The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic
Canada Opportunities Agency, today announced the following diplomatic appointments:
Stéphanie Allard-Gomez becomes Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador.
Bertrand Desjardins becomes Consul General in Monterrey (the United Mexican
States).
David Hutchings becomes Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Denis Kingsley becomes High Commissioner to Jamaica.
Neil LeBlanc becomes Consul General in Boston (the United States of America).
David Malone becomes High Commissioner to the Republic of India, with concurrent
accreditation as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bhutan.
Marie-Isabelle Massip becomes Ambassador to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, with
concurrent accreditation to the Republic of Benin.
James Wright becomes High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland.
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Biographical notes on the appointees are attached.
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874 http://www.international.gc.ca
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Stéphanie Allard-Gomez (BA [Economics], Université de Montréal, 1992; Certificate in
Russian Studies, Université de Montréal, 1993) joined the Department of Foreign
Affairs and International Trade in 1993. She has since served abroad in Guatemala,
Moscow, Bogota, and more recently in Milan as Consul and Senior Trade
Commissioner. In Canada, she has held many positions such as Trade Commissioner
for International Organizations Procurement and Latin America at the Montreal
International Trade Centre, and Director, Executive Assignments Division in Ottawa.
She is currently coordinator for the Canadian media at the 2006 G8 Summit in St.
Petersburg, Russia. Mrs. Allard-Gomez has a daughter named Raphaële. Stéphanie
Allard-Gomez succeeds Gwyneth Kutz.
Bertrand Desjardins (MBA, University of Moncton, 1981) joined the Department of
External Affairs in 1981 through an internship as a commerce officer, and became a
rotational foreign service officer in 1986. He has been posted abroad to Lyons,
Bangkok, Ankara and Cairo. At Headquarters, he has served as Deputy Director, and
subsequently Deputy Senior Advisor, Trade Coordination/Advisory Committees
Secretariat, and Deputy Director and Editor-in-Chief, Departmental Magazines,
Communications Services Division. Mr. Desjardins currently serves as Deputy Director
for Mexico Commercial Relations. He is married to Gaetane Desjardins and they have
three children. Bertrand Desjardins succeeds Robert Langlois.
David Hutchings (BA Honours, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1972; LTCL,
Trinity College of Music in London, 1973; MA, Université Laval, 1975; MPA, Carleton
University, 1980) has most recently been Chargé d’affaires at the Embassy of Canada
in Sudan. He had previously been Deputy Head of Mission in Cairo, and also served
abroad at Canadian embassies in Seoul, Riyadh, Moscow and Bonn. At Headquarters,
he has held desk positions with responsibility for bilateral aviation negotiations and the
OECD; he has been Deputy Director, Eastern and Central Europe Relations, as well as
Coordinator, Middle East Peace Process. Before joining the Foreign Service,
Mr. Hutchings held positions at the National Capital Commission, Health Canada,
Canadian Heritage and the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. Mr. Hutchings is
married to Mary Scofield Anders, and they have one son. David Hutchings succeeds
Shelley Whiting.
Denis Kingsley (BComm, University of Ottawa) began his career in the Public Service
in 1982, and since then has worked with various central agencies and departments
such as the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency,
the Transportation Safety Board, the Immigration and Refugee Board and the Canadian
International Development Agency, where he was Director General responsible for the
Sahel and Côte d’Ivoire Programme, Africa and Middle East Branch. In 2003, he
assumed his current duties as Vice-President of the Human Resources and Corporate
Services Branch, which include the role of Senior Financial Officer for CIDA and
membership in the Agency Executive Committee. Mr. Kingsley and his wife, Jo-Ann,
have two daughters, Julie and Marie-Andrée. Denis Kingsley succeeds Claudio Valle.
Neil LeBlanc (BComm, St. Mary’s University, 1977) was elected as Member of the
Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly for the riding of Argyle in 1984, becoming one of the
youngest members to be elected to the Nova Scotia legislature. In 1988, he was named
Solicitor General, becoming one of Nova Scotia’s youngest cabinet ministers. In the
early 1990s, he also served as Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Sport and
Recreation Commission and Minister of Government Services. Re-elected in 1998, he
went on to become Minister of Finance, Minister of Business and Consumer Services,
as well as Minister responsible for Acadian Affairs and President of the Association des
parlementaires français. In 2003, after 14 years as an MLA and eight and a half years
as a cabinet minister, Mr. LeBlanc left to assume his new duties as the Chief
Administrative Officer of the Municipality of the District of Argyle. He and his wife,
Grace, have two sons, Jordan and Shawn, and one daughter, Monique. Neil LeBlanc
succeeds Stan Keyes.
David Malone (BA, Université de Montréal, 1975; Graduate Studies, Linguistics,
American University in Cairo, 1976-77; MPA, Harvard University, 1982; DPhil, Oxford
University, 1997) is a career foreign service officer who has served in Egypt, Kuwait and
Jordan. From 1990 to 1992, he represented Canada on the UN’s Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) and related bodies. From 1992 to 1994, he was Ambassador and
Deputy Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations. From 1994 to
1998 he was, successively, Director General of the Policy, International Organizations
and Global Issues Bureaus of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade. From 1998 to 2004, he was President of the International Peace Academy, an
independent research and policy development institution in New York. After serving as
Assistant Deputy Minister (Africa and Middle East) from September 2004 to January
2005, he was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister (Global Issues) at Foreign Affairs
Canada. David Malone succeeds Lucie Edwards.
Marie-Isabelle Massip (BA, Collège Marie de France, 1965; MLitt [Classics], Université
de Montréal, 1969) joined the Department of External Affairs in 1973. She has since
been posted to New York, Islamabad, Tokyo, and, in 1993, as Canada’s Ambassador
to Finland. In Ottawa, Ms. Massip served with the Export Development and Finance
Division from 1977 to 1981; as Deputy Director, Nuclear Affairs Division from 1984 to
1987; as Ombudsman at the Office of the Ombudsman from 1997 to 2000; and as
Director, Regional Security and Peacekeeping from 2000 to 2002. Currently, she serves
as Director of the United Nations and Commonwealth Affairs Division. Isabelle Massip
succeeds Michèle Lévesque.
James Wright (BA, McGill University, 1972; MA (without thesis), McGill University,
1973) joined the Public Service in 1976, serving first with the Department of Agriculture
as an economist specializing in trade policy, and subsequently with the Department of
External Affairs as a foreign service officer. He has served abroad in Moscow,
Washington and London. At Headquarters, he has served as Japan Desk Officer,
Pacific Division; Press Officer, Press Office; Soviet Desk Officer, Eastern European
Division; Deputy Director and then Director, Political/Economic and Social Affairs
Personnel Division; and Director General, Central and Eastern Europe Bureau.
Currently, Mr. Wright is Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security Branch, and
Political Director. He is married to Donna Thomson, with a son, Nicholas, and daughter,
Natalie. James Wright succeeds Mel Cappe.
