Biographical notes

Backgrounder

Behzad Babakhani (BSc, McGill University, 1992; LLB, University of Manitoba, 1996) practised law before joining the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1999. He has served at Headquarters in various positions, including as economic law officer, senior economic policy officer (APEC), and director (consular case support and children’s issues). He has also served as an executive in the Privy Council Office’s Afghanistan Task Force and received the 2011 Privy Council Office Award of Excellence. Abroad, he has had assignments in South Korea as second secretary (2001 to 2004), in Malaysia as counsellor and head of the political section (2006 to 2009) and, beginning in 2013, in Mexico, where he served as minister-counsellor and deputy head of mission. He is married to Sandra Jung and has two children, Arihan and Arisu.

Natasha Cayer (BSocSc [Political Science], University of Ottawa, 1992; MA [International Affairs], Carleton University, 1997) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1995, becoming a rotational officer in 1998. Ms. Cayer has previously represented Canada on postings in Brussels at the Joint Delegation of Canada to NATO (2000 to 2003) and on the NATO International Staff (2003 to 2007), in Paris, as deputy permanent delegate and chargé d’affaires at the Permanent Mission to UNESCO (2007 to 2011) and, most recently, at the Permanent Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna. Other overseas assignments include temporary duties in New York (1997) and Wellington (1998). In Ottawa, Ms. Cayer has served as senior advisor to the assistant deputy minister for international security and global issues (1999 to 2000), as deputy director for chemical and biological weapons in the Non-proliferation and Disarmament Division (2011 to 2013) and as advisor to National Defence’s Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (2013 to 2015). She is married to Alexandre and has two daughters, Margaux and Alexia.

Evelyne Coulombe (BSc [Civil Engineering], Montréal Polytechnic School, 1994; MSc Applied [Environment], McGill University, 1996; MBA [Strategic Management], University of British Columbia, 2000) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2002 after having worked in the private sector in Canada and abroad as a business strategy consultant and an engineering project manager. During her time at Headquarters, Ms. Coulombe was a policy officer in the Science Technology and Innovation Division and the South Asia Division, deputy director of the Southeast Asia and Pacific Division and, from 2014 to 2016, director of the Mission Support Division. Overseas postings included Hanoi from 2004 to 2007, where she served as first secretary (political). She also served as chargé d’affaires in Phnom Penh from 2008 to 2009 and in Guatemala City from 2010 to 2011. Her most recent posting was in Santiago as political counsellor from 2011 to 2014. She is married to Craig Grinham and has two children.

Joanne Frappier (BSc [Geography], Sherbrooke University, 1982; MSc [Geography], Sherbrooke University, 1985) joined Energy, Mines and Resources Canada in 1986. From 2011 to 2016, she was director general of the Planning, Operations and Information Branch of the Canadian Forest Service, where she led all corporate files and served as national correspondent and member of the Advisory Group to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on global forest resources assessments. In this position and others, Ms. Frappier developed policies, strong partnerships and collaborative initiatives in the areas of geomatics and natural resources information sharing and reporting within Canada and abroad. She has implemented numerous action plans that have led to increased visibility of, and access to, government scientific information, improved efficiency and effectiveness of government operations. Beginning in 2008, Ms. Frappier led a number of collaborative projects in Guatemala, Vietnam and Nepal on a volunteer basis. She is married to Albert Potvin and they have two children, Camille and Alexis Potvin.

Kevin Hamilton (BA [International Relations], University of British Columbia, 1998; MA [International Affairs], Carleton University, 2000) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1999. Since 2013, he has been director of the Eastern Europe and Eurasia Division, responsible for Canada’s political and trade relations with 19 European and Eurasian countries from the Western Balkans to Central Asia. From 2010 to 2013, Mr. Hamilton served as head of office in Lithuania, with concurrent accreditation in Estonia and Latvia. Prior to his appointment in Vilnius, Mr. Hamilton was head of the political section at the High Commission in the United Kingdom, serving as counsellor from 2007 to 2010. Before his posting in London, he was deputy director of the Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Group at Headquarters and from 2003 to 2006 was deputy director of the Policy Planning Staff, where he served concurrently as international security analyst and as chief advisor to Canada’s G8 political director. While at Headquarters, Mr. Hamilton also served in the Office of the Special Ambassador for Mine Action, the Non-proliferation and Disarmament Division, and the Western Balkans Directorate. Overseas, he has also served at Canada’s embassies in Tel Aviv and Sarajevo. He is married to Tal Elizabeth Hamilton, and they have two children, Sean and Sarah.

