Biographical notes

Paul Gibbard (Biblical and Theological Studies, Moody Bible Institute, 1979; BA [Anthropology], University of Calgary, 1983; MA [Development Studies], University of East Anglia, 1985) joined External Affairs and International Trade Canada in 1992. At Headquarters, he has held assignments related to policy planning, the Caribbean, Mexico, and cross-border issues related to the United States and has served as director of both Indigenous affairs and the Arctic. He has also worked in the Privy Council Office on cross-border issues with the United States and Mexico. Abroad, Mr. Gibbard has served as ambassador to Venezuela and to Iraq and as head of mission in Nigeria. In addition, he managed the political, economic, public affairs and advocacy programs at the Embassy of Canada to Italy, Albania and San Marino and High Commission in Malta. He has also served in Costa Rica and Cuba and worked in Mexico’s Foreign Ministry as part of an exchange program.

Tamara Mawhinney (BA Hons, Trinity College, University of Toronto, 1987; LLB, University of Toronto, 1991; Political Studies Certificate, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, 1998; Diploma of Public Administration, École Nationale d’Administration [Paris and Strasbourg], 2000) joined External Affairs and International Trade Canada in 1993. Prior to joining the department, she completed her articles of law with the firm McCarthy Tétrault in Toronto and Ottawa. She began her career in the department as a Cabinet liaison officer, then was a lawyer in the International Trade Law Division. Her assignments overseas have included serving at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in New York, the Embassy of Canada to France and the Mission of Canada to the European Union. After serving for 2 years as adviser to Michaëlle Jean when the latter was secretary general of the International Organisation of La Francophonie, she returned to Ottawa in 2016 to lead the department’s UN Security Council campaign team. She then joined the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in Geneva in the summer of 2018 as deputy permanent representative. She remains an attorney, and she is a member of the New York State Bar Association.