US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA1636

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OTTAWA 001636 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE 
 
SECSTATE FOR ECA/PE/V/R/W - EWILKES-SCOTT; 
WHA/PDA - JCARPENTER-ROCK 
MONTREAL, TORONTO AND VANCOUVER FOR PAOS AND CONGENS; 
HALIFAX AND QUEBEC FOR CONGENS; 
CALGARY FOR FIELD REPS; CALGARY PLEASE PASS TO WINNIPEG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, OEXC, SCUL, CA, IV Program 
SUBJECT: CORRECTION:  FY 2006 IVLP Individual Program - 
Ahmed Mahidjiba (Principal Candidate) 
 
REFERENCE:  OTTAWA 1504 
 
This cable includes corrected version of nominee biodate. 
Post nominates Ahmed Mahidjiba, President, Algerian Cultural 
Center, Montreal for a 21-day individual project on The Role 
of Religious Communities in U.S. Society.  Mr. Mahidjiba has 
full country team approval.  EVDB-formatted nomination 
follows. 
 
START FIXED-FORMAT TEXT (PLEASE DO NOT EDIT): 
: The following data is in a fixed format which enables 
: automated processing in Washington and should not be 
: edited except by means of the Post-EVDB software. 
EXPORT-SOURCE: POST-EVDB 
VERSION: 3.0.7 
POST-EMAIL: slw@pd.state.gov 
TRANSMITTING-POST: PAS Ottawa 
TRANSMITTING-POST-ID: 6540 
EXPORT-TYPE: BIO DATA 
START NOMINATION: 
ECA-OFFICE: E/VRW 
PROG-AGENCY-NAME: 
POST-PROJ-ID: 342 
ECA-PROJ-NO: 
PROJ-NAME: Mahidjiba, Ahmed - Individual 
START MEMO PROJ-DESC: 
 
END MEMO PROJ-DESC: 
PROJ-TYPE: Individual 
PROG-TYPE: IV Grant Visitor 
FY: 2006 
DEPART-POST: 
SESSION-DATE: 
RETURN-POST: 
NO-OF-PART: 1 
RANK-ORDER: 6 
START MEMO POST-OBJ: 
 
END MEMO POST-OBJ: 
START MEMO POST-RCMD: 
 
END MEMO POST-RCMD: 
ECA-OFFICE-ID: 1037 
PROG-AGENCY-ID: 
PROJ-TYPE-ID: IND 
PROG-TYPE-ID: 29 
NOMINATING-POST-ID: 6540 
FUNDING-CNTRY-ID: 322158 
STATUS: N 
ORIGINATOR: P 
SUBJ-DISC: Diversity & Pluralism 
START BIO: 
PREFIX: Mr. 
F-NAME: Ahmed 
M-NAME: 
L-NAME: Mahidjiba 
SUFFIX: 
POSITION-CODE: 339 
PRINCIPAL?: Yes 
GENDER: M 
DOB: 05/07/1969 
MAR-STAT: 
BIRTH-CITY: El Attaf 
BIRTH-CNTRY: Algeria 
CITIZ-CNTRY: Canada 
RES-CNTRY: Canada 
START MEMO POSITION: 
President/Founder of the Algerian Cultural Center of 
Montreal 
END MEMO POSITION: 
START MEMO OTHER-POSITIONS: 
Researcher, Ouranos (Quebec government climate change 
research agency) 
END MEMO OTHER-POSITIONS: 
START MEMO PREV-POSITIONS: 
Has held various academic positions (Researcher, Research 
Assistant, Teaching Assistant, Lab Assistant and Co-Director 
of Masters and PhD theses) at  ole Polytechnique and  ole 
de Technologie Suprieure, both in Montreal 
END MEMO PREV-POSITIONS: 
START MEMO US-TRAVEL: 
One stopover in February 2002 
END MEMO US-TRAVEL: 
START MEMO OTHER-TRAVEL: 
Studied in France from 1993-1995 
END MEMO OTHER-TRAVEL: 
START MEMO EDUCATION: 
Currently working toward a PhD in the Sociology of 
Immigration and Ethnic Relations at Universit du Qubec 
Montral (UQAM) 
PhD (2001) in Mechanical Engineering from  ole 
Polytechnique; 
Masters (1998) in Mechanical Engineering from  ole 
Polytechnique; 
ue; 
 
SIPDIS 
Post Graduate degree (1995) in Mechanical Engineering from 
 ole nationale suprieure des arts et mtiers, Paris; 
Bachelor's Degree (1993) in Engineering from  ole nationale 
des travaux publics of Algiers 
 
END MEMO EDUCATION: 
START MEMO MEMBERSHIPS: 
Centre Culturel Algrien  Montral; Executive Council of 
 ole Pie XII (in charge of external relations); Association 
of Montreal Polytechnique Alumni; Montreal Polytechnique 
Graduate Students Association 
 
