Our Directors

The following individuals are the Directors of the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa. Their principal goal is to ensure that the SWCSO members have a broad, stimulating and enjoyable series of programs available throughout the year. Please feel free to contact us if we can be of any help.

Ronald I. Cohen, C.M., MBE, President and one of the three co-founders of the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa, attended Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral in January 1965, not by invitation but by standing with the crowds in Parliament Square as the funeral procession wended its way up Whitehall and thence to St. Paul’s Cathedral. That interest grew into a collection of Churchill’s writings and ultimately led to Cohen’s authorship 40 years later of the definitive Bibliography of the Writings of Sir Winston Churchill (3 vols., London and New York: Thoemmes-Continuum, 2006), for which the International Churchill Society honoured him with the Farrow Award for Excellence in Churchill Studies “for his magisterial three-volume Bibliography.” In addition, Mr. Cohen has published many articles, notes and columns over more than 20 years in Finest Hour, the quarterly publication of the International Churchill Society, and he speaks regularly on aspects of Churchill’s life to organizations and societies in Canada and the United States. In 2016, he edited The Heroic Memory: The Memorial Addresses to the Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Spencer Churchill Society, Edmonton, Alberta, 1990–2014. He was awarded the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal (1992) and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012). In 2014, he was recognized on Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday Honours list as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) “for services to British history.” In April 2018, he was named an LAC Scholar by Library and Archives Canada. In November 2020, he was named to the Order of Canada “for his dedication to promoting and preserving literary and cultural heritage in Canada and abroad.” He sits on the Board of the LAC Foundation and is Past President of the Friends of Library and Archives Canada. A native of Montreal, Mr. Cohen holds an A.B. (cum laude) (Harvard) and a B.C.L. (First Class Honours) (McGill).

Charlotte Gray, C.M., FRSC, Vice-President of the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa, is one of Canada’s best-known writers, and author of twelve acclaimed books of literary non-fiction. Her most recent book, Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: the Lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt, was published in September 2023, in Canada, the US and the UK, and immediately entered best-seller lists in most Canadian newspapers, including the Globe & Mail’s general non-fiction list. The Wall Street Journal called it as “a terrific and insightful double biography’” and Air Mail described it as “ingeniously conceived and elegantly executed.” It was also Number One on the Macleans non-fiction list for three weeks, and an Editors’ choice in the Globe. Her previous book, Gold Diggers, Striking It Rich in the Klondike, was the basis of the US Discovery Channel mini-series “Klondike”. Her previous seven books, which include Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell, and Sisters in the Wilderness, The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill, were all award-winning bestsellers. Born in Sheffield, and educated at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, Charlotte came to Canada in 1979. She worked as a political commentator, book reviewer and magazine columnist before turning to biography and popular history. Charlotte is past chair of Canada’s National History Society, which publishes the magazine Canada’s History (formerly The Beaver), and of the Art Canada Institute. Charlotte is a member of the Order of Canada, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and holds honorary degrees from five Canadian universities.

Stephen Adler, Treasurer of the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa, is a Certified Bookkeeper; he served as Assistant Accountant, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Foundation, from 1990 to 2020. Prior to that, he was Eastern District Sales Administration Manager, Digital Equipment, Kanata, from 1977-1990. Born in London, England just after the War, he lived there during Churchill’s second term as Prime Minister, emigrating with his family to Montreal in October 1957. He also spent three years living on Kibbutz K’far Hanassi, Israel, after which he returned to Montreal and earned a Diploma in Agriculture at McGill University. Stephen has also served as Vice-Chairman, Ottawa-Carleton Regional Housing Authority, a Returning Officer for Elections Ontario for the riding of Ottawa-Vanier from 1998-2011, Chief Financial Officer for Elections Canada for that riding since 2005, and as Treasurer for the Gloucester Arts Council (1980-1985), Community Arts Ontario (1985-2004) and Carleton Condominium Corporation #271 (2003-2013, 2019-2021). As a child, Stephen’s two heroes were Admiral Horatio Nelson and Sir Winston Churchill. He inherited his interest in the Prime Minister from his parents who, although not Tories, strongly supported Churchill from the mid-1930s, when he was in his “Wilderness Years”. Having survived the Blitz in London, they admired his staunch resolve to see the end of Hitler, Mosley and their ilk. As Stephen, a member of the SWCSO from its early days, says, “I have continued to explore his many attributes that made him such a dynamic leader, orator and statesman.”

