Canada's U.N. ambassador speaks here Feb. 20

The Canadians at Cornell Club is sponsoring a visit to Cornell by Ambassador Paul Heinbecker, Canada's permanent representative to the United Nations, Canada's most senior diplomatic post.

Heinbecker will speak Wednesday, Feb. 20, 4:30-6 p.m. in 165 McGraw Hall. The title of his talk is "You Need the U.N. and the U.N. Needs You." It is free and open to the Cornell community.

A staunch defender of the effectiveness and relevance of the United Nations, Heinbecker is a distinguished diplomat who has served in a number of senior diplomatic posts. He has represented Canada on the United Nations Security Council, and he also was part of the delegation that represented Canada at the U.N. World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed Heinbecker as ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations on June 26, 2000. From 1985 to 1989, Heinbecker was minister in Washington, D.C. From 1989 to 1992, he served as the then-prime minister's chief foreign policy adviser and assistant secretary to the cabinet for foreign and defense policy. In 1992, he was named ambassador to Germany, a position he held until 1996. Since 1996, he has served in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade as assistant deputy minister for global and security policy, and as political director.