August 2, 2005
No. 139
Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew today announced the following diplomatic
appointments:
Yves Brodeur becomes Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, with concurrent
accreditation to the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Georgia.
David Collins becomes High Commissioner to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Kenneth Cook becomes Ambassador to the Republic of Guatemala and High
Commissioner to Belize.
Louis de Lorimier becomes Ambassador to the Lebanese Republic.
Marie Gervais-Vidricaire becomes Ambassador to the Republic of Austria, with
concurrent accreditation as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to
the International Organizations in Vienna.
José Herran-Lima becomes Ambassador to the Republic of Panama.
Stan Keyes becomes Consul General in Boston (United States of America).
Penny Reedie becomes High Commissioner to New Zealand, with concurrent
accreditation to Kiribati.
Guillermo Rishchynski becomes Ambassador to the Federative Republic of Brazil.
Isabelle Roy becomes Ambassador to the Republic of Mali.
Howard Strauss becomes High Commissioner to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
Colleen Swords becomes Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with
concurrent accreditation as Permanent Representative of Canada to the Organization
for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
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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
Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs Canada
(613) 995-1874
http://www.international.gc.ca
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Yves Brodeur (BArch, Laval University, 1979) joined the Department of External Affairs
and International Trade in 1982 and served abroad in Ankara, Paris, and Brussels at
the Permanent Mission of Canada to the European Union. He was NATO’s
spokesperson from 2001 to 2003. In Ottawa, he served in the Media Relations Office,
as an analyst in the Political and Strategic Analysis Secretariat as well as in the South,
South-East Asia Relations Division, and as a foreign policy advisor at the Privy Council
Office. He was Departmental Spokesperson and Press Secretary to the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Director of the Media Relations Office and currently serves as Director
General of the Communications Bureau. Mr. Brodeur is married to Sylvie Gauvin and
they have two children. He succeeds Michael Leir.
David Collins (BA [History and Politics], Queen’s University; BComm [Business
Administration], Concordia University; MSc [Management Studies], University of
Durham; ACIS, Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators; Senior Executive
Development Program, Banff School of Advanced Management) joined the Department
of Industry, Trade and Commerce in 1976 after Naval Reserve service. Since joining
the department, he has served in his home town of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and abroad in
Minneapolis, Warsaw, Ankara, Brussels (NATO Delegation) and Seoul, and was
Canada’s Ambassador to Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova, resident in Bucharest. On
secondment, Mr. Collins has served as Director General, International and Industry
Programs at the Department of National Defence, and on the NATO International
Secretariat in Brussels as Director for Defence Partnership and Cooperation. In Ottawa,
he has served as Senior Departmental Assistant to the Minister for International Trade,
Director Northern Europe and, most recently, as Inspector General. He is married to
Jacquie Collins and they have one adult son, Nicholas. Mr. Collins succeeds Margaret
Huber.
Kenneth Cook (Fellow, Center for International Relations, Harvard University; BA
[Political Science and Economics], Carleton University) joined the Department of
External Affairs in 1976. He has served in Caracas, Dakar, Athens, Madrid and most
recently in Port-au-Prince as Ambassador to Haiti. In Ottawa, he has served in the
Cultural Relations, Latin America Relations, U.S. General Relations and Personnel
divisions. Mr. Cook and his wife, Jane, have one daughter. He succeeds James
Lambert.
Louis de Lorimier (BSS [Political Science], Université du Québec à Montréal, 1979).
Before joining the Department of External Affairs in 1982 as a foreign service officer in
the political and economic stream, Mr. de Lorimier was a volunteer secondary school
teacher with the Canadian University Service Overseas (CUSO) in Nigeria, West Africa,
Director for overseas programs with CUSO in Montreal, and a reporter and desk editor
at Le Journal de Montréal and La Presse. With the Department, Mr. de Lorimier served
abroad in Abidjan, Seoul and twice in Paris. In Ottawa, he served as Ministerial
Assistant for Parliamentary Affairs to Secretary of State for External Affairs Joe Clark
and as Director of Francophonie Affairs for two separate terms, the capacity in which he
currently serves. Mr. de Lorimier is the father of three sons. He succeeds Michel Duval.
Marie Gervais-Vidricaire is a graduate from Laval University (B.A. in Journalism and
German), the Institute of Political Sciences in Paris (post-graduate studies in
international relations) and of the Paris Institute of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences
(political sociology). She joined the foreign service in 1980 and served in Mexico City,
Bogota and Paris as well as at the Canadian Mission to the United Nations both in New
York and in Geneva. In Ottawa, Mrs. Gervais-Vidricaire has held a number of positions
within the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Privy Council
Office. Over the past four years, she has served as Director General of the Global
Issues Bureau at Foreign Affairs Canada. She is married to Marc Vidricaire and has two
children. Ms. Gervais-Vidricaire succeeds Ingrid Hall.
