Biographical notes

Caroline Charette (LLB [Civil Law], University of Montréal, 1995) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1998. At Headquarters, she was director of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Secretariat from 2016 to 2017 and executive director of the Regional Network and Intergovernmental Relations Division from 2017 to 2018. Abroad, she served in Tokyo as trade commissioner from 2001 to 2005, in New Delhi as deputy trade program manager from 2006 to 2009 and at the Canadian embassy in Paris as minister-counsellor (economic and commercial affairs) and senior trade commissioner from 2013 to 2016.

Marcy Grossman (BA [Psychology], Carleton University, 1987; MA [Psychology], Carleton University, 1990) joined the Government of Canada in 1990. She worked at Correctional Service Canada and then held management positions at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat from 1998 to 1999, the Canadian Centre for Management Development from 1999 to 2001 and Industry Canada in 2001. She joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2001 as a senior account executive for Investment Partnerships Canada. From 2016 to 2018, she was a senior strategist working on the creation of Canada’s new investment promotion agency, Invest in Canada. Abroad, she served as senior trade commissioner in Dallas from 2002 to 2005, as Canada’s consul general in Miami from 2005 to 2009, as deputy consul general and senior trade commissioner in Los Angeles from 2009 to 2012 and as consul general in Denver from 2012 to 2016. Most recently, Ms. Grossman served as consul general in Dubai.

Karolina Guay (BA Hons [Political Science], McGill University, 2003; MA [International Development], Paris Institute of Political Studies, 2005) joined the Canadian International Development Agency in 2007. At Headquarters, she was a project officer for humanitarian funding at the Afghanistan Task Force, program manager for the Global Fund for Peace and Security on Colombia and Haiti from 2011 to 2013 and adviser to the assistant deputy minister for the Americas from 2013 to 2014. Overseas, she served in Rwanda from 2009 to 2011 as second secretary (development) and vice-consul. From 2016 until recently, she served in Guatemala as political counsellor.

Catherine Ivkoff (BA Hons [French and Political Science], University of Western Ontario, 1988; LLB, University of Western Ontario, 1994) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2003. At Headquarters, she was an officer on the Russia desk in the Eastern Europe Division from 2004 to 2006 and a legal officer in the United Nations, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Section from 2010 to 2012. Overseas, she served in Russia from 2006 to 2010 as second secretary (political) and in Kazakhstan from 2012 to 2015 as political counsellor. Most recently, she was deputy director of the Economic Law Section.

François Lafrenière (BA [Economics], Laval University, 1986) joined the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in 2005. At Headquarters, he served as director of the Afghanistan and Sri Lanka Development Program from 2015 to 2016 and of the Myanmar and Philippines Development Program from 2016 to 2019. He was counsellor (development) for CIDA at Canada’s embassy in Beijing from 2010 to 2012. Prior to joining CIDA, he was Asia regional director for a Canadian international development NGO in Kathmandu and Hanoi.

Alison LeClaire (BA Hons [Political Science], York University, 1987) joined the Department of External Affairs in 1987. At Headquarters, she served in divisions responsible for human resource management, human rights, and environment and energy. She was deputy director of policy planning from 2002 to 2005; director of China, Mongolia and Taiwan relations from 2005 to 2009; corporate secretary from 2014 to 2016; and senior Arctic official and director general for Arctic, Eurasian and European Affairs from 2016 to 2019. Overseas, she served in Brasilia from 1989 to 1991 as second secretary, political and public affairs; in Stockholm from 1998 to 2002 as political counsellor; and in Geneva from 2009 to 2014 as minister-counsellor and deputy permanent representative.

Jean-Philippe Linteau (BSc [Agriculture], McGill University, 1994; MSc [Geography], University of Toronto, 1996) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1997. At Headquarters, he was director of the Clean Technology, Infrastructure and Life Sciences Division from 2016 to 2019. Abroad, he served as trade commissioner in Seoul from 1998 to 2001 and in Kuala Lumpur from 2001 to 2004, in Colombo from 2005 to 2007 as political officer, in Washington from 2007 to 2011 as international business development program manager and in New York City from 2011 to 2016 as investment counsellor and then senior trade commissioner.

Cameron MacKay (BA [Economics and Industrial Relations], McGill University, 1990; MES, York University, 1996) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1995. At Headquarters, he served as director of regional trade policy from 2008 to 2010, director general for China trade policy from 2012 to 2013, director general of the Trade Negotiations Bureau from 2013 to 2015 and director general of the Trade Sectors Bureau from 2015 to 2017. He also served as chief negotiator for free trade agreement negotiations with Panama; with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua; and with Ukraine. Abroad, he served at Canada’s permanent mission in Geneva from 2001 to 2006 and as Canada’s ambassador to Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua from 2010 to 2012. Most recently, he served as director of operations at the Privy Council Office’s Foreign and Defence Policy Secretariat.

