Heads of post

Donald Leblanc assumed the duties of Québec Government Representative in Atlanta on November 27, 2017. He had previously headed the United States Division at the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie (MRIF) since 2015.
 
He embarked on his career at the MRIF in 1990 as a trade policy advisor during the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations. He subsequently held a number of positions linked to bilateral relations, including in the France, United States and Asia-Pacific Divisions.
 
During that period, he took time away from his work in bilateral relations to participate in the international program at the École nationale d’administration (ENA – national school of administration) in France, in addition to holding the position of general advisor at the Québec Government Office in Boston (United States) a few years later.
 
In 2011, Mr. Leblanc was appointed Director of International Solidarity – Haiti and Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2013, he became director of the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean Division prior to heading the United States Division in 2015.
 
Mr. Leblanc holds a B.A. in international relations and economics from the Université de Montréal and two undergraduate certificates: one in administration from the Université du Québec à Montréal and the other in public relations from the Université de Montréal. He also holds a graduate diploma in public administration (ENA).

Marie-Claude Francoeur was appointed the Québec Government Delegate in Boston in May 2014. This is her second term in Boston.

Ms. Francoeur formerly served as the Assistant Deputy Minister for Policies, Multilateral and Francophone Affairs and as Acting Chief of Protocol, from 2011 to 2012, at the Québec Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie.

Ms. Francoeur was also Chief of Staff for the Québec Minister of Transportation and the Minister of Labour. Throughout her career, Ms. Francoeur has worked to shape and promote Québec’s policies on climate change, labor, transportation, energy and francophonie, both at home and internationally.

Ms. Francoeur holds masters’ degrees in both public administration and international relations from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in applied sciences from Laval University in Québec and a certificate in advanced management from the McGill Executive Institute. Ms. Francoeur has also completed the Senior Managers in Government program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Jean-François Hould began his term as Québec Government Delegate in Chicago on September 5, 2017. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Hould has held the position of Chief of Staff to the Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie since April 2014.
 
Jean-François Hould graduated from the Université of Montréal and studied at Université Laval and Hautes Études commerciales. He has accumulated a roadmap of public service for Québec dating back to the early 2000s.
 
He served as a member of various Québec ministers’ offices from 2003 to 2011, in particular as Deputy Chief of Staff and Political Advisor to the Minister of Culture. In 2011, he joined the public service, first as a Socio-Economic Planning Officer at the Ministry of Culture, and then as Cultural Director at the Québec Government Office in New York.

Donald Leblanc assumed the duties of Québec Government Representative in Atlanta on November 27, 2017. He had previously headed the United States Division at the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie (MRIF) since 2015.
 
He embarked on his career at the MRIF in 1990 as a trade policy advisor during the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations. He subsequently held a number of positions linked to bilateral relations, including in the France, United States and Asia-Pacific Divisions.
 
During that period, he took time away from his work in bilateral relations to participate in the international program at the École nationale d’administration (ENA – national school of administration) in France, in addition to holding the position of general advisor at the Québec Government Office in Boston (United States) a few years later.
 
In 2011, Mr. Leblanc was appointed Director of International Solidarity – Haiti and Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2013, he became director of the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean Division prior to heading the United States Division in 2015.
 
Mr. Leblanc holds a B.A. in international relations and economics from the Université de Montréal and two undergraduate certificates: one in administration from the Université du Québec à Montréal and the other in public relations from the Université de Montréal. He also holds a graduate diploma in public administration (ENA).

Elizabeth MacKay was appointed Delegate for the Québec Government Office in Los Angeles, responsible for the Western US in September 2015. Ms. MacKay is also responsible for the Québec Trade Office in Silicon Valley since its opening, in October 2015. Previously, she held the position of State Director - Deputy Director - Québec Region at the Ministry of Finance. During her 30-year career, mainly in the public sector, she managed several organizations. She also has nearly a decade of experience as Chief of Staff and Assistant Deputy Minister in many departments.

