Board of directors

The Pearson Peacekeeping Centre’s (PPC) Board of Directors is responsible for establishing broad policy directives and overseeing all matters of governance, finance, administration and programs.

Please click on a name for biographical details:

• Louise Fréchette, Chair Distinguished Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation
• Louise Fréchette has been a member of the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre (PPC) since 2006, and has now been appointed chair of its board. Ms. Fréchette joined the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in 2006 as a distinguished fellow, after eight years as the United Nations deputy secretary general as appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. She is currently leading a research project on the revival of nuclear energy in a number of countries, and its implications for global governance.

  Prior to her appointment to the United Nations, Ms. Fréchette served in various capacities in the Federal public service including ambassador to Argentina and Uruguay, associate deputy minister at the Department of Finance and deputy minister of National Defence. She also served as ambassador and permanent representative of Canada to the United Nations from 1992 to 1995. Ms. Fréchette received a bachelor of arts degree from Collège Basile Moreau. She earned a degree in history from the University of Montreal in 1970 and a post-graduate diploma in economic studies at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium in 1978. She has received honorary doctorate degrees from several universities in Canada and abroad, and in 1998 was appointed officer of the Order of Canada.

• General (retired) Maurice Baril, CMM, MSM, CD
• Maurice Baril served in the Canadian Forces for 40 years. He joined as a reservist while studying at the University of Ottawa. During his military career, he held command and staff responsibilities across Canada, in Europe, United States of America, the Middle East and Africa.

  In the 1990s, he was successively commander of the Army Combat Training Centre, military advisor to the secretary general of the United Nations in New York, and commander of the Army. In 1997, he was promoted to the rank of general and also became Canada’s chief of defence staff. He retired from the Canadian Forces in 2001.

  General Baril is a graduate of Canadian Army Staff College, U.S. Army Special Forces School, Canadian Forces Staff College, and École Supérieure de Guerre in Paris. Since retirement, the General has been Special Advisor to the ambassador for Mine Action of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canada.
• Arthur DeFehr, Founder, Palliser Furniture
• Arthur DeFehr developed Winnipeg’s Palliser Furniture, a family-owned business, into one of the country's largest residential furniture manufacturers. Respected for his business acumen and commitment to humanitarian initiatives, he is dedicated to alleviating global poverty and hunger. Among Mr. DeFehr’s many accomplishments are serving as the special representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to Somalia and playing an instrumental role in establishing the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and International Development Enterprises. In 2004, he was invested as an officer of the Order of Canada adding to numerous previous honours. He has served in several capacities with universities and various institutions. Mr. DeFehr has a bachelor degree in commerce and economics and graduated from Harvard Business School with a masters of business administration. 
• Yves Gauthier, Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, Desjardins Securities
• Yves Gauthier, FCA, is the senior vice-president and chief financial officer of Desjardins Securities in Montreal, where he manages the functions of finance, administration and risk management.

  He began his career with the audit firm Thorne Riddell. Mr. Gauthier held the position of principal in the Office of the Auditor General of Canada in Ottawa for two years. He was a partner at KPMG, during which time he was responsible for the Risk Management and Internal Audit practice in the Province of Quebec. During his tenure at KPMG, Mr. Gauthier also managed the Finance and Administration Consulting practice and delivered consulting and internal audit services primarily in Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec City – but also abroad, including in China, Australia, South Africa and Pakistan.

  From 2001 to 2003, Mr. Gauthier was senior vice-president of the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec. He joined Desjardins Securities in 2003. Mr. Gauthier is accredited by the IDA as a chief financial officer, a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, a member of the Board of the Institute of Internal Auditors-Montreal Chapter and a member of the Board of the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation. Mr. Gauthier has also served on the Board of the North-South Institute and of the Biosphere.

