NEWS RELEASES

August 30, 2001 (9:00 a.m. EDT) No. 126

APPOINTMENTS TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF

EXPORT DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew today announced the appointments of Leonard J. Edwards, J. Bernard Boudreau and Jonathan T. Fried to the Board of Directors of Export Development Corporation (EDC).

Mr. Edwards was appointed Deputy Minister for International Trade by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in June 2001. In this capacity, he will also serve as a director of EDC.

Mr. Edwards joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1969 and has held various positions in Canada and abroad, including posts in Saigon, Hanoi and Ankara, and with the NATO Secretariat in Brussels and the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in Geneva. From 1991 to 1994, he served as Ambassador to the Republic of Korea and from 1997 to 2001 as Ambassador to Japan. In Ottawa he served as Assistant Deputy Minister for Asia Pacific from 1994 to 1996, then as Assistant Deputy Minister for Trade and Economic Policy. Mr. Edwards earned a BA in History in 1967 and an MA in History in 1969 at the University of Saskatchewan.

Mr. Boudreau resides in Halifax and has had an extensive career in law and politics. He received a Bachelor of Arts from St. Francis Xavier University in 1968. A senior partner with the firm of Boudreau, Beaton & LaFosse from 1975 to 1987, Mr. Boudreau also served as President of the Cape Breton Barrister's Society during that time. He was elected to the Nova Scotia Legislature in September 1988 and held responsibilities as Minister of Finance, Minister of Health and Chair of the Cabinet Planning and Priorities Committee.

From 1997 to 1999 Mr. Boudreau held the positions of Counsel to the Atlantic Canadian law firm of McInnis, Cooper, and Robertson and Vice-President of Medcan Health Management Inc. In October 1999 he was appointed Leader of the Government in the Senate of Canada, Minister responsible for Nova Scotia and subsequently, Minister of State, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). He resigned from the Senate in October 2000, and as Minister of State for ACOA in January 2001. Mr. Boudreau is currently President and CEO of EnverVision Incorporated and a director of a number of Canadian companies.

Jonathan Fried is the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister for the Department of Finance and Canada's deputy for the G-7. Prior to this, Mr. Fried was the Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade, Economic and Environmental Policy at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He has held various other positions with the Department, including Director General of the General Trade Policy Bureau and Co-ordinator for the North American Free Trade Agreement. He has also served abroad as Counsellor for Congressional and Legal Affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and as a legal counsellor at the Canadian Embassy in Brazil.

Mr. Fried received his BA and LLB from the University of Toronto and his LLM from Columbia University. He is a member of the bar of Alberta.

EDC is a Crown corporation that operates as a commercial financial institution and, since 1944, has helped Canadian businesses grow and prosper through exports and international investment. EDC's trade and finance solutions help Canadian firms compete in more than 200 countries, including emerging and higher-risk markets.

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For further information, media representatives may contact:

Sébastien Théberge

Office of the Minister for International Trade

(613) 992-7332

Media Relations Office

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

(613) 995-1874