibility is on the line with its allies.
But a government prone to claiming “Canada is back,” and that “we punch above our weight” will also not hesitate to sacrifice soldiers lives and reputations for the greater political good at home. Let’s hope that Russia and China are directing their attention elsewhere while Canada re-builds.
Joe Varner is the author of Canada’s Asia-Pacific Security Dilemma, a director of policy to Peter MacKay when he was minister of national defence and justice, deputy director of the Conference of Defence Associations and a senior fellow of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
Canada has a strategic opportunity to counter China’s dominance and attract investment, but there are processing and regulatory obstacles to overcome.
Story by Chris Freimond
As the world moves towards a low-carbon future, the critical minerals essential for the transition have become a new battleground in the global geopolitical arena. China’s dominance in the mining and processing of these minerals has raised concerns in the West, with many fearing over-reliance on a single, often unpredictable, player. Canada, blessed with abundant reserves of many of these critical minerals, is well positioned to challenge this dominance and help forge a more diversified and secure supply chain.
But Canada faces significant challenges in its quest to be a critical minerals supplier of choice, including a lack of processing facilities and an onerous regulatory
environment that leaves some investors wondering whether their dollars would be better spent elsewhere.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that the combined market value of key energy transition minerals — copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements — will more than double to reach US$770billion by 2040 under its Net Zero Emissions (NZE) Scenario. This surge in value underscores the growing importance of these minerals in the global economy.
However, the burgeoning market is not without its challenges. IEA projections also show that by 2030, nearly 50 per cent of the market value from refining these
minerals will be concentrated in China. This concentration poses a significant risk to the energy transition, making supply chains vulnerable to disruptions from various factors, including geopolitical tensions, trade disputes and even extreme weather events.
Canada’s critical minerals list identifies 34 minerals and metals crucial to the energy transition and the digital economy.
Canada’s critical minerals list identifies 34 minerals and metals crucial to the energy transition and the digital economy. The Critical Minerals Centre of Excellence (CMCE) at Natural Resources Canada (NRC) leads the development and co-ordination of Canada’s policies and programs on critical minerals in collaboration with industry, provincial, territorial, Indigenous, nongovernmental and international partners.
To be considered a critical mineral in Canada, a mineral must meet both of the following criteria:
• The supply chain is threatened
• There is a reasonable chance of the mineral being produced by Canada.
It must also meet one of the following criteria:
• Be essential to Canada’s economic or national security;
• Be required for the national transition to a sustainable low-carbon and digital economy;
• Position Canada as a sustainable and strategic partner within global supply chains.
Canada, with its vast mineral reserves, stable political environment and strong commitment to environmental and social responsibility, has the potential to become a major player in the critical minerals market, according to Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s minister of natural resources.
But Canada faces several challenges in realizing its full potential in the critical minerals sector, including the lack of infrastructure to refine and process these minerals into the high-purity forms required for clean-energy technologies. The reliance on China for processing creates a vulnerability in Canada’s supply chain and limits its ability to fully capitalize on its mineral wealth.
To address the challenges, the Canadian government launched a series of initiatives aimed at boosting domestic processing capacity. The $1.5-billion strategic innovation fund, part of the broader $2.8 billion critical minerals strategy, is designed to support innovative projects in critical minerals manufacturing, processing and recycling.
The government has also pledged to streamline regulatory processes and invest in infrastructure to facilitate the development of new processing facilities. But for many mining companies, the regulatory process remains the elephant in the room. Sander Duncanson, Osler law firm’s Calgary managing partner, says while it
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would be in Canada’s national interest to develop critical minerals to reduce dependence on countries such as China, the government has done nothing since the publication of the critical minerals strategy in 2022 to ease the permitting process, which can take up to 10 years.
“The permitting process for mines in Canada takes too long,” he says. “It is fraught with uncertainty and that alone is seriously affecting the competitiveness of our mining industries relative to other jurisdictions in the world.” Duncanson says he is not suggesting that existing regulations be scrapped or gutted.
“I think Canadians across the board generally believe we need to have a strong regulatory framework to ensure developments like mines occur in an environmentally and socially acceptable manner,” Duncanson adds. “But that doesn’t mean the permitting process needs to take a decade.”
Last year, the Canadian Climate Institute (CCI), a leading climate-change policy research organization, surveyed 174 representatives from a wide range of organizations across the critical minerals eco-system to understand what’s standing in the way of Canada building highquality, responsible critical mineral mining projects.
While a comprehensive report on the survey is expected to be published early this year, preliminary findings showed that 87 per cent of respondents agreed that the current level of investments is “insufficient” or “very insufficient” to grow Canada’s critical minerals value chain. That number was even higher among respondents in the financial sector with all respondents rating current investment levels as “insufficient” or “very insufficient.”
Delays in permitting and regulatory review processes topped the list, with 79 per cent of respondents rating it a “very major” or a “major” barrier.
‘The permitting process for mines in Canada takes too long,” Duncanson says.
“It is fraught with uncertainty and that alone is seriously affecting the competitiveness of our mining industries relative to other jurisdictions in the world.’
The lack of infrastructure, such as roads and access to power for remote projects was the second highest-rated barrier, with 66 per cent rating it “very major” or “major,” followed by barriers related to lack of clarity around Indigenous rights and title (52 per cent).
Nevertheless, 83 per cent of respondents agreed that mitigating negative impacts to the local environment and communities is important, and 91 per cent agreed that Canada can achieve these objectives while remaining competitive.
The CCI says its survey insights highlight the complexity of Canada’s critical minerals value chain and the barriers holding back its growth as global demand — and competition — forge ahead.
To overcome those barriers, according to the CCI, progress must be made on multiple fronts: long-term Canadian competitiveness hinges on whether the country can address both market- and project-level barriers, while simultaneously addressing the social and climate impacts of critical minerals mining projects. These barriers and challenges are interconnected, and that must be taken into account when developing strategies and policies.
However, the CCI says it’s clear not all barriers facing the critical minerals value chain warrant government intervention. Policy-makers should prioritize resources in the areas where it can deliver net benefits for Canadians.
To be fair, the Canadian government has committed to working closely with Indigenous communities and other stakeholders to ensure that critical minerals development benefits all Canadians. The government has also pledged to uphold the highest environmental standards and to promote the use of clean technologies in the mining and processing of critical minerals. But while the Canadian government makes promises, China continues to move ahead.
China’s dominance in the critical minerals sector is not a new phenomenon. The country has systematically invested in and developed its capabilities across the entire value chain, from mining and processing to manufacturing and technology development. This strategic approach has allowed China to secure a commanding position in the global market.
“China’s real strength is in downstream production and processing of other countries’ minerals, where it possesses competitive advantages in cost, regulatory environment and expertise,” writes Jack Mageau, a former policy research assistant at the University of Alberta’s China Institute (CIUA) in a May 2023 paper. This dominance has not gone unnoticed in Western capitals. Concerns about over-reliance on China for critical minerals have been growing, particularly in light of the country’s willingness to use its economic leverage for political gain.
“Western countries are increasingly aware of the economic and geopolitical importance of minerals that are key for the transition to a low carbon economy — in particular nickel, copper, lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements,” according to Mageau. “Simultaneously, tensions with China have heightened focus on energy security, especially as China has historically shown a willingness to weaponize its critical minerals supplies in political disputes.”
China’s domination has led to a rapid securitization of the sector as the U.S. and its allies have scrambled to lessen their reliance on China and establish alternative critical
mineral supply chains. “There is growing concern that a high level of dependence on China for these minerals and their derivative products may create energy security risks,” note Rodrigo Castillo, a research associate, and Caitlin Purdy, a senior program officer, at the Brookings Institution, in an August 2022 paper.
There is also concern about the level of enforcement of due diligence requirements in China’s mineral sector and midstream and downstream industries such as refiners and original equipment manufacturers to make “cleaner” and “greener” supply chains.
“Comprehensive, globally aligned due diligence requirements are needed to ensure that the sourcing of minerals needed for the energy transition does not cause or contribute to adverse social and environmental impacts. These two factors will likely shape the future of critical minerals supply chains,” according to Castillo and Purdy.
Greg McNab, a partner in the Denton law firm’s corporate group and Canada co-chair for Denton’s mining group,
‘Western countries are increasingly aware of the economic and geopolitical importance of minerals that are key for the transition to a low carbon economy — in particular nickel, copper, lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements,’ says Mageau.
says Canada — and the West — have no one to blame but themselves for the current situation.
“Over the years, I have done a lot of work in China and worked with Chinese companies. Every five years, China posts its plan for the future. China has proudly declared to the world for decades that it was going to invest in critical minerals projects around the world, in many places where countries like Canada did not want to be,” he says.
“China invested time, money and effort into developing these global markets in an open, free market economy. So, we were free to make the same investments that China was making, but instead we chose not to.”
It’s important to remember that China did not develop this expertise and dominance in secret, adds McNab. “We let it happen. So, whether we should be worried or not depends on whether we have a working relationship with a country that we don’t always agree with. There are lots of countries that Canada now works with, but a few years ago did not,” he says.
As for what can be done about China’s growing dominance, the answer is simple, but expensive, McNab says. “We need to facilitate the development of processing capacity in Canada and quickly. We have to play catchup. There is no other way around this.”
Canada’s vast mineral reserves, coupled with its stable political environment and strong commitment to environmental and social responsibility and alliances with Western countries, make it an ideal candidate to challenge China’s dominance in mining, developing and processing critical minerals.
The Canadian government has warned of the consequences of relying on “non-like-minded countries”
for strategic commodities and sought to strengthen infrastructure, investment and approval processes for critical minerals development.
However, as Mageau points out, the Canadian government’s aim of diversifying the West’s dependence on China for critical minerals conflicts with the reality that Chinese companies play an important role in the Canadian mining sector. This creates a dilemma for Canada, which may feel compelled to limit China’s significant participation in Canada’s mining sector in order to reap the long-term benefits of its allies’ focus on energy security.
“Doing so, however, will bring short-run instability for Canadian companies, which could threaten the sector’s long-term performance,” Mageau notes.
According to data from the CIUA’s China-Canada investment tracker, between 2004 and 2022, Chinese companies made 322 investments in Canada’s metals and minerals sector, totalling more than $21.6 billion.
In spite of the Canadian government ordering three Chinese lithium companies to divest their investments
in Canadian critical minerals in 2022, citing national security, Wilkinson subsequently stated that Canada would not force Chinese state-owned-enterprises to divest their shares in Canada’s largest mining companies. This means Chinese companies will likely continue to play a major role in the Canadian mining sector moving forward, which mining industry analysts believe is crucial to the sector’s future success.
“While distancing itself from Chinese ownership may enable the Canadian mining industry to demonstrate its importance to global energy security, in the short-term, it creates regulatory uncertainty and fiscal pressures for Canadian mining companies,” according to Mageau.
In fact, the Toronto Stock Exchange has warned that the government’s limiting of Chinese investment hindered the free flow of capital and failed to provide companies with adequate replacement funds.
In addition to funding shortfalls, cutting China out of Canadian critical minerals supply chains threatens to limit Canada’s access to critical minerals know-how and production capacity. Some critical minerals are complicated to process and require specific expertise
and scale-up capacity, which Chinese companies already have.
Canada, notes Mageau, is “caught between a rock and a hard place.” Demand for Canadian critical minerals is at an unprecedented high. To supply those minerals, Canadian mining companies will need access to significant quantities of up-front investment, expertise and personnel, needs that China is well positioned to fulfil. However, given energy security considerations, this proposition is made increasingly difficult.
McNab says while Canada has the commitment and expertise to advance mining generally, critical minerals are “a bit of a different beast” in that production and processing of them are as much a creature of geopolitical pressure as they are of positive economics.
As Mageau points out, the Canadian government’s aim of diversifying the West’s dependence on China for critical minerals conflicts with the reality that Chinese companies play an important role in the Canadian mining sector.
“Critical minerals are considered of national importance or strategic assets, and the security of supply is almost as important as how much it costs to produce them, says McNab. “So, investing in the discovery, extraction and processing of critical minerals requires political willpower to say we are going to do this for reasons beyond just profit.”
For Canada to meet the critical minerals challenge, it will need to address all three components of the supply chain: exploration and discovery, extraction and processing, he says.
“So far, Canada has covered two of these boxes — we have explored for and extracted critical mineral ore, but we drop the ball when it comes to processing,” McNab adds. “To be a leader, we need to develop onshore processing capacity, projects like the Avalon Advanced Materials lithium processing facility in Thunder Bay.”
