Derrick John Haro (March 20, 1953 – May 20, 1993) was a Canadian diplomat.
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Derrick was born on March 20, 1953 in the City of Winnipeg under the name Derrick John Hora, whom before joining the Diplomatic Service adopted the last-name Haro, he was the son of to Alva Mae Rose, a descendent of Scottish settlers, and John Paul Hora, a newcomer from Hungary and related to the Czech poet and writer Josef Hora. Soon after his birth the family moved West to open a horse trading business and established residence in Saanich in the vicinity of the City of Victoria on Vancouver Island. He grew up in British Columbia enjoying outdoor sports such as tennis and rowing.
He graduated from the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Honours in Education and then earned a Master's in Public Administration. From his school days he spoke French. Eventually Haro became multilingual fluent in French, English, Spanish and was able to have basic communication in Arabic, Persian, and German.
Prior to joining the Canadian Foreign Service, Haro was dedicated to the field of education in the area of British and Canadian Literature, his research contribution in Language Development and Cultural Influences was greatly enjoyed by the Theatre Studies students. He taught at the University of Victoria and accepted ESL summer appointments in Europe at private colleges in France and Germany. During this time, he had short trips within Europe having the chance to experience diverse cultures and languages and even life in a communist country while visiting the Adriatic coastal towns of Yugoslavia. Eventually, his teaching work earned him a Researcher position at the Ministry of Education and a position as Advisor at the Ministry of Industry and Small Business Development in Victoria.
At the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT)
In 1982 he was recruited by the Canadian Federal Government and sent to Ottawa to be trained as a Foreign Service Officer, at the then "Diplomatic Institute" at Pearson Building, while working for the Ministry of External Affairs and attending Parliamentary Sessions to achieve a greater understanding of Canadian politics and government operations. Haro eventually decided to dedicate his diplomatic career to the commercial and economic field, taking charge of extensive research and the negotiation of international trade treaties with foreign delegations.
In 1993, he died in a mysterious car accident while traveling in Mazandaran northern Iran with an Australian diplomat David W. McLackan, who was injured.[1] Derrick J. Haro left behind his two sons Graham Haro and Alexander Haro, and his longtime partner. His life was commemorated by his colleagues and diplomatic counterparts with official ceremonies in Canada and overseas. The Canadian Government recognized his contributions to diplomacy with a memorial bronze plaque placed at DFAIT headquartered in the Lester B. Pearson Building on the banks of the Rideau River in Ottawa.
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NICOSIA, Cyprus - A Canadian diplomat was lulled and an Australian diplomat ... quoted the daily as saying the Canadian was identified as Derrick John Haro, a Canadian diplomat.