Distinguished Canadian Annual Address Spring 1999

The Honourable Jill Sinclair

Canadian Ambassador for Mine Action

Dissident Diplomacy: Canada and the Global Mine Ban Process

Jill E. Sinclair joined Canada's Department of External Affairs in 1981 and had diplomatic postings in Prague and Havana, as well as a secondment to the Department of Communications as Special Advisor to the Assistant Deputy Minister, Culture and Broadcasting. She worked extensively on issues of international peace and security as Departmental Assistant to Canada's Ambassador for Disarmament, as Deputy Director responsible for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Organization of American States Hemispheric Security Committee and as Director of the Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament Division. She is a graduate of York University (Glendon College), Toronto, and undertook postgraduate work at Dalhousie University, Halifax.

As Director of the Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ms. Sinclair played a crucial role in the Ottawa Process from its inception through the October 1996 Ottawa meeting, where Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy challenged the world to conclude, within a year, a comprehensive, global ban on anti-personnel mines, to the signature of the Convention in December 1997. She was the Chair of the "Ottawa Process II -- Mine Action Forum," which took place in Ottawa in March 1998. It brought together participants from mine-affected and donor countries, the community of Canadian and international non-governmental organizations, the United Nations and regional organizations. The goal of the Forum was to establish a coordinated global approach to ensure the effective and early implementation of the Convention and an integrated approach to global efforts to clear mines and assist victims.

In 1998, Ms. Sinclair was appointed Canada's first Ambassador for Mine Action.