{"id":466612,"date":"2025-10-01T20:07:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/466612\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T20:07:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:07:10","slug":"carney-names-john-hannaford-his-personal-representative-to-the-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/466612\/","title":{"rendered":"Carney names John Hannaford his personal representative to the EU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

John Hannaford, then-clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the cabinet, attends a Canada-U.S. relations meeting at the Ontario Investment and Trade Centre in Toronto on Jan. 31.Chris Young\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> has named former Privy Council Office clerk John Hannaford to be his personal representative to the European Union<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The new position follows Mr. Carney\u2019s decision to strengthen Canada\u2019s ties with Europe amid threats from the United States. He recently returned from his fifth trip to the continent since being sworn in as Prime Minister in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith his extensive experience in developing and strengthening many of Canada\u2019s most impactful relationships throughout the world, John Hannaford will help elevate our partnerships, bolster our shared security, and create major new economic opportunities to empower Canadian workers and grow our businesses,\u201d Mr. Carney said in a statement Wednesday announcing the appointment.<\/p>\n

Mr. Hannaford brings three decades of experience in international affairs, law and public administration to the role, according to the statement. <\/p>\n

He was the clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the cabinet from June, 2023, until July, when he was replaced by Michael Sabia. It is the top role in the public service.<\/p>\n

Carney defends trips abroad, says visits further agenda on trade, investment<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Hannaford also served as the deputy minister of the international trade and natural resources portfolios and as a foreign and defence policy adviser to former prime minister Justin Trudeau. He has also been Canada\u2019s ambassador to Norway.<\/p>\n

Former Privy Council clerk Mel Cappe said Mr. Hannaford is a \u201cdecent man\u201d who cares about public service.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s got excellent values,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cHe is a strong leader and can serve the government well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Cappe said that, as clerk, Mr. Hannaford would have been exposed to the political leaders of other countries. He also led the public service\u2019s transition from Mr. Trudeau to Mr. Carney, so he will know Mr. Carney\u2019s agenda and what he wants to accomplish, Mr. Cappe added. <\/p>\n

In June, Canada and the EU announced a new partnership, known as the New EU-Canada Strategic Partnership of the Future. Wednesday\u2019s statement said <\/b>it is expected to create more opportunities in trade and economic security, the digital transition and climate competitiveness.<\/p>\n

Geography and destiny: Can Canada truly spurn the U.S. and be more European?<\/a><\/p>\n

At the same time, leaders signed the Security and Defence Partnership. It is the first intentional step toward Canada participating in the Security Action for Europe, according to the statement, which is expected to give the Canadian defence industry more access to the European market. The second phase of negotiations for Canada\u2019s participation is under way, the statement added.<\/p>\n

Independent Senator Peter Boehm, a career diplomat who previously served as the G7 sherpa to several prime ministers, applauded Mr. Hannaford\u2019s appointment. Mr. Boehm now chairs the Senate\u2019s foreign affairs and international trade committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor what the government is hoping to achieve with Europe, especially on the energy side, I can\u2019t think of anyone better suited,\u201d he said, adding that Mr. Hannaford also worked at the Canadian embassy in Washington.<\/p>\n

He said he expects part of Mr. Hannaford\u2019s role will be co-ordinating the file with Canada\u2019s ambassadors in Europe.<\/p>\n

Former Liberal leader St\u00e9phane Dion is currently Canada\u2019s Special Envoy to the European Union and Europe, as well as serving as ambassador to France and Monaco.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s statement said Mr. Dion recently told Mr. Carney he would be \u201ccompleting his diplomatic responsibilities in these roles by January 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PMO confirmed that a new special envoy to the EU and Europe will be <\/b>appointed after Mr. Dion leaves, as well as a new ambassador to France and Monaco.<\/p>\n

There will also be a new ambassador to the EU, it said, a role that became vacant last month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: John Hannaford, then-clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the cabinet, attends…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,1699,285],"class_list":{"0":"post-466612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european","11":"tag-european-union","12":"tag-politics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115300718888961508","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}