February 13, 2007
No. 24
The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic
Canada Opportunities Agency, today announced the appointment of Jocelyn Coulon to
the Board of Governors of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
“Mr. Coulon brings to the IDRC many years of experience as a scholar and
commentator on foreign and development policy,” said Minister MacKay. “Most recently
his experience as Director of the Montréal campus of the Pearson Peacekeeping
Centre makes him ideally suited for this position. I am certain that the IDRC will greatly
benefit from Mr. Coulon’s expertise and understanding of international affairs.”
The International Development Research Centre is a public corporation created by the
Parliament of Canada in 1970 to help developing countries use science and technology
to find practical, long-term solutions to the social, economic, and environmental
problems they face. Support is directed toward developing an indigenous research
capacity to sustain policies and technologies that developing countries need to build
healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous societies.
A Crown corporation, IDRC works collaboratively with many federal government
departments, especially Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and the
Canadian International Development Agency. Guided by a 21-member international
Board of Governors, IDRC reports to Parliament through the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
For more information on the IDRC, consult their website at http://www.idrc.ca.
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A biographical note on the appointee is attached.
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874
http://www.international.gc.ca
Chantal Schryer
Director of Communications
International Development Research Centre
613-236-6163, ext. 2598
cschryer@idrc.ca
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Jocelyn Coulon resides in Montréal and is a visiting researcher at CÉRIUM (Centre
d’études et de recherches internationals de l’Université de Montréal) since 2005, and is
the director of the centre’s French-speaking network on peace operations research.
Mr. Coulon was Director of the Montréal campus of the Pearson Peacekeeking Centre
from February 1999 to December 2003 and remains associated with it as a member of
its Board of Directors. A graduate of the Université de Montréal in political science, he
has held various positions with several newspapers and magazines in Quebec,
including the director of international information at the Montréal daily newspaper Le
Devoir from 1987 to 1999. He is also well-known for his columns on international
politics in the newspaper La Presse. Mr. Coulon has been a lecturer in journalism at the
Université du Québec à Montréal since 1997 and at the Université de Montréal since
1988, and he is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies of London.
