Carney appoints former minister, top staffer David Lametti to U.N. posting

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed his principal secretary and former Liberal justice minister David Lametti to be Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday.

In a release, Carney announced Lametti would take the reins of one of Canada’s biggest foreign missions on Nov. 17.

Lametti will replace Bob Rae, an outspoken ambassador for Canada who seldom shied away from criticizing foreign nations on the country’s behalf (on some rare occasions, to the chagrin of the Liberal government).

In a statement, Carney thanked Rae for “ his exemplary service and his invaluable leadership to advance Canada’s interests, values, and partnerships at a hinge moment in the world’s history.”

The appointment means Lametti will have only spent two months as principal secretary to Carney and cabinet after starting the job on July 17. Unusually, Lametti appears to have split the job with Thomas Pitfield, previously head of data analytics company Data Sciences that works closely for the Liberal party.

Lametti’s departure likely means Pitfield will remain as sole principal secretary to cabinet. Pitfield is married to cabinet member and Secretary of State (Children and Youth) Anna Gainey.

Carney also announced career diplomat Vera Alexander as Canada’s next ambassador to Germany. The position has been conspicuously empty since the late B.C. Premier John Horgan left the position in November due to a cancer diagnosis. He passed away shortly after his departure.

The appointment of a new ambassador to Germany will come as a sigh of relief to Canada’s diplomatic community, which has quietly questioned why a key role to such an important Canadian ally had been left vacant for nearly one year.

“C anada’s new government has a mandate to strengthen and diversify our international partnerships, relying on principled and effective leaders to represent the value of Canada’s strength in a rapidly transforming world. David Lametti and Vera Alexander are well-positioned to advance this mission, and I thank them for their continued service to Canada,” Carney said in a statement.

The timing of Lametti’s appointment means he will take over the mission months after Canada is expected to vote to recognize Palestinian statehood at the U.N. General Assembly next week. The vote will mark a significant departure from Canada’s longstanding policy of voting against recognition of a Palestinian state.

On social media, Rae congratulated Lametti and said he’d told Carney before the summer that he wanted to step down from his five-year posting.

“ I am staying for a couple of months, and have spoken with David about a good transition ,” Rae wrote. “He will do a great job.”

National Post

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