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2009

26 October 09: Edmonton
Ambassador Jacobson visits Edmonton
Ambassador Jacobson made his first official visit to Edmonton to meet with Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Hon. Ken Kowalski, provincial government ministers, municipal representatives and members of the local business community. While at the Legislature, the Ambassador was introduced to members of the legislative assembly during the opening day of fall session. Ambassador Jacobson and his wife also stopped by Prince Charles Elementary School to talk with students in the school’s program for urban aboriginal children, and enjoy short concert by school’s orchestra. The Ambassador shared stories of President Obama’s election with students, stressing the opportunities now available to anyone in North America and the importance of studying hard, being good citizens and maintaining a sense of hope.
Read more on the ambassador’s blog.
More photos on:

12-15 October 2009: Calgary – Fort McMurray – Red Deer
Ambassador Jacobson visits Alberta for the first time
Two weeks into his tenure as U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David Jacobson visited Alberta to meet with government, business, academic and community leaders, students and media. In Calgary, the Ambassador and his wife Julie were welcomed to the city by Mayor Dave Bronconnier with a traditional white-hat ceremony. Ambassador Jacobson also participated in a business roundtable organized by the Calgary Economic Development Authority, spent time talking to students at the University of Calgary and attended a dinner hosted by the University of Alberta -Calgary Centre. The following day, he toured the Alberta oil sands to learn more about operations there and related environmental issues as well as the steps being taken to address them. His tour included a meeting with Chief Jim Boucher of the Fort McKay First Nation to learn more about the concerns of his people. The Ambassador’s first trip to Alberta also included a stop in Red Deer to meet with local government representatives and community leaders and speak to media.
Read more on the ambassador’s blog.
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October 16-18: Regina – Weyburn – Saskatoon
Ambassador Jacobson makes first official visit to Saskatchewan
Ambassador David Jacobson made his first official visit to Saskatchewan where he was welcomed by Premier Brad Wall, Lt. Governor, Dr. Gordon Barnhart and other members of the provincial cabinet. The Ambassador’s two-day visit included meetings with business representatives and community leaders, a briefing on carbon capture and sequestration at the Petroleum Technology Research Centre, and tours of the carbon capture and sequestration project in Weyburn, the RCMP “depot” Division in Regina and the Canadian Light Source Synchrotron in Saskatoon. In Regina, the Ambassador also attended a reception to honor Canadian reservists from the Royal Regina Rifles preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.
Read more on the ambassador’s blog.
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7-9 October 2009: Edmonton / Calgary
U.S. watershed management expert visits Alberta
Watershed management expert Juliet Christian-Smith visited Edmonton and Calgary to discuss water management issues and procedures in the United States. While in Alberta, Christian-Smith met with academics, students, municipal government officials, NGOs and conservation groups. Her visit provided the opportunity to exchange information, discuss best practices and compare regulatory frameworks as well as watershed management initiatives in the U.S. and Canada. Christian-Smith is a Dr. Juliet Christian-Smith is a Senior Research Associate with the Pacific Institute, a California-based nonpartisan research institute that works to advance environmental protection, economic development, and social equity.
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25 September 09: Calgary
Consul General Lochman presents U.S. Army service medal to Canadian military attaché
Consul General Laura Lochman presented a U.S. Army Meritorious Service Medal to Canadian Lt. Col. Bill Schultz in recognition of his contribution to strengthening ties between the U.S. and Canadian armies while serving as Assistant Military Attaché to the U.S. While making the presentation at a meeting of the Royal Alberta United Services Institute, the Consul General praised Lt. Col. Schultz’ work in Washington, D.C. as part of a great tradition of military cooperation between the United States and Canada.
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25 September 09: Calgary
Consul General Lochman talks about U.S.-Canada relations with local Rotary group
Consul General Laura Lochman spoke to members of the Calgary West Rotary Club about the Obama administration's foreign policy goals and the importance of the U.S.-Canada relationship, especially with respect to cross-border trade, military cooperation, counter-terrorism efforts, energy security and protecting the environment. In her address to club members, the Consul General remarked that the United States and Canada enjoy a strong bond based on shared values and mutual respect. “The underlying truth of the U.S. Canadian relationship is the depth of its interlinkedness,” Lochman said.
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H1N1 Influenza (Flu)
The United States, Canada and Mexico continue to work together with international organizations in actively monitoring the H1N1 flu outbreak. For additional and latest information, please visit: http://www.flu.gov/
Related: [travel alerts][President Obama's remarks September 1, 2009] .

21 August 09
Ramadan Kareem
As the new crescent moon ushers in Ramadan, the President extends his best wishes to Muslim communities in the United States and around the world.

