OTTAWA – Long-time Liberal MP and former Cabinet minister Carolyn Bennett is set to become the country’s next ambassador. Denmark.
A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that have not yet been made public, said an announcement was expected this week.
Bennett announced last summer that he would not seek re-election and was removed from the Cabinet, but he has not yet formally resigned as a Toronto-St. Paul MP. Paul’s.
She has been a Liberal MP since 1997, but announced her resignation last month, giving a farewell speech in the House of Commons on December 12.
The person said the appointment of a diplomat could proceed once Bennett’s resignation is formalized.
Neither Bennett nor his office responded to requests for comment Tuesday.
The current Ambassador of Canada in Copenhagen is Dennis Robert, who has been serving in the role since 2021.
Mr Bennett most recently served as Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, a position he held for almost two years. Prior to that, she spent almost six years as Minister for Royal and Indigenous Relations.
She also served as a cabinet minister in Paul Martin’s Liberal government as Canada’s first Minister of Public Health.
Before entering politics, Bennett was a family physician in Toronto.
Her appointment is at least the fourth time Trudeau has appointed a former cabinet minister to a diplomatic post.
Ralph Goodale, who served in cabinet for more than a decade under three prime ministers, including as Trudeau’s public safety minister, is currently Canada’s high commissioner in the United Kingdom. Stéphane Dion is a former Liberal Party leader who held several cabinet positions under Trudeau, including foreign minister, and is currently ambassador to France. He previously served as Canada’s ambassador to Germany.
When John McCallum was appointed ambassador to China in 2017, he resigned as Trudeau’s immigration minister, a position he held for about two years.
Trudeau is not the first prime minister to make a political appointment as an ambassador.
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Lawrence Cannon as ambassador to France in 2012, about a year after Cannon lost his parliamentary seat and lost his cabinet post as foreign secretary.
Mr Harper was also criticized for appointing the head of the RCMP’s security division as ambassador to Jordan.
In some cases, political appointments can be made across party lines.
In 2018, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed former NDP MP Joe Comartin as Canada’s consul general in Detroit. In 1996, former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien appointed former Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Kim Campbell as Consul General in Los Angeles.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2024.