Traditionally, Canada has shied away from processing because it can be environmentally intense. “We would prefer to let someone else handle that. But we can’t afford to let that continue,” he says.
And we’re not. Apart from Avalon’s Thunder Bay plant, at least one other Canadian facility is currently processing
rare earth minerals in an effort — albeit relatively small at this stage — to counter China’s dominance.
Last September, the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) announced that its Rare Earth Processing Facility located in Saskatoon, was ahead of schedule and had produced rare earth metals on a commercial scale — making Saskatchewan the first and only jurisdiction to do so in North America. Using in-house developed, stateof-the-art, automated technology in metal smelting, SRC said its facility was ready to produce 10 tonnes of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) metals per month, with purities greater than 99.5 per cent and conversions greater than 98 per cent and was on track to increase this production to 40 tonnes of rare earth metals per month by the end of December 2024.
In early 2025, SRC added that once fully operational, the Rare Earth Processing Facility will produce approximately 400 tonnes of NdPr metals per year, enough to power 500,000 electric vehicles. Rare earth metals are also essential components for wind turbines, robotics, HVAC systems, elevators and green technologies, so they are clearly in high demand, not just in Canada, but across the planet.
As the world moves towards a low-carbon future, the critical minerals sector is poised for significant growth. Canada, with its unique advantages, has the opportunity to emerge as a leader in this strategic sector and help to shape the future of clean energy.
The stakes are high. By taking decisive action to exploit its advantages and counter China’s dominance, Canada can secure its position as a leading supplier of critical minerals, create high-paying jobs and contribute to a more sustainable and secure global energy future.
The challenge will be to balance the need for short-term economic stability with the long-term goal of securing Canada’s place in the global critical minerals market.
By adopting a strategic and comprehensive approach, Canada can navigate this complex landscape and emerge as a leader in the transition to a low-carbon future.
“The key for Canada will be to find a way forward that allows continued engagement with China as a customer and business partner for mining and minerals projects to limit short-term pain,” according to Mageau.
“At the same time, it must focus on protecting energy security and promoting domestic production to ensure that Canada can take advantage of the long-term opportunity to become a key supplier in powering a new green global economy.”
Duncanson says while the government has taken important steps to spark the industry through various government funding incentives and tax credits, Canada’s ability to attract investment in critical minerals and realize the opportunity to become a world leader in this important sector will require tangible reforms to the permitting process for new mining projects.
There was a time, he says, when Canada scored well on the political risk scale for mining investment compared to many other countries. “Canada was attractive because it was viewed as a jurisdiction where the rules of the game don’t change … but that perception has changed so dramatically in the last 10 to 15 years and I think a lot of people would be surprised to hear [Canada] compared to places like Mongolia and Africa,” Duncanson says.
The reason, he adds, is because the permitting framework has become politicized with different levels of government having more influence than independent expert bodies on whether or not projects are approved. Duncanson says this may change in the face of tariff threats by the Trump administration as people begin to realize that projects benefiting Canada need to go ahead. “There seems to be a real broad base coming together of a lot of different Canadians who, historically, would not have supported certain types of development saying, ‘we need to support one another in Canada,’” he adds.
It’s that broad base of support that Duncanson believes is crucial for Canada to succeed in becoming a critical minerals supplier of choice. “It’s crucial for our future economic well-being an for the future of the energy transition and addressing climate change in the way that most Canadians want us to do as a country,” he says.
Duncanson is optimistic that key reforms to the permitting process will be forthcoming this year. In the meantime, he says, proponents should lobby the federal and provincial governments to prioritize these reforms, look for opportunities to participate in their formulation and position themselves to proceed quickly once the changes are in place.
Chris Freimond is a writer and communications specialist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He specializes in the mining industry.
The fight to eradicate tuberculosis (TB) has been set back by the defunding of USAID and an additional 71,348 lives will be lost to TB this year. Canada has been a leader in fighting TB, but its work at home has been less inspired.
By Robyn Waite
While most people in Canada have been focused on tariffs and threats of annexation from U.S. President Donald Trump, what the everyday person isn’t seeing or hearing much about is how one of his first executive orders is affecting the world’s most vulnerable populations living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
In its first week of taking office, the Trump administration issued an executive order to stop all work and funding flows for foreign assistance for a 90-day review. A month later, the so-called review was complete, and resulted in more than 80 per cent
of all U.S.-funded global health, development and humanitarian projects being terminated.
Those following the issue will have likely heard about the impacts on people living with HIV. More than 20 million people, including children and pregnant women, in LMICs rely on the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for access to antiretroviral treatment (ART), which they need to survive this incurable disease and stop its spread to others. At press time, the PEPFAR Impact Tracker estimated that 40,519 adults and 4,313 children had already died because of U.S. funding freezes and associated discontinued treatment and essential services.
After Trump’s 90-day pause turned into a full termination of virtually all foreign assistance, it’s easy to see why those working in global health want to call this a murderous policy. In short, Trump killed funding that cures or at least controls killer diseases. Without access to diagnosis and treatment for disease, without routine vaccination programs, without outreach to find people in need of care, without nutritional support for malnourished children, and more, people will die. A mathematical modelling effort by Stover, Sonneveldt et al, found that “a complete cessation of U.S. funding without replacement by other sources of funding would lead to dramatic increases in deaths from 2025-2040,” with more than 25 million lives needlessly lost.
In total dollar amounts, the U.S. has long been by far the leading investor in official development assistance (ODA), contributing more than USD $60 billion in 2024. For comparative context, the second largest donor — Germany — invested slightly more than $35 billion. As the sixth top investor, Canada channelled $7.8 billion in ODA grants in 2024.
One issue of grave concern that is not getting the air time it deserves is tuberculosis (TB). As the world’s leading infectious disease killer, TB affects millions, especially people living with HIV, in poverty or in densely populated environments. In 2023, 10.8 million people fell sick with TB worldwide, and 1.25 million died.
TB is a preventable, detectable and treatable airborne bacterial disease when health services are adequately funded and delivered. With the withdrawal of the U.S. funding, however, rather than beating back this ancient disease, TB elimination has been set back tremendously, and drug-resistant TB (DR-TB), which is a serious global health security threat, could turn into an uncontrollable pandemic. A leaked memo from Nicholas Enrich, who was, until his termination in early March, acting assistant administrator for global health with USAID, detailed the risks to U.S. national security and public health as a result of USAID funding pauses and terminations, explaining
that “Tuberculosis programs worldwide keep drugresistant TB in check. If these efforts collapse, the U.S. will see more cases of hard-to-treat TB arriving at its doorstep. As international travel and migration increase, uncontrolled DR-TB outbreaks abroad heighten the risk of transmission to the U.S.”
Likewise, Dr. Mel Spigelman, president and CEO of the TB Alliance — a not-for-profit that discovers, develops and makes accessible new antibiotics critical to staving off drug-resistant forms of the disease — explained that: “Drug-resistant TB has been notoriously referred to as a timebomb. In recent years, we’ve made tremendous progress in conquering this disease with new, shorter, more effective treatments. Now is not the time to reduce the global commitment, but to increase the resources dedicated to ending TB. It would be a tragedy if we not only did not seize the opportunity to take full advantage of the tremendous progress made over the past years, but actually allowed the present situation to worsen.” Devastating reports of impact are already flooding in. The TB Impact Tracker shows that as a result of U.S. funding being terminated, an additional 71,348 lives will be lost to
TB this year and more than two million deaths will occur over five years.
Another report from the TB Community Coordination Hub, which ran a survey from Feb. 11 – 24, found that of the 180 respondents most (76 per cent) reported the stop-work order will severely (52 per cent) or significantly (24 per cent) impact their ability to deliver critical TB services. These include, but are not limited to, the services required to find and diagnose people with TB, enrol them in the correct treatment regimen, support them to adhere to and complete their treatment, as well as critical work, such as awareness-raising, advocacy and stigma reduction.
While currently more than 80 per cent of people with and dying of TB are in LMICs, TB anywhere is TB everywhere. Just as the U.S. terminated its TB-funded projects around the world, an outbreak in Kansas gained public attention. Here in Canada, TB remains present and is on the rise. Incidence (the rate of new disease) is at the highest it’s ever been in this decade in Canada, at 5.5 TB cases per 100,000 population.
As Tina Campbell, a TB nurse and educator with the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority and co-chair of the Stop TB Canada network explained, TB disproportionately impacts Indigenous peoples in Canada.
“The persistent high rates of TB in Indigenous communities is not merely a result of biological factors, but is deeply rooted in a legacy of systemic neglect, colonisation and historical trauma,” she says. “The lack of political will to address the social determinants of health such as poverty, inadequate housing and access to health care continues to fuel this preventable disease, perpetuating cycles of illness and inequity.”
Interestingly, despite Canada lagging behind in the response to TB at home, it has long been a leader in the global response. On top of being a consistent and prominent investor in the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Canada remains the core donor of the Stop TB Partnership TB REACH granting mechanism.
Where the Global Fund works, TB deaths dropped by 36 per cent between 2002 and 2022, and TB REACH partners have screened more than 48 million people, detecting
more than three million people with TB and saving some 1.5 million lives.
These Canadian TB investments are providing a small lifeline during this time of crisis. As Jacob Creswell, team leader of grants at the Stop TB Partnership, explains, “TB REACH is keeping some basic interventions going at this point and we are lucky that it has not been impacted by U.S. award cancellations. Several of our grant recipients, who also receive U.S. funding, have been providing some services and we are flexible with the ongoing support from TB REACH.
“In Zambia for example, TB REACH funding is procuring basic diagnostics as a stop gap. Otherwise, its work to find and diagnose people with TB would have ground abruptly to a stop.”
Canada’s leadership extends beyond current investments of money. At the Global Fund board table, Canada has advocated for more of the fund’s total resources to flow to TB. If we go back in time, as with TB REACH, Canada played a founding and catalytic role in setting up the
Stop TB Partnership itself and its Global Drug Facility, which is a pool procurement mechanism making TB medicines and tools accessible and affordable to LMICs.
Additionally, Canada’s ongoing investments in TB REACH have not only supported organizations to build capacity and attract more funding for implementing TB services, “they have piloted new innovations and approaches and built the evidence base so that impactful solutions can be scaled by national health authorities or other donors, including the Global Fund,” Creswell explains.
Kinz ul Eman, chief of party of the DOPASI Foundation in Pakistan, explained how its TB REACH grant has been transformative in the fight against TB in Pakistan as it is “significantly enhancing case detection, expanding access to TB care, and pioneering innovative approaches that have shaped national policy and secured further investments.
“These grants have not only saved lives but have also strengthened the capacity of the DOPASI Foundation, enabling us to scale interventions and attract
Here in Canada, TB remains present and is on the rise. Incidence (the rate of new disease) is at the highest it’s ever been in this decade in Canada, at 5.5 TB cases per 100,000 population.
new funding for sustained impact,” ul Eman says. Unfortunately, the new funding DOPASI secured came from the U.S. and has now been withdrawn.
“Scaling up proven TB REACH models is not just beneficial — it is urgent. Without sustained funding, Pakistan’s national TB program faces severe risks,” she says.
The severe risks to people affected by TB and global health security is not lost on Canadians. Calls for Canada to sustain, if not step up, support are coming from within its borders, too.
“Canada has a long legacy of championing TB elimination. Now, more than ever, we must double down on our support for crucial initiatives such as TB REACH, which supports innovative efforts to detect and treat TB, and the Global Fund, which provides 76 per cent of all international financing for TB,” says Taryn Russell, executive director of Results Canada, a not-for-profit anti-poverty advocacy organization based in Ottawa. “Canada also has an opportunity to expand its support to mechanisms like the Challenge Facility for Civil Society, which works to engage communities affected by TB in the response. [It can also support] product development partnerships, like the TB Alliance, [which is] developing new antibiotics to rapidly and safely cure people of the disease. If countries such as Canada fail to seize this moment and fully fund these life-saving programs, we risk a devastating setback in the fight against this preventable and treatable disease, which is causing immense suffering to millions of people.”
The call on Canada and other donors in this moment of the U.S. turning its back on the world is clear.
