Nadir Patel becomes Consul General in Shanghai (People's Republic
of China)
Diplomatic Appointments
Ottawa, April 13, 2009
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs announced
that Nadir Patel has been appointed Consul General in Shanghai,
(People's Republic of China). Mr. Patel
succeeds Susan Gregson.
Nadir Patel began his career in 1990 at Revenue Canada Customs,
Excise and Taxation, serving in progressively more senior positions
in the department’s offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa
and Montreal until 1996.
From 1997 to 2003, he served in the Canada Customs and Revenue
Agency as departmental assistant to the minister; director of
ministerial services; agency adviser to the minister; and secretary
to the Board of Management.
In 2003, he transferred to the Privy Council Office, serving
as chief of staff to the national security advisor to the prime
minister, associate secretary to the cabinet, and deputy minister
to the deputy prime minister.
From 2005 to 2006, he served as senior policy adviser to the
clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the Cabinet.
Canada’s chief air negotiator:
In 2006, he was appointed by the minister of international trade
and the minister of transport to his current position as Canada’s
chief air negotiator.
Nadir’s mandate, as Canada’s Chief Air Negotiator
with Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, is to negotiate
treaties on airspace access for foreign carriers in Canada and
Canadian carriers in other countries.
Air agreements are critical to growth in Canadian trade, investment
and tourism. They are worth billions of dollars to Canada’s
economy.
Opening up the skies with tough negotiations:
Nadir Patel’s job is to open up the skies to Canadians.
It’s a tough assignment, but years of experience in the
Public Service have honed Nadir’s skills as a shrewd negotiator.
Getting the best possible deal:
“Other countries are determined to employ all their negotiating
skills to exploit whatever economic, political or public relations
they can to favour their national concerns,” says Nadir.
“My job is simple: to get the best possible deal for Canada.”
Since his appointment in the fall of 2006, Nadir has led the
implementation of Canada’s Blue Sky policy on international
air transport, which seeks open skies agreements with other countries
when it’s in Canada’s best interests. He has already
held bilateral discussions or negotiations with more than 50 countries
and concluded 16 new air agreements. He has also launched negotiations
with the European Union to establish a single open skies framework
with 27 countries.
“Basically, my job is to provide the best framework for
air services to operate,” says Nadir. “Currently,
we have a total of about 80 air transport agreements.”
Gruelling negotiations:
Nadir says the negotiations can be gruelling, and he often handles
talks with several countries at the same time.
“We could have 20 or so informal negotiations at a given
time,” Nadir says. “I could be dealing with one issue
this morning and another issue with a different country tomorrow
morning.”
"I could be dealing with one issue this morning and another
issue with a different country tomorrow
morning.
Nadir says his work has a unique appeal. “I wanted something
that had an opportunity with some international exposure and a
business dimension to it,” he says. “What other employer
can offer such an incredible range of opportunities that contribute
to positively affecting the lives of Canadians?”
