Carleton held its seventh annual diplomats’ orientation on Oct. 5.
The Carleton Initiative for Parliamentary and Diplomatic Engagement partnered with the Ottawa Diplomatic Association and the Parliamentary Centre to host the event. It was held in Richcraft Hall to welcome newly-arrived diplomats and to teach them about Canada and the country’s political system.
According to a press release, the orientation saw diplomats representing 60 countries and every region of the world.
According to a press release, Carleton’s interim president Alastair Summerlee, Mayor Jim Watson, Andrew Leslie, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoff Regan, the speaker of the House of Commons, and the Charles Robert, clerk of the House of Commons, each spoke at the event.
According to the release, sessions were held on topics such as Canada’s parliamentary system, diplomatic access points, Canadian business and the private sector, and social and family integration.
The orientation ended with a reception and resource fair with booths from the organizations such as the Ottawa Network for Education, political magazines such as iPolitics and other political groups and resources that may be of interest to those at the event.
Sergey Krivoshein, a secretary from the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Canada who attended the event, said Carleton hosts other relevant political events such as the 2016 Arctic Conference between Canada and Russia.
Maureen Boyd, the director of the Carleton Initiative for Parliamentary and Diplomatic Engagement, said the diplomat orientation is an important event to host as a university in Canada’s capital. She added that Carleton wants to reach out and help new diplomats arriving in Ottawa.
Boyd organizes the event, including choosing the speakers and topics that new diplomats to Canada will want and need to know about politics in this country.
Photo by Aaron Hemens
