Day 11, January 16, San Antonio, Texas

We had a travel day today. We left the hotel in Atlanta at 9:00 a.m. and didn’t arrive in the Holiday Inn Riverwalk in San Antonio until 5:30 p.m. It gave me a day to find out a little more about my fellow Canadian travelers.

Henry Han

Henry works for the province of B.C., helping to facilitate trade and investment into the province. Henry was born in Richmond, B.C. His parents are from Korea. His dad worked as a computer programmer for the U.S. Department of Defense during the Vietnam War. After leaving Vietnam, Mr. Han chose to relocate in Canada rather than return to Korea. His wife joined him two years later — in 1972.

Henry thinks the U.S. Embassy picked him for this trip because he has been working closely with the U.S. consul in Vancouver on the Pacific Gateway project and on the Security and Properity Partnership (SPP) with the U.S. and Mexico.

Henry read my blog three days ago, and did not agree with my assessment of the CNN tour. He didn’t find it boring at all, and he wants to go on record saying, “I am thoroughly disappointed in editor Whetter’s comments about the CNN tour. He demonstrates a clear bias against all non-print media.”

Stephen MacLean

Steve is the deputy minister of transportation and public works for the province of PEI. He lives in Stratford, a suburb of Charlottetown. Steve is busy these days working on a PEI government initiative to set spending priorities for the province. The goal is to work horizontally with all relevant departments to make decisions that are best for the province — and not for any one specific department. “Infrastructure is the physical plant for the economy,” he says, “but there is never enough money for all infrastructure needs.” If the province has $100 million to spend, for example, the PEI government wants to give priority to projects that provide the biggest economy return on investment. This requires lots of research, talk and negotiation. At the same time, Steve loves the adrenalin rush of helping to run a government more efficiently.

Steve met the U.S. consul, based in Halifax, while the consul was touring the region. He was in Charlottetown early for a meeting, so Steve spent an hour with him talking about the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, border inspection fees for agricultural products, and general concerns about “thickening” of the border. About a month later, Steve got a call asking whether he’d be interested in this trip.

Taieb Moalla

Taieb is a reporter with Media Matin Quebec. This is an employee-run paper that they started after their employer, Le Journal de Quebec, locked them out nine months ago. Le Journal wants staff to work five days a week for the same pay. Staff had been working four days a week. Le Journal also wants reporters to provide reports in various media, including audio and video, without any restriction. Management locked out the workers until they’re ready to come back under the new terms.

Taieb was born and raised in Tunisia. He speaks French, Arabic and English. Taieb’s introduction to Canada came through the Internet. He met his girlfriend from Rimouski, Quebec online in 1998. Her chat room nickname — “Balzac” — caught his eye, and they started chatting. They chatted online every day after that. In December 1999, she traveled to Tunisia to meet him in person. It was her first trip abroad. Over the next two years, Taieb traveled twice to Rimouski before moving to Quebec permanently in 2001. Taieb studied law in Tunisia and got a Masters in public communication from Laval University. He became a Canadian citizen in January 2007.

Taieb thinks he was chosen because of his former involvement with the Canada-Palestinian Coalition. He was often talking with the U.S. consul general and correcting her — politely, he says — on the facts about Palestine.

Stephane Paquin

Stephane is a professor of International Politics and Economy, specializing in Canada-U.S. relations, at the University of Sherbrooke. He lives in Montreal and commutes. Stephane was born in Quebec City. He went to the Universite de Montreal. Then he met Natalene and his life changed.

Here’s the story: During WWII, Canadians sent food to help hungry families in Europe. A family in Ontario had sent food to Natalene’s grandparents. In the 1990s, Natalene came to Canada to visit this family. Stephane’s mother happened to visit the family while Natalene was there. Stephane’s mom told Natalene to get out of that boring Ontario town and go to Montreal to visit Stephane and have some fun. Stephane wasn’t really thrilled with the idea until he saw this girl. They hit if off. Over the next few months, the two went back and forth across the ocean to visit each other. Stephane enroled at Science Po university in Paris, where he got his Ph.D. and lived with Natalene. After that, he taught at Northwestern University in Chicago, and then they settled in Montreal.

Stephane has written seven books, and he does regular political commentary on the radio. But he got picked, he thinks, because the U.S. consul in Montreal had gone to one of Stephane’s classes to speak. She was very impressed with how much his students knew about the U.S. political system.

Ranissah Samah

Ranissah is senior policy advisor, specializing in the U.S., with the Ontario Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs. Ranissah was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Her mother is from Newfoundland. Her father is from a tiny village in Malaysia. He was raised in a wooden house on stilts. The Samah family went to live in this village when Ranissah was seven years old. They lived there for six months. What did you do? I asked. “Sat in a corner rocking back and forth wondering what happened to us,” Ranissah said. She moved from Malaysia to Toronto at age 17 and went to University of Toronto. Her three siblings are also in Toronto, but her father still lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and her mom lives in Costa Rica.

Ranissah thinks she was picked because all of her files deal with U.S. relations. She and representatives from the U.S. consulate attend many of the same meetings. The consul probably thought she’d benefit from the further insights this trip provides.

Stephanie Trudeau

Stephanie is the director of public affairs for Quebec’s liquor board, the Societe des alcools du Quebec (SAQ). She lives in Montreal. When Stephanie got picked for this trip, she was director of community relations for Rabaska. The consortium wants to build a $1 billion transfer facility in Quebec to off-load liquefied natural gas (LNG) from ships. It would only take 60 shiploads of LNG a year to satisfy the whole Quebec market, and with LNG you can buy gas on the world market. The province would not be tied to one supplier at the end of a pipeline.

Stephanie thinks her work on the Rabaska hearings helped get the attention of the U.S. consul in Montreal. She was in the media often, defending and explaining the project, which still doesn’t have full approval. Stephanie was also president of the Quebec Liberal Party youth wing not long ago. And she is involved with a few international relations board, mostly to do with Europe. The consul probably thought the trip would help her learn more about the U.S.