New arrivals
Hocine Meghar
Ambassador of Algeria
Mr. Meghar started his career at the foreign ministry in 1972, after graduating from the National School of Administration in Algeria.
He has held various positions within the ministry. He was director-general of European socialist countries (1984-1987), director-general of consular affairs (2000-2004) and director-general of national communities abroad (2010-2015).
He was ambassador to Uganda from 1987 to 1990 and, after returning to headquarters, became ambassador to Ghana from 1993 to 1997. Between 2004 and 2009, he was ambassador to Italy, Malta, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany.
Mr. Meghar has also served as Algeria’s permanent representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). In that capacity, he participated in a series of international conferences.
Mr. Meghar is married with two children.
Roberto Dormond Cantu
Ambassador of Costa Rica
Mr. Dormond Cantu studied law at the University of Costa Rica and completed a master’s in law at Georgetown University Law Centre. From 1994 to 1995, he was adviser and deputy chief of staff to the president of Congress. He began his career as a professor in communications at the University of Costa Rica.
He joined the law firm Zurcher, Montoya & Zurcher as associate in 1997 and partner in 1999. In 2000, he left to become general counsel to CitiGroup Costa Rica. From 2001 to 2008, he worked as chief counsel for Kraft Foods International’s Latin America branch. In 2009, he co-founded DMA Instituto Ciudadano, a consulting firm specializing in corporate affairs, communications, government and stakeholder relations, market research and public opinion.
Mr. Dormond Cantu is married and has three children.
Nicolás Fabian Trujillo-Newlin
Ambassador of Ecuador
Mr. Trujillo-Newlin comes to diplomacy from the world of business. He joined the foreign ministry in 2010 as ambassador to Korea and was appointed to Canada in late 2014, but before that, he was an entrepreneur.
He began his career as CEO and vice-chairman of the board of directors of Equiflor Corporation, based in Miami. He served on several corporate boards before becoming a member of the senior management committee at Ecuador’s ministry of production, employment and competitiveness from 2009 to 2010. At the same time, he was a member of the board of Chimborazo Cement Company and director-general of InvestEcuador, at the National Investment Attraction Agency.
Mr. Trujillo-Newlin has a bachelor of business administration and is a licensed real estate agent. He speaks Spanish and English.
Nicolas Chapuis
Ambassador of France
Mr. Chapuis has spent much of his 35-year career in China. His first posting was to Beijing as press attaché in 1980. He then joined the political section at that embassy and stayed until 1986.
Following that, he completed a year of study at Harvard University’s Centre for International Affairs and, after returning to headquarters briefly, went back to Beijing as cultural affairs counsellor.
In 1992, he became deputy chief of mission in Singapore. In 1998, he was consul-general in Shanghai, leaving for Britain as first counsellor in 2002.
He became ambassador to Mongolia in 2003 and deputy chief of mission in Beijing in 2005. He was chief co-ordinator of the WikiLeaks task force in 2010 and chief information officer from 2011-2015.
Mr. Chapuis is married to Sylvie Camia. He speaks English, French, Mandarin and Mongol.
Sulley Gariba
High Commissioner for Ghana
Dr. Gariba is a policy analyst and governance specialist with more than 30 years experience in advising governments and international institutions on development policy, governance, evaluation and international relations. He is the longest-serving member and senior adviser of Ghana’s National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), having served from 2001 to 2014. From 2000 to 2010, he headed a leading think-tank in Ghana, the Institute for Policy Alternatives (IPA-Ghana).
In the academic world, Dr. Gariba, who has a PhD in political science and who lectured in Canada for 15 years, was a senior lecturer in political science at the University for Development Studies (UDS) in Northern Ghana. He was the lead resource person on cultural adaptation training for Canadian development workers posted to Africa under the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) from 1981 to 1990.
Saramady Touré
Ambassador of Guinea
Mr. Touré has had a varied career, most recently as a member of Guinea’s government as environment, water and forestry minister and minister of agriculture between 2011 and 2014.