As a graduate in communications, Ms. MacKay adds to her expertise recognized leadership along with a strong ability to seize strategic and policy issues. Her professional skills enable her to defend Québec's interests in her territory including promoting partnerships for the fight against climate change and to support trade between Québec and the Western US.

Stéphanie Allard-Gomez took up her duties as Québec Delegate General in Mexico on September 25, 2017. A career diplomat, she has nearly 25 years of experience in international business development, including 12 years in Europe and Latin America.
 
An economist by training, Ms. Allard-Gomez has served, among other positions, as Canada’s Ambassador to El Salvador (2006-2008), policy advisor and coordinator of Canada’s participation in the 2006 G8 Summit in Russia, consul and senior trade delegate in Milan (2002-2004) and business advisor and chargé d’affaires in Colombia (1999-2002). She also served as Director, Trade Relations with Latin America and the Caribbean, at Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa from 2008 to 2009. In 2009, she was appointed Vice President, International Organizations, at Montréal International, then joined the Tourisme Montréal team in February 2017 as Associate Vice President, Convention Sales and Services.
 
Ms. Allard-Gomez is originally from Montréal. She speaks French, English, Spanish, Italian and Russian.

Catherine Loubier was appointed Delegate General of Québec in New York on February 6, 2019.
Since October 2018 she had been serving as Deputy Chief of Staff in the Québec Premier’s Office, where
she led the transition of the new government.

From 2016 to 2018, Ms. Loubier served as General Manager in the Office of the President, then Alliance
Communication Global Director for Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, which is based in Paris and employs
nearly 475,000 people in 200 countries.

Previously, she acted as Senior Advisor to Canada’s 22^nd Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, from 2013
to 2015. Her mandate was to advise the Prime Minister of Canada on relations with Québec and to
conduct negotiations with the Government of Québec, other levels of government, associations and
the private sector, notably during negotiations surrounding the Comprehensive Economic and Trade
Agreement between Canada and the European Union and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement
for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Between 2006 and 2011, Ms. Loubier acted as Director of Communications then Deputy Chief of Staff
to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and the Minister responsible for Canada
Economic Development for Québec Regions. As part of her duties, she managed government funding for
major projects in Québec as well as dossiers related to the economy, the private sector, transportation,
infrastructure and the maritime industry.

Ms. Loubier worked as Director of Communications in the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in
Ottawa from 2008 to 2010. She was also involved in the official visits team of the Prime Minister of
Canada, notably for the APEC Summit (Vietnam), the G8 Summit (Russia) and the Francophonie Summit
(Romania) as well as for bilateral meetings, including those with the President of the United States.

Between 1996 and 2006, Ms. Loubier held various key positions in the private sector advising business
leaders in the financial, energy, charitable, infrastructure and entertainment sectors. Some of the
organizations and companies she worked for include Superior Propane (Calgary), Hill Knowlton Canada,
Cavalia, One Drop, the International Financial Centre Montréal and Groupe Vaugeois, which helped
attract Ubisoft to Montréal and create Cité du Multimédia.

Catherine Loubier holds a BA and a Master’s in Political Science from Université du Québec à Montréal.

Frédéric Tremblay was appointed Director of the Québec Government Office in Washington on February 20, 2015. Mr. Tremblay holds a graduate degree in public management, a master’s in political science and a B.A. in political communications. He started his career with the Québec Ministère des Relations Internationales et de la Francophonie in 2006 as a Communications Advisor at the Online Services Division.

He subsequently held the position of International Relations Advisor at the North America Division from 2008 to 2011. Mr. Tremblay continued his work at the Ministère as Public and Government Affairs Advisor at the Québec Government Office in Los Angeles starting in 2012.

Frédéric Tremblay was previously employed by the Secrétariat à la jeunesse (Youth Secretariat), which is under the authority of the Premier and is part of the Ministère du Conseil exécutif du Québec. He also gained experience in journalism at La Presse and Le Nouvelliste dailies, where he dealt with subjects focusing on political, economic and cultural issues.