“Step up to fill voids in leadership to save lives at home and abroad,” says Petra Heitkamp, co-chair of Stop TB Canada. “Alongside putting its money where its hearts and brains are though, Canada could also practise effective diplomacy. The story of Canada’s particularly strategic and catalytic leadership in the global fight to end TB needs to be told and remembered, and should be leveraged to help secure new donors, find innovative approaches to financing linked to universal health coverage and scale high-impact solutions to eliminate TB globally, as well as within Canada.”
Robyn Waite works as an independent consultant in global health and as a campaigner and community co-ordinator. She is also founder of the Global Sentinels Movement (www.globalsentinelsmovement.net).
Canada has had a mutually beneficial trade relationship with the U.S. for decades, but now it needs to look for alternatives.
By Mick Gzowski
When your best friend isn’t treating you well, it’s time to try making other friends. That’s how a lot of Canadian businesses are starting to feel in the current seesaw of on-again off-again tariff threats from the Trump administration.
Successive federal governments have been encouraging Canadian businesses to diversify their export clients. For a long time now, they have been concerned that Canadian business has become complacent in depending too heavily on exports to the American market, which is an easy one in which to operate. In January 2025, the U.S. received a whopping 79 per cent of Canada’s total exports.
That’s probably why Export Development Canada (EDC) announced on March 7 that it would increase its support
for eligible Canadian exporters by adding an additional $5 billion to its programs.
Yet Todd Winterhalt, EDC’s senior vice-president of international markets, knows that Canada pivoting from American markets is not an instant fix. “American markets are always going to have an outsized impact and importance to the Canadian economy,” he says, noting the proximity and similarity of cultures and language with the U.S. That said, “We are seeing huge opportunities for Canadians to finally diversify away from the U.S. and include other markets.”
Winterhalt says EDC has spent time and energy over the last few years developing Canada’s Indo-Pacific footprint and looking at the opportunities for Canadians in Asia.
“In addition to the huge markets that everybody knows fairly well, the Indias and the Chinas of the world,” he says, “we see huge opportunities in a number of other markets in Asia that benefit from free trade agreements with Canada through the CPTPP [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership] or bilaterally. And so I think about markets like Indonesia and Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, for example, all holding huge promise for Canadian exporters.”
Winterhalt says EDC sees Canada having great opportunity with agriculture and agri-food to supply a very quickly growing middle class in markets in Asia.
“Canada is the largest supplier of lentils to India,” he says, adding processed food and beverage also have huge opportunities in the Asian market, one that will have more than half the world’s population in fewer than 10 years. He also sees opportunities for Canadian technologies, in particular clean technologies, as these markets continue to modernize.
Yet Carlo Dade, director of trade and trade infrastructure at the Canada West Foundation, thinks Canadians should still pursue opportunities in the U.S. market “even with the Trump administration, even with the chaos.”
“Another way to look at this is, where should Canadians go to work twice as hard for half the money, and maybe two or three times the risk if we’re talking Honduras or Mexico?”
Dade asks. “The U.S. market was fat, it was rich and it was easy. It’s still fat, and still rich and still right next door.”
Dade suggests that first and foremost businesses need to adapt to the new trade reality within the U.S. and strengthen their ability to survive difficulty.
“So rephrasing the question as in ‘not only for the U.S., but in addition to the U.S.,’” he suggests as a more realistic strategy. “I think obviously Mexico. Yes. We still under-invested in Mexico, given the proximity. Mexico
has higher per capita GDP than China and [Canada has only] 40 million people. How many people do we need in a market? Mexico’s is 130 million. Those are the types of markets that we can do very well in.“I think our strategy is going to have to be smaller,” Dade says, suggesting Canadian exporters target mid-sized economies.
David Collins is a professor of international economic law at City St. George’s, University of London and a senior fellow at Ottawa’s Macdonald-Laurier Institute. He thinks the best first course of action is one that’s already been and is being pursued — lowering interprovincial trade barriers.
“They’ve been talking about improving interprovincial trade for many years,” Collins says. “Following from that in terms of genuine trade, [for] international trade, I would look at the CPTPP countries, starting with the U.K. I think the U.K. is, apart from Mexico, which is also part of the CPTPP, the closest geographically and the world’s sixth-largest economy, with shared history and a very similar legal system.
“And following that, the Commonwealth, Australia and New Zealand, which are also both CPTPP members.”
Collins notes that since the U.K. left the EU, Canada has yet to negotiate a free trade deal with it, although it does have a trade continuity agreement, post-Brexit, that preserves the commitments that were made by both countries in the Canada-Europe Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement. He suggests that the U.K. has a very strong services sector and would probably be interested in expanding into Canadian telecom and banking, but Canada’s economic protectionism is stifling negotiations.
“Canada’s biggest protectionist problem is the supply management of the dairy sector and the high tariffs on cheese and whatnot,” Collins says. “That’s got to go. I think that the time for that is passed. There may be political issues, rural voters and that kind of thing, but that’s a huge problem.”
Collins points to the U.K. refusing to import hormonetreated beef, which is common in Canada, as another
obstacle to signing a new free trade agreement. Still, he adds, the Keir Starmer government, while holding a large majority, has been weak on defending Canada out of fear of Trump, and is instead pursuing trade with its former brethren.
“The U.K. has prioritized its trading relationship with the EU and the Starmer government seems to be prioritizing that,” Collins says. “It seems to be quite willing potentially to sacrifice trade with other countries on that front. I’m hoping that changes and I think the economic realities will convince the British government to do otherwise and to take a more Atlantic approach.”
Achim Hurrelmann is a political science professor at Carleton University in Ottawa. He suggests that Canadian businesses that want to increase trade with the EU should first reach out to the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service to get its advice.
“They should rely on the existing comprehensive economic and trade agreement that Canada has with
the European Union to take advantage of the reductions in tariffs and access to public procurement and all the benefits that that this agreement brings,” Hurrelmann says. “But it’s obviously a big economic decision and it requires resources and some audacity to jump across the Atlantic and approach this new market. So, this might be a good time to do it because the other option, the United States, has become so unpredictable.”
Hurrelmann says most Canadian exports to the EU are still mainly in the traditional resource export sectors — minerals, oil, some machinery and agricultural products.
But trading in other goods is more complicated for Canadian companies because of the complexities of navigating different languages and regulatory philosophies. He too, agrees that trade with the United States is much easier for Canadian businesses due to language and cultural similarities.
Hurrelmann suggests the Canadian government could encourage European investments in Canadian minerals, rare earths and those strategic raw materials that the Europeans have identified as a priority of their trade strategy to diversify away from China. EDC’s Winterhalt says Canadian businesses interested in tapping new export markets have many resources to access within Canada. “When you partner with folks like Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service or EDC, industry associations, other folks from your industry, chambers of commerce, good folks like that, learning about new international markets, culture, business practices, regulatory environment is not all that challenging, “ he says. “It just requires a thoughtful approach and a little bit of frontend work to prepare yourself.”
Winterhalt says that while some telecom companies are considering sub-Saharan Africa, a place with growing populations and economies, many more companies have found success in Asian markets. “There are actually already 2,800 Canadian companies active in Asia, either invested in there or they have their
production lines there, or they have folks on the ground, or they’re selling to Indo-Pacific markets,” he says. “We are seeing a real growth in the number of mid-market and smaller companies present.” For smaller companies interested in dipping into new foreign markets, Winterhalt recommends trying to infiltrate the supply chain of a bigger Canadian company to get experience in selling in foreign markets.
Dade hopes governments and businesses trying to negotiate deals with authoritarian countries such as China first talk trade, and only with success in that realm, broach human rights. That’s how he believes positive change will happen. “We don’t want to compete with some extreme, some prison label-associated products,” Dade says. “But I think it’s the backwardness of our approach. To be absolutely clear, it’s not that these issues aren’t important, it’s that you can’t lead with them.”
Mick Gzowski is a writer, member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery and filmmaker based in Aylmer, Que.
Meet the Canadians who pay their own way to compete at the ‘Olympics’ of nomad nations in sports such as hunting with birds of prey.
By Mick Gzowski
Audrey Ann Meloche began her first day competing in horseback archery at the World Nomad Games in Astana, Kazakhstan, feeling a little off.
Normally, she runs her yoga retreat on Quebec’s Magdalene Islands (Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine), leading visitors through cold-water plunges in the Atlantic Ocean, interspersed with yoga and spa. Now she was representing her country in Central Asia’s version of the Olympics.
Two days before the opening ceremonies of the World Nomad Games, the team attended a lottery where horses were designated for each rider. Some horses were better than others. The Kazakh riders had their own horses, a huge advantage for the skilled, nomad-style equestrians. The Canadians kept their fingers crossed and smiled, as they would throughout the competition.
Meloche got her first ride on her stallion — they’re all unfixed male horses in these games — as dark approached. She begged the judge for a second practice ride. It was allowed and she shrugged off the challenge of being placed in the final group.
The next morning, as she and her Canadian horseback archery team rode the city bus to the Kazanat Hippodrome, the venue for her sport and others, disaster struck. She had woken up with chills and a fever of 38.5 C, and now the bus was going in circles around a roundabout. “I threw up all over the front of the bus, everywhere,” she says with a laugh. She would end up in a Kazakhstani hospital, diagnosed with a virus and given organic honey and chunks of beeswax to chew on, and told to sleep.
A few hours later, she was back at the track, and suddenly being in the second-last group was a blessing because she didn’t miss her first chance to compete. The three other members of her team decided to forgo the games’ opening ceremonies that evening to support her run. One for all and all for one.
These are the fifth edition of the World Nomad Games (WNG), held in September because that is the traditional nomad holiday time, marking the end of the migration and the switch from summer to winter camping. Nomads used to celebrate this with rituals, games and competitions. These modern nomad games ran from Sept. 8 to Sept. 13, beginning on the closing day of the 2024 Paralympic Games and a few weeks after the Olympic Games, which were a world away in Paris.
For Central Asia, these games are more important than the Olympics. The Olympic movement was meant to be about building a more peaceful world through sport, but has become a global business empire complete with divisive policies and politics. The decade-old WNG bans no country and specifically promotes nomad culture, inviting the world to celebrate it.
As a way of life, nomadism hearkens to a past that began to end with large-scale agriculture. These games promote regional ties and the people who share this heritage. Of course, they also hope to attract spectators and tourists to explore their lands.
In Astana, athletes competed in such sports as: kokpar (a little like polo with mounted riders trying to throw a serke or dummy goat into the opposite team’s goal,
September is the traditional nomad holiday time, marking the end of the migration and the switch from summer to winter camping. Nomads used to celebrate this with rituals, games and competitions. These modern nomad games ran from Sept. 8 to Sept. 13, beginning on the closing day of the 2024 Paralympic Games and a few weeks after the Olympic Games, a world away in Paris.
called a circle. It was once played with a headless goat carcass); kok buru, a similar game with fewer players; horse racing, both long- and short-distance; horseback wrestling; mas-wrestling (more on this later); horseback archery; traditional archery; koresh wrestling, a form of standup wrestling; alysh belt wrestling; powerful nomad strongman competition; and kusbegilik, competitive hunting with birds of prey, either a golden eagle, a hawk or a falcon. Other non-sporting activities included traditional intellectual games, cultural displays and a scientific conference on nomad culture.
The first, second and third World Nomad Games were held in Cholpon-Ata, a resort town in Kyrgyzstan. In 2014, 583 athletes from 19 countries competed in 10 sports. In 2016, there were 1,200 athletes from 62 countries competing in 26 sports. Then, in 2018, it grew to 2,000 athletes from 82 countries, and 37 sports.
The pandemic delayed the next biannual nomad games. But in 2022, the 4th World Nomad Games were in Iznik, Turkey, with 3,000 athletes from 82 countries, but only 13 sports. Many athletes at the Astana games said they felt the Turkish games were poorly organized. Some teams returned home without competing because their accommodations were subpar, and organizers didn’t seem to care.
Such was not the case in Astana this year. Despite disastrous seasonal flooding in March that killed eight people and forced 96,472 people, including 31,640 children, to be rescued and evacuated, Kazakhstan went all-in for the games.
Kazakhstan wanted its games to be a shining example of sports diplomacy, promoting integration and peopleto-people relations among nations with common
backgrounds while showcasing the country in a positive light internationally. It also wanted to show to the world that its days were long gone, and that Kazakhstan has its own cultural identity.
So, everywhere in the games, messages about nomadic tribes abounded. Nomads have been living in the region since the first century BC, but the area has been inhabited at least as far back as the Stone Age.
