Derek Burney
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Derek Burney
OR:
Derek Burney on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Derek Hudson Burney (born 1 November 1939) for a time served as
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
's ambassador to the US, and was political strategist for both the government of
Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...
and of
Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...
. He was for a time an executive or director in private industry. He was Chancellor of
Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...
2013-2017.


Early life

Burney was born in
Fort William, Ontario Fort William was a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. Incorporated as a town in 1892 and as a city in 1907, it was amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre ...
(now known as
Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...
) to George William Burney (1886–1951) of Westville,
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
, and Annie Mary MacKay (1906–1995), who was born in
Durban, South Africa Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South Africa, on the Natal Bay o ...
but grew up on the
Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis () or simply Lewis () is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as if they were separate islands. The t ...
in the
Scottish Hebrides The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These isla ...
. Fort William Collegiate institute">Collegiate Institute A collegiate institute is an institution that provides either secondary or post-secondary education, dependent on where the term is used. In Canada, the term is used to describe institutions that provide secondary education, while the word is used ...
. He then went on to study at
Queen's University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts">B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
degree in 1962, followed by his
M.A. degree in 1964.


Career


In the civil service

Upon graduation, Burney entered the Canadian civil service">federal public service The Federal Government of Belgium ( ; ; ) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretaries of state ("junior", or deputy-ministers who do not sit in the Council of Ministers) drawn from the politi ...
and the Canadian diplomatic corps, subsequently serving in Japan and, as Ambassador, in Korea. From 1987 to 1989 he served as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister (Canada), Chief of Staff to
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...
. After leaving the post of Chief of Staff in 1989, Burney became Canada's List of Canadian ambassadors to the United States, Ambassador to the United States. He would serve in this position until 1993.


In private industry

Burney was then hired by
Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun, Quebec, in Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in the province ...
and worked as
Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
and
CEO 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 ...
of Bell Canada International Inc. from 1993 to 1999. He then moved to CAE Inc., serving as
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
and CEO until 2004. The
boards of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...
on which Burney has sat or now sits include
CanWest Global Communications Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place (now called 201 Portage). It held radio, t ...
(which went bankrupt), Quebecor World Inc.,
Shell Canada Shell Canada Limited () is the principal Canadian subsidiary of British energy major Shell plc and one of Canada's largest integrated oil companies. Exploration and production of oil, natural gas and sulphur is a major part of its business, as ...
and TransCanada Corp. He is currently the president of the board of New Brunswick Power and serves on the advisory board of Paradigm Capital. On January 24, 2006, newly elected
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...
announced that Burney would play a key role in the transfer of power from
Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. Th ...
's Liberals to Harper's
Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
.


As an academic

Burney taught at the
Norman Paterson School of International Affairs The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA ( )) is a professional school of international affairs at Carleton University that was founded in 1965. The school is based at Richcraft Hall on Carleton's campus in Ottawa, Ontario, C ...
at
Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...
. On January 24, 2013,
Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...
announced that Burney would become its 8th
Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
. Burney served as chancellor of Lakehead University until 2017.


Later life

In later life, Burney began contributing his opinions in the national media. On 6 May 2020, he asked for a "full post-mortem" and specifically asked about the state of readiness of Canada before the pandemic began. He wanted to know whether the Chinese government concealed evidence of the outbreak in late 2019, and suggested an investigation of whether the WHO was complicit. He worried about the insolvency that waits next to the subsidy, and said there were ''"more people riding in the wagon than pulling it"''. On 14 May, he castigated the Trudeau government over its conduct of relations with China: ''"The litany of apologies and obsequiousness by Canada is one that only a lickspittle would salute."''


Family

Burney's son Derek Burney Jr. was the president of
Corel Corporation Cascade Parent Limited, doing business as Alludo ( ), is a Canadian software company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, specializing in graphics processing. Formerly called the Corel Corporation ( ; from the abbreviation "Cowpland Research Laborat ...
for several years and later worked for Microsoft before retiring in 2021. Another son, Ian Burney, is a Canadian diplomat, serving as Ambassador to Japan from 2016 to 2021.


Honours

Burney was named an Officer of the
Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
in 1993, and has been conferred honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from
Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...
, Queen's University,
Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...
, and
Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a Public university, public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Brantford, Ontario, Brantford and Milton, Ontario, Milton. The ...
. Burney has a street named after him in his home town of Thunder Bay. Derek Burney Drive is home to the
Confederation College Confederation College is a provincially funded college of applied arts and technology in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1967, and has campuses in Dryden, Fort Frances, Greenstone, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake ...
Aviation Centre of Excellence The Aviation Centre of Excellence (ACE) is the aviation department facility for Confederation College. The building consists of two hangars, classrooms, shops, labs, and offices for the three aviation programs available at the School of Aviation ...
,
Ornge Ornge (pronounced ''Orange''), formerly Ontario Air Ambulance Corporation and Ontario Air Ambulance Service, is a Canadian not-for-profit corporation and registered charity that provides air ambulance and associated ground transportation serv ...
hangar and Levaero Aviation.


Notes


References

*Burney, Derek. ''Getting It Done: A Memoir.'' Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005. .


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burney, Derek 1939 births Living people Ambassadors of Canada to Japan Ambassadors of Canada to South Korea Ambassadors of Canada to the United States Businesspeople from Ontario Canadian chairpersons of corporations Canadian chief executives Academic staff of Carleton University Chiefs of staff of the Canadian Prime Minister's Office Directors of Shell plc Officers of the Order of Canada NB Power Politicians from Thunder Bay Bell Canada people Queen's University at Kingston alumni Quebecor people Canadian university and college chief executives Chancellors of Lakehead University