Category: Knowledge mobilization

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Asia Food and agriculture Higher education and research Knowledge mobilization

2026!

Image by Starline on Freepik
paper curl style 2026 new year banner vector

All things considered, 2025 was a good year for me. I continue to be grateful to be able to put nutritious food on the table and a warm, comfortable roof over my head. Others are suffering unnecessarily around the world, including in wealthy Canada. Je suis aussi reconnaissante pour ma bonne santé et l’éducation que j’ai reçu principalement grâce aux investissements publics qui ont bénéficié ma génération. Fulfilling such basic needs can and should be a birthright to every person on this planet. That’s the credo and mission that keeps me going in my life and career. Je ferai ce que je peux pour avancer la cause…

I was honoured the opportunity to contribute to work of the Wilson Center until a Presidential order put an abrupt end to 95% of the staff and all Global Fellows in the spring. J’espère qu’un jour, le beau travail de cet organisme reprendra en bonne et due forme. I continue to enjoy my board service with the Council of Canadian Academies and Educational Credential Evaluators as well as my work on the International Advisory Council of the Centre for Open Societal Systems, and steering committee of the Women in Science Diplomacy Association of Canada. Au plaisir de continuer ce travail en 2026.

A bonus this year was being invited to the X Summit of the Americas Civil Society consultation in July. I was honoured to be asked to serve as spokesperson for the report back to Global Affairs Canada. Je tiens à remercier Cynthia Gervais de ‘École d’éducation permanente de l’Université McGill d’avoir suggérer ma candidature pour ce rôle. Avec son équipe, elle a aussi monté cette vidéo d’un entretien avec moi à propos des concertations.

I’m blessed to have returned to McGill University where I did my Master’s degree and my late parents met! Je suis heureuse dans mon poste de professeure invitée JW McConnell. The Max Bell School of Public Policy is a stimulating place where I have the opportunity to do research, publish, coach a policy lab on water security and teach a course on food-systems transformation in global perspective and interact with brilliant students from around the world, including my two research assistants Julian Tayarah and Umme Salma. J’ai pu partager ma perspective avec les médias après une pause de quelques années.

J’ai hâte pour les belles choses qui m’attendent en 2026. More publishing, public speaking and media commentary is around the corner as well as planned professional travel for conference presentations and research, including a longer stretch in Asia – the region where I focused half my career. Détails à suivre… Entre temps, je vous souhaites mes meilleurs voeux pour 2026. Below, a photo of Thompson House, the graduate student club at McGill, where we had the Max Bell holiday party in December. Being there again brought back a flood of memories.

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Food and agriculture Higher education and research Knowledge mobilization Uncategorized

Des nouveaux défis professionnels

I was thrilled to start my mandate in early September as J.W. McConnell Professor of Practice for 2025-26 at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University, my alma mater where I did my Master’s degree. This opportunity gives me the time and resources to follow through on some unfinished publication projects as well as design and teach a course on the topic of food systems transformation in global perspective. I’m grateful for the funding from the McConnell Foundation to make this possible.

It’s been thrilling to collaborate with the School’s Director, Jennifer Welsh, as well as other colleagues. Many thanks all of them for the warm welcome. Je suis également impressionnée par la qualité et l’engagement de la nouvelle cohorte du programme de maîtrise en politiques publiques, et je me réjouis à l’idée de passer plus de temps à Montréal – en moyenne deux journées par semaine. Nous avons eu un excellent programme à Ottawa il y a quelques semaine auquel j’ai pu participé.

I’ve already hired two brilliant research assistants from among the MPP cohort. For World Food Day on October 16th, I published an article in Max Policy – a collection of provocative ideas and policy solutions generated by the minds at the Max Bell School of Public Policy – entitled Challenges and Opportunities for Food System Transformation. The piece summarizes the policy recommendations of a a number of recent key reports on the topic.

I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to, once again, participate in the Banff Forum from October 16-18th – this time in beautiful Québec City. The theme of this 24th edition was Vive le Canada?: Quebec, Canada, the United States, and the World. The quality of the program and participants was, as usual, stellar. It was great to reconnect with familiar faces and meet brilliant new people.