Like Canada, Kazakhstan is bilingual. Kazakh is the official state language, but Russian is also widely used.
In 2014, 583 athletes from 19 countries competed in 10 sports. In 2016, there were 1,200 athletes from 62 countries competing in 26 sports. Then, in 2018, it grew to 2,000 athletes from 82 countries, and 37 sports.
The country is rich in natural resources, massive in size, but with few people, and is situated next door to powerful neighbours, Russia and China. Kazakhstan is the sixth largest country in the world with a population of only 19 million people, half of Canada’s population.
It is the world’s leading producer of uranium and has vast oil reserves, estimated at 4.4 billion tonnes. The American oil companies are here, as are Canadian mining companies such as Arras Minerals. There are rich, untapped reserves of zinc, chrome, manganese, gold and more. The country is Central Asia’s economic powerhouse, its GDP larger than all the other “stan” countries combined.
Ties between Canada and the Central Asian country are growing. In Kazakhstan, there are Canadian international schools, and the University of Calgary
announced in 2022 that it planned to open a campus in the country.
At a news conference at the Nomad Games, Kairat Sadvakassov, vice-chairman of Kazakh Tourism, boasted that Kazakhstan is basing its growing national park system on Canada’s.
That aside, what irks Kazakhs is that much of the world still knows them for Sacha Baron Cohen’s 2006 movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Borat depicts them as antisemitic post-Soviet rubes who consider women chattel. It’s worth noting that scenes of Borat’s faux Kazakhstan hometown were actually filmed in the Romanian Roma village of Glod. Cohen said he chose to make Borat Kazakh precisely because most of the world knew so little about the country.
Kazakhstan responded to the offence by banning the film, threatening to sue Cohen and buying four-page ads
in American newspapers full of positive advertorial about the country. Despite their hurt feelings, Borat increased tourism to the country.
In 2020, when the sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm was released, Kazakhstan’s tourism department took a different tack. It launched a social media campaign using the movie’s jokes to its benefit, with tourists enjoying the scenery, culture and foods and reacting with the phrase, “Kazakhstan very nice!”
The Canadian horseback archery team at the WNG had four members. At 37, Meloche is the youngest and was only introduced to the sport five years ago. She doesn’t even have a horse at her Magdalene Island home, so practises when she winters in Whistler, B.C.
Robert Borsos, 58, is a massage therapist and both the team’s coach and a competitor. He’s the person who
introduced the sport to Canada, bringing it from his native Hungary to Whistler, B.C., where he now lives.
This year, Borsos will compete three times in the United States and in six international competitions. He estimates he spends between $10,000 to $20,000 a year on travel for this exotic hobby.
He doesn’t globetrot with a saddle, but brings his own stirrups because they’re easier for him to adjust for length. And he’s taught the team a very Canadian solution for protecting the fingers on their right hands from the friction when gripping and releasing a bowstring: wrapping them in hockey tape. “It’s so much fun!” he says, while noting that he’s riding a horse no-hands that he met only two days ago. “But No. 1, we have to be safe.”
Borsos, an official judge as well as an athlete, claims horseback archery dates to Attila the Hun, whose nomadic horde invented the game.
The modern version was reimagined by Hungarian Kassai Lajos in the late 1980s. Students of Lajos have taken the sport home to their own countries, adapting it to their preferences and creating the four national styles: Hungarian, Korean, Turkish and Kazakh (jamby atu).
The idea is quite simple: mounted riders have a limited time to ride 100 metres in a three-metre-wide lane while shooting arrows at three targets as they pass by.
Points are awarded for proximity to a bull’s-eye, and they earn one point for every second they are faster than the allotted time. For every second they are over that time, they lose one point. Their standings are derived from the participants’ total of accuracy plus speed.
The Canadian horseback archery team at the World Nomad Games had four members. At 37, Meloche is the youngest and was only introduced to the sport five years ago.
That first day of competition was in the Hungarian style, the most difficult and least popular, with the fastest reload and unlimited arrows allowed. All other styles allow only three arrows. Riders must shoot forward, sideways and backwards at the bull’s-eyes mounted on three side faces of a cube. On the judge’s signal, riders canter the horse into the shooting lane and hope the horse stays straight, goes fast but not too fast. Most of the runs last between 10 to 15 seconds, with at least three arrows shot. Competitors have no time to sight arrows and use what they call “intuitive archery.” They pull the bow across their chest while sucking in a breath, quickly releasing that breath and the arrow when intuition tells them to shoot.
Most riders have a quiver on their back that they repeatedly and furiously grab from, while the Canadians kept their spares in their left hands or tucked into their belts.
“Some horses are not good and injured,” Borsos said on practice day, adding that a good horse wins the competition. “So we get a new horse. Some people are really lucky. They got the perfect horse. But it is what it is.”
On the first day of competition, organizers provided no water or food for the athletes, so the Canadians went without until they got back to their hotel that evening. The next day, bottles of water appeared. And the Canadians began pillaging their hotel’s free breakfast buffet to make takeout sandwiches for the day, something they’d do for the entire competition.
Borsos, along with his teammate and fellow HungarianCanadian Zoltan Csontos, were put into the first group of riders for the duration of the competition. Csontos, 57, is a contractor who lives in Cranbrook, B.C., and is building his own home using a form of insulated concrete. He was an archer long before discovering horseback archery in 2003. Csontos, like all the Canadians on this first day, hit his targets a few times, but not enough to get onto the podium. Of the 78 athletes from 27 countries, France would take the gold and the bronze that day, with a Mongolian rider taking silver. Borsos would lead the pack for the Canadians in 63rd place, followed by his teammates Csontos, Alvin Nelson and Meloche.
Csontos joked on his first day that his butt was still hurting from the 30 hours of air travel from Canada to Kazakhstan.
Csontos, like all the Canadians on this first day, hit his targets a few times but not enough to get onto the podium. Of the 78 athletes from 27 countries, France would take both the gold and the bronze that day,
But that was fixed by a spa found by a pleasant Kazakh Meloche met on the inbound flight and who agreed to be their guide in exchange for sleeping on their floor.
Though no person or horse would be injured during this year’s horseback archery tilt, the sport can be dangerous. Nelson, 67, fainted in competition a few years ago and bruised the entire right side of his body falling off the horse. But Nelson is tough. In his late teens and early 20s, he was a pro bronc rider, competing in rodeos across North America.
Nelson hosted the first Canadian Horseback Archery Cup in 2006 on his farm in Mount Currie, B.C., on the Lil’wat reservation. “White people say Coast Salish,” Nelson adds.
Nelson’s parents were residential school survivors, and though they grew up speaking their language, they weren’t able to pass it on. Nelson only speaks a few words, but since his daughter is studying the language of her grandparents, he’s started to pick up more, which he finds surprisingly easy.
Nelson drives a snowplow in the winter and works on a road crew in the summer. A few years ago, a car did not stop for his stop sign and hit him, forcing him to undergo many painful surgeries. On bad days, he still walks with a limp.
Teams from across the world are in this competition, strong ones from the neighbouring “stans,” as well as from Thailand, Pakistan, France (whose athletes are quite good and well-funded), Syria and Zimbabwe, among others.
While the Canadian team showed true team spirit, the two Americans in the event did not. Sergey Lozovich hails
from Alaska and claims Russian-Indigenous heritage. He chose only to show up for his own events, leaving his teammate to fend for herself. Without her teammate’s support, Di Fernando Gemma dismounted after her run only to have her horse bolt in the back staging area. Luckily, Borsos was nearby and quickly contained her horse.
Gemma said that one of her “baby daddies” is American Indian, though she is not. Regardless, she chooses to ride with feathers in her hair and wears a faux Indigenous costume. All the riders from outside of the “stans” engaged in a little dress-up, most in nomadic costumes. The Kazakhs, Uzbeks and Kyrgs all have state uniforms, as their countries promote the sport as part of their heritage.
Gemma began her runs with a faux war cry of “woo-woowoo-woo.” Spectators in the stands would echo her call. Nelson, the oldest horseback archer in the competition, shrugged off the appropriation of his culture with a laugh.
He says the woo-woo call was more for dancing and celebration. “It’s not like we’d do that when hunting or trying to kill somebody,” Nelson says. “Hollywood made it into that.”
Up until the beginning of the 18th century, tribal Kazakhs ruled their own khanate. Around the 1730s, tsarist Russia began colonizing and seizing territory until the khanate became part of the Russian empire. Forced immigration saw Russians becoming 10 per cent of the population, a figure that would swell to 50 per cent from the 1930s to 1952,
when Stalin’s Soviet government forced the deportation of at least six million people to Kazakhstan. As they did in all of the U.S.S.R., the Soviets actively tried to suppress local customs, rituals and language in pursuit of proletariat homogeneity. Kazakhs proudly consider hospitality a national trait. They fed and clothed those Russians dumped unceremoniously on the steppe. Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet Republics to declare independence when the USSR fell in 1991. That same year, the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site was officially closed in Kazakhstan, a place where Russian scientists had performed at least
With the demise of the USSR, Kazakhstan suddenly became the fourth largest nuclear power on the planet.
460 underground nuclear tests, according to the non-profit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).
With the demise of the USSR, Kazakhstan suddenly became the fourth largest nuclear power on the planet. With American help, 1,410 Soviet nuclear warheads and an undisclosed number of tactical nuclear weapons were returned to Russia for destruction.
This was part of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum that saw Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus all return Soviet weapons to Russia and become signatories on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
Today, Kazakhstan is a fledgling democracy. There are opposition parties but the ruling Amanat Party controls government with a commanding majority. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s principle of “different opinions — a unified nation,” is a long way from its Communist past.
The president has announced a national referendum in October that will ask the country’s voters whether they think Kazakhstan should build its first nuclear power generating plant. In casual
conversations with Kazakhs on the street and at the nomad games, no one seemed in favour, worrying that a nuclear power plant could be dirty and dangerous.
Russia now rents the land in the south where the Baikonur Cosmodrome resides, the spaceport that launched both Yuri Gagarin and Chris Hadfield into space.
The Canadian mas-wrestling team exceeded its goals. Mas-wrestling is a sport where athletes sit with the soles of their feet facing each other against a wooden board. They both grip something like a shortened broomstick handle with their hands and try to pull their opponent onto their side or pull the stick out of their opponent’s hands. A version of the game without the separating board — stick pull — is played in the Arctic Winter Games.
The sport rewards strength and technique. The trick is to keep your balance while pulling the stick and throwing off your opponent’s balance. Matches are a maximum of two minutes and athletes “run on the board,” moving quickly to one side to throw off their opponent and pull them, or the stick, over. The stick cannot be turned more than 90 degrees, and each match is a best-of-three competition.
Mas-wrestling is ancient, says Odd Erling Haugen, vicepresident of the International Mas-Wrestling Federation and president of Mas-Wrestling USA. “I started researching it back in Norway,” says the strongman contemporary of Arnold Schwarzenegger. “It’s in the Norwegian sagas, all the way back to the Vikings.”
The modern version of this martial art was first promoted by 1972 Olympics wrestling champion Roman Dmitriyev, who hailed from the Sakha Republic, the Indigenous name for the far east Russian province also called Yakutia. Players of the board game Risk may be familiar with it as Yakutsk, which is the capital and largest city in Sakha. In Sakha, thousands pack stadiums to watch mas-wrestling.
The coach and leader of the Canadian mas-wrestling team is Calgary’s Andrew Bolinger, 37, an electrical engineer.
Bolinger first participated in strongman competitions, and, through travelling to those, became introduced to mas-wrestling. Bolinger, a former farm boy, has won many mas-wrestling medals and is the owner of The Strength Edge, a gym that specializes in competitive strength training. (The gym became embroiled in a pandemic controversy because Bolinger refused to follow COVID health orders and shutter the facility.)
Mas-wrestling rewards both strength and technique.
Canadian Mitchell Koop is on the right.
Also at these WNG is Regina’s Ryan Grabarczyk, 25, a rising star in the new world of grip sport (contests that test hand, wrist and forearm strength). Grabarczyk gave it his all, but did not advance to the finals.
His teammate, Courtney Hollihan, 29, five-foot-two and 125 pounds, did. Hollihan began her athletic career in biathlon. She says that sport gave her endurance, strong legs and taught her how to stay in the zone. She was introduced to mas-wrestling two years ago by her boyfriend, Bolinger.
