Letter from the Executive Director

January 2010

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The Sauvé Scholars and staff have now returned to Sauvé House after the holidays, ready and eager to undertake the second half of the 2009-2010 Program. There have been many exciting events since the Scholars’ arrival last August and we look forward to continuing the productive pace through the next months.

While there has been a wide range of activities during the past four months – from jazz and film events to apple picking, Dim Sum in China Town, a National Hockey League game as guests of our Chairman in the Dundee corporate box, lectures, conferences, teas with special invited guests, and a trip to the National Assembly in Quebec City – I would like to share some of the highlights starting with five exceptional events.

On September 16, we hosted Canadian Lawyers Abroad with guest of honour Flora Terah, an HIV/AIDS counsellor and women's advocate, and one of some 200 women who ran for Parliament in the Kenyan election in 2007. Flora has returned as a special guest to Sauvé House for numerous events during the Fall.

On September28, we were honoured to host Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Green Belt Movement Founder Dr. Wangari Maathai, and renowned Canadian geneticist and environmental activist Dr. David Suzuki at a reception at Sauvé House organized with the Climate Project Canada. A star-studded audience of environment experts and activists was treated to passionate talks by the guests of honour and had ample time to meet informally with these two icons of environmental activism. Please see our website for great photos of the evening. Earlier that day, we received Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Minister of Environment, Parks and Sustainable Development Line Beauchamp, who held a press conference with Dr. Suzuki and representatives of Nobel Laureate Al Gore’s Climate Project in Canada.

On October 16, McGill conferred a Doctorate of Laws honoris causae on former President Bill Clinton. Not only were we there for the ceremony, but the Scholars had an opportunity to meet and converse at some length with Mr. Clinton (also have some great pictures taken) following the ceremony. As he did last year, he amazed everyone with personal anecdotes regarding every country represented by the Scholars. Janet Jobson has written a wonderful account of the occasion that you can read on our website.

Three days later, former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin came to Sauvé House for a private luncheon during which he discussed the challenges he faced as founding chairman of the G20, bringing together a diversity of economies and aspirations very different from the smaller G8 comprised of developed economies. He also spoke at length about his current work with Aboriginals in Canada both through the CAPE Fund which he established to foster entrepreneurship, and the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative as well as his work in Africa, in particular chairing the Congo Basin Forest Fund.

Senator Roméo Dallaire gave a moving and inspirational talk to the Scholars and invited guests on October 28 at a special event highlighting Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities, the report of the research project on genocide prevention created and co-directed by Senator Dallaire, who is a Senior Fellow of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University. Find out more on our website.

While I highlight these five events, I must also mention the McGill Conference on Global Food Security in October, which examined The impacts of global financial turmoil on food security. Also, the luncheon conference organized by the Conseil de relations internationales de Montréal (CORIM) on September 29, which featured John Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief of The Economist, who spoke on “World Economy and Geopolitics : What have we learned from the crisis ? What Lies Ahead?” A group of Scholars also attended the luncheon in October at which former President George W. Bush shared his thoughts on his eight years in the White House and the challenges facing the world in the 21st century.

Gérald Sapey, President of Reporters Without Borders and an active member of the Hirondelle Foundation inaugurated  the 2009-2010 Speakers Series at Sauvé House on September 22. His presentation focusing on the relationship between freedom of expression, freedom of the press and democracy encouraged many questions from the public and the Scholars, and sparked a lively debate.

Complementing these formal occasions were the traditional tea-time gatherings in the Salon for informal discussions with individuals of particular interest. These included individual sessions with each of the Board Members, as well as McGill Professor Philip Oxhorn, the first Sauvé Visiting Fellow; Trudeau Foundation President Pierre-Gerlier Forest and members of the Foundation staff; Tim Brodhead, President & CEO of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation and Stephen Huddart – Vice President, Programs; Iris Almeida-Coté, CEO of Canada World Youth; Brett House, Special Advisor to Jeffrey Sachs and to UN Deputy Secretary General Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro; André Boisclair, former leader of the Parti Québécois; and Robert Calderisi, long-time World Bank official and author of “The Trouble With Africa”. On September 22, Marc Garneau, Member of Parliament for the federal constituency where Sauvé House is located, formally welcomed the Scholars to Canada and shared his thoughts with them over coffee. In late November, Stéphanie Allard and Louise Vachon of Montreal International (MI) came to discuss the services that MI offers to international organizations and gave the Scholars many useful suggestions about possibilities for internships and other forms of cooperation with that community.  

