AMBASSADOR Evadne Coye, former Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union, has been appointed high commissioner to Canada.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Anthony Hylton made the announcement yesterday.

She will be assuming office in Ottawa on January 22.

A career diplomat, Coye succeeds High Commissioner Carl Marshall who demitted office in July last year.

Ambassador Coye, while resident in Brussels, also served as ambassador to France, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, as well as high commissioner to Botswana and South Africa.

She received her first posting as a Head of Mission in 1992, when she was appointed resident ambassador of Mexico while being accredited to Belize, Central America and Panama. She has also been non-resident ambassador to Argentina and Uruguay. Prior to this, she served with the Jamaican Mission to the United Nations, New York, the Jamaican Embassy, Venezuela; and Jamaica’s Permanent Mission to the Organisation of American States (OAS), where she was deputy permanent representative.

Coye joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in 1975 and worked in a number of positions and departments, rising to the office of Under-Secretary with responsibility for Bilateral and Western Hemisphere relations.

She is the recipient of a number of awards, including the Corrdon del Aguila Azteca, which she received in 1996 from the president of Mexico for excellence in diplomatic service; and the Pelican Award, (1992) from the USA Chapter of the UWI graduates for excellence in representing Jamaican and the Caribbean interests at the international level.

The ambassador holds BA and MSc degrees in International Relations from the University of the West Indies.