Contact: Sammy McDavid
The head of the new Advocacy Secretariat at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., is the latest diplomat scheduled to address the Jackson Executive Lecture Forum luncheon.
Colin Robertson, accompanied by his wife and children's author Maureen Boyd, will be featured Dec. 8 for an 11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. program at the downtown Capital Club [125 South Congress St]. "Canada, Katrina and North American Security" will be his topic.
As with all ELF speakers, Robertson's visit is organized by the Janos Radvanyi Chair in International Security Studies at Mississippi State University. The diplomat's Mississippi trip, which begins on the 7th, also will include meetings with Gov. Haley Barbour and other government officials, as well as members of the state business community.
Robertson's official rank as minister (advocacy) was created last year to enhance Canada's relations with the U.S. Congress, as well as to complement the growing advocacy by Canadian legislators and the country's provinces with the American government. He cooperates closely with Canadian consulates throughout the United States in working with U.S. learning, research and cultural communities, as well as media serving them.
A career foreign services officer, Robertson is in his fourth tour to Canada's Southern neighbor. He is a graduate of the University of Manitoba and Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.
Maureen Boyd is the author of "Walking with Maga" (All about Kids Publishing, 2002).
While not open to the general public, ELF lectures welcome all interested representatives of the news media. To ensure adequate seating, attending reporters, camerapersons and other staff members are asked to contact in advance the Radvanyi Chair office at (662) 325-8406 or jr1@ra.msstate.edu.