Bodyguard lands diplomatic post
Supt. Bruno Saccomani will represent Canada in Jordan
The Mountie in charge of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s personal security is set to become Canada’s new ambassador to Jordan.
OTTAWA — The Mountie who heads Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s personal security detail will be appointed Canada’s ambassador to Jordan.
The appointment of RCMP Supt. Bruno Saccomani will likely raise eyebrows in the diplomatic community and prompt questions from opposition parties about why the job isn’t going to a career diplomat.
Saccomani is held in high regard by Harper for how he bolstered the security detail in recent years into a more modern unit with better trained RCMP officers, more funding and better protective equipment.
The government also believes his background in security — including a previous five-year-stint as a liaison officer at Canada’s embassy in Rome that brought him to various countries in the Middle East — will stand him in good stead in Jordan.
That country is a critical nation in the region, as the civil war continues to rage in neighbouring Syria and thousands of refugees flee to camps in Jordan.
Marc Lortie, former Canadian ambassador to France, said in an interview Wednesday that two things are critical for an envoy: relevant experience and a “special connection with the powers that be” — such as the prime minister.
On both counts, he said, Saccomani is qualified. “This fellow served in an embassy before. He was connected to international affairs through his security work,” Lortie said. “What are we looking at in this region? First and foremost, security issues. Refugee issues. Those types of things. And it seems we’re touching all the bases with this type of fellow.”
But former Canadian diplomat Gar Pardy questioned whether Saccomani would have the skills necessary to navigate the extremely complex and sensitive minefield that is the Middle East.
“I’m flabbergasted,” Pardy said. “It worries me just because you want somebody who understands that part of the world. You need someone who has a sense of how things work over there.”
Pardy said this was the first time he has ever heard of a Mountie being named an ambassador, and he noted that as a superintendent, Saccomani isn’t among the most senior of ranks in the RCMP.
“This borders on the peculiar,” Pardy said.
Although diplomatic postings often go to career foreign service officers, governments sometimes turn to key players — such as former B. C. premier Gordon Campbell as envoy to Britain and former Manitoba premier Gary Doer to the post in the United States.
In addition to being Canada’s top envoy to Jordan, Saccomani will also assume ambassadorial responsibility for Iraq — where Canada recently announced it is opening a diplomatic mission.