José Herran-Lima (MBA, Columbia University, 1973; LLB, York University, 1981)
worked with The International Trust Company as an executive assistant/investment
analyst before joining the Department of External Affairs and International Trade in
1982. He has served abroad in Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Guatemala and Brazil. In Ottawa
he has worked as a senior analyst for the Canada-U.S. Trade Negotiations Office, a
desk officer for the Economic Relations with Developing Countries Division, Deputy
Director of the UN Legal Operations Division, and Deputy Director of the Inter-American
Relations, South America and Inter-American Division. He currently serves as Director,
South America. Mr. Herran-Lima and his wife, Susan Magee, have two daughters. He
succeeds David Adam.
Stan Keyes has served as Minister of National Revenue, Minister of State (Sport),
Minister Responsible for the Canada Post Corporation, Minister Responsible for the
Royal Canadian Mint, Chair of the National Liberal Caucus and Chair of the National
Liberal Caucus Executive Committee, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of
Transport and, throughout, as the Member of Parliament for Hamilton-West. He has
also served as a member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry,
the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Chair of the
Standing Committee on Transport. Before entering politics, Mr. Keyes was a television
reporter covering news in Hamilton, Toronto and Ottawa. He and his wife, Catherine,
have two children, Caitlin and Hillary. Mr. Keyes succeeds Ronald Irwin.
Penny Reedie (BA, Queen’s University; MA, University of Ottawa; PhD [Criminology],
Victoria University of Wellington) has considerable policy and operational experience
from a number of government departments. She has worked for the Department of
Justice in Ottawa and New Zealand, the Privy Council Office, the Department of
Finance and the RCMP. More recently, she has served as the Associate Regional
Director-General in the Maritimes with Fisheries and Oceans, and as General Director
of Policy and Communications with Infrastructure Canada. She is married to Don
Quiring. Ms. Reedie succeeds John Donaghy.
Guillermo Rishchynski (BA, McGill University, 1975). Before joining the Department of
External Affairs and International Trade in 1983, Mr. Rishchynski worked as Regional
Marketing Manager, Latin America, for Interimco International. Joining the Department
as an Assistant Trade Commissioner, he has since served abroad in Rio de Janeiro,
Sao Paulo, Amman, Melbourne, Jakarta and Chicago. Most recently, from 1999 to
2002, Mr. Rishchynski served as Canada’s Ambassador to Colombia. In Ottawa, he has
served the department as Deputy Director, Latin America and Caribbean Trade
Division, and Director, Team Canada Task Force. Having joined the Canadian
International Development Agency in 2003, Mr. Rishchynski presently serves as
Vice-President of the Americas Branch. He is married to Jeanette Portillo Tinoco and
they have two children. Mr. Rishchynski succeeds Suzanne Laporte.
Isabelle Roy (MSc [Economics], Université de Montréal, 1989). Before joining the
Department of External Affairs and International Trade in 1990, Mrs. Roy worked in
Gabon as a math professor, in Montreal as an international development researcher,
and for the World Bank as an economic consultant. She has since served abroad in
Yaoundé and for eight years in Paris. She has been seconded to the École nationale
d’administration and the French Foreign Ministry, and has worked at the Embassy of
Canada to France and the Permanent Mission of Canada to the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development. In Ottawa, she has served as Counsellor in
the Western Europe Division, Francophone Affairs Division and Financial and
Economic Relations Division, and currently serves as Deputy Director, West and
Central Africa Division. She is married and has two children, Thomas and Camille. Ms.
Roy succeeds Louise Ouimet.
Howard Strauss (LLB, McGill University, 1973) joined the Department of External
Affairs and International Trade in 1975 and has served abroad in Accra, Havana, New
York and Lagos. In Ottawa, he has served in various positions in the Legal Bureau and
as Coordinator of the Sudan Task Force and Deputy Agent of the Canada/France
Maritime Boundary Arbitration Team. He currently serves as Director of the UN, Human
Rights and Economic Law Division. Mr. Strauss is married to Donna Strauss and they
have four children. He succeeds Simon Wade.
Colleen Swords (BA [Politics] Brock University, 1972; LLB, Osgoode Hall Law School,
1975; Diploma in European Integration, University of Amsterdam, 1979) worked with
Parkdale Community Legal Services before joining the Department of External Affairs in
1980. She has served abroad in Dar es Salaam, Bangkok and Washington. From 1997
to 2000, she was High Commissioner to Barbados. In Ottawa, she has served in the
Legal Operations Division and the Economic and Trade Law Division, and in the Bureau
of Legal Affairs as Deputy Legal Adviser and Director General. She currently serves as
the Department’s legal adviser. She is married to Björn Johansson and they have two
children, Kerstin and Carl. Ms. Swords succeeds Serge April.