Nathan Hunt is joined by Gilles Breton - a former Canadian diplomat and a current CERBA National Chair. Gilles has served three assignments at the Canadian Embassy in Moscow and shares some great stories about his experience working in Russia during the Cold War; a 25,000km trip across the Soviet Union, heading CERBA and Canada-Russia Business Council.
Related links to the episode:
Canada Eurasia Russia Business Association (CERBA)
Russia Canada Business Council (RCBC)
Timeline
00:00 Intro
00:40 Introducing Gilles Breton
1:41 Meeting Robert Ford and the first posting
3:43 Mr.Costakis' Fine Arts collection
7:52 Living in Soviet Moscow as a Canadian Diplomat
10:35 Alexander Yakovlev speech writing power
13:20 The art of the Communist Party discussions
14:45 First visit of the Canadian Prime Minister to Russia
17:54 "Fire!" with CTV news
20:24 25,000km across the USSR
21:39 visiting the Baltic States
22:56 A magical rediscovery of Moscow
26:24 Becoming CERBA National Chair
28:14 Canada Russia Business Council
29:19 What are the greatest opportunities for Canada-Eurasia economic cooperation?
31:38 What made Gilles a leader?
32:14 What does the future hold for Gilles?
33:46 Conclusion
Icebreakers is produced by CERBA, an independent non-profit organization that promotes bilateral trade and investment between Canada and Eurasia. www.cerbanet.org