In mid-November, the Scholars were privileged to attend the annual Trudeau Foundation Conference on Public Policy in Ottawa. The conference theme, Canadian Cities and the Public Sphere: Rethinking the Urban Commons, allowed for fascinating breakout sessions with topics ranging from globalization and the competitiveness of cities, to housing and human rights. Overall, the conference provided an invaluable opportunity for many Scholars to build networks around shared research and advocacy interests. Highlights included a discussion with an international panel of mayors, enlightening presentations on supporting sustainable city infrastructure through democratic processes, and a keynote presentation on civility in politics from renowned Canadian philosopher Mark Kingwell.

Along with their personal, professional development and academic programs and in-house activities such as the Media Club and the French Club, the Scholars have enjoyed a number of events and special encounters that have challenged their thinking and created topics for discussion well into the night around the communal dining table!

The Media Club, under the pro-active direction of Communications Officer François-Xavier Tremblay, organized in-house activities, including the workshop on grassroots communications and social media campaigning given by former Scholar Paul Shore (2003-2004). On October 15, a group of Scholars attended the first Montreal edition of the SLIDELUCK POTSHOW, a showcase of local and Canadian photographers engaged in contemporary documentary practice (following which Keith Stanski started an internship with award-winning photographer Benoit Aquin). A  month later,  another group of Scholars attended the 40th Anniversary Screening of the film "Z" by Costa-Gavras, followed by a Master Class with the renowned filmmaker. Upcoming activities include a series of hands-on professional development workshops.

In addition to all of this, the very successful tradition of national dinners continues with rave reviews from the attendees for the creativity, presentation, exquisite dining experience – all evidence of the very hard work involved!

Meanwhile, the Application Process for the 2010-2011 cohort was underway throughout the Fall, with the earlier deadline of Monday, November 30. The outreach and recruitment effort intensified over the Summer and early Fall months, with the loyal assistance of Mohamed Shuriye and Deborah Smith-Sauvé. We now have a databank of some 1,500 target organizations and individuals.

While the final number of over 400 Applicants for the next cohort is lower than last year’s, the overall quality of this year’s Applications is very high. We believe this is due to the new process requiring each Applicant to be nominated. I would also like to note that an increasing number of Applicants have been attracted to the Program by our current Scholars and growing global network of alumni. This is wonderful. We have always maintained that our Scholars are the best ambassadors for the Program!

I would like to thank all of our Alumni who participated in the Alumni Survey conducted during the Summer of 2009 – the response rate was impressive! With this kind of collaboration, the Program can only get better and better each year. And a special thank-you to Janet Jobson and Megan Carroll, who not only produced a detailed summary of the results, but also formulated excellent recommendations regarding improvements to the Program.

Our Alumni are thriving and we love getting your updates! Congratulations and very best wishes to Saman Ahsan (2003-2004) and Fatima Rajah (2005-2006) on their marriages; to Farouk Jiwa (2004-2005) on his election as a Senior Ashoka Fellow; to Adam Daifallah (2004-2005) on being called to the Bar. And to Guillaume Lavoie (2007-2008) for being named the Grand Winner of La Joute ; Tomer Avital (2008-2009) on becoming parliamentary correspondent (covering the Knesset) for Calcalist, the biggest economic newspaper in Israel; Giovanni Gabassi on his new career with the United Nations; and Philip Osano (2006-2007) for his recent incarnation as host of Kenya Broadcasting Corporation’s Eco Show.

As you can see, it has been a first term crammed with activity. While there is much planned for the next term, our Scholars have asked for a bit of respite in order to devote themselves to the development and implementation of their individual projects. Therefore, the months of January and February will be relatively quiet (although we anticipate lots of Olympics viewing in February and lots of outdoor winter sports!). They will also be devoting time to their collective Passport Outreach Project with Montreal organizations and marginalized communities working with youth, and working with Kanahwake secondary school, building on the success of last year’s project and encouraged by McGill Mentor Dr. Ann Macaulay.

I will be providing you with updates on these and other developments over the next few months, and, as always, I encourage you to continue to consult our website, especially the News & Activities pages. 

In the meantime, I wish to gratefully acknowledge the unflagging interest, support and encouragement of our Chairman, Sonny Gordon, President Jean-François Sauvé and Directors Diane Sauvé, Nancy Wright and Fred Lowy; the invaluable assistance and devotion of François-Xavier Tremblay and Louise Brunet Nelson; the current Scholars and many Alumni who are actively involved in refining and maintaining the excellence of the Program; our partners, including most particularly Pierre-Gerlier Forest and our colleagues at the Trudeau Foundation, Tim Broadhead and Stephen Huddart at the McConnell Foundation, as well as the many people who work behind the scenes, whether on accounting, building maintenance, IT, or other tasks essential to maintaining a thriving Program and Foundation.

In conclusion, on behalf of the Board, Staff and Scholars, I wish you all a very Happy New Year and remind you that a warm welcome always awaits you at Sauvé House.   

Regards,



Désirée McGraw
Executive Director
Jeanne Sauvé Foundation and Sauvé Scholars Foundation