Johanne Desnoyers has worked at the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie for over 25 years. She was appointed Director of the Québec Government Office in Havana in August 2018. Among her past appointments, Ms. Desnoyers served as interim Delegate General of the Québec Government Office in Mexico, Head of the Benelux Desk and Advisor to La Francophonie, where she contributed to the success of La Francophonie Summits in Beirut, Ouagadougou and Bucharest. More recently, she has acted as Senior Advisor to the Québec Government Office in Mexico and Head of the Mexico Desk in the Latin America and Antilles Department. Her experience in the Latin American territory and her professionalism make her the choice candidate for the official post of Director of the Québec Government Office in Havana.
 
Johanne Desnoyers has a master’s degree in history (honours) from Université Laval as well as a bachelor’s degree in history.

Thais Aun was appointed Acting Director of the Québec Government Office in São Paulo in September 2015 where she has been serving as Economic Attachée since 2014.

Prior to that, she has held a number of positions both in Brazil and Canada, including the Consulate General of Canada in São Paulo, the Canadian Education Center in São Paulo and Niagara College Canada.

Ms. Aun graduated in Public Relations and Business Administration - Marketing from Niagara College in Ontario, Canada.

On March 25, 2014, Alfons Calderón Riera became Director of the Québec Government Office in Barcelona, where he has been serving as economic affairs attaché since 1999. Prior to that, he gained professional experience at the Catalonia Office of Foreign Investment, the ESADE Business School and the Commercial Office of the Spanish Embassy in Paris.

In the academic field, Mr. Calderón was a research fellow and taught courses on management, trade and international relations. He is regularly invited to speak at various venues, has co-authored several books and published numerous articles.

Mr. Calderón holds a degree in business science and an MBA from ESADE as well as a degree in business administration from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. He also earned a Master’s degree in International Management from the Community of European Management Schools (CEMS).  

Michel Audet took up his duties as Québec Delegate General in Brussels on December 1, 2014. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Audet was Deputy Minister at the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie. He was also the Commissioner General of the French Language World Forum held in Québec City in 2012.

From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Audet was the first Québec Government representative at UNESCO. Earlier, he was a full professor in the Department of Industrial Relations in Université Laval’s Faculty of Social Sciences and served as director of the Francophone Centre for the Computerization of Organizations (CEFRIO), as well as of the Institute for Information technologies and Societies (IITS), and of the Institute for Advanced International Studies (HEI).

John A. Coleman has been Québec’s Agent General in London since October 17, 2017. He received his B.A. from McGill University and attended the University of Oxford (Rhodes Scholarship, Québec and St. John’s 1975), graduating with a degree in English law. He went on to complete the National Law Programme at McGill University’s Faculty of Law.

Mr. Coleman spent most of his legal career at the law firm of Ogilvy Renault (now Norton Rose Fulbright), practising employment and labour law. During his six-year tenure as National Managing Partner, he led the firm’s historic transition in 2011 into the Norton Rose Group, one of the top ten global law firms, and its merger in 2012 with the Calgary-based firm of MacLeod Dixon. From 2010 to 2014, he also served as a member of the global firm’s Executive Committee and actively participated in the negotiations that led to the merger with the leading U.S. firm of Fulbright & Jaworski in 2013. In 2011, he was named one of the top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada by Canadian Lawyer magazine.

Marie-Ève Jean is the Montreal Regional Director at the Ministère de l’Économie, de la Science et de l’Innovation (MESI) and has accumulated over 17 years of experience at the MESI and the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie. She also served as Director – Asia-Pacific and Oceania Markets – Export Québec at the MESI from 2011 to 2017. From 2007 to 2011, she acted as Director of Economic Services at the Québec Government Office in Munich, where she met a number of dignitaries in the German, Austrian and Swiss territory and developed a large network of relations. She began her career in 2001 at the Ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation, where she held the position of International Affairs Advisor and Head of the Germany, Switzerland and Austria Desk until 2007.

