Doreen Steidle (born 1950/1951) is a Harvard University Fellow, participating in the 2018 Advanced Leadership Initiative, former Regional Head for Group Government Affairs with HSBC in Hong Kong, China and former Canadian Head of Mission. She was Canada's High Commissioner to the Republic of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

(2000–2003) and Canada's Consul General to the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau,

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(2008–2011). She was the first

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Passport Canada Passport Canada (known as the Passport Office prior to June 2006) was an independent, special operating agency of the Government of Canada with bureaucratic oversight provided through Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Passport Ca ...

and an Assistant

Deputy Minister Deputy minister is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. A deputy minister is positioned in some way "under" a minister, who is a full member of Cabinet, in charge of a particular sta ...

in Canada's

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Global Affairs Canada (GAC; ; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department of the Government of Canada that ...

Early life

Doreen Steidle was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Manitoba. She is a direct descendant of the German nobleman and adventurer Johann Robert von Capitain as well as Johann Georg Ritter von Steidle, the first Lord Mayor of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

. After graduating from

Kelvin High School Kelvin High School is a public high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The school is located in the neighbourhood of River Heights. Kelvin teaches grades 9 to 12 and is part of the South District of the Winnipeg School Division. History Th ...

in 1973, she attended the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

followed by

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

in Toronto where she graduated with a B.A. (Double Honours) in Political Science and History in 1977.

Foreign Service Career

In July 1977, at the age of 20, she joined the Department of Manpower and Immigration as a

Foreign Service Officer A Foreign Service officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. FSOs formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. They spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, cons ...

. Between 1979 and 1995, she was posted to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia (as Vice-Consul),

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

D.C (Vice-Consul),

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, Republic of South Korea (First Secretary and Consul),

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

The Philippines (First Secretary and Consul) and

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, Syria (Counsellour). On her return to Ottawa in 1995, Steidle was appointed

Director General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

of the Selection Branch at

Citizenship and Immigration Canada Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC; )Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program since 2015; the legal title is Department of Citizenship and Immigration (). is the depart ...

, a position she held until 1997. From 1997 to 2000, she was

of Corporate Finance, Systems and Planning at the

. In 2000, Steidle was appointed Canada's High Commissioner to the

Republic of Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree o ...

where she served for three years. In 2004, Steidle was appointed

of the Passport Office, a

Special Operating Agency A special operating agency (SOA) is a designation given to a government organization within a department or agency of the Government of Canada, or a provincial government, that has some management flexibility, independence, and separate accountabili ...

of the

Department of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

which was renamed

in 2005. Steidle was the first CEO of Passport Canada. In 2006, Steidle was appointed Assistant

(Corporate Services) at the

. In 2008, Steidle was appointed Consul General to the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau,

Awards and recognition

In addition to her receipt of two Merit Awards from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, in 2010 Steidle was awarded an Honorary Canadian

Certified General Accountant Certified General Accountant (CGA) is a professional designation granted to Canadian accountants. A person who meets the education, experience and examination requirements of the Certified General Accountants of Canada (CGA-Canada) is entitled to ...

designation from the CGA-Hong Kong. She was also named Consul General in Residence] at

Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is a public Liberal arts education, liberal arts university with a Christian ethics, Christian education heritage in Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The university was established as Hong Kong Baptist ...

in 2010 and in 2013 was named by the Canadian Board Diversity Council as one of the "Diversity 50" group of Board-qualified women.

After the Foreign Service

Upon her departure from Hong Kong in August 2011, Steidle left the Government of Canada and established her own consulting practice. She was appointed to the Boards of a number of organizations including Invest Ottawa, the Hong Kong Canada Business Association, the Retired Heads of Mission Association, and the Board of Governors of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. In October 2012 and again in July 2019, Steidle was selected to be a Short-Term Observer on Canada's delegation to monitor the Ukrainian elections. In 2015 Steidle returned to Hong Kong and served as the Regional Head for Group Government Affairs (Asia-Pacific) with HSBC continuing in this position until she assumed a one-year Fellowship (Advanced Leadership Initiative)2018 Fellows
harvard.edu at Harvard University in 2018.

References

External links

Sai Wan Commemorative Ceremony Hong Kong, Youtube, December 2009
(Steidle seen, and mentioned by Prime Minister at 6:40)
John Ibbitson, "The Too-Forgotten War Dead"
''The Globe and Mail'' December 2009 Canadian women ambassadors High commissioners of Canada to Singapore 1950s births Year of birth uncertain Living people {{Improve categories, date=January 2024