Je tiens à remercier les membres du Conseil d’administration et les employés Lydia Blanchard et Sophie Laflèche pour leur beau travail ainsi que les conférenciers et commanditaires. Je suis vraiment choyée d’avoir la chance de participer dans un tel forum de politiques publics depuis le tout début pour mieux comprendre les enjeux dans un environnement toujours en évolution.

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Asia Food and agriculture Higher education and research Knowledge mobilization Uncategorized

Un été intense – An intense summer

MAM Cambridge Bay 1957 - Le dispensaire pour l'infirmière

Quatre jours après que j’ai affiché mon dernier message sur ce site – soit le 20 juin – j’ai subitement perdu ma mère. Même si elle avait 91 ans, et elle nous disait qu’elle sentait la mort venir, ce fut un choc. Cependant, elle voulait mourir, comme elle nous disait souvent. Heureusement la fin était passablement vite et sans douleur d’après le personnel de l’Hôpital Montfort, qui ont offert des soins extraordinaires dans ses derniers jours. Voici l’avis de décès en français et en anglais. Thanks also to the Funeral Cooperative of Ottawa and the family and friends that provided support to me and my family at this difficult time, including helping organize a wonderful celebration of mum’s extraordinary life in July.

Needless to say, much of the summer was spent doing what I needed to do, with the work still going on as my late mother’s executor and heir. Thank goodness we moved back to Ottawa from British Columbia a bit more than a year ago so that we got to spend more time with her and to facilitate my ability to close affairs. Of course, mum’s arrangements for her passing were in perfect order, which facilitates things.

On the professional front, it’s been satisfying to see a 2020 scoping review as well as a more recent 2022 tome published originally in German and now translated into English drawing on the foodscape concept I put forward in the 1990s. I never expected this work to evolve and take so many interesting developments around the world. It’s been an honour to be invited by the German scholars to collaborate and contribute to one of their upcoming volumes.

I’ve also continued to do extensive media commentary on the food crisis, both in Canada and globally. This included an interview with the CBC’s Carolyn Dunn in early August on the implications of grain shipments from the Ukraine on global food security, two interviews on A Little More Conversation, one in August and another in September, and a piece in Maclean’s on the rising cost of living. It was also a thrill to see one of my more scholarly publications come out as a chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Urban Food Governance. Looking forward to some launch events this fall.

Finalement, ce fut un plaisir de participer au 21e Forum de Banff, cette fois à Charlottetown. Je participate de temps à autre à ce forum concernant les politiques publiques depuis son tout début. Voici la photo de groupe prise au bord de l’eau avec la coopération de la météo! At this year’s Forum, it was great to be invited to speak as part of a “Dockside Chat” panel on the topic of “Has Deglobalization Arrived” sharing reflections on global food insecurity.

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Food and agriculture Higher education and research Knowledge mobilization Uncategorized

The Global Food Crisis – La crise alimentaire mondiale

The last several months have flown by and I have been very preoccupied with the troubling global food crisis, which also impacts wealthy countries like Canada. It’s been an honour to be approached for media commentary on the emerging situation. Krystalle Ramlakhan of CBC Radio interviewed me in February. You can read the online article here that was reproduced into a clip on CBC’s The National with some elements of the interview repurposed for a more in-depth story on CBC Radio in May, available here.

The spring was busy and exciting. I finally got around to publishing an article in The Conversation on the global food system in April after many years of wanting to do so. The timing was perfect for this type of “explainer” and – given the excellent distribution platform and Creative Commons licensing, the article got picked up and republished across Canada and around the world. I was delighted with the uptake and resulting media commentary including syndicated live and recorded radio and television and, by June, another interview used for both CBC The National, with the audio used for CBC Radio’s The World at Six. I also travelled to attend the normally annual National Retreat for Women on the weekend of April 22-24th – our first gathering since 2019 held at beautiful Government House in Victoria. It’s been an honour to serve as a volunteer on the organizing committee with some stellar accomplished women!

