High Commission of Canada in Australia — Attraction in District of Canberra Central

For those who walk past the Canadian High Commission, here is the text from the informative plaque for the totem pole made by Clarence Mills. I hope the pole will remain at the High Commission after it's renovations are complete. Photo by peskiepete on Flickr. This totem pole was carved during World Expo '88 (in Brisbane) by Clarence Mills, a Haida Indian from the Queen Charlotte Islands. (now called Haida Gwaii.)

The carvings on the pole relate to Chief Skedans, one of the last survivors of the village of Skedans and grandfather of the carver. The chief is shown in front of the grizzly bear, his family's main crest. Above the bear a Haida moon, another of the chief's crests can be seen, and above that stands the raven with his long beak. Between the ears of the raven is the chief's wife. The wife and daughters of the chief wore an ornament inserted in their lower lip and this is illustrated in the representation of the chief's wife...

Extremely disappointed with the level of service provided by Canadian Immigration service. It has been impossible to get in touch with any representative — no contact numbers available, no active customer service, and emails go unanswered. I applied for a Canadian visit visa which was refused without clear communication, and despite urgent humanitarian reasons (including a family funeral), I have been struggling for weeks to reach someone for assistance.

This lack of communication and support during such a critical time is heartbreaking and unacceptable. If any representative of the Canadian High Commission in Australia actually exists or monitors these messages, I urge you to please respond. We urgently...

Answered on the second ring. They were proactive in helping us. I needed to travel urgently back to Canada and my passport and documents had been processed and were sitting waiting for dispatch for almost a week at another consulate because someone couldn’t work out how to print the waybill. I couldn’t call them and no one would return my emails. Travel was urgent and it looked like I would miss my flights. The agent who answered was fantastic and assisted us with getting through to someone at the other Consulate who could help and sort out the problem. I am very grateful as I am sure I would have missed my...