Each Ramadan, the ninth month on the lunar calendar, Muslims fast daily from dawn to sunset for 29 or 30 days. Fasting is a tradition in many religious faiths and is meant to increase spirituality, discipline, thankfulness, and consciousness of God's mercy. Ramadan is also a time of giving and reaching out to those less fortunate, and this summer, American Muslims have joined their fellow citizens in serving communities across the country. Over the course of the month, we will highlight the perspectives of various faiths on fasting and profile faith-based organizations making real impacts in American cities and towns. [more/video].

10 August 09: Calgary
Climate change policy expert visit Calgary
Climate change policy expert Carolyn Fischer visited Calgary to share her research to compare and assess different climate change policies. While in Alberta, Fischer met with academics, students, the media and representatives from the provincial government and NGO community to discuss current U.S. efforts to address climate change with the American Clean Energy and Security Act (Waxman-Markey bill), and share her insights on the economic considerations involved in formulating new legislation to address carbon emissions. Fischer is an economist and senior fellow at Resources for the Future, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that conducts independent research – rooted primarily in economics and other social sciences – on environmental, energy, natural resource and public health issues.

President Obama's 4th of July Message
Today, we are called upon to remember not only the day our country was born, but also the indomitable spirit of the first American citizens who made that day possible. We are called to remember how unlikely it was that our American experiment would succeed at all; that a small band of patriots would declare independence from a powerful empire; and that they would form, in the new world, what the old world had never known - a government of, by, and for the people. [more]

2 July 09: Calgary
Consul General Lochman celebrates American Independence
Consul General Laura Lochman celebrated her first Independence Day in Canada by hosting hundreds of guests at her official residence in Calgary. In her remarks, Lochman highlighted the productive partnership between the United States and Canada in the areas of trade, public health, environment and North American security. “With the most robust relationship of any two countries in the world, we share not only an enormous border, but the fundamental values that define our societies,” she said. [Read more/watch slideshow]

23 June 09: Calgary
" Calgary Consulate hosts Canadian “hero” at Trafficking in Persons video conference
The Calgary Consulate hosted a digital video conference on June 23 with U.S. Ambassador Luis de Baca, director of the Office to Combat Human Trafficking and local guests to discuss the recently released 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. The event brought together officials from the Canadian Border Services Agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, academics and an interested citizens group as well as Canadian professor Benjamin Perrin, who was designated one of only seven world-wide “TIP Heros” in the Department of State TIP report. The group discussed with Ambassador de Baca and others across Canada effective strategies and issues of cooperation between governments, law enforcement agencies and citizens groups in combating human slavery and trafficking in persons. [Read the full report] [Read the Canada section]

23 June 09: Calgary
" New Consul General white-hatted by Mayor of Calgary
New Consul General Laura Lochman and her husband Joe Schaefer received white cowboy hats from Mayor Dave Bronconnier at City Hall June 23 in a traditional City of Calgary welcome ceremony. The mayor named Lochman and Schaefer “honorary Calgarians” and congratulated her on being the latest in a long line Consuls General to have arrived at the Consulate since it opened in 1906. “We’re thrilled to be here in time for Stampede,” said Lochman. “We’re looking forward to getting to know the city and meeting people.” [view slideshow]

23 June 09: Calgary
" New Consul General white-hatted by Mayor of Calgary
New Consul General Laura Lochman and her husband Joe Schaefer received white cowboy hats from Mayor Dave Bronconnier at City Hall June 23 in a traditional City of Calgary welcome ceremony. The mayor named Lochman and Schaefer “honorary Calgarians” and congratulated her on being the latest in a long line Consuls General to have arrived at the Consulate since it opened in 1906. “We’re thrilled to be here in time for Stampede,” said Lochman. “We’re looking forward to getting to know the city and meeting people.” [view slideshow]

22 June 09: Calgary
Consul General Laura Lochman arrives at post
Laura Lochman arrived in Calgary June 22 to take up her post as Consul General for Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories for a three-year term. Consul General Laura Lochman is a career American diplomat with over 20 years of experience in policy analysis and implementation. [Read more]

5 June 09: Calgary
Consulate staff attend celebration of President Obama’s speech to the Muslim world
Acting Consul General Daniel Fennell and PA Representative Michelle Cook were invited to attend a celebration of President Obama's speech in Cairo held by the Calgary Muslim community on June 5 as part of its regular Friday afternoon prayers. "This is a new beginning and the right start by the American administration," Imam Syed Soharwardy of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada told those assembled. [read more ]

04 June 09
A New Beginning - Engaging the Muslim World President Obama's June 4 Speech in Cairo, Egypt
I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt’s advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum. [more] [fact sheet]

03 June 09: Calgary
Calgary readers discuss Three Cups of Tea
American author David Relin engaged in a lively discussion about his best-selling book Three Cups of Tea with a group of Calgary readers. Speaking to the group via digital video conferencing (DVC), Relin touched on the related issue of international development efforts in southeast Asia and the realities and challenges of doing aid work in the region. Held the day following President Obama's historic speech to the Muslim world in Cairo, the Three Cups of Tea DVC generated a timely discussion that touched on U.S. foreign policy and American humanitarian work in southeast Asia.