Ce fut aussi un honneur d’être élu au conseil d’administration d’Équiterre à la fin du mois d’avril après avoir été encouragée de postuler. Équiterre est le plus important organisme environnemental au Québec qui, en plus, fait un excellent travail dans le domaine des systèmes alimentaires durables. Quel plaisir d’être convié à la retraite annuelle au moi de mai. Voici notre photo de groupe “folle”!

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Food and agriculture Higher education and research Knowledge mobilization Uncategorized

Turning a new leaf… Un nouveau début…

Le français suit…
 
As some of you already know, after nearly three exciting, intense years as Executive Director of Food Secure Canada (FSC) I decided some time ago to step down and take a needed breather but the news was confidential until January 24th. My last day was Friday, January 28th per the message that was shared with FSC’s membership as well as other messages the same day followed by the newsletter on February 9th.
 
I want to thank FSC’s team, volunteer board, members, partners and funders for their dedication. It’s been a privilege to serve this movement with such passionate people, organizations and networks and have policy impact. I’m proud of all that has been accomplished collectively.  I look forward to making continued contributions to food-system transformation from my perch as an Ottawa-based Senior Fellow at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia.
 
With gratitude…
 
Gisèle
 
Comme certains d’entre vous le savent déjà, après près de trois années passionnantes et intenses en tant que directrice générale du Réseau pour une alimentation durable (RAD), j’ai décidé il y a un certain temps de prendre un recul pour respirer mais les nouvelles étaient confidentielles jusqu’au 24 janvier. Mon dernier jour fut le vendredi 28 janvier tel qu’indiqué dans le message qui a été partagé avec les membres du RAD ainsi que d’autres messages la même journée et l’infolettre le 9 février. 
 
Je tiens à remercier l’équipe du RAD, le conseil d’administration bénévole, les membres, partenaires et bailleurs de fonds pour leur dévouement. Ce fut un privilège de servir ce mouvement et de travailler avec des personnes, des organisations et des réseaux si passionnés et d’avoir un impact au niveau politique. Je suis très fière de tout ce qui a été accompli collectivement. Au plaisir de continuer de contribuer à la transformation du système alimentaire en tant que « Senior Fellow »  au « School of Public Policy and Global Affairs » à l’Université de la Colombie-Britannique (depuis Ottawa).
 
Toutes mes reconnaissances…
 
Gisèle

FSC team in March 2020 / Équipe du RAD en mars 2020

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Food and agriculture Knowledge mobilization Uncategorized

2021 – What a year / Quelle année

Photo by Constance Bos

Like 2021, 2020 will be an intense year to remember. In May, I returned to Montréal for about six weeks and eventually vacated my apartment there in late June. Our board also approved a three-year strategic plan that month, which was quite an accomplishment, given the global pandemic. We also hired a few talented new staff members and both ramped up and put to bed some major projects through the summer and early fall. For example, our exciting Sustainable Development Goals programming provides a horizon to 2030 to address organizational and personal long-standing priorities such as food (in)security, improved nutrition and the transition to more sustainable food systems. Our collective future depends on this being done right…

En fin d’été nous avons (re)déménagé à Ottawa, un projet en cours depuis longtemps. Notre maison, louée depuis huit ans, fut en assez bonne condition mais ce n’est jamais évident s’installer… le travail continue et nous espérons que le temps de fêtes sera un moment pour s’avancer un peu plus pour se sentir plus chez nous en 2022.

There were a few highlights this fall that make the last few months particularly memorable and rewarding. In October, I had the honour of being invited to speak at Think Elevate 2030 in Toronto on the topic of “Intersectionality of Food Security, Sustainability, and Public Health”. You can watch the video here. November was exciting with one of our team members being able to attend Cop 26 as well as Chef Rich Francis hosting an Indigenous fusion cooking class at George Brown College with the proceeds going to Food Secure Canada on November 22nd.

Un fait saillant du mois de décembre fut l’invitation de faire parti d’un panel sur le thème de “Nourrir l’humanité durablement” animé par Hélène Raymond dans la compagnie d’Alain Olivier et Alain Denault dans le câdre du Congrès de l’Union des Producteurs Agricoles du Québec. Vous pouvez visionner la vidéo ici après l’allocution de la Ministre Marie-Claude Bibeau.