Ms. Jean has earned bachelor's degrees in business administration, international management, and operations and production management from HEC Montreal. She has also studied administration at the Université de Saint-Gall in Switzerland.

In January 2017, Marianna Simeone was appointed Québec delegate in Rome. 
 
An accomplished journalist, host, and columnist on television and radio, she began her career in international trade.
 
For 14 years Marianna was head of the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Montréal. Under her leadership, the organization became the largest of the eight accredited Italian chambers of commerce in North America.  Marianna opened the Vancouver and Québec City offices, was the driving force behind the creation of the NAFTA board of Italian chambers of commerce, and founded a business development office in Milan in partnership with the Government of Québec.  
 
From the business world, Marianna moved into the news and media, where for over 12 years she was a host and columnist on television and radio for leading English and French networks in Montréal, including CBC News and Radio-Canada. A trilingual journalist, she also hosted her own news show in Italian for Canwest Media.
 
To put her media experience to work for numerous international organizations in Montréal, Marianna founded MS Média, a communications and public relations firm she headed up for several years before moving into public service.
 
Marianna is a member of the board of directors of Concordia University, Foundation Santa Cabrini, and the Montreal Port Authority. She is also a trustee of the Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, for which she sat on the building committee. 
 
A knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and Gladiatore d’Oro of the province of Benevento, Marianna has received numerous journalism awards, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Women of Distinction Award from the Montréal Women’s Y Foundation.

Younes Mihoubi was appointed Director of the Québec Government Office in Dakar on April 19, 2016, and assumed his responsibilities in summer 2016.

Mr. Mihoubi had been the Assistant Deputy Minister for Administration and Transformation at the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversité et de l’Inclusion since 2013. Over the course of his thirty-year career, he has held several executive positions in the public service and directed the Québec Immigration Office in Hong Kong from 2012 to 2013.

Mr. Mihoubi holds a Master’s Degree in economics from the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, in France. He has extensive knowledge of international economic issues and is a Certified Corporate Director (ASC). He has been a member of the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of the École nationale de l’administration publique since 2015. In light of his professional expertise and leadership skills, he has all the qualities needed to head our new office in Dakar.

Younes Mihoubi was appointed Director of the Québec Government Office in Dakar on April 19, 2016, and assumed his responsibilities in summer 2016.

Mr. Mihoubi had been the Assistant Deputy Minister for Administration and Transformation at the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversité et de l’Inclusion since 2013. Over the course of his thirty-year career, he has held several executive positions in the public service and directed the Québec Immigration Office in Hong Kong from 2012 to 2013.

Mr. Mihoubi holds a Master’s Degree in economics from the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, in France. He has extensive knowledge of international economic issues and is a Certified Corporate Director (ASC). He has been a member of the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of the École nationale de l’administration publique since 2015. In light of his professional expertise and leadership skills, he has all the qualities needed to head our new office in Dakar.

Jean-François Lépine is an eminent journalist who is now Director of Québec Government offices in China. Before moving to Shanghai, he was an international analyst, speaker and associate in communication and government affairs at Avistra International Inc.

Until November 2015, he was also chair of the Middle Eastern and North African Observatory (Observatoire sur le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique du Nord/OMAN) at the Université du Québec à Montréal and a member of Montréal International’s Board of Directors. He was a foreign correspondent for CBC/Radio-Canada in Beijing, Paris and Jerusalem from 1982 to 1990 and is recognized as an exceptional analyst and communicator.

From 1990 to 2013, he hosted several popular public affairs television programs on CBC/Radio-Canada, including Enjeux, Le Point, Zone libre and the international magazine Une heure sur terre, which also aired on TV5 Monde.

