Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Canadian envoy to quit next year Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 14:38:17 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \HD Canadian envoy to quit next year \BY David W. Jones \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES Canadian Ambassador Derek Burney - one of Washington's top hockey fans - will step down in January to accept a new job as an executive vice president of Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) in Montreal, an embassy official said last night. The spokesman said that the decision was not related to this week's referendum on Canadian unity and that Mr. Burney had long planned to join the private sector after completing his term as ambassador in Washington. The appointment was announced in Montreal after a meeting of the BCE board of directors, according to embassy spokesman Malcolm McEchnie. He said Mr. Burney looked forward to applying his international experience as the firm's vice president for international operations and as chairman of BCE Telecom International, a subsidiary of BCE. Mr. Burney, who turns 53 on Sunday, has served as ambassador in Washington since January 1989, taking up the post shortly after the last Canadian federal election. His resignation becomes effective Jan. 10, and no replacement has been named. Mr. Burney served previously as chief of staff to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney after a 30-year career in Canada's foreign service that included posts in Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. Mr. Burney had frequently been mentioned as a possible candidate to be the next commissioner of the National Hockey League, a not-unlikely role for the biggest hockey fan in the Washington diplomatic corps. The ambassador, who played defense in the Montreal Canadiens farm system as a youth in Thunder Bay, Ontario, regularly attended Washington Capitals games and even traveled with club owner Abe Pollin on a road trip to New Jersey during the 1990 playoffs. As a statesman, he has represented Canada with charm and good humor. He told editors of The Washington Times during a luncheon last year that U.S.-Canadian relations were "so good that they are boring." When then-columnist Pat Buchanan wrote in April 1990 that America "could pick up the pieces" if Canada fell apart, Mr. Burney wrote The Washington Times to say, "I have one comment: As Mark Twain once observed about himself, the reports of Canada's death as a nation are greatly exaggerated." This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM