ACF Headline
DS Canada Header NL
Summer 2011
Chairman's Message
by James J. Carey
 

Friends & Colleagues of the Admiral Carey Foundation:

 

As many of you know, having met several of the Canadian Scholars we have brought to the USA over the past decade for participation in the Washington Scholars Fellowship Program or other related Admiral Carey Foundation Programs & Projects, our involvement with our friends and allies north of the USA Border has been growing more each year.  This has been done by design, because so very much of what impacts upon the USA impacts on Canada as well, and the more we can approach and solve and work together on all our mutual issues, the better off both of our nations AND OUR CITIZENS will be.  And that is what has led my foundation to establish the Distinguished Scholars of Canada Program [DSC] to better formalize and structure what we have already been doing through the Washington Scholars Fellowship Programs and the Admiral Carey Foundation for several years now.  For further details about DSC on my foundation website click here.

 

Lots of thanks are in order for all that has been done in the past in support of this program to bring some of Canada's "best & brightest" here to the USA for 10 weeks of high intensity education and training in matters of national and international public policy affecting both our nations, in order to prepare them to return to Canada equipped and credentialed for careers in national public policy through their experience here in the USA and with the backup and support of the public policy networks and contacts and friends that they have established during their time in Washington, DC.  Very special thanks to George Platsis of York University, a Senior Fellow in the DSC program this summer working with the Atlas Economic Research Foundation on joint USA-Canada programs---- George is the 1st Editor of this newsletter and will return to Canada this Fall and put together the systemics and structure and programs that will duplicate in Canada the current DSC programs already in operation in Washington, DC.  In that regard, he will be working with Professor Walter Perchal, from York University in Toronto, who is to be the first Chairman of the Distinguished Scholars of Canada "in Canada".  Also special thanks to Dr. George Jackowski of Toronto, whose vision and support and involvement over these past 5 years has been instrumental in ensuring this program reached it's goal of establishment in Canada.  And very special recognition to Canada Company [www.canadacompany.ca], whose support has been key to our success and whose focus on having a program such as this in place for Canada's military veterans has been a major catalyst in making it happen. 

 

And further, from the upper reaches of Canadian leadership, very VERY SPECIAL THANKS to LTGEN Andrew Leslie of the Canadian Forces for his support, encouragement, and vision for the success of Distinguished Scholars of Canada in the USA, and, for his encouragement for the establishment of a parallel program in Canada to support Canadian veterans seeking to gain experience in Canadian public policy in Toronto and Ottawa.  The General is a man of very distinguished service and is much admired by his American peers.  We, and our friends in the Flag and General Officers' Network of the United States, take this opportunity to support him in his continuing service and wish him every future success in the Canadian Forces.

 

NONE OF THIS would have come to fruition without the involvement and strong encouragement of these outstanding Canadians.  Distinguished Scholars of Canada is no longer just a vision, it is now A REALITY. 

 

With all good wishes,

 

Jim Carey, Chairman

The Rear Admiral James J. Carey Foundation, Inc.

www.AdmiralCareyFoundation.org

Editor's Message

Welcome to the Distinguished Scholars of Canada (DSC)
by George Platsis, DSC, Summer 2011

Welcome to the very 1st Edition of the Distinguished Scholars of Canada (DSC) Newsletter.  I must open this newsletter by thanking the people who have made all of this happen, particularly as they are playing an on-going, influential, and continual role in this great project between our nations.  Rear Admiral James J. Carey (U.S. Navy, Ret.) and LCol Walter J. Perchal (Canadian Forces) have both shown extraordinary vision in laying the roots for this program.  The DSC program has been developed out of the extremely successful Washington Scholars Fellowship Program (WSFP, www.washingtonscholars.org), also founded by Admiral Carey and now funded by the Admiral James J. Carey Foundation (AJJCF, www.admiralcareyfoundation.org), that has a view of training young and aspiring individuals into becoming the next generation of leadership in national and international public policy.

 

As the WSFP program expanded over time into a more international focus, it was recognized that there was a void that needed to be filled; one that specifically addresses the intimate nation-to-nation relationship that the United States and Canada share.  In so many ways, the relationship and bond our two nations share is: singular, unmatched, special, and should never be jeopardized.  This is why the DSC was developed, to help foster a continuing bridge between the two nations by exchanging dialogue, scholarly work, and strengthening the important networks we have, particularly for the future ledears of both our nations to meet in the USA and Canada, and, to get to know each other as friends and allies before they beging their individual careers paths and chosen life's work.  The experiences that will be gained by the Canadians and Americans going through this program will have value-added that is far-reaching, both in terms of scope and time, specifically in the fields of public service, public policy, and international relations.

 

WS Summer 2011

 

Executive Director WSFP, Fernando Cortes, with the WSFP Summer 2011 class (including DSC)

 

On the Canadian side, the USA-Canada partnership is being strongly supported by Canada Company (www.canadacompany.ca), a charitable non-partisan organization that serves to build bridges between business and community leaders and the Canadian Military.  The goal of Canada Company is to provide and ensure the widest support, care, and recognition that the men and women of the Forces deserve.  Inasmuch, one of the primary goals DSC has is to ensure young aspiring veterans of the Canadian Forces take advantage of the outstanding opportunities the DSC program provides to both nations.

 

I have been fortunate to have been designated the first "Distinguished Scholar of Canada" from this superb program and will be playing an active part in the on-going growth and success of this program.  Currently, I am in the 2011 Washington Scholars Fellowship Programs class working with the Atlas Economic Research Foundation on programs of mutual interest between the USA and Canada.  My time thus far in DC, which has been about a month, has given me firsthand experience as to how the American capitol city works.  As I mentioned to a colleague, if New York City is about money, Washington is certainly about ideas. 

 

Working closely with WSFP and the AJJCF, I hope that I will be able to bring back lessons-learned, specifically from their super-functioning leadership and administrative team, led by Executive Director Fernando Cortes, that will help structure and promote the visionary plan of both Admiral Carey and LCol Perchal.  The ultimate end-state is that our efforts will bring a collective good to both our countries for generations to come as Canadians come the USA to study, learn, and network, and as Americans do the same in Toronto and Ottawa.  I look forward to telling you about our future endeavours and successes in future editions of this quarterly newsletter.

 

A Happy Canada Day and a Good 4th of July to all!

 

With warmest regards,

 

George Platsis

Fellow, Atlas Economic Resource Foundation

Washington Scholar, Class of Summer 2011

Distinguished Scholar of Canada, 2011

 

About the Editor 

  

PlatsisG

George Platsis has interdisciplinary training in the fields of: Business Administration, and, Disaster and Emergency Management.  In addition to acting as the managing director of a private consultancy, Mr. Platsis currently serves as the Program Director for the Centre of Excellence in Security & Business Continuity at the Schulich Executive Education Centre, housed at the global top ten business school (The Economist, 2010), the Schulich School of Business (York University, Toronto).