Mario Laguë

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Mario Laguë (1958 – August 12, 2010) was a Canadian diplomat and public servant. He served as ambassador to Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua, and at the time of his death, he was the communications director for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Costa Rica Country in Central America

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around 5 million in a land area of 51,060 square kilometers. An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José with around 2 million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.

Honduras republic in Central America

Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. In the past, it was sometimes referred to as "Spanish Honduras" to differentiate it from British Honduras, which later became modern-day Belize. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea.

Nicaragua Country in Central America

Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the largest country in the Central American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the northwest, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Managua is the country's capital and largest city and is also the third-largest city in Central America, behind Tegucigalpa and Guatemala City. The multi-ethnic population of six million includes people of indigenous, European, African, and Asian heritage. The main language is Spanish. Indigenous tribes on the Mosquito Coast speak their own languages and English.

Contents

Career

Laguë spent the early years of his career in Quebec politics, working closely with the Quebec Liberal party. In the 1990s, he joined the Privy Council Office in Intergovernmental Affairs to specifically work on the unity file. He was named Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Communications) in 1999, which is the most senior communications position in government. In 2003, he was named incoming Prime Minister Paul Martin's Director of Communications, a post he held until 2005, when he was named by Martin as the Ambassador to Costa Rica, with concurrent accreditation to Honduras and Nicaraguawa. [1]

Privy Council Office (Canada) secretariat of the federal cabinet in Canada

The Privy Council Office is the secretariat of the federal cabinet of Canada, which is a committee of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, and provides non-partisan advice and support to the Canadian ministry, as well as leadership, coordination, and support to the departments and agencies of government. It is located in the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council building on Parliament Hill. The Federal Government helps the Privy Council by constituting the premier levels of government in Canada.

Paul Martin 21st Prime Minister of Canada

Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada from December 12, 2003, to February 6, 2006.

The Director of Communications in the Prime Minister's Office is one of the most senior roles in the Canadian Prime Minister's Office, reporting directly to the Prime Minister and his or her Chief of Staff. The person is responsible for selling the government's agenda to the media and public. The portfolio thus encompasses everything from speech writing, communications packages, coordinating announcements, creating media appearances for the Prime Minister, crafting communications responses, liaising with the media, coordinating with ministers' and Members of Parliament's offices, and responding to government controversies.

Following his diplomatic appointment, he joined the International Union for Conservation of Nature near Geneva, before returning to Ottawa in 2009 to take the job of Director of Communications to Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. [2]

Michael Ignatieff professor at Harvard Kennedy School and former Canadian politician

Michael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a historian, Ignatieff has held senior academic posts at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Toronto.

Death

Laguë was killed on the morning of August 12, 2010, when his motorcycle crashed into an SUV, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, as he was on his way to work. He died at the age of 52 leaving behind his wife, novelist Caroline Vu, and two children. [3]

Ottawa Federal capital city in Ontario, Canada

Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It stands on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of southern Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec; the two form the core of the Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) and the National Capital Region (NCR). As of 2016, Ottawa had a city population of 964,743 and a metropolitan population of 1,323,783 making it the fourth-largest city and the fifth-largest CMA in Canada.

Ontario Province of Canada

Ontario is one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada and is located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province accounting for 38.3 percent of the country's population, and is the second-largest province in total area. Ontario is fourth-largest jurisdiction in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto, which is also Ontario's provincial capital.

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States, stretching some 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, with 70% of citizens residing within 100 kilometres (62 mi) of the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

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References

  1. "Heads of Posts List". Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada . Retrieved 2010-08-14.
  2. "Mario Laguë, Obituary". Toronto Star. August 14, 2010. Retrieved 2014-10-09.
  3. "Ignatieff's communications head dies in crash". CBC.ca. August 12, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Louise Legér
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Honduras and Nicaragua
2005–2007
Succeeded by
?
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Louise Legér
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Costa Rica
2004–2007
Succeeded by
?