Lucie Edwards is a

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, who worked in the

Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development 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 ...

from 1976 to 2009, as the high commissioner to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and permanent representative to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Environmental program. She founded the Global Issues Bureau and served as assistant deputy minister for Corporate Services in Ottawa. She received the Public Service Award of Excellence in 1995 for her humanitarian work during the

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

genocide and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of Excellence from the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2009. Lucie Edwards has over 20 years of experience representing Canada at the

and regional development agencies. Her interests include

good governance Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for t ...

food security Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy Human food, food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Simila ...

poverty alleviation Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics classi ...

primary health care Primary health care (PHC) is a whole-of-society approach to effectively organise and strengthen national health systems to bring services for health and wellbeing closer to communities. Primary health care enables health systems to support a pe ...

and

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

. Today, she works at the crossroads of science, the environment, and international development having completed her doctoral dissertation in Global Governance at the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

(2009–2013). She was the Ashley Fellow 2011 at

Trent University Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Founded in 1964, the university is known for its Oxbridge college system, sma ...

Early life and education

She was born in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. She was a contestant on ''

Reach for the Top ''Reach for the Top'' (also known simply as ''Reach'') is a Canadian trivia based academic quiz competition for high school students. In the past, it has also been a game show nationally broadcast on the CBC. Matches are currently aired online ...

'' and

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

of her graduating class at

Laurentian High School Laurentian High School was a high school in the Central Park neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The school opened in 1958 and provided education to grade 9 through 12 (and 13 from 1961 to 200) through an unsemestered curriculum as establishe ...

, Ontario. In recognition of exceptional academic and extracurricular achievement, she was a recipient of the prestigious Champlain Scholarship at

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

. As an undergraduate student backpacking around the Middle East, her bus was hijacked in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Honours, from

in 1976. She took the Foreign Affairs Officer's exam initially because she thought it would be good practice for the law school entrance exam. She accepted a job offer on the Middle East desk at the Department of External now Foreign Affairs in 1976. She earned a master's degree in

Public Administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

from

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

. In 1984. Lucie Edwards married Thomas Roach (BA, Trent University, 1970) in 1979.

Career

As a Canadian

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and

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 ...

, Lucie Edwards has held various roles. In 1976, Lucie Edwards was one of five women who joined the Department of External Affairs (DEA), now the

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 ...

Honours

Ms. Edwards was awarded the 2009 Award of Excellence—Lifetime Achievement Award for her career in the Foreign Service. In 1995, Lucie Edwards received the Public Service Award of Excellence, the Public Service's highest award, for her mission's humanitarian work during the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

in Rwanda. She received the Merit Award, 1994 for consular operations in Rwanda, Department of Foreign Affairs. She was awarded the Merit Award, 1989 for human rights work in South Africa, Department of Foreign Affairs. She was the Ashley Fellow at

2011/12 where she served as a "diplomat in residence" and spoke to classes in Environmental Resource Science / Studies, International Development Studies, Politics, and Economics.

Select publications

* "We are Dust: Human Security and the San People of Southern Africa" Human Security Conference University of Toronto/University of Waterloo December 2009. * "Canadian Foreign Policy Towards Africa", South African Yearbook of International Affairs, South African Institute of International Affairs, 2001. * "Day 58 of the Rwanda Crisis", Bout de Papier, Vol. 12, 1995. * "Freedom is Rising", Musicworks, No. 43. * "Resource Development in Labrador", Alternatives 1977.

Quotes

* "The youth will see the effects of climate change in their own lifetimes, and that of their children. We need their voices in the debate." * "I hope that we will have peace everywhere in the world." * The creation of peaceful societies encompasses a range of issues that must be addressed simultaneously. These include conflict prevention,

mediation Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...

, cease-fire

negotiations Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more parties to resolve points of difference, gain an advantage for an individual or Collective bargaining, collective, or craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. The parties aspire to agree on m ...

, the delivery of

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

, post-war reconstruction, and the establishment of strong civil societies. Such issues are difficult to address in any country, particularly "in a society that is undergoing development passage and has suffered a substantial loss of infrastructure and human capital." * "Diplomacy is not a special language", diplomacy is "being direct, being honest, and believing in Lord Ganesha."

References

* Margaret K. Weiers Envoys extraordinary: Women of the Canadian foreign service Chapter 18 Lucie Edwards -Making a Difference Dundurn Press Toronto 1995 * LGen Romeo A Dallaire Shake Hands with the Devil: the failure of humanity in Rwanda 2003

External links

Department of Foreign Affairs: History: IntroductionDepartment of Foreign Affairs CanadaDiplomatic Missions' by McGill University Press, which was edited by Robert Wolfe 1999High Commissioner Lucie Edwards (and others) interviewed regarding Conflict in Rwanda
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Lucie 1954 births Harvard Kennedy School alumni Living people Canadian women ambassadors High commissioners of Canada to South Africa High commissioners of Canada to Namibia High commissioners of Canada to Lesotho High commissioners of Canada to Eswatini High commissioners of Canada to Mauritius High commissioners of Canada to Kenya High commissioners of Canada to Uganda Ambassadors of Canada to Rwanda Ambassadors of Canada to Burundi Ambassadors of Canada to Eritrea Ambassadors of Canada to Somalia Trent University alumni Civil servants from Ottawa