Global Connections: Connect Canada and the Ivory Coast?

Connecting the world

When you mention two countries as different as Canada and Ivory Coast, you wouldn't naturally think that they have much in common. But if you stretch your mind a little bit and think a tad bit harder, you would be surprised to learn they're much more similar than you think.

What do you know about Canada?
We've chosen Canada and the Ivory Coast as our fifth set of countries in a segment on CNN International's "Connect the World," that we're calling "Global Connections." Canada is renowned for being one of the most multicultural places on earth and having some of the friendliest people. The country is also famed for its love of hockey, frigid temperatures during winter and vast stretches of wilderness.The country is also well-known for being one of the world's leading economic powers and the cities of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are consistently ranked as some of the most livable cities in the world.

The west African country of the Ivory Coast on the other hand has a much less stellar reputation.The Ivory Coast, or Republic of Côte d'Ivoire as it is officially known, has just over 20 million people and is unfortunately, more well-known its tumultuous history with civil war.

So what on earth could the connections between these two countries possibly be?

I have been told that a Canadian diplomat named Cloutier was able to keep the country's warring factions from each other's throats until he had to leave.