• David Campbell Halton, BA (Hons), Retired CBC News' Senior Correspondent in Washington, D.C.
• David Halton is one of Canada's most acclaimed journalists, and worked with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Television for four decades until his recent retirement. He is currently an adjunct professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University. Mr. Halton joined CBC News in 1965, soon becoming The National's Paris-basedcorrespondent, reporting on the de Gaulle government, the Six-Day War in Israel and a coup in Greece. He was their Moscow correspondent between 1967 and 1968 and, after returning to Paris in 1968, covered events in the Middle East and the war in Vietnam.

  In 1971, Mr. Halton became The National's reporter in Quebec. He returned to Europe three years later as CBC London correspondent, also reporting from the Middle East and interviewing such leaders as Harold Wilson, Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat, King Hussein and Robert Mugabe.

  He returned to Canada to host several CBC news specials, such as The October Crisis, before accepting the position of chief political correspondent in Ottawa in 1978. Mr. Halton co-anchored CBC coverage of every federal election from 1979 to 1988. He became the CBC senior Washington correspondent in 1991 covering four presidential elections and such major stories as the Clinton impeachment proceedings and the 9/11 attacks. He also filed documentary reports from Haiti, Cuba, Colombia and Bolivia.

  Born in Beaconsfield, England, Mr. Halton graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA in modern history and also studied at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris.  In 2005, he was presented with one of the most prized Gemini awards, the Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism. Mr. Halton has an honorary doctorate degree from Trinity College at the University of Toronto.

• Fen Osler Hampson, PhD
  Norman Paterson School of International Affairs
• Fen Osler Hampson is the chancellor professor and director of The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, at Carleton University. He holds a PhD from Harvard University where he also received his master of arts. He also holds a master of science in economics (with distinction) from the London School of Economics and a BA (Hon.) from the University of Toronto.

  Dr. Hampson is the author and creator of eight books and co-author/editor of 23 other volumes. In addition, he is the author of more than 80 articles and book chapters on international affairs.

  Dr. Hampson has served on the editorial boards of International Peacekeeping and Global Governance. He is a senior consultant to the United States Institute of Peace and has beena consultant to the International Peace Academy in New York, the Social Science Research Council in New York, the Commission on Human Security, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the MacArthur Foundation.

  Dr. Hampson was chair of the Human Security Track of the Helsinki Process on Globalization and Democracy, a joint initiative of the Governments of Finland and Tanzania, which is looking at the future of multilateralism and global governance in a North-South context. He was also chair of the Working Group on International Institutions and International Cooperation Oversight Coordinator for the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism, and Security in 2005.

• Ewan (Nick) Hare
• Nick Hare served as the commonwealth deputy secretary-general (Development Cooperation) from 1993 to 2000. He holds degrees in political science and public administration, and began his career in the Government of Canada in 1961 as an analyst with the Treasury Board. He joined the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) as a programs officer and was subsequently posted to the Canadian High Commission in Ghana as first secretary, Development. On returning to CIDA, he was named program director responsible for Canada’s bilateral development assistance program in South-East Asia, and then held the same position for Central and Southern Africa.

  In 1978, Mr. Hare became director-general (Social Development) and then director-general (UN Programs). In 1984, he was named ambassador to Zaire, with concurrent accreditation to Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo. On his return to Canada in 1987, he assumed responsibilityfor developing Canada’s trade with Africa before moving to CIDA’s Industrial Cooperation Division as director-general.  In 1991, he was appointed high commissioner to Nigeria, with concurrent accreditation to the Republic of Benin. Mr. Hare was the chair of the board of the Canadian Hunger Foundation, chair of the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation’s International Committee, and a member of the board of the North-South Institute.

• George Haynal
  Vice-President, Government Affairs, Bombardier
• George Haynal, vice-president, Government Affairs, for Bombardier Inc., is a former Canadian diplomat and public servant.

  Prior to his retirement from the Canadian Foreign Service in 2002, Mr. Haynal was assistant deputy minister for the Americas in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). He last served abroad as consul general in New York, with concurrent accreditation as commissioner to Bermuda (1995-1998). He had earlier served as deputy permanent representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and representative to the International Energy Agency in Paris. Prior postings include Lima and London.