Stéphane Lessard (BCL, University of Montréal, 1986; LLM [Air and Space Law], McGill University, 1989; LLB, University of Ottawa, 1991; MBA, University of Western Ontario, 2000) practised commercial law in Montréal before joining the federal government at the Canadian Space Agency in 1993. There, he eventually became head of international relations, with oversight of all relationships with UN agencies and national and regional space agencies. In 2004, Mr. Lessard joined Foreign Affairs Canada as senior program manager in the Global Partnership Program. In 2006, he joined Health Canada, serving in executive positions in the Office of the Chief Scientist, the Strategic Policy Branch, the Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency. He is married to Raji Bansal. They have three children, Jasmine, Lana and Benjamin.

Anne-Tamara Lorre (BA [Culture and Communication], Paris 8 University, 1989; MA [Communication], University of Quebec at Montréal, 1991; PhD [International Communication], Concordia University / University of Quebec at Montréal / University of Montréal Joint Doctoral Program, 2001) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1998 after stints in the film industry and as a press attaché and several years in the world of academic research and non-governmental organizations (ORBICOM and the UNESCO-Bell Chair for Communications and International Development). In Ottawa, Ms. Lorre became head of secretariat of the Global Consular Forum, hosted by Global Affairs Canada’s Consular Policy Bureau, in 2015. Previously, she was deputy director, heads of mission and outreach programs at the Office of Protocol (2014 to 2015) and senior policy advisor on Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria in the Middle East Bureau (2003 to 2009). Postings overseas included Washington, as political advisor in the embassy’s congressional and legal affairs section (1999) and as alternate representative at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the Organization of American States (2000 to 2003). Ms. Lorre was posted to Geneva from 2010 to 2014, where she served as human rights counsellor and head of section at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations. She has one adult daughter, Jéromine Lorre-Déjoie.

Nancy Lynn McDonald (BA [International Relations and Economics, High Distinction], Trinity College, University of Toronto, 1991; LLB, University of Toronto, 1994) was called to the bar of British Columbia in 1995 and joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1996. During her time at Headquarters, Ms. McDonald has worked in the Legal Bureau, the Trade Law Bureau and the Trade Policy Bureau. In her most recent Headquarters assignment, she was director of the Intellectual Property Trade Policy Division, where she oversaw the negotiation of the intellectual property provisions of Canada’s bilateral and multilateral trade agreements (2011 to 2014). Positions overseas have included legal advisor to the Permanent Mission of Canada to the World Trade Organization, in Geneva, (1999 to 2002) and counsellor and head of the trade policy section at the embassy in Washington, D.C. (2005 to 2009). She was most recently consul and senior trade commissioner at the consulate general in Hong Kong and Macao. She is married and has two children.

Khawar Nasim (BCom, Carleton University, 1990; MBA [International Business], McGill University, 1993) joined External Affairs and International Trade Canada in 1993. During his time at Headquarters, Mr. Nasim served in the European Investment and Technology Division, the South Asian Trade Division and the Post Support Unit. Positions overseas included Rome from 1998 to 2002, where he served as trade commissioner, and Barcelona from 2004 to 2007, where he served as consul. Mr. Nasim returned to Rome to serve as minister-counsellor (commercial-economic) from 2007 to 2010. He took a leave from the department to work as vice-president, external affairs, for Yamana Gold of Toronto from 2010 to 2013. In 2014, he returned to the department and served as counsellor (commercial) in The Hague from 2014 to 2016. He is married to Lise Beaulne Nasim; they have two children, Nico and Olivia.

Kenneth Neufeld (BA [Political Science], Carleton University, 1980) joined External Affairs and International Trade Canada in 1989 as a foreign service officer and moved to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in 1992. Previously, Mr. Neufeld had served in Tanzania with Cuso International and on contract to CIDA for a series of development projects. Mr. Neufeld has been posted to Port-au-Prince (1992 to 1994), Lima (1994 to 1995), La Paz (1995 to 1998), Dar es Salaam (2002 to 2006) and Maputo (2009 to 2012). During his time at Headquarters, Mr. Neufeld has worked with the Canadian Partnership Branch, as a program officer in the Andes Program and as country program manager for Nicaragua and Honduras. From 2007 to 2009, he was director of geographic programs in CIDA’s East and Southern Africa Division. In 2012, Mr. Neufeld became director-general for West and Central Africa. He is married to Cheryl Frankiewicz.

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