June 11, 1999 (4:15 p.m. EDT) No. 140

MINISTERS CONGRATULATE 1999 FOREIGN SERVICE

AWARD WINNERS

Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, International Trade Minister Sergio Marchi, and Citizenship and Immigration Minister Lucienne Robillard today congratulated the five winners of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers' 1999 Canadian Foreign Service Officer Awards.

Kathryn Aleong, Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C., received an award for an exceptional record in promoting Canadian environmental services and technologies in the U.S. market, leading to enhanced levels of trade, investment and business partnerships; for her creation, development and implementation of the US Environmental Market Newsletter, which attracted 1000 subscribers; and for her pivotal role in the staging of the highly successful, first-ever Canada-United States Businesswomen's Trade Summit.

Éloi Arsenault, Canadian Embassy, Paris, France, received an award recognizing that over a career of more than 25 years, he has been the embodiment of all the qualities that make up the ideal Foreign Service Officer in the immigration field, exhibiting strong leadership qualities, impeccable judgment about people and issues, and the highest standards of integrity, while at the same time always keeping Canada's interests at heart.

Don Myatt and Jim Bissett, Business Immigration Program, received a joint award for their remarkable achievement in building an integrated and effective Division with limited resources during a rigorous downsizing period, from a group of persons of widely differing backgrounds and skills, and thereafter going on to design and launch a new immigrant investor program that has found acceptance from federal, provincial and private-sector interests alike.

Shelley Whiting, Canadian Embassy, Bangkok, Thailand, received an award for her outstanding performance in securing support for the Anti-Personnel Mines Convention in Thailand and Laos, and for her dedication to Canada and Canadians by spearheading the efforts in locating and recovering the remains of six Canadian airmen who died in a plane crash in northern Burma in the final days of the Second World War.

The Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) is the official bargaining agent for Foreign Service Officers. PAFSO maintains a deep commitment to diplomacy and foreign policy issues, and to the foreign service as a profession. The Canadian Foreign Service Officer Awards were instituted in 1990 by PAFSO to acknowledge exceptional achievements by career Foreign Service Officers.

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For further information, media representatives may contact:

Debora Brown

Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

(613) 995-1851

Leslie Swartman

Office of the Minister for International Trade

(613) 992-7332

Eric Tetrault

Citizenship and Immigration Canada

(613) 954-1064

Media Relations Office

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

(613) 995-1874

This document is also available on the Web site of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade: http://dfait-maeci.gc.ca