From 2005 to 2010, he worked with the United Nations Development Program as a national co-ordinator for conservation and biodiversity in Mount Nimba. He also worked for UNDP in Guinea, evaluating environmental assessments and, in the 1980s, he worked for the National Agricultural Research Institute.
He has attended and participated in several conferences over his career, including the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development Rio+20 in 2012.
Mr. Touré has an agro-chemistry engineering degree and did post-graduate studies at the University of Bordeaux III in France. He speaks French, Spanish and English.
Teuku Faizasyah
Ambassador of Indonesia
In addition to being ambassador to Canada, Mr. Faizasyah is Indonesia’s permanent representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Prior to coming to Canada, he was the presidential spokesman and special staff for international relations. From 2008 to 2010, he was the foreign minister’s chief of staff.
He was counsellor for information and cultural affairs in South Africa from 2003 to 2004 and prior to that, he was presidential adviser and special envoy.
From 1995 to 1998, he worked in an economic affairs portfolio at the embassy in Washington.
He has a doctorate in political science and public policy from the University of Waikato in New Zealand.
Janice Miller
High Commissioner for Jamaica
Prior to being appointed to Canada in late 2014, Janice Miller was Jamaica’s under-secretary for multilateral affairs in the foreign ministry.
Mrs. Miller is a career diplomat. She was a deputy permanent representative for the permanent mission of Jamaica to the International Seabed Authority and served on the board of directors of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica and the Jamaica National Commission for UNESCO.
Prior to being under-secretary, Mrs. Miller was director of the economic affairs department. She has served as counsellor (political affairs) at the United Nations in New York and worked briefly as a regional civil servant, starting her career at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana.
She has a master’s in international relations from the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago.
She is married to Donald Miller and they have two daughters, Rachel and Rianna.
John Lepi Lanyasunya
High Commissioner for Kenya
Mr. Lanyasunya began his career in 1994 as a deputy principal at Kenya Utalii College in Nairobi. He spent three years in that job before being appointed Kenyan ambassador to Germany, with concurrent, non-resident accreditation to Austria, Romania and Bulgaria.
He returned to headquarters for two years before becoming co-ordinator of the IGAD’s (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) Somalia peace process. In 2004, he was appointed high commissioner to Australia, where he spent five years and had concurrent accreditation to New Zealand. During his time there, he became dean of the African diplomatic corps in Australia.
From 2009 to 2014, he was director of the Asia and Australasia directorate at headquarters before being appointed to Canada.
Mr. Lanyasunya is married with three children.
Kali Prasad Pokhrel
Ambassador of Nepal
Before being sent to Canada, Mr. Pokhrel was chief of protocol at the foreign ministry in Nepal.
He joined the foreign service in 1990, and began his diplomatic career working with the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation. He then spent a year studying in Oxford University’s foreign service program before becoming assistant to the deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister.
His first posting was to New York, and then he was sent to Cairo as first secretary and deputy chief of mission. At the ministry, he worked in the Europe-America division and, later, the UN and international organizations and law division. He served as chargé d’affaires in Washington for two years between 2007 and 2011.
Mr. Pokhrel has a master’s in public administration. He is married with three children.
Alexander N. Darchiev
Ambassador of Russia
Mr. Darchiev studied history at Moscow State University and did post-graduate work in U.S. and Canada Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
He joined the foreign ministry’s North American division in 1992 and was soon named first secretary and head of section. Five years later, he became counsellor at the embassy in the United States.
From 2003 to 2005, he was deputy director of the North American department. And from 2005 to 2010, he returned to Washington as deputy chief of mission. From 2010 to 2014, he was director of the North America department before being appointed ambassador to Canada.
In addition to Russian, Mr. Darchiev speaks English and French. He is married and has one daughter.
Jack Mugendi Zoka
High Commissioner for Tanzania
Mr. Zoka joined the government service in 1977 after graduating from the University of Dar es Salaam. He later pursued a master’s in diplomatic studies at Keel University in Britain.