  Among earlier DFAIT headquarters assignments he had been head of the Departmental Policy Staff and director general of Economic Policy. Mr. Haynal had also served as first officer of the Priorities and Planning Secretariat in the Privy Council Office and, on Executive Exchange, as acting vice president (Corporate Banking) at the head office of the Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto.Distinguished visiting professor at the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, he is a member of the boards of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canada-China Business Council, the Canada-India Business Council and the Canadian Standards Association. He also serves on the advisory board of the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa.

  An alumnus fellow of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, he is a fellow of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute and an associate member and past president of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers.

• Major General (Retired) Lewis MacKenzie, CM, Oont, MSC, CD
  President, General MacKenzie Enterprises Inc.
• General Lewis MacKenzie was born in Truro, Nova Scotia and is a graduate of Xavier Junior College of Sydney, Cape Breton and the University of Manitoba. During his 36 years of military service, he served nine years in Germany with NATO and went on nine peacekeeping tours of duty in six different mission areas – the Gaza Strip, Cyprus, Vietnam, Cairo, Central America and Sarajevo.

  In 1990, General MacKenzie was appointed commander of the UN Observer mission in Central America. Two years later he was assigned to the UN Protection Force in Yugoslavia where he created and assumed command of Sector Sarajevo, a contingent of soldiers from 31 countries that opened the Sarajevo airport for the delivery of humanitarian aid during the height of the Bosnian civil war. As a result, he is the only Canadian – military or civilian – to be awarded a second Meritorious Service Cross. He retired from the Canadian Forces in 1993.

  Peacekeeper, Road to Sarajevo, a personal account of his military experiences, was a number one bestseller in 1993. A two-hour TV documentary based on the book won a New York film festival award in 1997. Since his retirement, General MacKenzie has frequently been a commentator on many international TV and radio networks, including CTV and CBS. He is a regular contributor to The Globe and Mail newspaper and is a sought-after lecturer on leadership. He currently chairs an international advisory board on homeland security.

  General MacKenzie holds honorary doctorates from numerous Canadian universities and is a member of the board of advisors of the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research. In 2002 and 2006, respectively, he was invested with the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada for his humanitarian work in Africa.

• Carolyn McAskie, Assistant Secretary-General (Retired)
  The United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office
• Carolyn McAskie was named United Nations assistant secretary-general for Peacebuilding Support Office in May 2006, a post closely aligned with the Peacebuilding Commission aimed to help post-conflict countries avoid sliding back into war.

  Previously, Ms. McAskie served as the senior UN envoy to Burundi and head of the UN peacekeeping operation there. She served as a member of the Facilitation Team of the Burundi Peace Process in Arusha in 1999 under the late Julius Nyerere, the former president of Tanzania, and as humanitarian envoy of the UN secretary general for the humanitarian crisis in Cote d'Ivoire in 2003. From 1999 to 2004, she was the UN’s deputy emergency relief coordinator, serving on a temporary basis as emergency relief coordinator from1999 to January 2001.

  Prior to joining the UN, Ms. McAskie had a 30-year career with the federal government in the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), holding senior positions with responsibility for Africa and the Middle East, among a number of other appointments. Early in her career, she served in the Commonwealth Secretariat in London as assistant director of Finance and Personnel from 1975 to 1980 and as Canadian high commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives from 1986 to 1989. Throughout her career, Carolyn McAskie has played a prominent role in multilateral negotiations as a Canadian delegate to the UN Funds and Programs and in the governing councils of international financial institutions.

• Philip Murray, Commissioner (Retired)
  President, J Philip Murray Strategic Advisors Inc.
• Philip Murray’s career culminated in 2000 when he was appointed to the top post of commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Mr. Murray has made significant contributions to shaping both the RCMP and law enforcement in general,to meet the many challenges of modern policing in the 21^st century. These include: championing the community policing model adopted by the RCMP, meeting the diverse needs of communities across Canada; building and strengthening productive and positive working relationships with police partners and others, in Canada and around the world, to encourage the developmentof shared solutions to critical law enforcement and governance issues; encouraging innovation and investment in technology to address crucial policing challenges; and leading the collaborative and proactive development of enforcement and prevention strategies to address major security threats and risks.

