Raymond Chrétien is a seasoned diplomat and former Ambassador of Canada to France, the United States, Belgium, Mexico, and the Congo. Today he is a partner and strategic advisor at Fasken.
Raymond Chrétien has extensive knowledge and high-level experience of the business community, international financing agencies, government affairs and international negotiations and trade agreements. His experience adds further value to the advice given to the firm’s clients, whether doing business in Canada or Canadian businesses expanding in the United States, Europe, South America and Africa.
Before joining the firm, Mr. Chrétien enjoyed a lengthy career as a federal public servant. He held several key positions in Ottawa with the Privy Council, the Treasury Board, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and as the Associate Under-Secretary of State for the Department of External Affairs and International Trade of Canada. As previously mentioned, he was assigned the most prestigious positions abroad in Canadian diplomacy.
Over the years, he has been honoured for his many accomplishments. In 2019, Mr. Chrétien was named as a Companion of the Order of Canada, following his nomination as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2010. He became a Commander in the Legion of Honour (France) in 2003, an Officer of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (Mexico) in 1989, after being admitted to the National Order of the Leopard (Zaire, now the Congo) in 1981. He also holds honorary doctorates.
Mr. Chrétien has been working closely with the Quebec government for over two years. In October 2015, Mr. Chrétien was appointed emissary for the Government of Quebec in negotiations between Quebec, Canada, and the United States to install a pre-clearance zone at the Québec City airport and Montréal’s Central Station. In 2016, Mr. Chrétien was mandated to represent the province of Quebec during the softwood lumber negotiations currently underway between Canada and the United States. This mandate was extended and broadened in January 2018 to include the dispute on preliminary anti-dumping duties on Canadian and Quebec exports of uncoated groundwood paper. Mr. Chrétien has also been mandated in March 2018 to represent Quebec during negotiations on aluminium and steel trade agreements between Canada and the United States.