Ian Smillie, C.M., Secretary of the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa, has lived and worked in Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Bangladesh. He was a founder of the Canadian NGO, Inter Pares, and served as Executive Director of CUSO. He has worked at Tufts and Tulane Universities and as a development consultant with many Canadian, American and European organizations. He is the author of several books, including The Charity of Nations and Freedom from Want. His most recent book, Under Development; A Journey without Maps, was published in 2024. Ian Smillie helped to design the Kimberley Process certification system for rough diamonds and was the first witness at the war crimes trial of Liberian warlord Charles Taylor. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 2003. His connection with Sir Winston Churchill dates back to, and was inspired by, a March 1964 note from Churchill’s private secretary in response to a fan letter Ian wrote, and a failed attempt that summer to gain entrance to the Strangers’ Gallery for Churchill’s last appearance in the House of Commons.

Andrew Z. Cohen is a journalist, author and professor. A native of Montreal, he attended The Choate School, Carleton University, McGill University, and the University of Cambridge. Among his bestselling books are A Deal Undone: The Making and Breaking of the Meech Lake Accord (1990); Trudeau’s Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Pierre Elliott Trudeau (with J.L. Granatstein) (1998); and The Unfinished Canadian: The People We Are (2006). While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World (2003) was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award; in 2011 the Writer’s Trust of Canada named it one of the top 12 Canadian political books of the last 25 years. Other books include Lost Beneath the Ice: The Story of HMS Investigator (2013) and Extraordinary Canadians: Lester B. Pearson (2008). His latest book is Two Days in June: John F. Kennedy and the 48 Hours that Made History (2014), a chronicle of the high noon of John F. Kennedy’s presidency when he pivoted on the two greatest issues of his time: nuclear arms and civil rights. In 2023, Cohen was consulting producer on Kennedy, an eight-part documentary on the life of JFK on Hulu and Amazon Prime. A former foreign correspondent and editorialist with The Globe and Mail, he has worked for United Press International, Saturday Night Magazine, and The Financial Post in Toronto, Ottawa, Washington, London and Berlin. Now he appears in The Montreal Gazette and The Globe and Mail, and as a commentator on television and radio. In a career of 46 years, he has won three National Magazine Awards and two National Newspaper Awards, and been awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal (2002), the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), and the King Charles III Coronation Medal (2024). The founding president of the Historica-Dominion Institute, Cohen is chair of the Advisory Board of the Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict and Justice at the University of Toronto, a member of the Advisory Board of the New Israel Fund of Canada, and a juror for the Canadian Jewish Literary Awards. For 23 years, he was an associate professor of journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa, where he is now an Adjunct Professor. Website: www.andrewzcohen.com

The Honourable David Collenette, PC, O,Ont, FCILT was born in London, England in 1946 and emigrated to Canada with his family in 1957. He grew up and was educated in Toronto. A Member of the House of Commons for 21 years, Mr. Collenette served in the Cabinets of Prime Ministers Pierre Trudeau, John Turner and Jean Chrétien for 11 years, variously as Minister of State (Multiculturalism), Minister of National Defence, Minister of Veterans’ Affairs, Minister of Transport and Minister of Crown Corporations. While at Transport, he oversaw Canada’s response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which resulted in the closing of Canada’s skies and the emergency landing of 226 wide-bodied jets at Canadian airports. In the subsequent months he worked tirelessly with colleagues and his American counterpart Norman Minetta to redesign transportation security in North America. He served as the Ontario government's Special Advisor for High Speed Rail, 2015-2018. Mr. Collenette is currently Chair of the NATO Association of Canada; past Chair and current director of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, North America; and director of Harbourfront Corporation, Toronto. He has also worked in a volunteer capacity for the Washington-based National Democratic Institute and is a past member of the Toronto East General (now Michael Garron) Hospital Foundation campaign executive Team. Mr. Collenette served as Chancellor of the Royal Military College of Canada (1993-1996); a member of the International Advisory Committee, Stanford University, California (1999-2005); as Distinguished Fellow, Glendon College, York University (2004-2010); and a Distinguished Fellow, Ryerson University, now TMU, (2012-2013). He is currently Fellow at the Bill Graham Centre, Trinity College, University of Toronto. Mr. Collenette holds a B.A. (Honours), M.A. and LL. D. from York University.

Bob Plamondon FCPA FCA, ICD.D is a consultant, independent board member, economist,and historian. He is the author of six bestselling books about Canada and is the founder and leader of The Prime Ministers Series. Bob currently serves on the Audit and Oversight Committee of the Senate of Canada, the board of OPTrust pension plan, is Vice-Chair of Ontario Internal Audit Committee, and is the Chair of the audit committee of the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents. Plamondon’s past board work includes the National Capital Commission where he served as the interim chair. Bob has taught on a full and part-time basis at three universities. In 2012 he was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.