This tiny powerhouse is also a power lifter and can bench press 145 pounds, more than her body weight. “I’ve been to three other competitions, and they were nowhere near this level of fun,” Hollihan says. “It’s amazing that they’ve treated us so well. They greeted us at the airport, they’re sharing their culture with us and their food, and they have hotels for us and stuff.”
Like the horseback archery team, the mas-wrestlers paid their own airfare to the games, around $3,000 a ticket. Bolinger even helped Grabarczyk with the cost of his ticket.
The mas-wrestlers’ matches are staged in one day. Hollihan’s first opponent could have destroyed her spirit.
“She lost her first match against a really good competitor,” Bolinger says. “They were horribly gruelling matches. One of them lasted like a minute, 45 seconds, and the time limit is two minutes. I’ve never seen a match hit two minutes.”
Hollihan, a psychology student interested in a career in grief counselling, bounced back undaunted. She would sweep every following bout, earning Canada a bronze, and the first medal of the games. “People say I have a really stone-cold face when I compete and I never celebrate after,” Hollihan says. “But this first time I was like, yeah, it’s like I won. I did it. And I felt very emotional, actually. I was choking back tears. I was like, I don’t wanna ruin my makeup.”
The following day, Calgary’s Mitchell Koop, 26, would represent Canada in the 105-kilogram weight class, the heavyweight division of the sport. Koop is an electrician
by trade, and a strongman in his genes. His great-uncle was Louis Cyr, a French-Canadian legend who was the strongest man in the world during the Victorian era. Koop exceeded the team’s hopes, winning his first three matches and earning entry to the gold-medal final. “It was an absolute battle. I’m glad it was. …Best opportunity of my life,” Koop gushed after his third consecutive win.
His gold medal match was against a legend of the sport, Kyrgyzstan’s Ataibek Uulu Keldibek. Koop would lose two straight rounds to Keldibek. At the match’s finish, the referee stands between the competitors and lifts the winner’s hand, like in boxing. As Keldibek’s hand was raised, Koop used his free arm to point and bow to the victor in a gesture of respect. Koop thanked the referee and all the judges before exiting the match and moving to the first aid station for treatment. “For us Canadians, we always display good sportsmanship. We never complain,” says Bolinger. “And if you lose, you have a smile on your face. Everybody’s friends here, that’s kind of how I approach this.”
Koop’s silver medal on Day 4 of the games temporarily lifted Canada to 15th place in the medal count out of
97 participating nations. “Screw the Olympics,” said an exuberant Koop at the medal ceremony. “Come to the Nomad Games. This is where you want to be competing. The atmosphere is unlike anything else. And just the people — it’s incredible.”
Canadian Olympic athletes get cash prizes for winning medals, and some of the winners will get rich endorsement deals. Canada spends $66 million a year in “enhanced excellence funding” to support Olympic athletes. The Canadian athletes at the World Nomad Games get a grand total of zero dollars from their country, despite the estimated 100,000 tourists who flocked to Astana to watch them compete in person, and the 230 million people who watched the Nomad Games on television. These Canadian nomads dedicate their time, sweat and savings to sports they love, and they do it without their nation’s help.
The only sport in the Nomad Games that appears to have a pro circuit is kusbegilik — hunting with a bird of prey. Kusbegilik competitions involve your bird flying to
a partner’s outstretched arm holding bait or initiating an attack on a lure with bait spinning on your partner’s rope. Points are given for completed missions.
The sport is so popular in Kazakhstan that competitors can make a small living in competitions and doing personal appearances with their birds. Traditionally, if you wanted a bird of prey for hunting, you scouted out a nest and waited for chicks to reach adolescence, and then climbed up and stole one while mom and dad were out hunting. Then you spent years training the beast. The birds are powerful and impressive.
The only other Canadian in these Nomad Games competed in golden eagle hunting. He was also the only Canadian who didn’t have to travel. Alan Hamson is Canada’s former ambassador to Central Asia and was living in Astana during the games. He’d taken up the sport to experience Kazakh culture, as he explained in a video on his Instagram page.
As a diplomat, Hamson is forbidden to do press interviews on anything outside of his official role. So, while he appeared confident in competition, we don’t know if he actually was. Hamson placed seventh out of
18 in the eagle hunting competition. His Kazakh coach, Serikbek Kyntughan, won.
Meanwhile, the final day of horseback archery was zhamby or Kazakh style. Three golden drums hung as targets along the track, and the athletes had just 14 seconds to roar past them and take three shots. A harsh wind that day made even the best athletes miss.
The Canadian men all had admirable showings, but they would win no medals. Still, they had the respect and appreciation of their opponents. If they were in pain, Borsos would massage players from other teams while they were in the saddle. Canadians are always welcomed at international, invitation-only horseback archery competitions.
The only sport in the Nomad Games that appears to have a pro circuit is kusbegilik — hunting with a bird of prey.
Kusbegilik competitions involve your bird flying to a partner’s outstretched arm holding bait or initiating an attack on a lure with bait spinning on your partner’s rope.
One former member of the Canadian team, Aurangzeb Mubashar, started his own team in Hamilton, Ont., before going to Nelson’s farm.
Mubashar so fell in love with the sport that he decided to create a team representing his birth country of Pakistan, which he was competing for in the Nomad Games.
Mubashar plans to compete for Canada again in future.
Alan Le Gall, coach of the French team and president of the International Horseback Archery Association, also coached equestrian athletes at the Paris Olympics. He says the winning spirit at the Nomad Games is the same as it was in Paris. “Our goal now is to go the Olympics in 2032,” Le Gall says of horseback archery.
Audrey Ann Meloche had a subtle advantage on that last day of competition. The Magdalene Islands where she practices her archery are almost always windy. Meloche, who says she grew up in Montreal concerned with being pretty in dresses and makeup, says her friends can’t
believe she’s now into this sport. Her parents have never even seen her compete.
On the finals day, they should have. Meloche came out of nowhere to leave her mark. She would score 35 points, hitting the swinging targets repeatedly, earning her fourth place overall for women in the competition. “Everybody was looking at me, saying, ‘What the hell?’” Meloche said of her accuracy.
At the closing of these World Nomad Games, Canada finished 23rd in the medal tally. But unlike in the Olympics, Canada beat Great Britain, Germany, even the United States.
The World Nomad Games return to Kyrgyzstan in 2026. Count on the crazy Canucks to be there.
Mick Gzowski is a writer and filmmaker based in Aylmer, Que. For the World Nomad Games, he was a guest of the government of Kazakhstan. This article was first published by The National Post.
The Invictus Games, involving 532 athletes who overcame their injuries to excel in sport, took place in B.C. They put Canada on the sporting world stage once again.
By Abdel Karim Awwad
When Vancouver was announced as the host city for the Invictus Games 2025, the excitement was palpable. The games, founded by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, are an international multi-sport event for wounded, injured and sick military service personnel — veterans and those still serving.
In 2025, Canada took this legacy to new heights, delivering an event that was not just a sporting spectacle and homage to courage and sacrifice. It was also a milestone in international event management, economic growth and national branding.
The opening ceremony was a spectacle. Held at B.C. Place, the event was a blend of tradition, innovation and emotional resonance. From the moment the torch was lit, the energy in the stadium was electric. Indigenous leaders welcomed the world with a powerful acknowledgment of the land and accompanied it with a stunning performance of drumming and dance.
The national anthem was sung in English and French, reinforcing Canada’s bilingual identity, while a light show illuminated the stadium, narrating stories of resilience.
The closing ceremony was its equal. It was a grand tribute to the athletes, their families and the global Invictus community. Musical performances from top Canadian artists — Quebec pop sensation Marie-Mai, Grammy-nominated duo The War and Treaty, American country star and mental health advocate Jelly Roll and Canada’s Barenaked Ladies — accompanied heartfelt speeches from dignitaries.
“Thank you for bringing your heart to the forefront of these Games and for showing all of us how it’s done,”
Prince Harry told the athletes — 532 ill and injured soldiers representing 23 nations — at the closing ceremonies. “To those of you whose journey to these games has been difficult and uncertain, who questioned whether you would even make it here today, thank you for showing us what is possible. … Being a hero, a role model, it’s not just about resilience, skill or power, it’s about integrity,
compassion and courage. You give us hope through your healing.”
A ceremonial passing of the Invictus flag to the United Kingdom, which will next be hosted in Birmingham, England, left the audience in awe. The Games closed with a powerful message: The spirit of Invictus is alive and thriving, and Canada played a defining role in its evolution.
The economic impact of hosting the Invictus Games 2025 was noteworthy. The influx of international visitors — athletes, families, fans and media — brought a significant boost to Vancouver’s economy. Hotels were fully booked, restaurants packed and the hospitality industry reaped the rewards of increased tourism, while transportation networks saw a surge in activity.
Beyond immediate economic benefits, the Games also once again positioned Canada as a global hub for international sporting events. With the FIFA World Cup
The Games closed with a powerful message: The spirit of Invictus is alive and thriving, and Canada played a defining role in its evolution.
2026 on the horizon (Canada is a co-host country), the Invictus Games served as a precursor, proving that, Canada has the infrastructure, expertise and hospitality to host large-scale global events.
The success of Invictus 2025 further solidified Vancouver’s reputation as a premier destination for world-class events.
International events such as the Invictus Games do more than just bring athletes together — they showcase a nation’s character to the world. Canada took full advantage of this opportunity, positioning itself as a leader in inclusivity, resilience and multiculturalism. Media coverage from around the world broadcasted images of Canada’s breathtaking landscapes, warm hospitality and efficient event management.
For days, Vancouver captured global attention, with news outlets highlighting Canada’s commitment to veteran rehabilitation, sports excellence and international co-operation. The Games provided an opportunity to reinforce Canada’s image as a welcoming nation, one that values diversity and unity.
The seamless execution of the Invictus Games was a testament to Canada’s expertise in diplomatic and event protocol. Hosting an international event of this magnitude requires meticulous planning and execution, ensuring that every guest — from heads of state to wounded warriors — is treated with the utmost respect and care.
The safety of athletes, spectators and dignitaries was paramount.
Security protocols were heightened, with law enforcement agencies working in tandem to provide a seamless yet unobtrusive protective environment.
Advanced technology, including artificial intelligencedriven crowd-monitoring and biometric access control, ensured security measures were effective and nonintrusive.
The true measure of a successful international event lies in the experience of its participants. From accessible transportation to athlete-friendly accommodations, every detail was designed to prioritize comfort.
Special attention was given to the needs of wounded warriors, ensuring barrier-free access, medical support and personalized assistance.
VIP protocol was another area where Canada excelled. Dignitaries from around the world attended the Games,
and their experience was carefully curated to reflect Canadian hospitality.
From personalized welcomes to cultural engagements, every interaction was a reflection of Canada’s commitment to excellence in protocol and diplomacy.
The Invictus Games Vancouver 2025 demonstrated that Canada can use world-class events as platforms for economic growth, cultural exchange and national branding. Through meticulous planning, a commitment to inclusivity and diplomatic protocol, Canada created a deeply memorable experience — one that will be remembered long after the final medal was awarded.
Abdel Karim Awwad is Diplomat magazine’s publisher.
Canadian diplomatic protocol is a story of tradition, bilingualism and multiculturalism.
By Abdel Karim Awwad
The arrival of a foreign dignitary in Canada is not just a logistical operation — it’s a carefully orchestrated dance of history, respect and cultural nuance.
Picture this: A newly appointed ambassador from France steps off the plane in Ottawa. This dignitary is greeted by an official from the of Office of Protocol, who warmly welcomes them in English and French, a signature touch of Canada’s bilingual identity.
As the ambassador is escorted through the capital, every moment is guided by Canada’s unique diplomatic protocol — one that intertwines national, provincial, Indigenous and multicultural traditions into a seamless experience.
THE NATIONAL STAGE
Diplomatic protocol at the federal level begins with the Office of Protocol under Global Affairs Canada.
The national protocol system serves as the backbone of all state visits, credential ceremonies and official engagements with foreign representatives.
At the heart of this process is the formal presentation of credentials, where ambassadors meet the governor general in an official ceremony that highlights Canada’s respect for tradition and diplomatic courtesy.
One thing that sets Canada apart is its bilingualism. Every diplomatic exchange at the national level must be
available in English and French, making Canada one of the few countries in the world where linguistic protocol is as critical as ceremonial order. This means that official speeches, toasts at state dinners and even the smallest gestures must honour the nation’s bilingual identity.
