Biography – Lt.Col.-Rtd Jamie Robertson

Biography – Lt.Col.(Rtd) Jamie Robertson, CD


Lt.Col.(Rtd) Jamie Robertson, CD retired from the Canadian Forces in 2009 after 20 years service, where he served in the public affairs arena in a variety of North American and overseas assignments.

He has a degree in Journalism from Ryerson University, and Masters Certificates in Project Management from Carleton University and Executive Leadership from Georgetown University. He’s earned a total of nine (9) awards for his Public Relations accomplishments over the years.

He worked at the British Foreign Office from 1978 to 1983. In 1988, he was a Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) Journalist (writer at the National) before joining the Canadian Forces as a public affairs officer.

His early Canadian Forces public affairs assignments included:  1) Qatar during the first Gulf War,  2) the 1991 UN's World Food Programme (WFP) humanitarian food relief effort to Ethiopia. This effort started with three (3) Canadian Air Force Hercules transports delivering food aid from Djibouti’s airport to all over Ethiopia. These transports had to land on bombed-out runways, because no airfields were left untouched by the recently ended Ethiopian civil war, 3) editor from 1993 thru 1994 of Sentinel, the magazine of the Canadian Forces.  During his successful editorship, he earned two national awards for writing as well as for layout and design, and  4) service in the Canadian named “Operation HARMONY” in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1994 thru 1995. He had been active on the internet and the World Wide Web since 1993 and had used both as a key part of his successful early public affairs assignments. As a result of his successful performance, he earned rapid advancement from second lieutenant to major in the Canadian Forces in seven (7) years.



In July 1997, he arrived at NORAD as the Deputy for Public Affairs. He was the NORAD spokesperson from 1997 to 2001, where he created the six-language NORAD Tracks Santa Claus website which now receives more than a billion hits each Christmas Eve. In 1998, Major Robertson received recognition and awards for extending the NORAD Tracks Santa program to the internet and the World Wide Web, such as the NORAD Deputy Commander in Chief (at that time Lt-Gen Lou Cuppens, CF) Award of Excellence and an Award of Merit from Naturally Santa, Inc.



In 1999, the NORAD Tracks Santa website and program received more than 45 international Internet awards for website excellence, such as the 1998 NORAD Tracks Santa Claus website winning the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) Bronze Anvil Certificate of Commendation for the best website. In addition to the several American awards, such as the USA Today Hotsite award, ABC News.Com Site of the Week, awards were received from Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Japan. The worldwide recognition included the Medaille d’Or Award from France and the Web Academy Award from Britain -- two of the Internet’s most highly prized awards.

He was also a key part of the Y2K (Year 2000) Crisis Communication team which won the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Award of Excellence in 2000. In July 2001, then Major Robertson received a commendation award from the NORAD Deputy Commander in Chief, Lieutenant-General George C. MacDonald, CF. For more information on Lt.Col(Rtd) Robertson’s accomplishments while assigned to NORAD see the article section NORAD Chief Santa Trackers of Renown – Lt.Col.(Rtd) Jamie Robertson.

After his transfer from NORAD in 2001, he spent six (6) months at the US. Central Command’s Coalition Coordination Center (or “Coalition Village”) at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida with the Canadian Joint Task Force, Southwest Asia as senior Public Affairs Advisor to the Commander for all operations in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf. He was the only non-American Public Affairs officer amongst the 30 or so nations represented at the US. Central Command’s Coalition Coordination Center and was called upon to provide public affairs advice to the other national contingents. The Canadian national contingent was also the first national contingent to conduct media interviews in Tampa, Florida with the U.S media and other media, even before even before headquarters, US. Central Command itself did so.

The assignment at the US. Central Command’s Coalition Coordination Center was followed by being in charge of the Canadian Forces Pacific and Yukon Region - Public Affairs office in Vancouver, British Columbia until June 2003, handling outreach and other public affairs issues. He received a commendation from the Canadian Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Vice Admiral Madison) in 2003 for his career accomplishments. Major Jamie Robertson was then promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, based on his outstanding success as “Founding NORAD Chief Santa Tracker” at NORAD and in other assignments.



He was then posted to the Embassy of Canada in the United States, Washington, DC as Counselor for Military-Media Relations from July 2003 to July 2006. There he led advocacy and outreach efforts with U.S. Think Tanks, Capitol Hill, US. military public affairs counterparts, U.S. news media covering defense issues, and the Pentagon. He also created the “Boots on the Ground” marketing campaign on the Washington Metro system in 2005 and created the CanadianAlly website for an American audience.

After some additional follow-on assignments in the Canadian Forces or seconded from the Canadian Forces, his final Canadian Forces assignment was as spokesperson for the Department of National Defence and head of their Public Affairs Operations.

Following his retirement from the Canadian Forces in 2009, he first became the Communications and Outreach Director for the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). In this position, he was busy planning and executing high-profile media campaigns concerning effective police oversight. He was also busy establishing effective stakeholder relations, such as with Canadian First Nations communities and with Canadian municipalities (many of whom contract with the RCMP for policing services).

In September 2011, Lt.Col.(Rtd) Jamie Robertson, CD became the Director, Registry Operations for the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.