Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew today announced the following diplomatic
appointments:
Joseph Caron becomes Ambassador to Japan.
Timothy Coughlin becomes Consul General in Guangzhou (People’s Republic of
China).
Alvin Curling becomes Ambassador to the Dominican Republic.
Louis-Robert Daigle becomes Ambassador to Burkina Faso.
Abina Dann becomes Ambassador to Ukraine.
Roxanne Dubé becomes Ambassador to the Republic of Zimbabwe, with concurrent
accreditation to the Republic of Angola.
Michael Leir becomes High Commissioner to Australia, with concurrent accreditation to
the Solomon Islands, and Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia.
Gabriel-M. Lessard becomes Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Robert McDougall becomes Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro.
David Summers becomes High Commissioner to Malaysia.
Renata Wielgosz becomes Ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Robert Wright becomes Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, with
concurrent accreditation to Mongolia.
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Biographical notes on the appointees are attached.
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Sébastien Théberge
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851
Joseph Caron (BA, Honours [Political Science], University of Ottawa, 1970) joined the
Trade Commissioner Service in 1972, and was assigned to Saigon and Ankara. In
1975, he began Japanese language studies, and subsequently was posted three times
to the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, including as Minister and Head of Chancery.
During the 1980s he undertook private-sector assignments involving China, Hong Kong,
Korea and Taiwan. In Ottawa, he has held several positions related to Asian and
international economic affairs, including G7 Summitry. He became Assistant Deputy
Minister for Asia Pacific and Africa in 1998. Concurrently, Mr. Caron served as
Canada’s Senior Official for APEC. Since 2001, he has been Canada’s Ambassador to
China, Mongolia and to North Korea. He is married to Kumru Caron and they have
three children. Mr. Caron succeeds Robert Wright.
Timothy Coughlin (enrl. MPA, Dalhousie University) was most recently Director
General of Client Relations and Business Management, Information Technology
Branch, with the Canada Revenue Agency. He began his public service career with the
Department of National Defence in 1986 after having worked in private industry. He
subsequently joined Customs and Excise in 1990. During the 1990s he worked in
Ottawa as Senior Branch Advisor and Assistant Director in Customs and Trade
Administration. He later served as Assistant Director at the Edmonton Tax Services
Office. In Vancouver, B.C., he was Chief, Systems Operations, and then in 1998 he
became Director, Information Technology Services, Pacific Region. He returned to
Ottawa and was appointed to the position of director general in 2001. He is married to
Jullia Lin-Coughlin and they have three daughters. Timothy Coughlin succeeds
Jim Feir.
Alvin Curling (Business Administration Diploma, University of Technology in Jamaica,
1961; Municipal Administration Diploma, Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology,
1972; Honorary DLitt [Letters], University of Technology in Jamaica, 2004). First elected
in 1985 to the Ontario legislature as the Member of Provincial Parliament for
Scarborough-Rouge River, he served as Minister of Housing, Minister of Skills
Development, Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier and Minister of Intergovernmental
Affairs. As a member of Ontario’s official opposition, Mr. Curling served in numerous
positions including Deputy Opposition House Leader, Deputy Whip, as well as critic for
Training and Skills Development, the Solicitor General and Human Rights. Most
recently, he was honoured by the Government of Jamaica with the Order of Distinction,
at the rank of Commander. Mr. Curling most recently served as Speaker of the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He succeeds Adam Blackwell.
Louis-Robert Daigle (BSS, Université Laval, 1976) joined the Department of External
Affairs in 1976 and served abroad in Port-au-Prince, Brussels (NATO), Yaoundé,
Dakar, Nairobi and Kigali. He also performed temporary duty at the United Nations in
New York and Kinshasa. In Ottawa, he served with the Central America and Caribbean
Division, Eastern Europe Division, Corporate Planning Division, Defense Relations
Division and twice with the West and Central Africa Division. Additionally, Mr. Daigle
served as Great Lakes Political Counsellor, Special Advisor to the Africa Bureau and
Special Advisor to the Commander of the UN Multilateral Interim Force in Haiti. He
currently serves as Canada’s High Commissioner to Mozambique in Maputo. Mr. Daigle
is married to Catherine and they have two sons in addition to his own two daughters.
Louis-Robert Daigle succeeds Denis Briand.
Abina Dann (BA [Political Science & History], McGill University, 1974; MA [Canadian
Politics & International Relations], Carleton University, 1980). Since 1980, when she
joined the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce, she has served abroad as
Trade Commissioner in Sao Paulo, The Hague and New York. She opened the
Canadian Government Trade Office in Mumbai, India, in 1986. In Ottawa, she served
the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade as Deputy Director of the
Media Relations Office, Director of the Foreign Policy Communications Division and
Director for Communications and Media for the 2001 Summit of the Americas. She
served as Press Secretary to both the Minister for International Trade and the Secretary
of State for External Affairs, and acted as Official Departmental Spokesperson. She
was also an International Fellow at Harvard University Weatherhead Center for
International Affairs. More recently, she was Director of the department’s European
Business Development and Connectivity Division. Ms. Dann succeeds
Andrew Robinson.