01 June 2009: Calgary
Acting Consul General visits Mustard Seed Ministry
Acting Consul General Daniel Fennell visited the Mustard Seed Street Ministry to learn more about the organization's work to address homelessness in the Calgary region. The Mustard Seed is a non-profit Christian humanitarian organization that works to foster rehabilitation to help the less fortunate get back on their feet through a broad range of progressive and innovative solutions.

28 May 09: Calgary
Afghanistan expert visits Calgary
Foreign policy expert Marco Vicenzino visited Calgary to discuss the new direction of the Obama administration's Afghanistan policy as well as wide range of other U.S. foreign policy issues. While in Alberta, Vicenzino met with representatives from the Canadian military and NGO community, students, foreign policy analysts and journalists.

Vicenzino engaged Canadian audiences in discussions on the current international aid and re-construction situation in Afghanistan, stressing the contributions that members of the NATO coalition are making and the importance of civilian engagement in that country's development. Vicenzino is the president and director of the Global Strategy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based non-partisan think-tank.

21-22 May 2009: Calgary / Lethbridge
Jefferson Science Fellow talks birds and brains with Canadian scientists and students
Cornell University neurobiology professor Timothy DeVoogd, the State Department's 2008/09 Jefferson Science Fellow, visited Alberta to meet with senior academics at the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute and the University of Lethbridge's Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neurobiology. Dr. DeVoogd discussed the potential for scientific collaborations with his Canadian peers, toured research and teaching facilities, and gave two lectures on his research into how birds learn to sing and what this can tell us about the human brain. Dr. DeVoogd's visit fostered new ties with Canadian scientists, researchers and students and engaged them in discussions around how the U.S. and Canada can deepen their cooperation in the fields of science and technology. [photos]

03 May 2009: Calgary
Calgary Consulate participates in Battle of the Atlantic Ceremony
Acting Consul General Daniel Fennell represented the United States of America at the annual Battle of the Atlantic ceremonies held at the HMCS Tecumseh Naval Reserve. Fennell laid a wreath during the ceremony with Lt. Commander Paul Darling of the U.S. Navy Reserve Station in Spokane, Washington who travelled to Calgary to participate in the event. The annual ceremony commemorates members of the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian naval reserve, merchant marine and RCAF Coastal Command lost during the Battle of the Atlantic between September 1939 and May 1945. [more]

30 April 2009: Calgary
Calgary Consulate offers U.S. Foreign Service Test
The U.S. Calgary Consulate General in will offer the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT) June 9-11, 2009. This three-hour exam is the first step in the selection process to become a U.S. diplomat. It will be held once per day at the consulate in downtown Calgary, starting at 1:30 PM. For more information about the FSOT visit http://careers.state.gov; or register at http://www.act.org/fsot/.

25 April 2009: Calgary
One month until new passports rules take effect
The United States Consulate General in Calgary reminds residents in its consular district that, starting June 1, all Canadians and Americans will be required to present a passport or other document approved by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security when entering the United States at land or water border crossings. [more]

25 April 2009: Calgary
Consul speaks about friendship at Anzac Day ceremony
Acting Consul General Daniel Fennell participated in the 2009 Anzac Day ceremony to remember the service of Australian and New Zealand soldiers during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915. At a morning Cenotaph ceremony organized by the Downunder Club of Calgary, Fennell spoke about common heritage and recounted the long history of military partnership the U.S. has enjoyed with Australia and New Zealand as well as Canada.

“Anzacs have been serving alongside U.S. forces for nearly a century,“ Fennell said. ”We are here this morning to commemorate our honored dead, but also to celebrate our continued friendship.”

Members of the Canadian armed forces, Canadian and American veterans and Calgary city alderman Dale Hodges also attended the Anzac Day service. [photos ]

29 March 09: Calgary
Consul General Tom Huffaker leaves post
Consul General Tom Huffaker leaves his post today after serving in Calgary for three years. Huffaker is retiring from the U.S. Foreign Service after a 23-year career which included foreign assignments in India, Yugoslavia, Canada and Russia, as well as in Washington offices forming U.S. economic policy. Huffaker arrived in Calgary to take up his duties on August 14, 2006. He, his wife Claire and their two children plan to stay in Calgary, where Huffaker has accepted a position in the private sector with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. With Huffaker’s departure, Daniel Fennell assumes the duties of acting consul general for Calgary, effective March 29. Fennell is a career diplomat, and has served as the deputy principal officer at the United States Consulate General since August 2007. He will remain acting consul general until a new senior officer arrives from Washington in the summer of 2009.

