Georges Rioux

Georges Rioux has been a Canadian diplomat. Appointed on August 14, 2006, as the Consul General in Chicago, Illinois, United States he represented interests in the region including Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin.

On August 22, 2011, Rioux was appointed Vice-President Corporate Affairs at the Canada Border Services Agency

Rioux entered the Public Service of Canada in 1982. He was appointed by Foreign Affairs Canada to Washington, D.C. in 1983 and reassigned to Saudi Arabia in 1985 staying there for two years. He returned to Ottawa and was appointed to the media relations office of Foreign Affairs. He was the legislative assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, for another two years. Rioux was then returned to Washington, D.C. where he held numerous positions including spokesperson for the Embassy. In 1998, Rioux joined the Department of National Defence as Director General of Public Affairs making him responsible for leading national communications for DND and the Canadian Forces and advising the Minister, Deputy Minister and Chief of the Defence Staff. Rioux was then appointed Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Affairs, in June 2003. Later that year, in November 2003, Rioux joined the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat in the role of Assistant Secretary. He was responsible for government communications in public sector management.^[1] .

Barack Obama NAFTA controversy

Prior to the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Rioux was contacted by senior economic advisor to Obama, Austan Goolsbee, in an attempt to downplay Obama's anti-North American Free Trade Agreement message. The Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. and Obama's campaign managers denied the report. .^[2] The controversy made Canadian news headlines, but barely made news in the United States.

References

• Consuls General List

1. ^ Georges Rioux
2. ^ Clinton Campaign Demands Obama Answers on NAFTA