EVENT DATE: May 9, 2012
TOPIC: Halfway there: a Canadian Perspective on the American Elections

H. G. ( Gar) Pardy joined the Canadian Foreign Service in 1967.  He served in India, Kenya, the United States and Central America where he was Ambassador to Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.  In the late 1980s he was Director of the Asia Pacific Division in headquarters, and from 1992 to 2003 was head of the Canadian Consular Service. 

Since retiring in 2003, he has been a commentator and writer on issues of Canadian foreign and public policy.  He appears regularly in the Ottawa Citizen and Embassy newspapers and on CBC, CTV and Global television. 

He is a son of the Rock and his early education was in Norris Arm and Gander, Newfoundland.  He first worked for the Meteorological Service of Canada – in Gander, Goose Bay and Frobisher Bay.  He has an honours degree from Acadia University and a Master’s from McMaster.  He and his wife Laurel live in Ottawa.