Norman Spector (born March 6, 1949) is a Canadian journalist and former diplomat, civil servant, and newspaper publisher.

Early life and career[edit]

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Spector received a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Political Science, from McGill University in 1970. Awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, he received a Master of Philosophy degree in Political Science from Columbia University in 1972 and a Ph.D. in 1977. In 1974, as a Newhouse Fellow, he received a Master of Science degree in Television, Film and Radio from Syracuse University. In 1974–1975, Spector was a lecturer at St. Paul's College of the University of Ottawa.^[1]

Civil service[edit]

In 1975, he joined the Ontario civil service in the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and held the positions of Manager, Director, and Executive Director. In 1980, he joined the British Columbia civil service serving as Deputy Secretary, Policy for the Ministry of Intergovernmental Relations. From 1981 to 1986, he was Assistant Deputy Minister and then Deputy Minister in Bill Bennett's Office of the Premier, where he advised during the 1981 constitutional discussions, and later negotiated an end to the BCGEU strike of 1982 and to a looming BC general strike in 1983. From 1986 to 1990, he was Secretary to the Cabinet for Federal-Provincial Relations in Ottawa, where he was responsible for managing relations with the provinces during the Canada-US free trade negotiations, the first ministers conference on aboriginal constitutional matters, and the Meech Lake accord in April, 1987. From 1990 to 1992, he was Brian Mulroney's Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister during the First Gulf War and the ending of the Oka Crisis.

From 1992 to 1995, he was Ambassador of Canada to Israel, the first Jewish Canadian to hold the post, and High Commissioner to Cyprus. After the in Gaza-Jericho agreement was signed between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in 1994, he became Canada's first Representative to the Palestinian Authority. From 1995 to 1996, he was President of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

Corporate career, TV pundit and newspaper columnist[edit]

Spector resigned from the public service in 1996, and upon his departure The Globe and Mail editorialized: 'The last veil was stripped from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency last week with the departure of Norman Spector. The veteran public servant had been appointed president of the federal government's East Coast regional development body last year in order to clean up ACOA's operations and repair its shady reputation. His exit is an acknowledgment that such attempts are doomed to failure. There is no longer any sense pretending that ACOA serves any useful economic purpose.'^[2]

He became Vice-President, Corporate Affairs for Imperial Tobacco Limited in September 1996. In January 1997, he was appointed publisher of The Jerusalem Post. In the 1990s and 2000s, he appeared on numerous TV panels in English and French and wrote a column in The Globe and Mail and in Le Devoir. While at The Globe and Mail, Mr. Spector wrote 'Why Ms. Harper joined the PM's CTV Christmas interview,' citing a veteran Ottawa Citizen columnist who reported that 'in Ottawa, tongues have been wagging for two years about trouble in one political marriage. One of the partners is now said to have left the nest. It hasn't made the newspapers, at least not yet.'^[3] The Globe and Mail removed the blog post from its website, saying that Spector fell short of its 'editorial standards with respect to fairness, balance and accuracy.'^[4]

He published a book, Chronicle of a War Foretold: How Mideast Peace Became America's Fight in 2003 and, a year later, wrote about his experience working for Mulroney in the Afterword to A Secret Trial—William Kaplan's second book on what is popularly known as the Airbus affair. Spector appeared as a witness in early 2008 at the House of Commons of Canada Ethics Committee's hearings on relations between Mulroney and German-Canadian lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber, which is formally known as the review of the Airbus settlement. A public inquiry, called by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, will also take place on these matters, following the Ethics Committee's hearings.^[5]

In October 2006, Spector gained a considerable amount of press coverage for referring to Belinda Stronach as 'a bitch'^[6][7][8] after her then-boyfriend and fellow Conservative MP Peter MacKay referred to her as a 'dog' in the House of Commons.^[9] In May 2006, Stronach agreed to join the Liberal cabinet of Prime Minister Paul Martin after dining with MacKay and not telling him what she was about to do.^[10] While Stronach demanded an apology from MacKay, she did not ask that Spector apologize and he did not provide one.^[11]

Start Preamble Start Printed Page 49701 Order Relating to Norman Spector. The Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce (“BIS”) has initiated an administrative proceeding against Norman Spector (“Spector”) pursuant to Section 766.3 of the Export Administration Regulations (currently codified at 15 CFR parts 730-774 (2007)) (the “Regulations”)and Section 13(c. Norman Spector in the US. We found 28 records in 17 states for Norman Spector in the US. The top state of residence is New York, followed by Florida. The average Norman Spector is around 86 years of age with around 64% falling in to the age group of 81+.

