Ambassador Leslie B. Gatan received Carolyn O. Arguillas, MindaNews Editor-in-Chief and Philippine Daily Inquirer Mindanao Bureau Chief, in a courtesy call last September 29.
Ms. Arguillas is the recipient of the 2011 Marshall McLuhan Prize awarded by the Canadian Embassy in Manila for her collective body of work as a reporter and editor, particularly on Mindanao issues.
In Toronto, Ms. Arguillas spoke at the Lunch and Learn session of the Canadian Journalists for Freedom and Expression (CJFE) and delivered a presentation on the Culture and Practice of Community Journalism in the Philippines.
She also met with University of Toronto Professor Ronald Deibert of the Munk Centre for International Studies and Professor Jeffrey Dvorkin, who directs the university's journalism program and well as with members of the Philippine Press Club of Ontario.
In the Canadian capital, she called on officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
The study tour will also take Ms. Arguillas to Halifax where she will speak at a post-graduate Ethics class and lecture on Peace Journalism at the University of King's College.
Ms. Arguillas ends her tour in Vancouver with speaking engagements at the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada and Langara College's School of Journalism as well as a meeting with the Media and Democracy Group and the Assembly of First Nations.
She will share her Canadian experience with communication students and her media counterparts upon her return to the Philippines on October 10.
The Marshall McLuhan Prize, named after the influential Canadian theorist of mass communications, is a flagship public diplomacy initiative of the Canadian Embassy.
Launched in 1997 with financial support from Sun Life of Canada, the Prize encourages investigative journalism in the Philippines in line with Canada's belief that a strong media is essential to a free democratic society.