Post by Designer on Mar 16, 2005 19:01:25 GMT -5
Cellucci takes tiny piece of Canada as he ends term as U.S. ambassador
Terry Pedwell
Canadian Press
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
OTTAWA (CP) - When Paul Cellucci drives across the border Friday, ending his four-year term as U.S. ambassador to Canada, he will take a tiny shimmering piece of Canada home with him.
A couple of years ago, Cellucci couldn't resist buying a Canadian "conflict-free" diamond for his wife, Jan, when he visited the Ekati diamond mine in the Northwest Territories. "It's a nice little thing to bring back home," Cellucci said this week of the shiny rock that now rests in a gold ring adorning his wife's wedding finger.
"A good souvenir of Canada."
It's the kind of stone found only in Canada, and very much symbolizes what Cellucci believes the country embodies - a wealth of resources combined with ideals of peace and a desire to protect itself and its neighbours against impending threats.
The diamond comes with a microscopic polar bear design laser-etched into it as a certification that it did not originate in a war-torn country where the illicit trade in raw diamonds is commonly used to fund rebel groups.
At a farewell reception this week, Cellucci said another thing he "acquired" during his stay in Ottawa was a son-in-law - his daughter Anne married NHL right-winger Craig Adams.
Jan Cellucci laughingly wondered aloud about her husband referring to Adams as an acquisition, suggesting the term would make for some interesting conversation around the Easter dinner table.
Aside from the tangible ties he has with Canada, four years of living in Ottawa and travelling to every corner of the country have bonded him with Canadians, Cellucci said.
"I'd say the biggest surprise in my four years in Canada was walking out of the Parliament building on Sept. 14, 2001," he told The Canadian Press.
"There was a sea of people, 100,000 Canadians in a community of about a million people, waving the American and Canadian flags, singing both of our national anthems and standing by my country's side in our time of need.
"It's something that I will never, ever forget."
The outpouring of support Cellucci witnessed came just three days after the world-altering terrorist attacks against the U.S. that killed thousands, destroyed New York's World Trade Centre twin towers and punched a deadly hole in Washington, D.C.'s Pentagon building.
Cellucci cites the signing of the Smart Border agreement, which beefed up security at shared border crossings, as one of the biggest bilateral accomplishments during his term.
But it was his call to ramp up military spending - something the Liberals did in last month's budget - that became a hallmark of his tenure. It stirred criticism that he was being too blunt in what some deemed as meddling in Canada's internal affairs.
Cellucci maintains his "public diplomacy" was part and parcel of what it means to be a U.S. ambassador in a new, security-conscious world.
Terry Pedwell
Canadian Press
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
OTTAWA (CP) - When Paul Cellucci drives across the border Friday, ending his four-year term as U.S. ambassador to Canada, he will take a tiny shimmering piece of Canada home with him.
A couple of years ago, Cellucci couldn't resist buying a Canadian "conflict-free" diamond for his wife, Jan, when he visited the Ekati diamond mine in the Northwest Territories. "It's a nice little thing to bring back home," Cellucci said this week of the shiny rock that now rests in a gold ring adorning his wife's wedding finger.
"A good souvenir of Canada."
It's the kind of stone found only in Canada, and very much symbolizes what Cellucci believes the country embodies - a wealth of resources combined with ideals of peace and a desire to protect itself and its neighbours against impending threats.
The diamond comes with a microscopic polar bear design laser-etched into it as a certification that it did not originate in a war-torn country where the illicit trade in raw diamonds is commonly used to fund rebel groups.
At a farewell reception this week, Cellucci said another thing he "acquired" during his stay in Ottawa was a son-in-law - his daughter Anne married NHL right-winger Craig Adams.
Jan Cellucci laughingly wondered aloud about her husband referring to Adams as an acquisition, suggesting the term would make for some interesting conversation around the Easter dinner table.
Aside from the tangible ties he has with Canada, four years of living in Ottawa and travelling to every corner of the country have bonded him with Canadians, Cellucci said.
"I'd say the biggest surprise in my four years in Canada was walking out of the Parliament building on Sept. 14, 2001," he told The Canadian Press.
"There was a sea of people, 100,000 Canadians in a community of about a million people, waving the American and Canadian flags, singing both of our national anthems and standing by my country's side in our time of need.
"It's something that I will never, ever forget."
The outpouring of support Cellucci witnessed came just three days after the world-altering terrorist attacks against the U.S. that killed thousands, destroyed New York's World Trade Centre twin towers and punched a deadly hole in Washington, D.C.'s Pentagon building.
Cellucci cites the signing of the Smart Border agreement, which beefed up security at shared border crossings, as one of the biggest bilateral accomplishments during his term.
But it was his call to ramp up military spending - something the Liberals did in last month's budget - that became a hallmark of his tenure. It stirred criticism that he was being too blunt in what some deemed as meddling in Canada's internal affairs.
Cellucci maintains his "public diplomacy" was part and parcel of what it means to be a U.S. ambassador in a new, security-conscious world.