Since 2013, Spector has been a member of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's 'On the Island' political panel.^[12]

Following the British Columbia election of 2017, he advised Green Party leader Andrew Weaver in negotiations with the Liberal and New Democratic Party that resulted in the defeat of the former on a non-confidence vote, and the formation by the latter of a minority government supported by the Greens.^[13]

References[edit]

1. ^'Norman Spector'. HuffPost Canada. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
2. ^'The end of ACOA'. The Globe and Mail. July 3, 1996. p. A12.
3. ^'The Harper marriage and the Globe'. backofthebook.ca. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
4. ^Smith, Charlie. 'Norman Spector defends column about Stephen Harper's marriage'. Georgia Straight. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
5. ^The Globe and Mail, January 26, 2008.
6. ^[1]^{[permanent dead link]}
7. ^. Toronto https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061031.wxmackay31/BNStory/National/home.Missing or empty |title= (help)^{[dead link]}
8. ^'Belinda Stronach: Three years in the life'. macleans.ca. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
9. ^'Stronach demands MacKay apologize for alleged 'dog' comment'. CBC News. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
10. ^'Maclean's — May 2005'. Maclean's | The Complete Archive. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
11. ^Galloway, Gloria (October 31, 2006). 'Spector joins Stronach dog fight'. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
12. ^'Friday Political Panel on Liberals' throne speech and NDP-Green prospects'. CBC News. Archived from the original on June 29, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
13. ^Meissner, Dirk. 'Greens plan chess moves after B.C. vote'. Global News. The Canadian Press. Retrieved July 21, 2017.

• 'Canadian Who's Who entry'. Retrieved April 17, 2006.
• 'The Globe and Mail's biography'. Toronto. Archived from the original on April 21, 2006. Retrieved April 17, 2006.
• Nolen, Stephanie; Morris, Nomi (December 10, 2013). 'Norman Spector (Profile)'. The Canadian Encyclopedia (online ed.). Historica Canada.

External links[edit]

Shifting between painting, sculpting and glassmaking, Marcelle Ferron’s famous installation in Montreal’s Vendôme station was unveiled in September 1981. Marcelle Ferron’s striking design combined colorful stained glass with a spiraling stainless steel sculpture, a unique style that inspired interest in glass as an art medium. Over time, Marcelle Ferron was revolutionary in devising her own methods of building “walls of light” connected by invisible joints that allowed her to create large planes of color. Such innovative techniques can be seen in her mural for Expo 67 and also in the Champ-de-Mars train station, Sainte-Justine Hospital, and the Granby courthouse which were public commissions. Throughout her 50-year career, Marcelle became one of Canada’s most important contemporary artists earning her a Knight of the National Order of Québec in 1985, which was later promoted to Grand Officer in 2000. The renowned Canadian artist was a restless visionary whose achievements blazed a trail for female artists within a traditionally male-dominated space.

She was an orphan:

Norman Spector Twitter Profile

Born in 1924, Marcelle Ferron came into this world in Louiseville, Quebec. At the age of seven, she lost her mother, and her father moved the family to the country, hoping the rural environment would be good for his children.The famous Quebec writers, Jacques Ferron and Madeleine Ferron are her brother and sister respectively.

She was a sick child:

Norman Spector Twitter

As a youngster, Ferron suffered from tuberculosis in early childhood and frequent stays in the hospital forged in her an independent spirit. After she was done with high school, she went on to study at the college Marguerite-Bourgeois and then registered at the Quebec Ecole des Beaux-arts.

