They will become ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiaries to Jordan and Libya, respectively
Foreign affairs minister Anita Anand has announced the appointments of International Law Bureau director general Louis-Martin Aumais and Allison Stewart, who was Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada’s deputy director for oceans law, to diplomatic roles.
Aumais will become ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan while Stewart will serve as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the State of Libya. They replace Tarik Khan and Isabelle Savard, respectively.
Louis-Martin Aumais
Aumais started as a law clerk to the Supreme Court of Canada’s Justice Charles D. Gonthier in 1997, the same year he joined the Quebec Bar. In 1999, he transitioned to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, where he worked with the Legal Affairs Bureau and took positions in the Office of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He served as Weapons Threat Reduction Program Division director from 2016 to 2018 and was director of the Southern and Eastern Africa Bilateral Relations Division from 2018 to 2020. He became executive director of the Criminal, Security and Diplomatic Law Division in 2020, a role he held until 2023.
Aumais was then named director general and deputy legal adviser of the Public International Law Bureau for 2023-2024. In 2024, he was appointed legal adviser and director general of the International Law Bureau and the agent for Canada at the International Court of Justice.
Allison Stewart
Stewart was a corporate lawyer in Toronto and Tokyo. She was also a Japanese interpreter in Canada, a high school teacher in Japan, and served as a program counsellor in a Greater Toronto-based social services agency before commencing with Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada in 2005.
While working with the legal branch, she served as deputy director for oceans law and as deputy director for Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova. She also handled export financing policy.
Stewart was posted to Athens over 2010-2014, leading the Political, Economic and Public Affairs Section. She also served as senior trade commissioner in Islamabad from 2014 ro 2016.
She headed to Phnom Penh in 2017 as head of the office and chargé d’affaires ad interim, returning in 2020. She was named head of mission in Myanmar in 2022.
Other diplomatic appointments
Office of the Deputy Minister for International Trade special adviser Jeff David was named consul general in Mumbai (Republic of India), replacing Diedrah Kelly. He served as consul general in Chongqing from 2017 to 2021.
Ghislain Robichaud, who was regional director of the Trade Commissioner Service’s Quebec and Nunavut Regional Office, was named consul general in Sydney (Australia), replacing current ambassador to the Republic of Haiti André-François Giroux. He was a counsellor and senior trade commissioner in Egypt and a science and technology counsellor in Germany.
