In wrapping up my blogs on the Arctic, I wanted to reflect on a little history. Since I returned to Ottawa many people have been interested in my experiences and I get the understandable question: what was the highlight? That is a tough one. The entire trip was a highlight reel of information, personalities, challenging personal and community circumstances,

Our recent visits to Resolute and Eureka had mainly scientific themes.  Both are in the High Arctic and are among the coldest inhabited places in the world.  Their weather patterns have been monitored for many years and more recently the impact of climate change has been a key focus.
The day we arrived in Resolute was stunningly

l left a holding spot last week noting that I was going to be in the Arctic and was unsure about my ability to access communications. “Intermittent at best” is how I would describe it. I initially thought all the satellite dishes in the far North were out of action as they were not pointing

This is a place holder for the blogs I intend to write while I am away from Ottawa this week travelling in Northern Canada, which means going as far North as Resolute and Eureka at 80 degrees North. I will have my laptop with me and plan to post from various locations but have been

I had fully intended my blog references to the Rugby World Cup to become something of a “cracked record” in the lead up to the September/October event in New Zealand. I had not envisioned having another event of such dominance, not at least until 22 February, when Christchurch was devastated by an intense and highly

I recently spoke at a Cambridge Food and Wine Society event in Toronto. An increasingly important part of my work is focused on the promotion of New Zealand products in Canada, often through linking with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise in their food and beverage promotion activities, and with the New Zealand Wine Growers representative based

I attended the commemoration of this World War Two battle on 20 May here in Ottawa at the Hellenic Community Centre. Along with me was my colleague, Winton Holmes, who had a particular interest. His 94 year old father fought in the battle (Galatas area, with retreat to Sfakia) and was one of those 2,100

Manitoba has received a great deal of coverage in the Canadian news lately with the recent flooding and controlled release of water from a dike on the Assiniboine River.
The people of Winnipeg can clearly relate to the effects of a natural disaster and how it can impact on peoples lives. Last month, the Down Under

Well I didn’t think I was going to sit right through the election night coverage last Monday. In the end I was up well into the early hours and it was certainly the best viewing of the many channels I had on offer. It was rivetting stuff and much more fast paced than I had

With ANZAC Day falling over Easter this year, we were unsure what sort of numbers we would get for the 2011 commemoration here in Ottawa. In the end Easter proved a boon for the morning, the main reason appearing to be that families are together at Easter and attending the morning service was a good