Robert Hage was born in Calgary, Alberta and received his early education there. He is a graduate of the University of Calgary and obtained law degrees from the Universities of Toronto, (LL.B) and London, England (LL.M) and is called to the Alberta Bar.

He also attended the École Nationale d'Administration (ENA) in Paris. Mr. Hage joined the Department of External Affairs in 1972 and subsequently served in Canadian Embassies in Washington, Lagos, Paris and as Deputy Head of Mission in the Canadian Mission to the European Union in Brussels.

With the Department in Ottawa, Mr. Hage has been Director of Legal Operations Division, Director of International Financial and Investment Affairs, Director for Southern Europe Division and Director for the European Union Division and Director General of the Legal Affairs Bureau. He was also Principal Counsel for the Canada-USA Free Trade Agreement and Alternate Representative for Canada to the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea.


1. When did you arrive in Hungary and what brought you here?
I was appointed by the Canadian Government and arrived in August 2001.

2. Have you ever been an expatriate elsewhere?
I have lived in the UK, USA, Nigeria, France and Belgium.

3. What surprised you most about Hungary?
Budapest at night--beautiful.

4. Friends are in Budapest for a weekend - what must they absolutely see and do?
The Castle Area, the Great Synagogue, the Chain Bridge and Andrássy Blvd. and the Szechényi baths.

5. What is your favourite Hungarian food?
Transylvanian stuffed cabbage.

6. What is never missing from your refrigerator?
Beer and butter.

7.What is your favourite Hungarian word?
Kicsi

8. What do you miss most from home?
Our daughters

9. What career other than yours would you love to pursue?
Being an organist.

10. What's a job you would definitely never want?
An exterminator.

11. Where did you spend your last vacation?
Greece

12. Where do you hope to spend your next holiday?
Croatia

13. What was your favourite band, film, or hobby as a teen?
I was never a teenager.

14. What can't you resist?
My wife.

15. Red wine or white?
Red

16. Book or movie?
Book

17. Morning person or night person?
Night

18. Dog person or cat person?
Dog (we have the best, a Labrador)

19. Buda or Pest side?
Buda, where I live and work.

20. What would you say is your personal motto?
Quieta non movere (Don't Rock the Boat)