His outstanding work both as a reporter and TV show host has been recognized by numerous awards. In June 2012, he was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada. That same year, he also received the Raymond Charette Prize awarded by the Québec Superior Council of the French Language.

Dominic Marcotte became Director of the Québec Government Office in Mumbai in late summer 2016. He had previously been serving as the Director of Economic Affairs at the Québec Government Office in Tokyo since August 2013.

In 2010, he was in charge of overseeing ministerial missions on behalf of the Ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation. He managed nearly a dozen economic ministerial missions to the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Upon graduating from Université Laval in 1998, where he earned a B.A. in public communication, Mr. Marcotte worked as a communications adviser at various departments and agencies in Québec’s public service. In 2003, he was Director of Outreach and Communication for the Théâtre des Confettis, where he dealt primarily with national and international market development. In that capacity, he helped organize tours in Québec, France, Hong Kong, Japan and Germany.

Over the past 20 years, René Sylvestre has held several positions in the public and private sectors that have enabled him to acquire extensive experience in finance, business development and project management in an international context. During that time, he served as a consultant for major organisations and a market analyst at a financial institution, in addition to working abroad for an economic development agency. He also held the position of director of finance and general affairs for a division of a European conglomerate.
 
Mr. Sylvestre has extensive knowledge in financial analysis, government relations and market research. His expertise likewise includes in-depth knowledge of economic development at the provincial and municipal levels.
 
Mr. Sylvestre holds an MBA from the National University of Singapore, a B.B.A. with a specialisation in finance from HEC Montréal business school, and a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree with concentrations in economic science and Canadian and Québec politics from the University of Ottawa.

With more than 30 years of experience in communications and journalism, Luci Tremblay assumed her duties as Delegate General of the Québec Government Office in Tokyo on September 18, 2017. As a communicator, she has mainly focused in recent years on deploying, positioning and promoting the organizations for which she worked on the national and international stage.

She was, from 2009 to 2017, Director of Communications for 3 E évènement-expérience-émotion and the Festival d’été de Québec, now recognized as the largest outdoor musical event in Canada and one of the largest festivals in the world. Prior to that, as Director of Communications for the Société du 400e anniversaire de Québec in 2008, she contributed to the phenomenal success of Québec City’s 400th anniversary celebrations, which raised the city’s profile worldwide.

Director of Public Affairs at Pôle Québec-Chaudière-Appalaches (now Québec International) from 2005 to 2007, she developed the economic development agency’s brand image and communications strategy before doing the same in 2007 for the Palais Montcalm, where she participated in the reopening and relaunch of the concert hall. Ms. Tremblay worked for five years, from 2000 to 2005, for the Mayor of Québec City, Jean-Paul L’Allier, first as Deputy Chief of Staff and Press Attachée and then as International Relations Commissioner.

Luci Tremblay holds degrees in translation, communications and journalism, and was a Radio-Canada television journalist for 15 years in Montréal, Toronto and Québec City.

Maxime Carrier-Légaré has been the Québec Delegate for Francophone and Multilateral Affairs in Paris since April 18, 2017.

Before his appointment, Mr. Carrier-Légaré served as advisor at the Québec Government Office in Paris, where he had been since 2016. While in this position he helped organize the Québec-UNESCO Conference entitled “Internet and the radicalization of youth: preventing, acting and living together,” which was held from October 30 to November 1, 2016.

Maxime Carrier-Légaré worked as a parliamentary official at the National Assembly of Québec starting in 2008, and was seconded in 2011 to the General Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie (APF), where he oversaw the organization’s Political Committee. His mandate at APF also allowed him to gain expertise in parliamentary development. He put this expertise to use to design programs for the legislative institutions of countries emerging from crisis and in transition to democracy and also to act as a consultant, including for the United Nations Development Programme and various development agencies.

Mr. Carrier-Légaré studied political science at Université Laval and the Lille Institute of Political Studies in France. He also received training in parliamentary organization and administration at Senghor University in Alexandria.