Last but not least, it was a sad end of the year with the loss of my beloved father in law, the legendary Sadru Ahmed who left us in November. However, it was a privilege to know and be related through marriage to this great and honourable man. He will be missed but never forgotten. We also mourn the loss of others this year – friends, colleagues and other cherished souls. Let’s hope for a brighter 2022…

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Knowledge mobilization Uncategorized

Les migrations francophones dans l’Ouest canadien – questions de diversité

Houle et. al. p. 43
Portrait statistique de la population immigrante de langue française à l’extérieur du Québec (1991 à 2011) René Houle, Daniel Pereira et Jean-Pierre Corbeil Statistique Canada, Juin 2014

Voici un lien à ma chronique diffusée hier à Radio-Canada au sujet de l’immigration francophone dans l’ouest canadien et les questions de diversité, tant au niveau historique que de nos jours. Le sujet fut inspiré par ma ma présentation sur la francophonie canadienne dans l’ouest canadien lors d’un colloque organisé par l’Association d’études canadiennes le 1er mars à Gatineau (Aylmer). Suite à cette présentation, Marc-Aurélien Négri m’a contacté enfin de rédiger un article publié par La Source le 8 mai. Merci en particulier à la réalisatrice compétente de l’émission Les Samedis du Monde et mon amie de longue durée, Saïda Ouchaou!

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Asia Food and agriculture Knowledge mobilization

Chronique radio – Micro, Petites et Moyennes Entreprises Agroalimentaires

Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) Gisèle Yasmeen Sept 2017

Dernièrement, ce fut un plaisir de reprendre mon travail comme chroniqueuse à Radio-Canada. J’avais une chronique en français à « Rendez-vous » de Radio-Canada, Vancouver de 2000 à 03 sur le thème des communautés asiatiques en Colombie-Britannique qui a été repris par la suite pendant quelques années en anglais avec l’émission « BC Almanac ». J’ai récemment été offerte une autre chronique à l’émission intitulée « Les samedis du monde », diffusée dans toutes les provinces le l’Ouest canadien. La première chronique – inspirée par notre projet récent pour la Fondation Asie Pacifique du Canada – porte sur les micro, petites et moyennes entreprises agroalimentaires aux Philippines, au Vietnam et au Pérou avec des liens aux communautés originaires de ces pays dans le Ouest canadien. La chronique a été diffusée le 9 décembre 2017. Voici le lien à la bande sonore: http://ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/les-samedis-du-monde/segments/chronique/50649/micro-entreprise-agroalimentaire-transformation-pays-emergents

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Asia Higher education and research Knowledge mobilization

LINGUA FRANCA?: FRANCOPHONE SCHOLARSHIP ON THE ASIA-PACIFIC

This post is inspired by my participation in the 2015 Congrès Asie-Pacifique, held in Paris this past September. Here is an excerpt with the full text available here:

While English is often thought of as the international academic lingua franca, there is significant scholarship on Asia in other languages, including French. French-language scholarship on the Asia-Pacific should be valued, particularly in Canada – a bilingual country home to a number of French-speaking Asianists who publish important works in their mother-tongue. Read more…

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Asia Food and agriculture Knowledge mobilization

Commonwealth People’s Forum, Nov 23-26, 2015

I’m delighted to have been invited to speak at the Commonwealth People’s Forum in Malta taking place from November 23-26. This civil society gathering – organized by the Commonwealth Foundation – is a precursor to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) taking place from November 27-29th. I will be chairing an exciting panel on food challenges as well as speaking at a plenary session on the theme of: Equity and Resilience: Access to critical resources and services for all. I look forward to meeting and interacting with approximately 300 delegates from across the Commonwealth’s 53 member states.

As I was invited to contribute a blog entry in advance of the forum, here is the link below to my remarks:

http://cpf.commonwealthfoundation.com/societal-resilience-food-security-and-social-protection/

I welcome your comments!