Beyond language, Canadian protocol also emphasizes inclusivity. At high-profile state dinners, for example, the seating arrangement reflects not only political hierarchy, but also cultural considerations. A Muslim diplomat will be thoughtfully seated at a table where halal options are available, while a delegate from Japan will be greeted with a bow, reflecting their customs. This is not an accident — it’s a deliberate aspect of Canada’s multicultural diplomatic approach.
Unlike many nations where diplomatic protocol is centralized, Canada’s federal structure allows provinces to play an active role in diplomatic and international relations. British Columbia’s lieutenant-governor might, for example, host a delegation from China, discussing trade while following a carefully crafted protocol that reflects Canadian hospitality and Asian diplomatic customs.
Each province has its own protocol office that manages official visits, international agreements and ceremonial events. The lieutenant governors, representing the Crown at the provincial level, add an additional layer of ceremonial protocol that often mirrors the national system.
However, provincial protocol also adapts to regional identity. In Quebec, for example, diplomatic engagements are conducted primarily in French, reflecting the province’s unique linguistic and cultural character. Meanwhile, in some provinces, a visiting foreign delegation might experience a traditional Indigenous blessing before official meetings commence — a reflection of a province’s deep respect for First Nations traditions.
In fact, one of Canada’s most distinctive diplomatic features is the incorporation of Indigenous protocol into national affairs. This is not just a symbolic gesture, but a recognition of the deep-rooted history of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities in Canada’s governance and diplomatic traditions.
Say a foreign leader arrives in Vancouver for a major summit: Before stepping into the formalities of diplomatic meetings, the leader will be invited to a Coast Salish welcome ceremony. A local elder will smudge sage as a welcome onto the land and then the elder will offer with a traditional blessing. This ceremony is not merely an introduction — it’s an essential part of Canadian protocol, reflecting the country’s commitment to reconciliation and respect for Indigenous sovereignty.
Across Canada, Indigenous protocol plays an increasingly significant role in diplomacy. From the gift-giving customs of the Métis to the oral traditions of the Inuit, Canada ensures that Indigenous traditions are woven into diplomatic engagements. It is common for government officials to acknowledge, before delivering
One of Canada’s most distinctive diplomatic features is the incorporation of Indigenous protocol into national affairs. This is not just a symbolic gesture, but a recognition of the deep-rooted history of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities in Canada’s governance and diplomatic traditions.
speeches, the traditional lands they stand upon — a practice that has now become a formal part of Canada’s official etiquette.
Canada’s diplomatic protocol extends beyond official rankings and ceremonial traditions — it embodies the country’s identity as one of the most diverse nations in the world. In cities such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, diplomatic receptions are not one-size-fits-all; they are tailored experiences that respect cultural sensitivities and international customs.
Consider a major diplomatic gala hosted in Toronto. The evening’s program will be carefully designed. A multilingual host will greet attendees in English, French and the languages of the visiting dignitaries.
The dinner menu will be curated to include kosher, halal, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, ensuring no guest feels excluded. Even the entertainment is reflective of Canada’s rich diversity — perhaps a blend of Indigenous drumming or throat singing, classical FrenchCanadian violin music and contemporary multicultural performances.
This attention to detail is what makes Canadian diplomatic protocol unique. Unlike more rigid diplomatic traditions found in European monarchies, Canada’s system is dynamic, adaptable and deeply respectful of its diverse population.
Diplomatic protocol is more than just a set of rules — it’s a reflection of a nation’s values. In Canada, protocol is built on bilingualism, Indigenous recognition and multicultural inclusivity. Whether at the national or provincial level, every diplomatic interaction tells a story of respect, heritage and international co-operation.
As Canada continues to engage with the world, its diplomatic protocol will evolve, ensuring that every guest — from a head of state to a visiting trade representative — experiences the warmth and diversity that define the country. Future editions of this occasional column will explore the intricacies of state visits, official ceremonies, and the evolving role of protocol in Canada’s global diplomacy.
Abdel Karim Awwad is Diplomat magazine’s publisher.
A merging of Turkish and Western classical music created a unique fund-raising event at the residence of the Turkish ambassador.
By Ülle Baum
Soon after Turkish Ambassador Can Dizdar arrived in Ottawa, he held a fund-raising concert at his residence in support of the Friends of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (FNACO). FNACO marked its 50th anniversary last year and it has spent many of those years teaming up with the heads of diplomatic missions to host fundraising concerts that support the National Arts Centre’s music education programs for aspiring young musicians.
During an interview at the embassy, Dizdar says he was immediately struck by the idea of merging his country’s music with an event that raised funds for art education in the city of his latest posting.
“I started thinking that it’s an interesting idea and how we can do this,” he says. “Fortunately, there were these two Turkish professional musicians in Toronto, [so we brought them here.] Part of our job is to promote this cultural interaction between my country, Türkiye, and Canada.
“Organizing events and concerts contributes, of course, to the objective. For us the reward is the satisfaction of
FNACO marked its 50th anniversary last year and it has spent many of those years teaming up with the heads of diplomatic missions to host fund-raising concerts that support the National Arts Centre’s music education programs for aspiring young musicians.
our guests and we were able to have a great evening by introducing something new.”
He says the invitees were all music enthusiasts and enjoyed the merging of Western classical music with Turkish classical music.
“I think it was very interesting,” he says. “It went very well.
The musicians were wonderful. They were very professional. With just a bit of rehearsal they performed superbly, so the guests were very happy. The objective was achieved, the interaction was there, so the reward was there.”
The ambassador co-hosted with his wife, Demet Dizdar,
‘Organizing events and concerts contributes, of course, to the objective. For us the reward is the satisfaction of our guests and we were able to have a great evening by introducing something new.’
at their residence in Rockcliffe Park and 55 members of FNACO attended, along with the musicians and their Turkish colleagues.
Canadian violinist Emily Westell, flutist Sean Clarke and cellist Desiree Abbe, together with the Turkish husbandand-wife team violinist and singer Canan Sezgin Geylan and singer Yahya Geylan, surprised the music lovers at the end of the concert by playing a medley of selections in the classical Turkish makam system on classical European and traditional Turkish instruments.
“This wonderful evening happened because of the generosity of Ambassador Dizdar,” FNACO president Christine McLaughlin says. “Music brings us together no matter which country we are from.”
Ülle Baum is Diplomat magazine’s photographer and director of public relations.
Joyce Wieland, O Canada, 1971
The summer menu of arts in Canada is culturally and geographically vast. We start offer three events that are each distinctly Canadian.
By Peter Simpson
Musée des beaux arts, Montreal
Until May 4, mbam.qc.ca
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
June 11 to Jan. 4, 2026, ago.ca
Pucker Up! The Lipstick Prints of Joyce Wieland
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Until Oct. 26, gallery.ca
In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Joyce Wieland created iconic works of Canadian art that are, perhaps unfortunately, at least as relevant today as they have ever been. Heart On, a major retrospective that exhibition notes refer to as “radical, playful and iconic,” highlights how Wieland decades ago “anticipated current debates about feminism, social equity and ecology.” Add to that her piercing works on the fraught relationship between Canada and the United States.
“Wieland’s humorous and biting artistry helped give shape to this country’s changing ideas about gender, nationhood and ecology,” write co-curators Georgiana Uhlyarik and Anne Grace. “An artist of great influence, whose work included textiles, collage, print, drawing and film, her legacy lives in the works of subsequent generations.”
The exhibition moves from the Musée des Beaux Arts in Montreal to the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto in early summer, and includes Wieland’s most famous works, including her 1968 quilt “Reason Over Passion,” which captures an assertion by then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau, who would later become Canada’s prime minister.
It also includes her 1971 “Water Quilt” of 64 square cushions, each with an embroidered flower. Beneath each flower are excerpts from James Laxer’s book The Energy Poker Game, about an American government and corporate thirst for Canada’s supply of fresh water — an insatiable thirst that continues today.
The exhibition also includes Wieland’s politically provocative videos, including Rat Life and Diet in North America. “It’s perhaps one of her best-known films,” Uhlyarik says.
Joyce Wieland, Betsy Ross, Look What They’ve Done with the Flag that You Made with Such Care, 1966.
The video follows a pair of “rats” (actually gerbils that Wieland borrowed) that escape from the U.S. to Canada.
“Her cats — because she always had cats — were basically the American industrial complex trying to attack the rats, but the rats escaped happily to Canada where they became organic farmers,” Uhlyarik recounts.
Wieland was born in Toronto and successfully launched her art career in the city before she moved to New York City, with continued success. Her work was featured in the Museum of Modern Art and elsewhere. Her discomfort with American ideology eventually pushed her back to Canada, and in 1971 her solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada was a first by a living Canadian female artist. She died in 1998.
The National Gallery joins the summer of Wieland with a selection of prints from its vast collection of the artist’s work. They are examples of another of the artists famous motifs, the “lipstick prints,” including the lithograph “O Canada.”
“To make O Canada, Wieland, wearing bright red lipstick, sang the national anthem while pressing her lips to a
lithographic stone with each syllable,” reads an excerpt from the book Joyce Wieland: Life and Work, written by Johanne Sloan and shared online by the Art Institute of Canada. “The resulting print shows rows of lips in various stages of opening and closing. Her act of patriotic allegiance has been deliberately gendered, moreover: these are female lips, and possibly sexy lips. The art historian John O’Brian remarks that ‘the print ironically conflates male patriotic love with female erotics, while refusing to collapse the tension between the two.’”
Wieland frequently, and effectively, conflated social, ecological and bilateral tensions with a characteristic playfulness, to great and lasting effect. Visitors who take in her show in Montreal, Toronto or Ottawa, will be rewarded.
Her discomfort with American ideology eventually pushed her back to Canada, and in 1971 her solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada was a first by a living Canadian female artist. She died in 1998.
Halifax, N.S. • June 27 to July 1, nstattoo.ca
The annual spectacle in downtown Halifax includes “marching bands, acrobats, dancers, military displays, pipes and drums” and other events and, unlike most military tattoos, it also embraces civilian performers and events.
“It’s really big. We often refer to it as the largest indoor show in the world,” says managing director Scott Long. Hundreds of military, police and civilian performers take part, and teams of volunteers help make it run for approximately 50,000 spectators at its ticketed and free events around the city. It started in 1979 and has included participants from many countries, often in co-operation with foreign embassies. A German armed forces band is, for example, an annual performer.
Attendees can get extra close to the action with the “Piper’s Experience” VIP treatment, which includes being “piped to your seats by a member of the Tattoo Massed Pipes & Drums.”
Dawson City, Yukon • July 18 to 20, dcmf.com
Dawson City has been used as a fishing camp for centuries by the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people, and during the Yukon Gold Rush, it was hailed as “Paris of the North,” with more than 30,000 residents in 1898. Today, it’s closer to 1,500 people, though its “tiny, perfect festival” often has that many people at its largest concerts.
This year’s lineup includes Canadian hit-makers Doug and the Slugs, the rapper Shad and many other English, French and Indigenous musicians, in venues throughout the historic town. Some attendees paddle down the Yukon River from Whitehorse over several days and “rough it in the bush.” Others book a room at Bombay Peggy’s Inn, built in 1900 and famous for its cocktails and clawfoot baths.
“We’re surrounded by vast, awesome wilderness, but in town it’s quite cosmopolitan. Yukon is a land of contrasts,” says festival executive director Corbin Murdoch. It is also the “land of the midnight sun.” In late June, it gets nearly 24 hours of sunlight. If you’ve never experienced daylight at midnight, the festival is a fine opportunity to do so.
By Margaret Dickenson
Over the past decades, I have entertained thousands of guests, not only during those years when my husband was Canadian ambassador and our 27 years in the Canada’s foreign service, but also beyond.
Entertaining and food remain a happy, meaningful and rewarding part of my life. They both keep me connected to dear family and friends, but also with society — community, charities and the culinary world. Over the years, my expertise in creative recipe development and entertaining have gained much appreciated recognition.
No doubt, it is my personal style of hosting which deserves much of the credit. As Maya Angelou wrote, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” In my case, guests most often remember what I served.
Hors d’oeuvres are critical to my repertoire of recipes, constituting the first element of my “bookends philosophy” to entertaining — “hors d’oeuvres” at the beginning of an event and a sweet “finishing touch” at the end.
Recognizing that first impressions count, I want these hors d’oeuvres to be something superb and relatively unique in terms of ingredients and presentation. As a final sweet touch to all my occasions, homemade chocolates make for a perfect ending.
