June 21, 2004
Dear Colleague and Associate Member,
RHOMA’s custom of sending two newsletters a year has been “derailed” in 2004 as the organization of the Victoria Gathering made a big call on our time and administrative resources. This being said, it is important to recover our tempo as we are late in collecting our 2004 membership fees. Before, however, getting down to such a mundane task as the collection of dues, much happened since RHOMA’s last newsletter of October 2003 which deserves mention. Here it is:
Victoria Gathering - May 5 - 8, 2004
Much has been said already on Victoria and yet there is still a need to report on it, if only to follow through on the event. First, it is fair to say that the gathering was a huge success. The number of RHOMANs who attended surpassed our expectations. We figure that altogether we had well over 90 participants. Second and most important, the warm reception we received from our fellow Victoria hosts was so outstanding, it assured success. Third, the quality of the various events scheduled to take place was impeccable, starting with the welcoming reception, the panel discussion on foreign affairs, the visits to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and to the Butchart Gardens, the Gala Dinner at the Hatley Castle under the auspices of Lt. Governor Iona Campagnolo and, finally, the visit to the Pearson College. Perhaps I should mention also that not one but two major golf games were organized during which, I am told, a number of performances turned out to be well...beyond belief.
In other words, everything went smoothly and to sum up and paraphrase some of the comments received there was a great sense of collegiality throughout the week and even “a buzz of excitement and delight to be there and to see everyone else”. As you may guess, all this did not happen by accident and, on instructions from the Directing Group and many participants, I would like here to extend RHOMA’s warmest thanks to our Victoria hosts and especially to Clay Bullis and his dear wife Jacqueline. The immense amount of time Clay and Jacqueline put into the planning and organization of the programme, their patience and attention to details and their constant“bonne humeur” made the Victoria Gathering possible and the success it was.
I would also like to thank especially our two panelists – Bill Dymond and Paul Heinbecker as well as our moderator Gordon Smith for making the panel discussion on “Canada and the new American Empire” an outstanding event. Both presentations were witty and challenging, and Gordon was very successful indeed in extracting from our RHOMAN participants a good number of thoughtful contributions. Why should it be a surprise? Also again, I would like to mention that credit for the inclusion of a substantive debate goes to Maurice Copithorne who had the idea in the first place. Should it be of interest to some of you, the text of the paper presented by Bill Dymond can be found on the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) website at http:/www.irpp.org/indexe.htm. Paul Heinbecker’s text will be found shortly on the website of the Centre for Global Relations Governance and Policy which is currently being set up at Wilfred Laurier University or you can seek a copy directly from Paul at his e-mail address: paulheinbecker@wlu.ca.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the Victoria gathering was also a financial success; it was not only self sustaining but also capable of delivering a significant surplus. Again on the suggestions of a number of participants, the Directing Group has decided to turn most of the surplus into a RHOMA cheque of $2,000 to the Pearson College, a sum that will be added to past contributions from individual RHOMANs to the College’s scholarships programme.
Finally, I would like to mention that a large, magnificent, happy coloured group photo was taken at the Hatley Castle and that a copy can still be obtained through the good offices of Clay Bullis for $15.00 a photo.
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Canadian Foreign Service Commemorative Plaque
A proposal for a Memorial Plaque to recognize Foreign Service employees who die abroad in tragic circumstances has been under consideration for some time by the Department of Foreign Affairs, PAFSO and RHOMA. The Directing Group appointed George Grande early last year as the RHOMA representative on the informal working group set up to consider the question. These consultations have recently come to a fruitful conclusion after considerable discussion in the Department of Foreign Affairs
(DFA). It is estimated that the cost of the project will amount to approximately $4000. The Department of Foreign Affairs has now agreed to support the idea on a matching formula basis with PAFSO and RHOMA. An announcement to that effect has been made on June 10, 2004 at the PAFSO Annual Foreign Service Officer Awards dinner. We have therefore included in our budget 2004 a one time contribution of $1,000. as one of our special projects this year.
Attached is a copy of a note describing the project and interested RHOMANs are encouraged to send in names of the deceased whom they think might qualify for the recognition. Any suggesions on your part should be addressed to RHOMA, to the
attention of George Grande who will continue to be RHOMA’s representative on the Departmental Committee.
Third Wednesday Luncheons
Following a misunderstanding with the Royal Ottawa Golf Club a few months ago, we have reached now a firm agreement with the Club that the main dining room should be reserved for our RHOMA Third Wednesday Luncheons except in August and December. In the latter case, the Directing Group has decided that we would hold our annual reception every year around the third week of December at the Pearson Building.
Concerning the invitations to the 3rd Wednesday Luncheons, we are trying to combine Canada Post and e-mail as a mixed system of communication. This could save us a fair amount of postage. We will continue to send by ordinary mail the invitations to those who do not have an e-mail address listed in our Directory but John Noble would like to know whether some of our members who have an e-mail address listed would prefer to continue receiving their invitation via Canada Post. Please let him know, or Susan Courville at our RHOMA office, what you prefer to do.
Now that we have a firm commitment to ten Third Wednesday luncheons a year, I would hope again that members living far away from the Capital region will try to combine their visit to this part of Canada with these luncheons. We have had recently an interesting list of speakers, including Peter Harder, Deputy Minister (DFA), His Excellency John Ralston Saul, Christina Cameron, Director General of Parks Canada, and, a well known journalist, Hugh Winsor. The luncheons provide an excellent occasion to meet old friends.
New Members
RHOMA had the pleasure of greeting six new members since our last letter. These new members are Roger Bull, Roland Goulet, Garrett Lambert, Mary Mosser, Jon Scott and Jacques Simard.
We are pleased to extend a special word of welcome to each one of them. You will find attached a page to be added to the membership directory listing alphabetically the names of these new members, their address, phone numbers as well as fax numbers and e-mail addresses when available.
In Memoriam
I regret to have to report the death of two of our members since our last newsletter: Peter Roberts and Paul Tremblay. RHOMA extends its condolences to their family.
RHOMA Dues 2004
You will find attached the 2004 budget recently approved by the Directing Group as well as the statement of revenue and expenditures for 2003. Attached also is an invoice for payment of RHOMA’s 2004 membership dues. We regret the delay in forwarding these financial statements. Associate members should note that they do not have to pay any annual fees.
Marc Faguy
President, Directing Group
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Last modified: December 20, 2004
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