The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today announced the following diplomatic appointment:

Marc Lortie becomes Ambassador to the French Republic.

Marc Lortie (BA [Classical Studies], Petit Séminaire de Québec, 1967; BA [Political Science], Université Laval, 1971) joined the Department of External Affairs in 1971. He served abroad in Tunis, Washington and Paris and was Ambassador in Santiago from 1993 to 1997. In Ottawa, he served in the African Affairs Division, the Cultural Affairs Division, the Economic and Commercial Policy Division, the Western Europe Division and the Minister’s Office. Mr. Lortie served as Press Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister from 1985 to 1989, as Senior Coordinator for Federal-Provincial Relations, as Sherpa for the Third Summit of the Americas in 2000, and as Assistant Deputy Minister of the Americas in 2001. He was appointed Ambassador of Canada to Spain in 2004. Mr. Lortie is married to Patricia Dunn. He succeeds Claude Laverdure.