HALIFAX — Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter and Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Miriam Ziv, are preparing for closer ties between their governments.
While in opposition a few years ago as leader of Nova Scotia’s New Democratic Party, Dexter attended a Canada-Israel Committee mission of Canadian government leaders to Israel. He was entranced with the people and the advances made in various fields, including science and technology, agriculture, business and education.
Now that he’s premier, Dexter is hoping to lead a trade mission to Israel this year to increase business and research ties between Nova Scotia and the Jewish state. No date has been set, but discussions are underway.
The premier’s chief of staff, Dan O’Connor, met with Ziv last week and came away with enthusiasm for the potential between the province and Israel.
Ties between the Port of Halifax and the Port of Haifa in Israel, as well as research and commercialization of renewable energy sources, are a few areas of potential joint interest, O’Connor said.
“Israel is one of the world’s leaders in [research and development] and commercialization of academic work, and that is obviously of interest to Nova Scotia, which proportionately has such a large academic community,” O’Connor said.
While in Halifax on March 3, Ziv told a small lunch gathering that Israel is already collaborating with Canada’s federal government on three areas of joint interest: renewable energy, water and brain research. The National Research Council of Canada is co-ordinating the projects.
“Canada is a huge country with so many provinces, so the engagement with the provinces is very important to us as well,” Ziv said.
She said that she is going “to see how we can expand the relationship between the State of Israel and the province of Nova Scotia.”
It was Ziv’s third visit to Halifax. She met with the premier during her previous visit in November 2010.
Also in November, the National Research Council hosted a joint technology innovation summit between Canada and Israel in Toronto attended by representatives of universities, industry and government from both countries. A second similar summit is to take place in Israel later this year.
In a statement to The CJN earlier this week, Ziv said she is continuing to “work closely” with the provinces on familiarizing them with all Israel has to offer.
“Ever since I arrived in Ottawa, a key part of my outreach strategy has been to engage with provincial governments, Jewish communities and universities across the country,” Ziv said, noting that last year, the premiers of Ontario and Manitoba visited Israel, producing “tangible results, like the formation of the Ontario Brain Institute and its partnership with Israel, and a commercial agreement to help create links between Hebrew University and the University of Manitoba.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the government of Nova Scotia, as well as Canada’s other provinces, in advancing relations between Israel and Canada.”
With files from Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf
