David Sproule

David Sproule is a civil servant in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Government of Canada.
Family background
David William Sproule was born in 1956 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He is the second son to Cecil and Margaret Sproule, and the younger brother of John. His father, Cecil, born at Carrivetragh House in County Monaghan, Ireland was the second of seven brothers. Cecil grew up on a farm outside of Calgary, Alberta, served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War, and became an officer in the Edmonton Police Service until retirement. His mother, born Margaret Stapleton, whose family farmed near Fort McLeod, Alberta, died in 1959. Cecil later married Selma Komant and together they had David's only sister, Celma Gwen.
In 1976, he married Doreen Smith, also from Edmonton, Alberta. They moved to Ottawa, Ontario after David joined the Federal Public Service. In 1983 they had their first child, Graham. David's career in DFAIT took his family to Singapore, where their second child Sarah was born in 1984. After remaining in Ottawa, Ontario for some years, they moved to Thailand. Their family expanded in Thailand, when three Thai children joined the family in 1991, 1992, and 1993. This included two girls, Laura and Leigha, and one boy, Thomas. In 1994, his family moved to Rockville, Maryland. They returned to Ottawa, Ontario in 1998.
In 2004, Sproule moved to Dhaka, Bangladesh; in 2005 he moved to Kabul, Afghanistan; and in 2007 he moved to Bangkok, Thailand. He married Angelina Isaac of Dhaka in 2007. Angie brought into their marriage four children from her first marriage.
David Sproule's genealogy may be found in A Sproule Family of Ireland and Canada by Albert Frederick Sproule.
Education and career
A graduate of the University of Alberta (BA (Hons) & LL.B), in 1981 he joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). His first foreign assignment in 1981 was as Second Secretary to the Canadian High Commission in Singapore. His second assignment abroad was to the Canadian Embassy in Thailand where he served from 1989 to 1993 as First Secretary. His next appointment outside of headquarters was to the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C., where he served another four-year tenure as Political Counsellor.
Upon returning to Ottawa, Ontario in 1997, he briefly served in the Privy Council Office before returning to DFAIT where he worked in various positions, including Director of the Oceans and Environmental Law Division and Director of the UN, Human Rights, and Economic Law Division. From 1999 until 2005 Mr. Sproule served as Canada's Deputy Agent in the International Court of Justice case "Legality of the Use of Force: Yugoslavia v. Canada".
David Sproule, in 2004, was appointed Canada's High Commissioner to Bangladesh. In 2005, he was appointed as Canada's Ambassador to Afghanistan. He was appointed the Canadian Ambassador to Thailand in 2007. Mr. Sproule returned to Ottawa in 2009 and is currently the Deputy Legal Adviser and Director General of the Legal Affairs Bureau in DFAIT.
David Sproule has written a number of articles on international law that are contained in Canadian law journals.
Current events
Sproule was head of Canada's delegation at the Rotterdam Convention June 20-24, 2011. The Rotterdam Convention is a multilateral United Nations protocol under which vulnerable populations are provided a modicum of protection from dangerous substances. Sproule told participants that "Canada is not in a position to agree to the listing of chrysotile asbestos … at this conference of the parties."
Canada is the only G8 country objecting to the listing.
Since Canada's declaration made by Mr. Sproule under the overall supervision of the Honourable Robert Nicholson, Canada has been referred to as a "rogue nation". Hearings are scheduled in the EU in the near future to evaluate the position of Canada and decide on the possibility of a punitive course of action.

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