Louis Guay

Louis Guay joined the diplomatic service of Canada after obtaining a Masters in Commercial Sciences (Finance) from the University of Sherbrooke, Québec, in 1973.
As a member of the foreign service, he was assigned to Mexico (1974-1975), Athens, Greece (1975-1977), Yaoundé, Cameroon (1979-1981), Caracas, Venezuela (1981-1983), Kinshasa, Zaire (1983-1986), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as Chargé d'Affaires a.i., (1993-1996) and Libreville, Gabon (2003-2006, as Ambassador.
While on two separate leave-without-pay periods, Mr. Guay worked in the private sector and headed a $175 million project in Cameroon (1986-1989) which included the design, the construction and the supply of pedagogical equipment for a network of six technical vocational schools. He was also involved in elaborating, with the various stakeholders, the training-the-trainors’ components of the overall project.
Between 1996 and 1999, in the Dominican Republic, he assumed the responsibilities of Country Manager of a mining joint venture, Genel Dominicana (Eldorado Gold Corporation and Gencor), with a mandate which included relations with government and communities in conjunction with the privatization of a major mine (the Pueblo Viejo mine currently operated by Barrick). In that context, he developed and implemented a programme which contributed to reopening the Dominican mining sector to investment and the creation of various spaces for interactions between the various stakeholders (community representatives, environmentalists and local and national government representatives). He was one of the founders of the Chamber of Mines and Petroleum of the Dominican Republic and its first Secretary.
Mr. Guay has assumed several mandates in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade related to Latin American, African and Commonwealth Affairs as well as to such themes as trade policy, strategic planning and conflict management. From 2000 until 2003, he assumed the role of Senior Advisor on International Affairs for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Privy Council Office.
He served as Ambassador to Gabon and concurrently to Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tomé and Principe (2003-2006). His continuous interest with conflict management issues drew him to take on responsibilities related to the Sudan, as Deputy Director of the Task Force (2006-2008) and with the United Nations, as a the Special Assistant to the UN Secretary general Special Envoy to Niger on the Second Tuareg Rebellion (2008-2009).
He was named Coordinator for Corporate Social Responsibility for the Americas in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in October 2009. In that capacity, he participated as a speaker and as a panelist at many conferences on the issue of Corporate Social Responsibility or themes related to the sustainable management of natural resources throughout Latin America (Panama, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Mexico, El Salvador and Spain among other countries.
He left the government, in October 2011, and was named Senior Fellow at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, where he has undertaken research and gives a course on Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development, based on a model he developed: Integrated Social Responsibility (ISR). Beyond his teaching, Mr. Guay continues his involvement as a Consultant in the provision of strategic advices on issues of social responsibility, stakeholder engagement and conflict management to companies, civil society organisations and governments alike(including foreign governments). He has recently contributed to a scoping mission in Peru for the Canadian International Institute for the Extractive Industry and Development (CIIEID).
He has visited some 40 mining projects at various stages of development.
He is part of the Environmental Society and Social Responsibility Society of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM).
For the last six years, he served on the board of SOPAR, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to community development and training of community leaders in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Louis Guay speaks and writes in French, English and Spanish and remembers some of his Greek from 35 years ago.
He is married and is a father of five.

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