Carney taps top aide David Lametti to replace Bob Rae as UN ambassador

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Mark Carney is appointing his principal secretary David Lametti as Canada’s next ambassador to the United Nations.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced Thursday that Lametti, a former federal justice minister, will replace former Liberal leader Bob Rae, 77, who has held the role since 2020.

Lametti will step into the prestigious diplomatic posting on Nov. 17.

He was brought into Carney’s office in July to take on the top role of principal secretary after serving as an adviser during the spring election.

But Tom Pitfield has remained on board as principal secretary since the spring and shared the role with Lametti for weeks.

Pitfield was chief digital strategist to former prime minister Justin Trudeau and is married to Quebec Liberal MP Anna Gainey.

Adam Chapnick, a foreign policy expert at the Canadian Forces College and Royal Military College of Canada, said the previous two prime ministers, Trudeau and Stephen Harper, turned major diplomatic postings into plum jobs for political appointees — something that can be corrosive to the foreign service.

“I sincerely hope this is not a continuation of the expansion of the number of political appointees in the Canadian diplomatic service,” Chapnick said.

“I don’t think that does a service to our national interest and I also think it’s terrible for morale at Global Affairs Canada because it suggests you can work your whole career but the pinnacle of diplomacy will not be available to you regardless — that will go to hand-picked appointees.”

He said it’s too early to offer a verdict on Carney’s approach to diplomatic appointments and he was “relieved to see” that one of the two senior postings announced Thursday went to a career diplomat.

“I understand the need for a select few political diplomatic appointees because there are occasions where it is more important that the diplomat has the ear of the prime minister than any training in diplomacy,” he said.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced at the same time Thursday that Carney will appoint Vera Alexander, a senior official at Global Affairs, as Canada’s next ambassador to Germany. The previous ambassador to Germany, former B.C. premier John Horgan, passed away late last year.

Rae, who is both a giant within the Liberal party and also the son of a diplomat, congratulated Lametti on social media, saying he is a great choice for the job.

“I discussed my plan to step down from my five-year assignment with Mark Carney before the summer, and want to thank him, Justin Trudeau, many ministers, my Global Affairs Canada colleagues and my family and friends for their support,” Rae posted on X. 

“I am staying for a couple of months, and have spoken with David about a good transition.”

Lametti is the second Trudeau-era cabinet minister to leave a top role in Carney’s office in recent months. His move comes as media reports citing confidential sources say that others are expected to leave for diplomatic postings, including Bill Blair and Jonathan Wilkinson.

Carney’s chief of staff Marco Mendicino, a former public safety minister, was replaced by former UN ambassador Marc-André Blanchard, who started working for Carney in July.

When Lametti was justice minister in 2021, he ushered a bill through Parliament that created a legal framework to ensure federal laws are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

After Trudeau dropped Lametti from his cabinet in 2023, he turned down a diplomatic appointment to Spain. Instead, he took a private-sector job at Fasken Martineau Du Moulin in Montreal as a legal specialist on UNDRIP and digital technology.

Alexander, who previously served in postings in London, Washington and Moscow, was most recently an associate assistant deputy minister in the department.

From 2006 to 2008 she served in the Privy Council Office as a senior policy adviser on the war in Afghanistan and from 2017 to 2021 she served as Canada’s deputy permanent representative to NATO.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2025.