David Murphy (BSc [Agricultural Engineering], McGill University, 1990) joined External Affairs and International Trade Canada in 1991. At Headquarters, he worked in media relations, as deputy director of the China and Mongolia Division and as director of the Investment Cooperation Program Division. From 2005 to 2009, he was seconded to Montréal International as vice president (international organizations). Overseas, he served in Beijing from 1995 to 1999; the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei as senior trade commissioner from 2001 to 2005; and Buenos Aires as counsellor (commercial-economic) from 2012 to 2015. Most recently, he was minister (commercial) at Canada’s embassy in Beijing.

Douglas Scott Proudfoot (BA Hons [Philosophy], University of Toronto, 1981; MA [History], McGill University, 1996) joined the Department of External Affairs in 1987. At Headquarters, he was the director of the Afghanistan Task Force from 2006 to 2007 and the Sudan Task Force from 2007 to 2011. Overseas, he served in Nairobi from 1988 to 1991, New Delhi from 1995 to 1998, Vienna from 2002 to 2006 and London from 2011 to 2016, where he served as minister-counsellor responsible for political and public affairs. Most recently, he served as head of mission in Ramallah and representative of Canada to the Palestinian Authority from 2016 to 2019.

Philippe Rheault (BA Hons [Philosophy and Political Science], McGill University, 1990; LLB, McGill University, 1994) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1998. At Headquarters, he worked on trade policy and on North and East Asian affairs. Abroad, he served in Havana, Beijing, Chongqing and Mongolia, where he contributed to opening Canada’s new embassy in 2008. He was also director, trade and investment, at Canada’s trade office in Taipei. In 2012, he became Canada’s first consul general to Chongqing, responsible for China’s southwest region, where he served until 2017. Most recently, he worked as senior adviser for Asia to the Minister of International Trade Diversification.

Ulric Shannon (BA Hons [History and Political Science], McGill University, 1997; MA [International Relations and Security Studies], York University, 1998) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1999. At Headquarters, he was a desk officer in both the Regional Security and Peacekeeping Division and the Eastern and Southern Africa Division, executive assistant to the assistant deputy minister for global and security policy, and director of the Media Relations Office from 2010 to 2012. Overseas, he served as political and public affairs officer in Cairo from 2004 to 2006, senior political officer in Ramallah from 2006 to 2008 and first secretary in Islamabad from 2008 to 2010. He was awarded the department’s foreign-language fellowship to pursue advanced studies in Arabic from 2012 to 2013, and for two months in 2012 he served as Canada’s first representative to the Syrian opposition. From 2014 to 2016, he worked in Istanbul as country director for ARK, a stabilization consultancy. Most recently, he was consul general in Istanbul.

Nell Stewart (BA Hons [Political Science], McGill University, 1996; MSc [Gender Relations], London School of Economics and Political Science, 1997) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2002. At Headquarters, she has worked in the Human Rights, Humanitarian Affairs and International Women’s Equality Division; the Afghanistan Task Force; and the Haiti Task Force. She was director of the Counter-Terrorism and Anti-Crime Capacity Building Programs from 2013 to 2016 and executive director of the Haiti Division from 2016 to 2018. She became executive director of the Gender Equality Advisory Council Secretariat for Canada’s G7 presidency in 2018. Abroad, she served in Hong Kong from 2000 to 2002 as vice-consul for immigration, in New York at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations from 2005 to 2009 as first secretary for human rights and social affairs and in Port-au-Prince from 2011 to 2013 as political counsellor.

Christopher Wilkie (BA Hons [Political Studies], Queen’s University, 1979; MSc [Economics], London School of Economics, 1981; DPhil [International Relations], University of Oxford, 1995) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2004. At Headquarters, he was executive director of U.S. Transboundary Relations, where he led the Government of Canada’s representation to the International Joint Commission. Most recently, he was director general of the Trade Sectors Bureau. Overseas, he served as Canadian ambassador to Morocco (with concurrent accreditation to Mauritania). He has represented Canada in senior capacities on international investment and other issues, including at the WTO and the UN Conference on Trade and Development, and as chief negotiator for foreign investment promotion and protection agreement negotiations with China, new EU member states and other countries. He has also worked at the Privy Council Office and Industry Canada, for the OECD in Paris, and for strategic consulting firms in Canada and Europe.