Mr. Zoka’s diplomatic career dates from 1984 when he joined the foreign ministry. He was subsequently posted to Zimbabwe. He rose through the ranks from second secretary in 1984 to minister-counsellor in 1997. Mr. Zoka also served as minister plenipotentiary in Belgium between 2001 and 2006.
Prior to his posting in Ottawa, he was deputy director general in the office of the president in Tanzania.
Mr. Zoka is married to Esther Nyanzila. They have four children.
Vijavat Isarabhakdi
Ambassador of Thailand
Mr. Isarabhakdi has a doctorate in international relations and a master’s in law and diplomacy, both from Tufts University.
Prior to coming to Canada, he spent two years as ambassador to the U.S. and before that, he was deputy permanent secretary at the foreign ministry. He also served a term as ambassador to the UN office in Geneva.
Other positions over a 25-year career in diplomacy have included two stints as a congressional fellow for a senator and a congressman. He was also first secretary in Washington from 1993 to 1997. At headquarters, he worked as a Malaysia desk officer, personal assistant to the foreign minister and foreign affairs co-ordinator in the office of the prime minister. From 2011 to 2012, he was director-general of international organizations.
In 2000, he won an award for outstanding civil servant of the year.
Wilmer Omar Barrientos Fernandez
Ambassador of Venezuela
Mr. Barrientos Fernandez had a long and successful career with the Bolivarian Army, achieving the rank of major general after 30 years of service. When he retired in 2013, he was operational strategic commander of the armed forces. He also worked as the forces’ comptroller general and as the rector for the Polytechnic Experimental University of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.
Most recently, he worked as minister for the office of the president and minister for industries.
Mr. Barrientos Fernandez studied military arts and science at the Military Academy of the Bolivarian Army and completed a master’s degree at the War College of the army. He is currently pursuing a doctorate.
He is married and has one daughter.
Non-heads of mission
Afghanistan
Wahid Sheerzuy
First secretary
Angola
Sebastiana Napoleao Angola Terra
Third secretary
Australia
Louise Murray
Second secretary and consul
Calum James Logan
Attaché
Damon Rhys Keogh
First secretary
Burkina Faso
Zakaria Gyengani
Attaché
China
Zihua Li
Attaché
Yuanrui Guo
Attaché
Ming Li
First secretary
Guoli Su
Second secretary
China
Wentian Wang
Minister-counsellor and deputy head of mission
Colombia
Miguel Angel Castro Riberos
Counsellor
Germany
Elisabeth Hornung
First secretary
Honduras
Nadia Giselle Aguilera Funes
First secretary and consul
Hungary
Peter Orosz
Third secretary
Indonesia
Pujo Wahyono
Defence attaché
Indonesia
Rezal Akbar Nasrun
Minister-counsellor
Kenya
Robert Antony Kinyua Kobia
First counsellor
Nigeria
Joy Ajuma Akinmoladun
First secretary
Danniyi Daniel Harry
Attaché
Alhaji Shafiu Bashir
Attaché
Philippines
Ma. Teresa Benitez-Bragais
Attaché
Anthony Aguirre
Third secretary and vice-consul
Russia
Andrei Ledenev
First secretary
Anton Soloviev
First secretary
Russia
Vladislav Zberya
Attaché
Maxim Kholzakov
Attaché
Saudi Arabia
Abdulaziz Saleh A. Alomari
Attaché
Mohammad Ghazzay Alharbi
Attaché
Abdu Abbas J. Juraybi
Attaché
Saudi Arabia
Ahmad Abdullah S. Khudair
Attaché
Sameer Saleh S. Aljabri
Attaché
Muhanad Abdullah S. Almubadel
Attaché
Fahad Ali H. Alkhalaf
Attaché
Jamil A.A. Makhadmi
Attaché
Thailand
Adisak Jantatum
First secretary
Tunisia
Said Nbikha
Attaché
Ukraine
Nadiia Vozdigan
First secretary
United States
Elizabeth Kay Mayfield
Minister-counsellor
