Canada ambassador to USA to leave job

Ottawa: Canada’s ambassador David MacNaughton to the United States has announced that he will leave his job and return to Toronto by the end of August.

Canada’s Deputy Ambassador, Kirsten Hillman, becomes Canada’s Acting Ambassador to the USA.

“Today, I am announcing that I will complete my term as Canada’s Ambassador to the United States at the end of August. I will at the end of this month be returning home to Toronto and taking up a new challenge in the private sector. This is not a decision I have taken quickly, or lightly,” he said in a statement.

Ambassador MacNaughton said he had long planned to complete his work ahead of the fall election, particularly following the lifting of steel and aluminum tariffs.

Defining the “moment is bittersweet” he said: “Serving as Canada’s Ambassador in Washington, at this pivotal time in our country’s history, has been the greatest honour of my life. Doing so under Prime Minister Trudeau – who leads our country with strength, wisdom and calm, including through the most difficult and uncertain trade talks in our history, has been a privilege. One I will never forget.”

But the time has come to return home.

Dire Situation

Ambassador MacNaughton said Canada faced a “dire situation” in early 2017, with Canada’s most important trading relationship in grave peril and hundreds of thousands of Canadian livelihoods hanging in the balance.

“Challenges of course remain. But the overwhelming sense of uncertainty overhanging NAFTA – our farm exports, our resource industries, our manufacturing sector, our auto sector, and so many others – is gone. That is a source of great personal satisfaction to me,” he said.

Recounting the achievements, he stated: “I am very proud of the agreement we struck. In NAFTA 2.0., we achieved our first objective – the safeguarding of thousands of Canadian jobs, tariff-free access to our most important markets, indeed Canadian economic security itself. But we also set a new standard for free and fair trade. This is a more progressive trade deal than the original – one that can serve as a model for agreements yet to come – just as the original NAFTA served as a model, in its time.

US Tariffs 

“U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, unacceptable from the day they were first imposed, are gone, as of last May.

“This too was the result of unrelenting effort, especially by the Prime Minister. I must say that I always believed, as did the Prime Minister and Minister Freeland, that Canada would be successful in having these tariffs removed. We only needed to stay strong. We did,” he said.

However, Ambassador MacNaughton said there remain considerable challenges to NAFTA 2.0. “Most obviously, the agreement has yet to receive approval from the U.S. Congress.”

True Patriot – Trudeau

Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, said: “David has long been and remains a trusted advisor, friend, and counselor. But he is more than that: He is a Canadian patriot – one whose honesty, moderation, and wisdom were pivotal to Team Canada in our successful renegotiation of NAFTA in 2017 and 2018.

“For this, he has earned every Canadian’s gratitude.

“David’s skill in bridging partisan and ideological divides – always putting Canadians’ interests first, never deviating from objectives he knew to be both possible and desirable – has been unparalleled.

Negotiator with Grit – Freeland

Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said: “At a time when our country faced unprecedented economic uncertainty, David was a steady hand to guide us through these challenges. Our country would not have succeeded in the negotiation of the new NAFTA or in securing the removal of the U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum without David’s leadership, wisdom, and hard work.

“Over these past few years I have come to rely on David’s insight, intelligence, and grit as a negotiator, so it is with immense personal appreciation – and a degree of sadness – that I mark his departure from this key diplomatic post. I would like to echo David’s fond words of recognition for his wife, Leslie, and their entire family.

“I have also known and worked with Kirsten Hillman since I was first appointed to Cabinet. She is an exceptional diplomat and trade negotiator and I have absolute confidence in her leadership in Washington.”

Freeland yesterday announced the following diplomatic appointments:

• Hugh Adsett becomes Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, in Washington, D.C., Mr. Adsett replaces Jennifer Loten.
• Madeleine Chenette becomes Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in Paris. Ms. Chenette replaces Michelle d’Auray.
• Ariel Delouya becomes Consul General in Minneapolis (United States of America). Mr. Delouya replaces Khawar Nasim.
• Rachel McCormick becomes Consul General in Dallas (United States of America). Ms. McCormick replaces Sara Wilshaw.
• Leslie E. Norton becomes Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Office of the United Nations and to the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, in Geneva. Ms. Norton replaces Rosemary McCarney.