Hector Cowan – Chernobyl

Canadian diplomats carry out many different duties when serving abroad. CIHS member, Hector Cowan, was tasked with helping a group of Canadian students leave the disaster zone of the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear plant explosion.

See also

  • Officer recruitment in the 1950s

    In 1957, the Government launched a recruitment program to bring university students into the Foreign Service as immigration officers. A CIHS member who was recruited through the program has provided us with a copy of the recruitment brochure which outlines recruitment standards, the career path and working/living conditions. The brochure was printed by the Queen’s…

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    An interview with Joe Bissett

    In 1956, James “Joe” Bissett was one of the first recipients of a Master of Arts in Public Administration from Carleton University. CIHS member Doug Dunnington recently located this video of Carleton University’s 2024 interview with Joe, who is a CIHS member emeritus. Carleton has established the Bissett Alumni Award for Distinctive Contributions to the…

  • Officer recruitment in the 1950s

    In 1957, the Government launched a recruitment program to bring university students into the Foreign Service as immigration officers. A CIHS member who was recruited through the program has provided us with a copy of the recruitment brochure which outlines recruitment standards, the career path and working/living conditions. The brochure was printed by the Queen’s…

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    Southeast Asian Refugees (1975-1981)

    Photo album page has been updated! We have updated the page containing photo albums from the southeast Asian refugee resettlement program of the late 1970s and early 1980s to make them easier to view. Anyone who has photos that they feel will be of interest to CIHS members, from any period of Canada’s immigration history, is encouraged…

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    Running on Empty – Book Publication

    The Society proudly announces the publication of its book, ‘Running on Empty’, on the Indochinese ‘boat people’ movement under the banner of McGill Queen’s University Press. The book focuses on the work of Canadian public servants in Southeast Asia and Canada to meet an unprecedented commitment to resettle 70,000 of the refugees before the end of 1980….

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    A significant fiftieth anniversary

    CIHS offers its heartiest congratulations to the Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian communities in Canada on this important anniversary of the 1975 fall of Saigon. Since they first started to come to Canada and especially through Canada’s southeast Asian refugee program, they and their Canadian offspring have contributed to the fabric and success of this country….