I apply my “bookends philosophy” conveniently and successfully when hosting a myriad of events, from a simple drinks or a coffee gathering, cocktail or garden party — even a cocktail dînatoire.
However, for the latter events, I would apply my “four element strategy,” which includes also serving a “canapé soup” after the hors d’oeuvres, and a “taster dessert” before the chocolates. Events like these have departing guests feeling as if they have had a unique and memorable version of a delightful meal.
In this issue, I introduce you to some of my recipes that are among everyone’s favourites. I enjoy passing my own hors d’oeuvres. It gives me a chance to interact with all my guests, something that would otherwise be a challenge.
Serves 30 shrimp
Difficulty: Easy
• 30 large shrimp (about 1 lb or 450 g) unpeeled
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) cornstarch
• 1/3 teaspoon (2 mL) salt
• Pinch crushed black peppercorns
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) unsweetened coconut
• As required, vegetable oil for frying
• 1 cup (250 mL) Orange Zest Mayonnaise
ORANGE ZEST MAYONNAISE: Makes 1 cup.
Whisk together 1 cup (250 mL) of mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of both frozen concentrated orange juice (thawed) and finely grated and blanched orange zest (well drained) and 2 teaspoons (10 mL) of both granulated sugar and grated fresh gingerroot (peeled).
1. Peel shrimp leaving tails attached, devein and set aside.
2. Combine cornstarch, salt and crushed black peppercorns in a medium size resealable plastic bag. Place egg white and coconut in two separate flat bowls.
3. Pat shrimp dry with paper towels. Place shrimp in the plastic bag containing the cornstarch mixture and toss to coat shrimp evenly.
4. Working with a few shrimp at a time, dip into egg white, press into coconut and arrange in a single layer on a wax paper-lined tray.
5. Cover loosely with wax paper and refrigerate for up to a day or at least 30 minutes.
6. In a deep fat fryer, heat oil to 325 F/163 C. Fry shrimp in batches (avoid overcrowding) until golden (about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes). Drain on paper towels. (Allow oil to return to 325 °F/163 °C between batches.)
7. As soon as shrimp have cooled slightly, serve along with Orange Zest Mayonnaise as a dipping sauce.
MAKE AHEAD TIP (STEP 4): Place the coated shrimp in a single layer in a wax paper-lined airtight plastic container, and store them frozen for up to three weeks.
To thaw shrimp, transfer them to a paper towel-lined tray, cover loosely with paper towel (to absorb any ice crystals) and thaw in the refrigerator.
• 12 crêpes, diameter: 4 inches or 10 cm
• 3 tablespoons (45 mL) sour cream
• 1 1/2 tablespoons (23 mL) Zesty Ginger Mayonnaise (recipe below)
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) smoked salmon, chopped
• 12 fresh chive stems
(Makes 1/4 cup or 60 mL)
Combine 1/4 cup (60 mL) of mayonnaise with 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of peeled and grated fresh gingerroot, 1/3 teaspoon (2 mL) of sugar and 2 drops of wasabi paste.
Note: Crêpe satchets can be prepared a day in advance, stored in an airtight plastic container and refrigerated until shortly before serving.
1. Lay crêpes individually on a flat surface, with first-cooked side down.
2. Place 2/3 tsp (3.5 mL) of sour cream in the centre of each crêpe; make a small depression in sour cream and add about 1/3 tsp (2 mL) of Zesty Ginger Mayonnaise; then, top with 3/4 tsp (4 mL) of chopped smoked salmon.
3. Draw the edges of the crêpe up in vertical and even folds over the smoked-salmon filling to form a sachet/purse. Tie each crêpe sachet closed with one chive stem and secure with a knot; trim stems if necessary. (Dampen the ruffled tops of the sachets lightly with a touch of water.)
4. Place crêpe sachets in a single layer, in an airtight plastic container. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
5. To serve, arrange sachets individually on a serving tray with ties facing outward.
Makes about 2 2/3 cups (675 mL) of batter
1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (5 mL) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon (Pinch) ground ginger
2 eggs + 2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) milk, divided
1/4 cup (60 mL) unsalted butter, melted
1. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together flour, sugar and ground ginger.
2. In another medium-sized bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together eggs, yolks and 3/4 cup (about 180 mL) milk.
3. Continuing to beat constantly at low speed, gradually add 1/2 cup (125 mL) of flour mixture, then remaining milk (3/4 cup or 180 mL) and remaining flour mixture. Beat to form a smooth batter.
4. Beat in melted butter. (Note: If batter is not perfectly smooth, pass it through a sieve.)
5. Allow batter to rest for at least 30 minutes before using.
6. Whisk batter thoroughly before using. (Crêpe batter can be prepared and stored refrigerated in an airtight plastic container for up to 2 days or frozen for a month. Before using, transfer batter to a medium sized-bowl and whisk until smooth.
• 4 slices prosciutto ham (very thinly sliced)
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup (125 to 170 mL) herb cream cheese (homemade or commercial)
• 3 tablespoons (45 mL) chopped fresh dill weed (i.e., feathery leaves)
• 4 whole stems of canned heart of palm, rinsed and well drained
Garnish
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
Serves ~20 pieces
Difficulty: Easy
1. Lay out individual slices of prosciutto (side by side and well separated) on a clean dry surface with short edges in a horizontal position. Spread each slice entirely and evenly with about 1 1/3 tablespoons (20 mL) of herb cream cheese.
2. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons (10 mL) of chopped fresh dill over cream cheese covering bottom half of each prosciutto ham slice.
3. At lower edge, arrange one entire “log-like” stem of heart of palm horizontally across dill and cream cheese-garnished slice of prosciutto.
4. Tightly roll ham around heart of palm stem, gently spreading/stretching ham along length of heart of palm and expelling trapped air. Trim off any protruding heart of palm.
5. Place rolls (seam side down) in an airtight plastic container and refrigerate. (Note: The rolls may be prepared to this point up to 24 hours.)
6. Up to a few hours before serving, remove rolls from refrigerator, pat gently with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Arrange rolls with seam side down on a cutting board and add a line of herb cream cheese (about 2 teaspoons or 10 mL) along top of each roll.
7. With a sharp knife, cut each roll crosswise into 5 equal slices/pieces. Press cream cheese garnished surface of each piece into chopped macadamia nuts. Place the hors d’oeuvres reassembled in rows on a tray, loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
8. To serve, artistically arrange slices in a standing position with macadamia nuts up.
• 6 ounces (175 g) beef tenderloin (cut into 1/2-inch or 1.25-centimetre cubes)
• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons (15 to 23 mL) Oriental Marinade
• 20 chopsticks (or skewers)
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) Mustard Red Currant Sauce
Serves ~20 pieces
Difficulty: Easy
1. An hour before serving, arrange cubes of beef in a single layer on a plate. Drizzle with Oriental Marinade and turn every few minutes.
2. Just before serving, sear cubes of beef on all sides on a preheated well-oiled castiron skillet over medium heat. Turn regularly until cubes of meat are medium rare. Immediately transfer to a plate. (Total cooking time: about 90 seconds to 2 minutes.)
3. Working quickly, pierce the centre of each cube with the tip of a chopstick, allowing the beef cube to rest near the tip.
4. Serve promptly along with a small dish of Mustard Red Currant Sauce and a container to catch the used chopsticks. (Note: Do not heat Mustard Red Currant Sauce to serve.)
To make a 1/2 cup (125 mL) of Mustard Red Currant Sauce, in a small saucepan over low heat, melt 1/2 cup (125 mL) of red currant jelly. Whisk in 2 teaspoons (10 mL) of Dijon mustard and 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of raspberry (or red wine) vinegar to create a smooth sauce. If desired, thicken sauce by whisking in 1/2 teaspoon (3mL) of cornstarch suspended in 1/2 teaspoon (3 mL) of cold water, and bring sauce to a boil. Place sauce in a glass jar and store refrigerated for several weeks.
To make about 1/2 cup (125 mL) of Oriental Marinade, whisk together 3 tbsp (45 mL) of both teriyaki and oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons (30 mL) of honey, 11/2 teaspoons (8 mL) of both olive oil and red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of grated fresh gingerroot (peeled) and 1/2 teaspoon (3 mL) each of grated lemon zest, finely chopped fresh garlic and dried crushed mint. Store the marinade refrigerated in a well-sealed jar for up to several weeks.
• 3 1/2 ounces (100 g) white chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup (80 mL) roasted pecans, broken pieces
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) dried flaked coconut
Serves 18 clusters
Difficulty: Easy
1. Line a baking sheet with wax paper.
2. Only partially melt chocolate over barely simmering water in a double boiler, or soften in a microwave oven at medium-low heat. (Note: White chocolate may not always appear to have completely melted.)Remove from heat; stir until chocolate is very smooth.
3. Add all other remaining ingredients and combine.
4. Drop clusters of white chocolate mixture (about 2-teaspoon or 10-mL portions) onto wax paper-lined tray.
5. Refrigerate until firm.
6. Transfer chocolates to an airtight plastic container and store refrigerated for up to several weeks.
Many a treaty has been ratified with the help of a little wine-based cheer.
By Janet Dorozynski
Charles de Talleyrand, renowned French diplomat, once declared, “Give me good chefs and I will make good treaties.” This statement highlights a timeless truth that food and drink have often played pivotal roles in diplomacy. Among these, wine has emerged as a powerful tool in building connections and fostering discussions between nations, a practice I like to call “wine diplomacy.”
Wine diplomacy is a form of gastro or cultural diplomacy, where countries use aspects of their cultural assets to build bridges and strengthen international relationships. The tradition of using food and drink during negotiations dates to the Romans, who were known to make peace with their enemies over a meal. Wine, with its rich cultural significance and ability to create a convivial atmosphere, has proven, to this day, particularly effective in facilitating dialogue and breaking down barriers.
A well-chosen bottle of wine can serve as a talking point, or a means to shine the spotlight on your country’s heritage and craft. It can also create trade opportunities by sparking interest in your wine industry. This practice is not new. In the early 1960s, U.S. president John F. Kennedy famously insisted on serving only American wines at state functions, both to support the domestic wine industry, but also to emphasize the nation’s growing sophistication and innovation.
About a decade ago, I attended a wine conference in New Zealand. In his welcoming remarks to delegates, the prime minister referred to his country’s wines as “bottle ambassadors,” highlighting the role wine plays in conveying the nation’s identity or focus on sustainability abroad.
And excellencies, you needn’t be a certified sommelier when serving wines at your diplomatic table. It is far more engaging to talk about the regions, producers and history behind the wine, rather than reciting tasting notes, which are dull at the best of times. Serving unique or high-quality wines, such as VDP Grosses Gewächs from Germany (top-tier dry wines), old vines Carignan from Chile or family-owned grower Champagnes from
Italian stone-fruit liqueurs and the French sweet, fortified wines made by infusing fruit in alcohol, known as ratafia, takes its name from the practice of “ratifying” agreements over drinks. The American Declaration of Independence also was toasted with Madeira, a fortified wine beloved by the founding fathers.
France, can create lasting impressions and connections with your diplomatic counterparts.
Aside from the ambassadors’ table, when organizing wine tastings or master classes for trade promotion purposes aimed at sommeliers, importers and educators, it is essential to involve presenters who have visited your country.
Knowledge and stories gained through first-hand experience are far more compelling than textbook commentaries and paint an evocative picture of the wines, land and people behind them.
The tradition of using wine to seal agreements is so deeply ingrained in history that it inspired the creation of special drinks for such occasions. Italian stone-fruit
liqueurs and the French sweet, fortified wines made by infusing fruit in alcohol, known as ratafia, takes its name from the practice of “ratifying” agreements over drinks. The American Declaration of Independence also was toasted with Madeira, a fortified wine beloved by the founding fathers.
Wine diplomacy has also found its place in modern history. During a 1974 visit to Beijing, Henry Kissinger reportedly told future Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping, “If we drink enough maotai, we can solve anything”; the sentiment being that when glasses are raised (in moderation, of course), barriers often fall. [Maotai is a style of baijiu, which is a Chinese liquor.]
Ultimately, wine and gastro diplomacy remain subtle yet significant tools in the toolbox of diplomatic relations, providing a convivial experience that transcends borders and leaves lasting impressions. I look forward to sharing my stories of the wines and wine regions I have visited and will visit with you. Until the next time.
