NEWS RELEASES

November 25, 2005 (10:30 a.m. EST)
No. 237

DIPLOMATIC APPOINTMENTS

Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew today announced the following diplomatic appointments:

Christian Lapointe becomes Ambassador to the Republic of Ecuador.

Barbara Richardson becomes High Commissioner to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

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Biographical notes on the appointees are attached.

For further information, media representatives may contact:

James Christoff
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851

Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs Canada
(613) 995-1874
http://www.international.gc.ca

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Christian Lapointe (BSocSc [Political Science], University of Ottawa, 1977) joined the Public Service in 1978, working for the Canadian International Development Agency as a resource officer with the Professional Services Division and as a project officer with the Americas Branch, and for the Treasury Board as a liaison officer. Mr. Lapointe’s first Foreign Service posting was in 1984, to Bamako, where he served in a number of capacities including as Consul. He also later served in Havana and Paris. In Ottawa, he worked in various positions including Deputy Director of the Inter-American Program (CIDA); the Agri-Food, Fisheries & Resources Division; and the South America Division. He currently serves as Director of the Caribbean and Central America and Andean Region Division. Christian Lapointe succeeds Brian Oak.

Barbara Richardson (BA, University of Alberta, 1972) began her career in the Public Service in 1984 with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, where she served as Public Program Consultant and Special Project Manager before joining the Department of External Affairs and International Trade in 1989. Over the next three years, Ms. Richardson would serve as Strategic Planner with the Corporate Management Bureau as well as with the Corporate Review Implementation Team, and as a policy analyst with the Personnel Branch. In 1991, she moved to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, where she served as Deputy Director for Planning and Analysis, International Service Group; Visa Officer at the Canadian Embassy in the Philippines; and Director of the Access to Information and Privacy Division. Rejoining the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1999, Ms. Richardson served as Director of the Access to Information and Privacy Division. She has most recently held the position of Counsellor (Political) and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and to the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UN-HABITAT), at the High Commission to Kenya, in Nairobi. She succeeds David Sproule.