Howard Balloch is a former

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. He was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to

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 ...

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. Prior to his appointment as Ambassador, he served for two years in the Privy Council Office as Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet for National Unity, a key position in the federal government up to and during the Quebec referendum on sovereignty of 1995. He was appointed to that position shortly after the Liberal Party won the federal election of 1993, and up to that time had been serving as Assistant Deputy Minister for Asia Pacific in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and had served in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. Balloch is from

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. At the end of the 19th century, his grandfather, a tea merchant had resided in

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

for over two decades. His grandfather's paintings and photos sparked Balloch's interest in China. Balloch served as Canada's ambassador to China between 1996 and 2001, assuming the role after his predecessor, John Lawrence Paynter, died in 1996. He became the ambassador to North Korea in 2001 while retaining his China ambassadorship. Balloch wrote the 2013 memoir ''Semi-Nomadic Anecdotes'', which he self-published.

Paul Wells Paul Wells is a Canadian journalist and pundit. He was briefly a national affairs columnist for the ''Toronto Star'' in 2016–2017. Before that, he was a columnist for ''Maclean's'' for thirteen years; his column originally appeared in the bac ...

said regarding the

1995 Quebec referendum The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the predominantly French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should proclaim sovereignty and become an independent country, with the condition precedent of ...

, the book provides "the most detailed account we have of the federal government’s actions in that historic campaign". During the referendum, Balloch was the deputy secretary to the Cabinet for National Unity. Following his retirement as ambassador in 2001, he founded The Balloch Group, a Beijing-based investment advisory and merchant banking firm. In Canada, reaction to the firm's founding was mixed with people both praising his bravery and labelling him as "nuts". The firm's goal was to help businesses operate in China. Balloch was the president of the Canada China Business Council in 2005. After

Canaccord Genuity Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. is an investment banking and financial services company that specializes in wealth management and brokerage in capital markets. It is the largest independent investment dealer in Canada. The firm focuses on growth co ...

purchased The Balloch Group, he became a company director and assumed the role of chairman of Canaccord Genuity Asia.

References

External links

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Complete List of Posts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balloch, Howard Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Ambassadors of Canada to China Ambassadors of Canada to Mongolia Ambassadors of Canada to North Korea