  His more recent experience includes that of fairness commissioner in several complex major public sector contracts, member of the research advisory committee, Ipperwash Commission of Inquiry into Aboriginal, Government and Police relationships, member of the advisory panel, Cornwall Commission of Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse, vice-chair of the Ottawa Hospital Board of Governors, member of the board of directors and governance committee, Garda World Security Corporation, vice-chair, Strategy, National Security Group, and associate editor, Frontline Security Magazine. He remains active in and dedicated to a safe and secure Canada. 

• Denis Stairs, PhD
  Professor Emeritus, Dalhousie University
• Denis Stairs' current interests and research are Canadian foreign and defence policy and Canadian/American relations. Dr. Stairs was a McCulloch professor in Political Science, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a past-president of the Canadian Political Science Association. The founding director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies, he was Dalhousie's vice-president (Academic and Research) from 1988 to 1993. He is currently the chair of the Board of Visitors of the Canadian Forces College, and also a senior fellow of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute in Calgary, and chair of its advisory council. He was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in 2006.

Ex-Officio Board Members - Voting 

• Suzanne Monaghan
  PPC President
• Suzanne Monaghan joined the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre (PPC) as president in October 2005. She has over 30 years of diversified and progressive experience in the federal public service in a variety of policy and program portfolios. She is a graduate of Carleton University (St. Patrick’s College) with a bachelor of arts (Sociology).

  During her public service career, Suzanne held senior leadership positions in a variety
  of departments. Her accomplishments are significant and varied – she “renewed” human resources functions; she led broad-based national consultation processes and she was responsible for the development of policy proposals on a broad range of issues. Her last 10 years as a human resources executive were focused on provision of strategic policy direction aimed at capacity building and improved organizational performance. As the chief learning officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) from 2001 to 2005, she created a strategic vision for an integrated approach to human resource management. She was a champion for the use of technology-assisted learning at the RCMP as well as at the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency where she was the director general responsible for the large training organization from 1996-2001. Her focus in both organizations was the creation of a client–centered training function that would align activities to meet strategic business objectives.

  In 1994, Ms. Monaghan led a national public consultation process on immigration policy that led to a 10-year strategic framework for Citizenship and Immigration and the tabling of new immigration levels for Canada. Prior to that, she was director of Police Policy at the former Solicitor General Secretariat where she was involved in a number of key policy files as well as in the creation of the short-lived Department of Public Security. In her capacity as deputy registrar of Canadian Citizenship (1989-1993), in addition to her accountability for the delivery of programs and services, she was responsible for the development of policy proposals and legislative changes to the Citizenship Act.

  Ms. Monaghan also held management positions in a number of programs related to the youth sector, voluntary sector, and Canada Student Loans. Throughout her career, she worked in partnership with other levels of government, with non-governmental organizations and with the private sector. She was also responsible for a number of international programs and participated on a number of international committees.

Ex-Officio Board Members - Non-voting 

• Robert Derouin, Department of Foreign Affairs Representative
• In September of this year, Mr. Derouin transferred from Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to his current position in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, taking over as head of the Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (START) Secretariat, Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC).

  Mr. Derouin entered the Canadian public service 26 years ago, after completing university studies in international business and gaining accreditation as a certified management accountant. He worked as a financial analyst in several government ministries before joining the Canadian International Development Agency in 1989. While with CIDA, Mr. Derouin became increasingly engaged in civil society programming, including the management of a $125-million fund in support of projects designed and managed by non-governmental organizations and professional associations. 

  In the late 90s he was posted to Tokyo, participating in a Canada-Japan staff exchange program which brought him to the Japan International Cooperation Agency for three years and to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for nine months.

  Vacant, Department of National Defence Representative