Diplomatic Appointments

February 15, 2013 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced the following diplomatic appointments:

Richard Bale becomes Consul General in Mumbai (Republic of India).

Stéphane Larue becomes Consul General in São Paulo (Federative Republic of Brazil).

David Sproule becomes Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway.

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Biographical notes on the appointees follow.

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Biographical Notes

Richard Bale (BA [English Literature], University of British Columbia, 1977; BA Honours, Laval University, 1981; MA [Development Administration], Carleton University, 1988) joined the Department of External Affairs in 1986 after having worked in Africa with CUSO from 1981 to 1983. Following initial assignments in Stockholm and Moscow, where he worked in both trade and development assistance, he was senior trade commissioner in Islamabad (1998 to 2000), Manila (2000 to 2004) and Taipei (2005 to 2007). In Taipei, he also served as director of general relations from 2004 to 2005. In Ottawa, Mr. Bale served as trade policy officer (1986 to 1987), trade development officer (1987 to 1988) and export finance officer (1995 to 1998). From 2007 to 2009, he was a director in the North Asia Commercial Relations Division. In 2009, he became senior trade commissioner in Jakarta. He is married to Susan Laidlaw, and they have two children, Rafael and Gabriel. Mr. Bale succeeds Marvin Hildebrand.

Stéphane Larue (BSoSci, University of Ottawa, 1986; MA [Political Science], University of Ottawa, 1988) joined the Department of External Affairs in 1989, serving as a visa officer (vice-consul) in Hong Kong until 1992. Mr. Larue joined the Department of Employment and Immigration in 1992 and was transferred to the newly created Citizenship and Immigration Canada in 1994. He served abroad in Guatemala City (1992 to 1994), in London (1994 to 1998), in São Paulo, Brazil, as immigration program manager (2001 to 2004) and in Manila as immigration deputy program manager (2004 to 2006). In Ottawa, Mr. Larue held various positions in the department, including executive assistant to the deputy minister, deputy director in the Business Immigration Division, director general of the Case Management Branch and, more recently, director general of the Information Sharing Project, where he was the department’s lead on interdepartmental information-sharing initiatives. He also worked on assignment with the Privy Council Office as director of operations with the Security and Intelligence Secretariat (2009 to 2010). He was most recently director general of the Operational Performance Management Branch at Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Mr. Larue succeeds Abina M. Dann.

David Sproule (BA Honours [Political Science], University of Alberta, 1978; LLB, University of Alberta, 1981) joined the Department of External Affairs in 1981 and served abroad in Singapore, Bangkok, Washington, D.C., Dhaka, Kabul and a second time in Bangkok. In Ottawa, he served in the department’s Economic Law; Political Intelligence Analysis; Legal Operations; International Economic Relations and Summits; Legal Advisory; Oceans and Environmental Law; and United Nations, Human Rights and Economic Law divisions, as well as at the Privy Council Office. From 2004 to 2005, Mr. Sproule was high commissioner in Bangladesh; from 2005 to 2007, he was ambassador to Afghanistan; and from 2007 to 2009 he was ambassador to Thailand and Laos. He was most recently the deputy legal adviser with the department’s Legal Affairs Bureau. Mr. Sproule succeeds John Hannaford.