26 March 09: Calgary
Calgary women talk politics with Cokie Roberts
With the help of digital video technology, a group of Calgary women joined American journalist and political analyst Cokie Roberts for a lively discussion about the historical contributions American women have made to democratic politics. The digital video conference, hosted by the Calgary Consulate’s Public Affairs Office, brought together representatives from the Famous 5 Foundation, academics from the University of Calgary, and journalism students from Mount Royal College. Speaking from Washington, D.C., Roberts discussed her books, Founding Mothers and Ladies of Liberty which chronicle the important functions performed by women during the founding of the United States. Participants from Calgary, as well as Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, asked Roberts questions about the role of women in democratic politics and the challenges facing female professionals and political candidates today, as well as her own experiences as a broadcaster and book author.

17 March 09: Regina
Consul General Tom Huffaker visits Saskatchewan
Consul General Tom Huffaker spent St. Patrick’s Day meeting with Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and other provincial government officials. Huffaker was also introduced by Premier Wall in the House, and capped off his meetings with a visit to Government House to speak with Lieutenant Governor Gordon Barnhart. [more/see slideshow]

16 March 09: Regina
Talking U.S. foreign policy with Canadian students
More than 100 undergraduate students at the University of Regina got a crash course on U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration from Daniel Fennell, the Calgary Consulate's deputy principal officer. Fennell spoke to two classes of students keen to learn more about how policy gets developed and whether the U.S. foreign policy and the U.S.-Canada relationship would change significantly with new leadership in Washington. He told the group that the new Obama administration "continues to value the special bi-lateral relationship with Canada," and "the business relationship between Canada and the United States is the strongest between any two countries in the world." "Canada is a wonderful partner," Fennell added. [See slideshow]

17 March 09: Regina
Consul General Tom Huffaker visits Saskatchewan
Consul General Tom Huffaker spent St. Patrick’s Day meeting with Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and other provincial government officials. Huffaker was also introduced by Premier Wall in the House, and capped off his meetings with a visit to Government House to speak with Lieutenant Governor Gordon Barnhart. [ more/see slideshow]

16 March 09: Regina
Talking U.S. foreign policy with Canadian students
More than 100 undergraduate students at the University of Regina got a crash course on U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration from Daniel Fennell, the Calgary Consulate's deputy principal officer. Fennell spoke to two classes of students keen to learn more about how policy gets developed and whether the U.S. foreign policy and the U.S.-Canada relationship would change significantly with new leadership in Washington. He told the group that the new Obama administration "continues to value the special bi-lateral relationship with Canada," and "the business relationship between Canada and the United States is the strongest between any two countries in the world." "Canada is a wonderful partner," Fennell added. [See slideshow]

11 March 09: Calgary
Celebrating 90 years of American Legion achievements
Deputy Principal Officer Daniel Fennell was invited to hand out service pins to Calgary-based members of the American Legion at a celebration to mark the 90th Anniversary of the Legion’s founding. The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic wartime veterans organization. Today, it boasts nearly three million members, men and women, in 15,000 American Legion posts worldwide. American Legion Canadian Post 20 in Calgary has been active since 1973.

10 February 09: Edmonton
Consul General Tom Huffaker talks to aboriginal students about the U.S. Consul General Tom Huffaker spoke with a group of 5th grade students at Prince Charles Elementary School in Edmonton while presenting books about the U.S. to the school’s library. More than 90 percent of the children at the school are aboriginal. The book donation was made to highlight the Bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, Black History month and President’s Day. Huffaker answered students’ questions about U.S.- Canada relations and President Obama’s upcoming visit to Canada, and stressed the broad opportunities now available to persons of color in North America and the importance of maintaining a sense of perspective and optimism in challenging times. School librarian Deloris Jack welcomed the donation of books highlighting various aspects of U.S. history, culture and society saying, “We want our students to be well-rounded in terms of understanding different cultures, especially the U.S. which is so close to Canada, and we are delighted to receive these resources.” [more/slideshow].

09 January 09: Lethbridge
Consul General talks about inauguration at the University of Lethbridge
More than 100 first-year political science students at the University of Lethbridge gathered to hear Consul General Tom Huffaker talk about the transition of power taking place in Washington on January 20. Huffaker fielded informed questions from the group on the new administration as well as a variety of U.S. foreign policy issues. He said that President Obama’s decision to visit to Canada on February 19 on his first foreign trip is a reflection of how important Canada is to the U.S. as a neighbor and key trading partner. Touching on border issues, Huffaker reminded the group that the requirement to show passports at U.S. land borders comes into effect in June, adding, “a passport is not your enemy, but your friend in the long run”
Huffaker’s trip to Lethbridge also included a stop at City Hall to meet with Mayor Robert Tarleck. [slideshow].