END MEMO MEMBERSHIPS: 
START MEMO PUBLICATIONS: 
Besides his various thesis papers, Mahidjiba has published 
most recently in the International Journal of Numerical 
Methods for Heat and Fluid Flow (2002), Acta Mechanica 
(2002) and the International Journal of Heat and Mass 
Transfer (2001) 
END MEMO PUBLICATIONS: 
START MEMO SPEC-CONSID: 
Dietary or medical considerations: None 
Smoker/non-smoker:  Non-smoker 
 
 
END MEMO SPEC-CONSID: 
FIRST-LANG: French 
ENGL-READ: 5 
ENGL-SPEAK: 5 
ENGL-COMP: 5 
START OTHER-LANGS: 
OTHER-LANG: English 
OTHER-LANG-ID: EN 
READ: 3 
D: 3 
SPEAK: 3 
COMP: 3 
END OTHER-LANGS: 
START MEMO NOM-POST-OBJ: 
 
END MEMO NOM-POST-OBJ: 
START MEMO NOM-POST-RCMD: 
 
END MEMO NOM-POST-RCMD: 
START MEMO VIS-OBJ: 
 
END MEMO VIS-OBJ: 
START MEMO VIS-REC: 
 
END MEMO VIS-REC: 
NOMINATING-OFFICER: PAO Alyson Grunder 
START MEMO NOMINATING-JUSTIFICATION: 
Like many recent Algerian immigrants to Canada, Ahmed 
Mahidjiba's academic achievements are impressive.  Since 
arriving in Montreal nine years ago, Ahmed has completed a 
Masters and a PhD in fluid mechanics and aerothermics at 
Montreal's prestigious  ole Polytechnique.  He is 
completing another PhD at the Universit du Qubec 
Montral in the sociology of immigration and ethnic 
relations. Mahidjiba's day job is with Ouranos, Quebec's 
center on climate research, where he is presently developing 
a digital model dealing with climate and atmospheric 
problems.  But equally as important for the Consulate, Ahmed 
is the President and a founding member of the Algerian 
Cultural Center in Montreal. 
l. 
Montreal's Algerian community is young and growing, 
numbering about 30,000 according to most estimates.  Because 
of restricted immigration policies in Europe and the Quebec 
government's policy goal that at least 50 percent of 
immigrants to the province be native French speakers, 
Montreal's North African population will continue to 
increase in the coming years.  Mahidjiba has helped the 
Algerian Cultural Center become the main information source 
for Algerian immigrants before and after they arrive to 
Canada.  The CCA, which receives funding from the Quebec 
government, helps immigrants looking for jobs, it provides 
training in technical fields and helps less-educated 
immigrants integrate into Quebec society.  The CCA also 
houses a radio station available on the internet and a 
newspaper, l' an. 
Open-minded, very articulate and committed to opening doors 
for his fellow immigrants in the Maghrebian community, 
Mahidjiba is a powerful example for younger Muslims and Arab- 
Canadians in Montreal.  His high educational achievements 
and his devotion to community service make him someone that 
people both inside and outside his ethnic group look to for 
advice.  Mahidjiba has virtually no exposure to the U.S. (he 
transited a U.S. airport once).   For his IVLP program, 
Mahidjiba would like to concentrate on issues related to 
Muslim/Arab integration in the U.S., and U.S. policies 
toward the Muslim world.  He would also appreciate and 
benefit from several meetings related to U.S. policies - and 
scientific perspectives - on climate change. 
 
 
 
END MEMO NOMINATING-JUSTIFICATION: 
NOM-OFF: ConGen  Montreal 
SPEAKER?: No 
NOTIFY-EMB: No 
MEDIA?: No 
HOME-STAY: No 
HOME-HOSP?: Yes 
E-I-TYPE: INTERPRETER 
NOMINEE-ID: 511 
PERSON-ID: 393 
BIRTH-CNTRY-ID: AG 
CITIZ-CNTRY-ID: CA 
RES-CNTRY-ID: CA 
FIRST-LANG-ID: FR 
E-I-TYPE-ID: I 
NOM-POST-ID: 6540 
NOM-FUNDING-CNTRY-ID: 322158 
NOM-STATUS: N 
DS2019-ACTION: 1 
DS2019-SUBJECT: 13.0202 
SPONS-FUNDS: 0 
SPONS-AGENCY1: 
USGOVT-AGENCY1: 
US-AGENCY-AMT1: 0 
USGOVT-AGENCY2: 
US-AGENCY-AMT2: 0 
INTL-ORG1: 
INTL-ORG-AMOUNT1: 0 
INTL-ORG2: 
INTL-ORG-AMOUNT2: 0 
VIS-GOVT-AMT: 0 
COMMISSION: 0 
OTHER-AMOUNT: 0 
VIS-AMOUNT: 0 
VIS-CAT: 5 
END BIO: 
END NOMINATION: 
END FIXED-FORMAT TEXT: 
 
DICKSON, CHARGE