HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-09-02, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1987.
The International
Scene
A tribute to Ambassador
Robert Ford
BY RAYMOND CANON
I came home one evening
recently and, while watching the
news on CFPL-TV, was astonished
to hear a commercial telling about a
program entitled Mr. Ambassa
dor. The commercial went on to say
that the program would be in the
form of an interview with Robert
Ford, now retired but for a number
of years the Canadian ambassador
to the Soviet Union. Needless to
say, I sat glued to the set for the
whole interview and here is why.
When I arrived at the Dept, of
Letters to the editor
External Affairs in Ottawa, having
successfully passed the exams as a
Foreign Service Officer Grade 1, I
was probably as excited as any of
the other 25 successful candidates.
We were now members of the
Canadian Diplomatic Corps and,
given as there were about 700
applicants for the few positions
open, we were pleased at having
been chosen to serve our country in
such a fashion. As the only
naturalized Canadian of the bunch,
the pleasure was even more
manifest.
1 found that I would be starting
my career in the European Divi
sion. One of the first duties was to
present myself to the head of the
division and thus it was that I found
myselffor the first time in my life in
the presence of Robert Ford.
He welcomed me officially and
then commented that he under
stood that 1 was fluent in a few
languages. Nothing more was said
about that; the conversation con
tinued until suddenly he switched
to fluent Portuguese and asked me
aquestion. I recovered from my
surprise and replied in what I
hoped was just as fluent. We then
Writer angry about Riddell's vote
THE EDITOR,
The election is almost here and
now is the time to assess our
politicians. You may recall that last
December Jack Riddell voted and
Thanks
for the flowers
THE EDITOR,
Too soon summer will pass us
by. It shouldn’t go without an
acknowledgement to the Brussels
Horticultural Members, forthe
colourful flower boxes that grace
Turnberry St., and the flower beds
in various parts of the village.
Thank you one and all.
BARBARA BROWN.
canvassed for Bill 7, the law that
forces us to accept practising
homosexuals into our schools,
workplaces, etc. If you agree that
Bill 7 is a bad law in this regard,
then I would urgeyou to vote for
some one else.
Jack is perhaps the best Agricul
tural Minister we have had for
some time, and because of this he
will no doubt be re-elected.
However, please consider voting
for someone else, as a reduced
majority would give Jack the
messagethatalotof us out here
still treasure the moral values we
inherited from our parents.
Yours Sincerely,
Peter Edisbury
RR 5, Lucknow.
Cardiff explains refugee bills
THE EDITOR,
Recent events concerning Can
ada’s immigration and refugee
policies have resulted in some
confusion and misconception of the
government’s stand on refugees.
Let me clarify the government’s
Showing concern for her riding almost above and beyond the call of
duty, Cindy Evans of Ethel took the time out on Saturday to vote at the
Advance Poll in Clinton prior to her wedding to Paul Fallis of RR 3,
Listowel. The couple will still be on their honeymoon on Ontario
Election Day, September 10, and unable to vote at their own polls. The
beautiful bride in her floor-length wedding gown caused quite a stir at
the polling station when she arrived promptly at its 11 a.m. opening.
position, and explain what it means
to you as Canadians.
Asyouare aware, Parliament
was recalled to introduce new
legislation to deal with serious
abuses and deficiencies of the
system currently governing the
treatment of refugee claims. Now,,
after open debate in the House of
Commons, BillC-84 has gone to I
committee to be reviewed and, if
necessary, revised.
Part of the confusion I have
heard stems from the fact that his
new legislation is an adjunct to the
government’s previous immigra
tion bill, C-55 which is intended to
clarify who is a legitimate refugee.
Bill C-84 is designed to dovetail
with Bill C-55 to provide protection
from abuse of our refugee laws by
people who are in fact NOT
legitimate refugees.
It is hoped that Bill C-55 will also
go to committee this week.
The new legislation will not
penalize legitimate refugees, nor
will it penalize those concerned
Canadians who genuinely are
trying to help refugees. Bill C-84 is
actually designed to protect legiti
mate refugees because it will
speed up the determination pro
cess and will increase the punish
ment of those who unlawfully
attempt to profit from their
smuggling activities.
Another point of concern and
confusion with Bill C-84 is the
question of proper documentation.