A former Canadian diplomat, Colin Robertson is a Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and host of their Global Exchange podcast. A frequent media commentator, he is a contributing writer to Policy Magazine. He is an Honorary Captain (Royal Canadian Navy) assigned to the Strategic Communications Directorate and a member of the Department of National Defence’s Defence Advisory Board. Robertson is a member of the Alphen Group of strategists as well as Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs Expert Group on Canada-US Relations. He is Executive Fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University. Robertson is also Executive Fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy. He has taught at Carleton University, Queen’s University’s Public Executive Program, Canadian National Defence College, the Canada School of Public Service and the Canadian Foreign Service Institute. After retiring from the Foreign Service, Robertson was a senior advisor to Dentons US LLP (formerly McKenna, Long and Aldridge LLP), working with the Business Council of Canada. A career foreign service officer from 1977-2010, he served as first Head of the Advocacy Secretariat and Minister at the Canadian Embassy in Washington and Consul General in Los Angeles, with previous assignments as Consul and Counsellor in Hong Kong and in New York at the UN’s Consulate General. In his final assignment, he directed a project at Carleton University’s Centre for Trade Policy and Law with the support of the Federal and Provincial Governments and the private sector on Canada-US Engagement. A member of the team that negotiated the Canada-US FTA and NAFTA, he is co-author of Decision at Midnight: The Inside Story of the Canada-US FTA (1996). Robertson served as president of the Historica Foundation. He was editor of bout de papier: Canada’s Journal of Foreign Service and Diplomacy and president of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers. Robertson’s volunteerism includes service on the board of Canada World Youth including as chair and vice-chair. He is a long-time member and former president of the National Capital Branch of the Canadian International Council. Robertson previously served on Carleton University’s President’s Advisory Council, the NPSIA Advisory Council, the Johnson-Shoyama School of Public Policy, North American Research Partnership, the board and then advisory council of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute and on the Deputy Minister of International Trade’s Advisory Council. Robertson has been awarded the King Charles III Coronation medal, Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, Diamond Jubilee Medal, Alberta Centennial Medal and the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal.

Colin Smith’s first awareness of the great man had a contrarian twist - “We’ll make Winston Churchill smoke a Woodbine every day.” That was the chorus refrain of a rendition of the “The Red Flag” at The Beacon folk club on Tyneside, England in 1964. At the time, the Woodbine was the English working man’s cigarette and the jubilation that night was in celebration of the general election victory of Harold Wilson’s Labour party. A few months later Colin watched the funeral service of Sir Winston on a small black and white TV and, with a scant knowledge of Churchill, couldn’t help but notice the mental tsunami of piety and reverence that engulfed all, irrespective of political stripe or creed. Not being a student of history, Colin embarked on an Engineering career which eventually led to an interest in military technology and its origins/supply and inevitably back to Churchill! Currently semi-retired, Colin now spends his time as business development/planning consultant in the hi-tech sector, studying the Czech language at an intermediate level, and reading modern history.

Andrew Rasiulis is a Fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI) and a frequent media commentator on the Russo-Ukraine War and political-military events in Europe. Andrew completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto and received his Master of Arts from the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, in Strategic Studies.

Andrew's MA thesis, On the Utility of War in the Nuclear Age, developed a theory on limited conventional war below the nuclear threshold. It was subsequently published as a Wellesley Paper in 1981 by the Canadian Institute for International Affairs and the Canadian Institute for Strategic Studies. He has also published numerous articles on conventional strategy, arms control and international military training co-operation.

Andrew has served in the Canadian Army Reserve, initially as an enlisted soldier with the Governor General's Horse Guards (GGHG) and as a commissioned officer with the Governor General's Foot Guards (GGFG).

Andrew joined the Department of National Defence in 1979 as an analyst with the Directorate of Strategic Analysis, specializing in strategic politico-military issues pertaining to conventional forces. During the Cold War, Andrew was directly involved in Canada's efforts in conventional arms control, being DND's representative on NATO'S High Level Task Force on conventional arms control, and then as Defence Advisor to the Canadian Delegation for Conventional Arms Control Talks in Vienna. In subsequent years, Andrew's duties included Canada's defence policy and military relations with Central and Eastern Europe, NATO's Partnership for Peace and issues related to NATO enlargement. Finally, Andrew became the first Director of Military Training and Cooperation (DMTC), responsible for managing Canada's international military co-operation program.