Roxanne Dubé (MA [Political Science] University of Ottawa, 1988) took up her career
in politics in 1988 as Legislative Assistant to Lloyd Axworthy while he served as Official
Critic for Foreign Affairs. Ms. Dubé continued to work for Mr. Axworthy as his legislative,
Cabinet and federal and provincial relations assistant as he moved from Minister of
Human Resources Development, in 1993, to Minister of Foreign Affairs, three years
later. Within the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, she has served
as Director, Relations with Parliament and Cabinet, Director and now Acting Senior
Coordinator of Federal-Provincial and Territorial Relations. Ms. Dubé and her husband
Germano have two sons, Jean and Marc. Roxanne Dubé succeeds John Schram.
Michael Leir (BA, LLB, Dalhousie University, 1971, 1974, LLM [International Law]
University of London, 1975) joined the Department of External Affairs in 1976. He has
served abroad in Washington, Singapore and Geneva. In Ottawa, he has held the
positions of Assistant General Counsel, Trade Negotiations Office; Director and Legal
Advisor, Legal Advisory Division; Director General, United States Bureau. He currently
serves as Canada’s Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey in Ankara with accreditation
to Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Michael Leir succeeds Jean T. Fournier.
Gabriel-M. Lessard (MA [International Relations] Université Laval, 1975) joined the
Department of External Affairs in 1972 and has since served abroad in Hanoi, Dakar,
Abidjan and Berne. From 1977 to 1980, while on leave from the government, he worked
for Alcan Aluminium in Aix-en-Provence, covering Africa and the Middle East. He
attended the London Executive Program of the London Business School in 1980. He
served as Canada’s Ambassador to Ethiopia from 1995 to 1998. In Ottawa, he has
worked in the fields of human rights, Israeli-Arab relations, personnel management and
the United Nations. He has served as Director of African Francophone Relations within
the West and Central Africa Division, and Director of the Francophonie Affairs Division,
from which he is currently on leave to act as Deputy Executive Director, International
Assessment Staff, at the Privy Council Office. Mr. Lessard is married to Corinne Paollilo
and they have two sons, Cédric and Hadrien. Gabriel-M. Lessard succeeds
Richard Lecoq.
Robert McDougall (BA [History] University of Victoria, 1973) joined the Department of
External Affairs in 1973 and has served abroad in Tokyo, Brussels, New York, Beijing,
Hong Kong and Washington. In Ottawa he has served as Deputy Director, North Asia
Relations Division, and Director, International Economic Relations Division, among
other positions, and was Chair of the Missile Technology Control Regime from 2001 to
2002. He currently serves as Director of the Non-proliferation, Arms Control and
Disarmament Division. Mr. McDougall is married to Cathrine Lowther. He succeeds
Donald McLennan.
David Summers (BA [Political Science] Carleton University, 1969) Mr. Summers
worked as a market analyst with the Department of Supply and Services before joining
the Department of External Affairs in 1974. He has served abroad in Tokyo, Milan,
Ankara, Bangkok and New Delhi. In Ottawa, he has served as Deputy Director of both
the Western Europe, Trade Development Division and the Export Finance and Capital
Projects Division, Senior Advisor and Coordinator of the Trade Advisory Committees
Secretariat, and Director of the Korea and Oceania Division. Mr. Summers currently
serves as Acting Director General of the Market Development Bureau. His wife is
Barbara. David Summers succeeds Melvyn MacDonald.
Renata Wielgosz (PhD [Political Science] York University, 1985) joined the Department
of External Affairs in August of 1982 as a career foreign service officer in the
political/economic stream and has since served abroad at the Canadian Mission to the
United Nations in New York, in New Delhi and in Prague. She also served as Deputy
Head of Mission at the Canadian Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS)
in Washington, where she was directly involved in the June 2000 OAS General
Assembly hosted by Canada in Windsor as well as the April 2001 Summit of the
Americas in Quebec City. In Ottawa, Ms. Wielgosz has served as Desk Officer for the
USSR, and for Poland, Czechoslovakia and East Germany in the USSR and Eastern
Europe Relations Division; as Departmental Officer in the Office of the Minister of
External Affairs (twice); as Departmental Officer in the Management Secretariat; as
Desk Officer for Multilateral Energy Issues in the Energy and Environment Division; and
as Deputy Director of the South America and Inter-American Affairs Division. She
currently serves as Director of the Inter-American Affairs Division. Renata Wielgosz
succeeds Allan Culham.
Robert Wright (BSc McGill University, 1968) began his career with the federal
government in 1971 as a trade policy officer in the Department of Industry, Trade and
Commerce. Thereafter he was posted to Geneva as a member of the Canadian
Delegation to the Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. In 1980, he returned
to Ottawa as Chief of the Western Europe Division, and then Director of the Pacific
Trade Relations Division. In 1982, he served as Director of the GATT Division in the
newly formed Department of External Affairs and International Trade. In 1985, he was
appointed Deputy Head of the Canadian Delegation to the Uruguay Round in Geneva.
He returned to Ottawa in 1991 as Director General of the U.S. Bureau. From 1993 to
1995, Mr. Wright served at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., as Minister
(Economic) and as Deputy Head of Mission. From 1995 to 2001, he served as Deputy
Minister for International Trade. In this capacity, Mr. Wright was also a Director of the
Export Development Corporation and Commissioner of the Northern Pipeline Agency.
Mr. Wright has served as Ambassador of Canada to Japan since June 2001. Mr. Wright
and his wife, Carol Smith Wright, have two adult daughters. Robert Wright succeeds
Joseph Caron.
