Ruth Archibald
Encyclopedia
Ruth Archibald is a Canadian diplomat
and former political organizer. She is the current Canadian high commissioner in Bridgetown with responsibility for Barbados
and the Eastern Caribbean.
from Memorial University.
from 1972 to 1988. She was campaign manager for Dennis Timbrell
in the party's November 1985 leadership contest, in which Timbrell was narrowly defeated by Larry Grossman
. She later served as the party's deputy campaign chair in the 1987 provincial election
, overseeing nine regional organizations. In August 1987, she remarked that more women were running for public office than was the case ten years earlier.
The Ontario PCs were defeated in the 1987 election, and Archibald became employed later in the year as a special assistant to federal Progressive Conservative
cabinet minister Barbara McDougall
. When McDougall was appointed as Canada's minister of employment and immigration
in 1988, she retained Archibald as her chief of staff and principal policy advisor on immigration issues. In this capacity, Archibald supported McDougall's efforts to significantly increase the overall rate of immigration to Canada. Archibald resigned in 1992 after a disagreement over the minister's decision to continue flying first-class on international trips despite a government directive that forbade the practice.
population conference in Cairo
. She helped negotiate its Program of Action and, at one stage, noted the difficulty of committing programs and services for women while also recognizing international cultural differences. She welcomed the final document, which many regarded as a victory for women's reproductive rights. Archibald was later a delegate to the 1995 United Nations conference on women in Beijing
and chaired a committee that reached a compromise agreement on the right of young people to sex education. She also chaired a committee that addressed discrimination based on sexual orientation
.
Archibald was director-general of the global issues bureau at Canada's foreign affairs department in 1997 and worked on Canada's efforts to ban land mine
s.
In 1998, Archibald was appointed as Canada's high commissioner to Sri Lanka
with concurrent accreditation for the Maldives
. At a conference two years later, she acknowledged that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) were active in Canada. She was quoted as saying, "Probably none of the monies collected by the LTTE in Canada ended up in Sri Lanka, but may be going towards the purchase of arms in other countries. We need the co-operation of other countries to look into this."
Archibald met S.P. Thamilchelvam, the leader of the LTTE's political wing, in the northern Wanni jungle in April 2001, during a six-day trip to monitor Canadian-funded humanitarian projects. This was the first time that a Canadian diplomat met with a leader of the rebel group, and Archibald later told the media that the meeting was "a coincidence," held in response to an LTTE request after she arrived in the region. During the meeting, she told Thamilchelvam that Canada was interested in seeking a peaceful resolution to the Sri Lankan conflict and believed the fighting would need to stop. This meeting took place in the context of a Norwegian
-led peace process between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE; the process later broke down, and the civil war resumed.
Archibald returned to Canada in 2002 to work in the Canadian foreign ministry's international crime and terrorism department. She led the Canadian delegation in meetings of an Indo-Canadian Joint Working Group on counter-terrorism.
In 2006, Archibald was appointed as Canada's high commissioner to South Africa
. Over the following year, she also received accreditation as Canada's representative for Mauritius
, Namibia
, Lesotho
, and Swaziland
. In 2009, she was appointed resident high commissioner to Bridgetown
, Barbados
, with concurrent accreditation to Antigua and Barbuda
, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada
, Saint Kitts and Nevis
, Saint Lucia
, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
.
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
and former political organizer. She is the current Canadian high commissioner in Bridgetown with responsibility for Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
and the Eastern Caribbean.
Education
Archibald has a degree in English and political sciencePolitical science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from Memorial University.
Political career
Archibald was an organizer with the Progressive Conservative Party of OntarioProgressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
from 1972 to 1988. She was campaign manager for Dennis Timbrell
Dennis Timbrell
Dennis Roy Timbrell is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1987, and was a cabinet minister in the governments of William Davis and Frank Miller.-Early life and career:...
in the party's November 1985 leadership contest, in which Timbrell was narrowly defeated by Larry Grossman
Larry Grossman
Lawrence "Larry" Sheldon Grossman was a politician in Ontario, Canada.-Early years:Born in Toronto, Grossman was the son of Allan Grossman, who had represented a downtown Toronto riding in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for twenty years after defeating Ontario's last Communist Member of...
. She later served as the party's deputy campaign chair in the 1987 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
, overseeing nine regional organizations. In August 1987, she remarked that more women were running for public office than was the case ten years earlier.
The Ontario PCs were defeated in the 1987 election, and Archibald became employed later in the year as a special assistant to federal Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
cabinet minister Barbara McDougall
Barbara McDougall
Barbara Jean McDougall, PC, OC, is a former Canadian politician. McDougall received a B.A. from the University of Toronto in political science and economics, in 1963.In 2000, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada....
. When McDougall was appointed as Canada's minister of employment and immigration
Minister of Employment and Immigration (Canada)
The Minister of Employment and Immigration was an office in the Cabinet of Canada, in operation from 1977 to 1996. On July 12, 1996, the office of the Minister of Employment and Immigration was abolished and replaced with the office of Minister of Human Resources Development...
in 1988, she retained Archibald as her chief of staff and principal policy advisor on immigration issues. In this capacity, Archibald supported McDougall's efforts to significantly increase the overall rate of immigration to Canada. Archibald resigned in 1992 after a disagreement over the minister's decision to continue flying first-class on international trips despite a government directive that forbade the practice.
Diplomat
Archibald joined Canada's foreign affairs department in 1993. The following year, she was alternate leader of the Canadian delegation to a United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
population conference in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
. She helped negotiate its Program of Action and, at one stage, noted the difficulty of committing programs and services for women while also recognizing international cultural differences. She welcomed the final document, which many regarded as a victory for women's reproductive rights. Archibald was later a delegate to the 1995 United Nations conference on women in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and chaired a committee that reached a compromise agreement on the right of young people to sex education. She also chaired a committee that addressed discrimination based on sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
.
Archibald was director-general of the global issues bureau at Canada's foreign affairs department in 1997 and worked on Canada's efforts to ban land mine
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
s.
In 1998, Archibald was appointed as Canada's high commissioner to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
with concurrent accreditation for the Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
. At a conference two years later, she acknowledged that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
(LTTE) were active in Canada. She was quoted as saying, "Probably none of the monies collected by the LTTE in Canada ended up in Sri Lanka, but may be going towards the purchase of arms in other countries. We need the co-operation of other countries to look into this."
Archibald met S.P. Thamilchelvam, the leader of the LTTE's political wing, in the northern Wanni jungle in April 2001, during a six-day trip to monitor Canadian-funded humanitarian projects. This was the first time that a Canadian diplomat met with a leader of the rebel group, and Archibald later told the media that the meeting was "a coincidence," held in response to an LTTE request after she arrived in the region. During the meeting, she told Thamilchelvam that Canada was interested in seeking a peaceful resolution to the Sri Lankan conflict and believed the fighting would need to stop. This meeting took place in the context of a Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
-led peace process between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE; the process later broke down, and the civil war resumed.
Archibald returned to Canada in 2002 to work in the Canadian foreign ministry's international crime and terrorism department. She led the Canadian delegation in meetings of an Indo-Canadian Joint Working Group on counter-terrorism.
In 2006, Archibald was appointed as Canada's high commissioner to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Over the following year, she also received accreditation as Canada's representative for Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
, Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
, and Swaziland
Swaziland
Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...
. In 2009, she was appointed resident high commissioner to Bridgetown
Bridgetown
The city of Bridgetown , metropolitan pop 96,578 , is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael...
, Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, with concurrent accreditation to Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...
, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
, Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis
The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies. It is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population....
, Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...
, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....
.