Janet Dorozynski is a writer, wine and spirits judge and contributor to the Oxford Companion to Wine. She holds the diploma from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) and is a WSET-certified educator.
Ambassador Dorji is non-resident ambassador to Canada, based in New York, where he also represents Bhutan at the United Nations.
Prior to his appointment there in 2023, he was directorgeneral of Bhutan’s department of immigration. He also served as deputy permanent representative to the United Nations in New York between April 2014 and June 2017. He led the international organizations division at the foreign ministry from 2012 to 2014, and was director at the Secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Kathmandu between 2008 and 2012.
Dorji joined the foreign ministry in 1992 and has served at his country’s embassies in New Delhi and Dhaka. He has a master’s of arts in international law and diplomacy and a master’s in political science.
Ambassador of the Dominican Republic
Ambassador Blanco began his diplomatic career in 2001 when he was appointed first secretary to the embassy in the United States.
He was then sent to the permanent mission to the United Nations in New York where he spent several years and rose from the position of first secretary to ambassador.
The ambassador, who speaks Spanish and English, is a career diplomat. He holds a degree in business administration and a master’s and post-graduate studies from Georgetown University in the U.S.
He is married and has two children.
Ambassador Ondo came to diplomacy from a career in environmental pursuits. He directed a conservation and rational use of ecosystems project from 1997 to 2004, and was the national director of the Institute of Forestry Development and Protected Areas Management at Equatorial Guinea’s forestry ministry. He also served as national co-ordinator of the Central Africa Forests Commission.
From 2009 to 2015, he represented Equatorial Guinea at the FAO, IFAD, and WFP in Rome. He served as ambassador to Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia from 2016 to 2018. In 2018, he became ambassador to Ethiopia, permanent representative to the African Union (AU) and non-resident ambassador to Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, South Sudan and Seychelles.
Ondo has a PhD in international relations and diplomacy.
Ratu Ilisoni Vuidreketi is non-resident High Commissioner of Fiji to Canada and also Fiji’s ambassador to the United States. He previously served as the Fiji trade commissioner to North America (from 2005-2009).
With more than 20 years of senior management experience at the national and regional level, Vuidreketi was instrumental in positioning the tourism interests of 16 Pacific Island countries during his term as CEO of the South Pacific Tourism Organization.
In addition to his regular work schedule, Vuidreketi enjoys working with small- to medium- and rural-based organizations. He has worked with local communities by providing advisory support and technical assistance in business planning, finance and marketing to enhance growth in this sector. He also works closely with youthbased and women’s organizations.
Ambassador Korteniemi joined the foreign ministry in 2006. She comes to her posting after having served as director of the North America unit at headquarters, a position she had held since 2020.
Prior to that, her career included a posting to the United Nations in New York as head of the unit for peace and security. She also served in Washington, D.C. At headquarters, she worked with the political department’s unit for arms control and the unit for security policy and crisis management as well as the departments for global affairs and international trade. She also had a stint as a Transatlantic Development Fellow at the U.S. Department of State. The ambassador holds a master’s degree in social sciences and a bachelor’s degree in arts. She is married.
High Commissioner Ralejoe is the high commissioner to Canada with dual accreditation as ambassador to Cuba and Costa Rica and as high commissioner to the Caribbean Islands (Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago).
He comes to diplomacy from the field of education, having served as a schools management adviser, part-time lecturer at the National University of Lesotho and at the Lesotho College of Education. Prior to that, he was a high school teacher in mathematics, science and technology.
The high commissioner has a doctor of philosophy in education, a master’s degree in educational leadership, a bachelor of science in chemistry and biology and a certificate of information technology. He is married and has two children.
Ambassador Meilūnas started his career in academia after having completed a diploma in pediatrics in 1988 (he later completed a master’s of law.) At the beginning of his career, he worked at Vilnius University before joining the press bureau of the government of Lithuania (1991 to 1992).
In 1992, he joined the Lithuanian diplomatic service, where he worked as diplomatic adviser to the president, inspector general at the foreign ministry and viceminister for foreign affairs.
He has represented Lithuania as the ambassador in Poland, Japan, Ireland, as the non-resident ambassador to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, ASEM and ASEAN organizations.
High Commissioner Saleem joined the foreign ministry of Pakistan in 1995 and has served at the foreign ministry in Islamabad in various capacities. He was deputy director (2005 to 2006), director (2006 to 2007 and 2013 to 2014), director-general (2015) and additional foreign secretary (2023-24).
He has had diplomatic postings in Germany (2000 to 2005); Bahrain (2007 to 2010); Romania (2010 to 2013) and Canada (2015 to 2019). He has had one previous headof-mission position, serving as high commissioner for Tanzania (2020 to 2022), with concurrent accreditation to the East African Community.
Has a master’s degree in strategy and diplomacy and he is a graduate from the National Defence University in Islamabad. Saleem is married and speaks English, Urdu and German.
Diplomat magazine sponsored the 10th Annual Vancouver Military Gala dinner, held at the Vancouver Club, April 5. Guests enjoyed a multi-course dinner along with greetings from organizers and dignitaries.
Photos: Mohammed Alsaber
Bangladeshi High Commissioner Nahida Sobhan hosted an independence day reception and art show April 4 at the Delta hotel. Sobhan is shown with Japanese Ambassador Kanji Yamanouchi; Marie-Louise Hannan, director general of the South Asia bureau of Global Affairs Canada; Kenyan High Commissioner Carolyne Kamende Daudi and Kazakh Ambassador Dauletbek Kussainov. Photos: Ülle Baum
The 28th Latin American Film Festival (LAFF) was launched at the Cuban embassy April 2. The festival included films from 14 Latin American countries. Salvadoran Ambassador Ricardo Alfonso Cisneros Rodriguez, dean of the Latin American group, spoke at the launch. | Photos: Ülle Baum
Hosted by the Foundation for a Path Forward, this multicultural and multifaith event took place on March 24 in Vancouver. Its aim is to live and act on truth and reconciliation. | Photos: Mohammed Alsaber
Chilean Ambassador Juan Carlos García Pérez de Arce and his spouse Xochitl Poblete Rojas hosted a concert and reception Nov. 6 at the residence in support of the Friends of National Arts Centre. Classical guitarist and composers François Lacelle, Alex Bougie and Nathan Bredeson, performed. | Photos: Ülle Baum
Colombian Ambassador Carlos Arturo Morales López spoke at the Ambassadors Speaker Series on March 18. At centre, Ambassador López holds his poster gift and is flanked by Lawrence Lederman, chair of the series, presented by Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affair (NPSIA), Brenda O’Neill, Carleton University’s dean of public and global affairs and Teddy Samy, director of NPSIA.
Photos: Ülle Baum
• To mark EU Day at PDAC on March 4, European Union Ambassador Geneviève Tuts gave the opening remarks at a networking breakfast at in Toronto.
• On March 26, Tuts took part in a panel discussion at KPMG. The event was organized by the Canadian International Council (CIC) National Capital Branch. The ambassador is wearing a red jacket. | Photos: Ülle Baum
Invest Ottawa and the Embassy of Estonia co-hosted a seminar on digital transformation and innovation Nov. 4, 2024, at Bayview Yards in Ottawa. An Estonian delegation led by Liisa-Ly Pakosta (top right photo), Estonia’s minister of justice and digital affairs, participated in a panel discussion. Estonian Ambassador Margus Rava introduced a travelling exhibition on Estonia. | Photos: Ülle Baum
This culinary event took place March 26 at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa. Diplomat’s food columnist, Margaret Dickenson, was the head judge. The embassies of Germany, Qatar, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Philippines, Ghana, Jamaica and Sri Lanka participated as did the UN Association of Canada. Germany won the people’s choice award and the event raised $55,000 for the YMCA. | Photos: Ülle Baum
French Ambassador Michel Miraillet hosted a concert and reception at his residence March 31.
Le Grand Salon was filled with music performed by members of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, including cellist Julia MacLaine and her husband, horn player Louis-Pierre Bergeron. This fundraising cultural event was presented in collaboration with the Friends of the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
Photos: Ülle Baum
Hungarian Ambassador Mária Vass-Salazar hosted a fundraising cultural event for the Friends of National Arts Centre Orchestra at her official residence. Iranian-Canadian pianist Mehdi Karbasi played music by Franz Liszt. Hungarian-Canadian master sommelier John Szabo introduced Hungarian wines to accompany the threecourse Hungarian meal. | Photos: Ülle Baum
A gala dinner celebrated India’s 76th Republic Day on Jan. 26 in Vancouver.
Photos: Mohammed Alsaber
On Jan. 28, Japanese Ambassador Kanji Yamanouchi hosted a chamber music evening inspired by Japan and performed by NAC Orchestra musicians in Ottawa. • Japan SelfDefence Forces Day took place Sept. 18, 2024, at the ambassador's residence. • The Embassy of Japan hosted a master class and sake tasting Feb. 3 at its information and culture centre. Photos: Ülle Baum
• A Japanese National Day celebration took place Feb. 11 at the Château Laurier in Ottawa.
• Myaku-Myaku, the mascot of Expo 2025 Osaka, visited Ottawa Feb. 10 on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.
• The Embassy of Japan hosted a master class and sake tasting Feb. 3 at its information and culture centre.
Photos: Ülle Baum
• The Embassy of Japan hosted a master class and sake tasting Feb. 3 at its information and culture centre.
Photos: Ülle Baum
To mark the Korean National Day, Armed Forces Day and the Inaugural Korean Heritage Month in Canada, Ambassador Woongsoon Lim and his wife Eun Sun Lee with Senator Yonah Martin hosted a reception Oct. 7, 2024 in Ottawa. Dancers of the Yeon Dance Company performed at the reception. Canadian Korean War veterans attended the event. | Photos: Ülle Baum
KUWAIT FAREWELL
The Canada-Arab Congress on Middle East and North African Relations hosted a farewell dinner at the Westin Hotel for Kuwaiti Ambassador Reem Mohammad Khaled Zaid Al Khaled. Robert Oliphant, parliamentary secretary to the foreign minister, attended.
Photos: Ülle Baum
• To mark the 30th anniversary of the Zapatista movement, Mexican Ambassador Carlos Manuel Joaquin Gonzalez hosted a vernissage of a photo exhibition titled, “The Jungle’s Reasons” at the embassy.
• To celebrate literature, history and cultural connections, the embassies of Mexico and Japan hosted a launch for Azul Humo/Blue Smoke by Antolina Ortiz Moore on March 18 at the Embassy of Mexico in Ottawa. | Photos: Ülle Baum
More than 50 friends of the National Arts Centre Orchestra attended a concert on Aug. 8, 2024, hosted by Peruvian Ambassador Manuel Talavera Espinar and his wife Heidy Calonge de Talavera at their residence. The evening ended with a reception in a setting of fine Peruvian art. | Photos: Ülle Baum
• Tuvaan Tvevegdorj, Mongolia’s minister of industry and mineral resources, met March 3 with then-international development minister Ahmed Hussen during Mongolian Day at PDAC Toronto.
• Mongolian Ambassador Sarantogos Erdenetsogt hosted a Mongolia-Canada music night Oct. 21 in Ottawa, featuring Mongolian musician Jigjiddorj Nanzaddorj and Canadian pianist Frédéric Lacroix.
• THE HU, a Mongolian modern rock ensemble that combines heavy metal and traditional Mongolian guttural singing, performed in Ottawa on Oct. 28, 2024.
Photos: Ülle Baum
An official ceremony celebrating new direct flights between Toronto and Casablanca on Royal Air Maroc took place Oct. 9, 2024 at Hotel X in Toronto. Moroccan Ambassador Souriya Otmani and Nour-eddine Ez-Zairi, manager of Royal Air Maroc in Canada, were keynote speakers.
Photos: Ülle Baum
Saudi Ambassador Amal Yahya Almoallimi, with the Fairmont Château Laurier, hosted an International Women’s Day dinner on March 10 to honour and celebrate women’s rights and achievements, equality and empowerment at the hotel. | Photos: Ülle Baum
To mark the 53rd National Day of the United Arab Emirates, Ambassador Abdulrahman Ali Almur Ali Alneyadi hosted a reception at the Canadian Museum of History Nov. 27, 2024. Robert Oliphant, parliamentary secretary to the foreign minister, attended. • The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates hosted Emirati Cultural Days Oct. 12 and 13 at Landsdowne Park in Ottawa. | Photos: Ülle Baum
