I’m back home in the beautiful Okanagan valley to enjoy the tail-end of this fine summer. I’ve finally found some time to get into the great outdoors! A friend and I spent three days tramping around in the Canadian Rockies in Kootenay National park—albeit in the snow—and today I’m heading up into the hills above Lumby for a brief session of uncoordinated fishing.

Back to the journalism grind immediately after Labour day. Looking forward to seeing some familiar and friendly faces in Van-city.

The Rideau Canal at sunset in Ottawa. Photo by Elyse Fortin

Good to be home amongst our mountains and our fresh coastal pacific air. A nice reprieve after living in the perpetual steam of the Ottawa valley and tramping around in the concrete mega-sauna that is NYC—though the entire experience was wonderful and un-repeatable. Wonderful places, people and experiences.

I put up a few photos on flickr for those who are interested. (You can access the rest of the photos by clicking on one of the pictures on the side bar).

Now, time to get outside and enjoy this British Columbian summer.

Nothing became of it, and the Russians claimed it was part of a training exercise and Canadian airspace was never breached.

This is the type of activity that former CF-18 pilot, Maj.-Gen. Tom Lawson, was telling me about last week. The saber-rattling is becoming less of a transparent choreography—as he put it—and more secretive on the part of the Russians.

Of course, we must ask how often these types of things happen, and how often the Canadian Forces decides to report on them. Curious to have the Canadian Air Force in the news at the very same time the government is trying to drum up support for the $16 billion-dollar strike fighter project.

*According to the Globe’s Daniel Leblanc it didn’t take long for the incident—one that occurs around a dozen times per year—to make it into the Conservatives Friday talking points as evidence supporting the highly contested F-35 procurement.

The Canadian Forces expect to have 65 of the F-35 stealth strike fighters operational by 2016 at a cost potentially surpassing $16 billion. Credit: DND

Yet when he was appointed Canada’s most recent foreign minister in October 2008, Lawrence Cannon received a stack of briefing documents prepared by the Department of Foreign Affairs. Tucked into one section was a page that discussed the global political and security environment. China figured prominently.

Click here to read the rest of this feature at Embassy magazine

Last year, iron ore and coal alone accounted for nearly $1.6 billion in Canadian exports to China. This represented $1 billion more than in 2008, continuing a trend that has become a major boon for Canada’s mining sector.

“Everything in our industry is driven by China,” said Mr. Stothart, vice-president of economic affairs at the Mining Association of Canada, explaining that world mineral prices for copper, nickel, zinc and uranium are largely set by—increasing—Chinese demand for raw minerals.

The Middle Kingdom looms just as large for Andrew Casey, vice-president of foreign affairs and international trade at the Forestry Producers Association of Canada.

“It’s been a brutal couple of years,” he said, adding that the ongoing downturn in the US housing industry has had a dramatic impact on Canada’s forestry industry. He predicts that long-term economic sustainability for the sector will ultimately arrive only from diversification. A comprehensive approach to selling Canadian forest products, he said, includes Asia.

Click here to read the rest of the story at Embassy magazine.

The ten students and their lead instructor—Peter Klein—are in contention for Outstanding Investigative Journalism and Outstanding Research categories.

Well done.

“I would argue it is good public policy for Canadians to be attuned to the threats that the country faces,” Mr. Fadden told members of the Commons’ Public Safety committee in his opening remarks. “[The Canadian Security Intelligence Service] believe[s] there is merit in Canadians being more informed about the threats to our national security.”

On the surface, it appears that is the reason Mr. Fadden was in front of the CBC’s cameras last month: Canada’s spy agency, under increasing pressure to be more transparent and accountable, was simply trying to open itself to the public and offer a blunt assessment of the type of world Canadians live in.

Click here to read the rest of the story at Embassy magazine

Celebrating this day in Ottawa seems to come with its own set of responsibilities. Firstly, I must find something red to wear immediately. I came here quite unprepared.

Happy Canada Day. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons (ScottsPicks)

I think it might actually be a misdemeanor to leave the house on July 1 without the proper Canadian colour.

Secondly, I need to accept the mission of celebrating as enthusiastically as possible. I think the masses are already assembling in front of the centre block for what I hear is the party of the year.

Word is the Queen is joining us later on the hill for a little shout out.

Rather enjoyable.

Certainly journalists have stepped up to the plate to provide what the government often does not. Opinions differ, however, on whether that reporting has been comprehensive enough, and if not, then who is to blame for such scarcity.

Last Wednesday, Senators Romeo Dallaire and Pamela Wallin, co-chairs of the Senate’s National Security and Defence committee, offered an answer: The media.

During a briefing detailing their findings in an interim report on “Canada’s present and future role in Afghanistan”—they concluded that Canada should continue to train Afghan security forces beyond 2011, and encouraged Parliament to revisit the debate over extending the pullout date—the senators found themselves in a discussion over the quality of media coverage.

Click here to read the rest of the story at Embassy magazine

Parliament Hill, Ottawa. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons: bouche.

Should be an interesting experience monitoring and reporting on the complex political machine that is our foreign affairs. I’ll be interning at the mag for June and July and hopefully pumping out interesting stories about trade, diplomacy and international development.

Feel free to contact me at evan@evanduggan.com if you have any news tips related to Canada’s foreign policy.

I’m all ears.