DION IS HERE FOR THE PARTY, AND MUCH MORE
As ambassador to Germany, former Liberal leader is busy promoting Canadian culture
Stéphane Dion threw a party in Berlin last Saturday. Hundreds of people came. There was free beer, wine and hors d’oeuvres. He told jokes, which went over as well as Stéphane Dion jokes can. The DJ played Canadian pop music, including Shania Twain and Len. (Remember Len?)
Well, OK, the Canadian Embassy threw the party. But as Canada’s ambassador to Germany and special envoy to the European Union, that made it Dion’s party. And though Dion is not exactly a party guy, he was rolling with it.
Based out of Germany’s hippest city, the former leader of the Liberal Party is enjoying life after partisan politics. And he’s enjoying Berlin — perhaps not as you or I might enjoy Berlin, but he’s enjoying it.
“I am not aware of any diplomat from any country unhappy to be in Berlin,” Dion said in an interview at the Canadian Embassy on Monday morning. “The city itself is very enjoyable. It’s still affordable. Traffic is a bit difficult, but if you compare it even with Munich, it’s much better. The cuisine — I will not make any faux pas about German cuisine, but it’s universal here. You have all the styles of restaurant you want. There are more museums than you’ll have time to visit. And a lot of green spaces.”
Green spaces are important to Dion, a renowned environmentalist and former environment minister. His dog Kyoto, now 14, is “in better shape than the protocol of the same name,” he said wryly. (Again with the jokes!)
On that note, Saturday’s party was a celebration of this year’s substantial Canadian presence at the Berlinale (a.k.a. the Berlin International Film Festival). Dion missed the opening film, Quebec director Philippe Falardeau’s My Salinger Year, the Thursday before, as he was a guest at a climate change conference in London.
“I think my name is following me everywhere I go,” he said. “I don’t think a traditional ambassador would do that — it’s more Stéphane Dion. I have different hats.”
One hat he will be wearing more often this year is that of Canadian culture promoter. Canada is the guest of honour at the 2020 Frankfurt Book Fair, held in October. It’s one of the biggest events of its kind, with 7,500 exhibitors, 10,000 journalists and 300,000 visitors representing 109 countries.
On top of the 90 Canadian publishers and 80 authors who will be present at the fair, approximately 360 Canadian cultural and literary events are planned around Germany through the end of the year, with support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Government of Canada.
Artists from various disciplines are coming through, from musicians Rufus Wainwright, Tanya Tagaq, Richard Reed Parry and Kid Koala to filmmakers Atom Egoyan and Jennifer Baichwal, graphic novelist Julie Doucet, author Rawi Hage, documentary theatre company Porte Parole, dancer Clara Furey and Victor Quijada’s Rubberband dance company.
The Canadian Embassy is involved in various ways in facilitating and promoting these events.
“We are working in partnership with the Canada Council,” Dion said. “We have knowledge on the ground, with all the institutions here. Between the two, with all the different cultural programming selected, it’s really formidable.”
Those thinking all this is a little outside Dion’s wheelhouse may be forgetting that when he was leader of the opposition, he was also the spokesperson for the Liberals on heritage and culture.
Seeing Canada accept the invitation from the Frankfurt Book Fair brings him satisfaction, as he watched the Harper government decline the same opportunity in 2014 — a decision he criticized at the time.
“I said, ‘We need to say the book fair is something we will support’ — and once elected, we did it. Yes, it’s an investment of money, but it’s nothing compared to what it gives Canada in terms of visibility and business opportunities.”
Far from being a separate entity a world apart from politics, the arts can open doors, according to Dion, and bring cultures together in ways traditional diplomacy can’t.
At the recent Munich Security Conference, Quebec author Kim Thúy was invited to sit down for a one-hour public discussion with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Munich conference had proposed a discussion between Trudeau and a Canadian author, in recognition of Canada’s position as the guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Dion initially considered more academic authors, but when he was informed it should be a fiction writer, Thúy came to mind.
“When thinking about security, one issue (internationally) is refugees,” he said. Thúy and her family came to Canada as refugees in 1979, when she was a child.
“It was a beautiful discussion between the two, and the Germans were fascinated,” Dion said. “That’s exactly what we need to do. That’s cultural diplomacy at its best — a book fair and a security conference.”
On Sunday, Dion took in a screening of Quebec director Anaïs Barbeau-lavalette’s La déesse des mouches à feu. The expressionistic, sex- and drug-fuelled coming-of-age story had its world première in the Berlinale’s Generation 14plus section. So how did a straight-shooter like Dion react to such a wild cinematic ride?
“I found it very interesting,” he said. “It was very interesting to see this world where young people are struggling with drugs, trying to find a way, and the adults are trying to help them, but not always with the right approach. These are problems we have everywhere, in Germany as well.”
And then, being an experienced diplomat, he found a way to bring it back to politics.
“I liked it because it’s something we as parents and teens may remember. It’s an issue our government decided to handle differently, in terms of marijuana.”
Dion, as you may have noticed, is a trouper. For a man who had quit politics just a few years ago, after being shuffled out of his role as Trudeau’s minister of foreign affairs in 2017, he has not only found his way back — he is enjoying himself.
“I’m not in partisan politics anymore,” he said. “I’m working for all Canadians. The truth is, I feel very close to the prime minister as his special envoy (to the European Union). I work for him and for my country.
“As long as I feel I am useful for my country, I feel well.”
Yes, it’s an investment of money, but it’s nothing compared to what it gives Canada in terms of visibility and business opportunities.