Paul-Emile Borduas:

Ferron quit college before finishing her studies, finding that the instruction did not fit her idea of modern art. But within a few years of experimentation, she met Paul-Emile Borduas. Mentoring her, he was important in introducing her to a new abstract style of painting. Under his tutelage and mentorship, Ferron formulated an approach to painting which led her to express her own personal ideas.

Marcelle Ferron was an active participant in Les Automatistes, led by Paul-Émile Borduas and became one of the youngest artists to sign their 1948 manifesto Refus global.

Moving to France:

In 1946, she was part of a group of painters known as the Automatistes. Ferron was known to exhibit with them and quickly gained recognition in the art world. When the Automatiste group disbanded in 1953, Marcelle Ferron decided to shift to France. She separated from her husband and left for France with her three daughters.

Norman Spector Twitter

Here, she settled in Clamart, a suburb of Paris, where she lived alongside her studio. The artist supremely concentrated on painting, making this a very productive period in her life. It paid off.

Full of light, her strong abstract works caught the attention of gallery owners, and influential figures in the French art world such as Herta Wescher, who helped her to organize exhibits throughout Europe. In Paris, Marcelle Ferron also networked with many other artists, such as Leon Bellefleur, and Jean-Paul Riopelle.

Ferron’s paintings became progressively more forceful. Vibrant colours and larger, fluid forms dominated the canvas. Like fellow Automatistes Paul-Émile Borduas and Jean-Paul Riopelle, Ferron used to spread paint on the canvas thickly, with great intensity and straight from the tube, many times using a palette knife rather than a brush. In Lascive(1959), for instance, bright white bars of paint push vertically into the foreground, streaking and blurring into horizontal bars of purple and blue. Les barrens (1961), on the other hand, has jagged, congested patches of red, blue, purple and black against a spacious, open white ground.

As you can see, the period she spent in France was extremely significant for her career as her stay in Paris, from 1953 to 1965, brought her closer to the proponents of lyrical abstraction. Her abstract paintings, agitated by tumultuous bursts, were full of movements and contrasts.

Suffice to say, upon returning to Quebec in 1966 she became an internationally-known artist. Infinity small suv.

Creating history:

During her stay in Quebec she met the glass maker, Michel Blum. She found that working with glass allowed her to explore light and colour more fully. In collaboration with a team of glass technicians, she invented a method that allowed her to build walls of light. She inserted antique coloured glass between sheets of clear glass, thereby perfecting a technical way of making the joints invisible. Her first major glass achievement was the mural for Expo 67. However, it was the glass wall that she created for the Champ-de-Mars metro station that is widely regarded as her masterpiece. It was commissioned in 1966 by the city of Montréal under mayor Jean Drapeau. It was installed in 1968 with the help of master glassworker Aurèle Johnson. The stained glass is 60 m long with a maximum height of 9 m, and extends across three walls of the station’s spacious mezzanine. The piece principally consists of wide, swooping bands of red, blue and green, which dapple the station with coloured light. Johnson restored the window in 1999.

Such art would lead to many glass art commissions for public spaces. Around this period Canadian artist Marcelle Ferron also taught architecture and art at the University Laval. She returned to painting around 1985.

Awards:

• Silver Medal, Sao Paulo Biennial (1961)
• Prix Louis-Philippe-Hebert, Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste (1976)
• Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas, Government of Québec (1983)
• Knight, National Order of Québec (1985)
• Grand Officer, National Order of Québec (2000)

In 1983, Marcelle Ferron became the first woman to receive the Prix Paul-Emile-Borduas. Her other honors include a silver medal she won at the Sao Paulo Biennieal in Brazil in 1961. The Government of Quebec recognized her contribution to Quebec culture with the Ordre national du Québec. As the first female artist to receive the prestigious Paul-Émile Borduas prize, she struck a chord in the next whole generation of artists working to secure a place for women in the arts.

Feminist work:

Notably, Marchelle Ferron was an early feminist who in a traditional male dominated industry faced and overcame many obstacles. A woman of integrity, the Canadian artist was devoted to her work, insisting that she did not paint for collectors, rather, was her passion and way of life. Looking back, she broke ground for women artists in Canada today which is especially noticed if you look at her awards.

Death:

Marcelle Ferron died in 2001