Genuine refugees often cannot get
proper documents before leaving
their country. This new bill does
not require that refugee claimants
provide anything they did not have
before they started their journey to
Canada.
What the new legislation would
provide, is a method for our
government and immigration offi
cials to control the flood of bogus
refugee claimants. We are not
closing the door on true refugees,
and many of those who initially
claim refugee status as an attempt
to secure entry into Canada will in
fact be accepted through the
formal immigration channels.
We welcome and need immi
grants in this country. However, a
system is necessary if the process
is to be effective and efficient. Bills
C-55 and C-84 will give us
up-to-date system we need.
switched back to English and a few
moments later he did exactly the
same thing in Russian. Again I
replied in that language. A couple
of languages later our interview
ended; he may have forgotten it by
now but I never have.
During my stay in the European
Division I found him to be a tough
but fair boss; he was highly
regarded and for this reason I was
not surprised when eventually he
was appointed as our ambassador
to the Soviet Union. He served in
that position for far more than the
normal span of years; so long in fact
that he became dean of the
diplomatic corps in Moscow.
What must have both surprised
and pleased the Russians was that,
not only was he fluent in their
language but he spent a consider
able amount of time in translating
Russian poets into English. Rus
sian is not the easiest of languages
to translate but he did an admirable
job and in so doing made contacts
in the Soviet Union that would have
been totally impossible for any
body else.
Hislongyearsin Moscow also
gave him a rare insight into the
workings of Communism and the
Russian mind. His reports back to
Ottawa must have been eagerly
awaited, written as they were with
so much experience. It may be
difficult to substantiate, such is the
secrecy which exists in the Soviet
Union, but I would hazard a guess
that relations between Canada and
the Soviet Union were better than
they might have been, given our
membership in NATO and our
proximity to the United States,
because of the efforts and abilities
of Robert Ford.
His experience also puts him in
an admirable position to comment
objectively on the prospects of
Mikhail Gorbachev in his efforts to
bring the Russian economy into the
modern world. Ford has a lot of
respect for Gorbachev’s abilities;
he admits that it will be something
of a herculean task to break the bad
habits that have permeated every
level of the economy.
I am pleased to have worked,
albeit briefly, for so great a
Canadian. His name may not be a
household word in this area
although he was originally from
London, but he has served his
country superbly. Perhaps the
mostcomplimentary thing I can
say about him is that he is, in the
age of the specialist, a truly
Renaissance Man.
One last thing. At an early age
Robert was stricken with a paraly
tic disease and, when I met him, he
was forced to walk with a cane. He
is now confined to a wheel chair and
lives in the south of France where
the climate is somewhat more
gentle than that of Canada. He is a
living example of what the spirit of
man can do under conditions of
hardship.
MURRAY CARDIFF,
MP FOR HURON-BRUCE
I
You Can
Vote
— •Before Election Day!
Thursday, September 10th, 1987
If your name is on the list of Voters, or on
a Certificate to Vote, but you expect to be
away or unable to vote on Election Day,
you can take advantage of any Advance
Poll in your Electoral District.
BUT YOU MUST VOTE IN YOUR
ELECTORAL DISTRICT.
Except for those locations marked *
ground level locations have
been chosen for easy access
by the elderly or disabled
in wheelchairs.
6i
Advance Polls to be held at the locations listed, on
Thursday, Saturday, Monday,
Sept. 3rd, 5th, 7th 11 :OO a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
♦ Advance Poll Voting in the Elections Ontario Office from
Aug. 29th thru Sept. 8th. Sundays excluded.
In the Electoral District of
• Senior Citizens Apartments
134 Sanders St., Exeter
• McKay Centre for Seniors
10 Nelson St.. Goderich
• Wingham Armouries
273 Edwards St., Wingham
• Maple Leaf Villa Seniors Apartments
50 Market St., Seaforth
• 89 Don St.
Clinton
Ballots cast at the Advance Polls will be counted at the close of the
regular Polls on Election Day.
PUBLISHED ON BEHALF OF THE RETURNING OFFICERS FOR
THE ABOVE ELECTORAL DISTRICTS BY
Warren R. Bailie, CHIEF ELECTION OFFICER
O Elections— . ■
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