July 17, 1998 No. 174

CANADA NOMINATES ROY MACLAREN FOR POSITION OF

WTO DIRECTOR GENERAL

International Trade Minister Marchi Sergio Marchi today announced the Government of Canada's nomination of the Honourable Roy MacLaren for the position of Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"Mr. MacLaren's credentials as a free trader are impeccable and he is eminently qualified for the job," said Mr. Marchi.

Mr. MacLaren is currently Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He is well known to members of the WTO for his distinguished career as Canada's Minister for International Trade from 1993 to 1996.

"The change in the WTO's leadership happens on the eve of important renewed negotiations in the areas of agriculture and services," said Minister Marchi. "Mr. MacLaren has the proven skills needed to forge consensus between developed and developing countries, and to lead the WTO in addressing a challenging agenda."

The WTO's current Director General, Renato Ruggiero, will step down from his post on April 30, 1999. The deadline for the nomination of candidates is October 1, 1998, and a decision is expected to be made by consensus before the end of this year.

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A biography of Mr. MacLaren is attached.

For further information, media representatives may contact:

Leslie Swartman

Office of the Minister for International Trade

(613) 992-7332

Media Relations Office

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

(613) 995-1874

This document is also available on the Department's Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca

THE HONOURABLE ROY MACLAREN, P.C.

1996 - High Commissioner for Canada to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

1993-1996 Minister for International Trade, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (negotiated final stages of the NAFTA and the Uruguay Round of the GATT)

1988-1993 Opposition Critic for Trade and

Chairman, Liberal Caucus Economic Policy Committee

1984 Minister for National Revenue

1983 Minister of State (Finance)

1980-1982 Parliamentary Secretary for Energy, Mines and Resources (with responsibilities for environment)

1988-1996 Member of Parliament

1979-1984

1984-1993 Director, Deutsche Bank (Canada) Ltd.;

London Insurance Group;

Royal LePage Ltd.

1977-1983 President and Publisher, CB Media Ltd.

1974-1977 President, Ogilvy Mather (Canada) Ltd.

1969-1974 Director, Public Affairs, Massey Ferguson Ltd.

Canadian Foreign Service

1968-1969 Ottawa (with responsibilities for developing countries)

1964-1968 United Nations, New York and Geneva (responsible for economic affairs at the Canadian Mission and delegate to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

1959-1960 Canadian Legation, Prague

1958-1959 International Supervision and Control Commission, Hanoi and Saigon

1957 Master of Arts, Cambridge University

1958 Bachelor of Arts, University of British Columbia

1973 Advanced Management Program, Harvard University

1991 Master of Divinity, University of Toronto

Doctor of Sacred Letters (honoris causa) University of Toronto

Honorary Colonel, 7th Toronto Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery

Publications

African Exploits: The Diaries of William Stairs, 1885-1892

(McGill-Queen's University Press, 1998)

Honourable Mentions (Deneau Publishers, 1986)

Canadians Behind Enemy Lines 1939-1945 (University of British Columbia Press, 1981)

Canadians on the Nile 1882-1898 (1978)

Canadians in Russia 1918-1919 (1976)

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1934, Mr. MacLaren is married to Aletha Mitchell and they have three children.