Louise Fréchette joins the Salt Spring Forum for a frank conversation about the future of international cooperation. Fréchette has devoted four decades of her life to public service. From 1998 to 2006 she was the first UN Deputy Secretary-General and during this time worked very closely with Kofi Annan. The creation of Fréchette’s job in 1998 was a result of the reforms Annan had introduced in 1997; her mandate was to modernize the UN’s bureaucratic structures.

Before joining the UN, Louise Fréchette was Canada’s Deputy Minister of National Defence from 1995 to 1998. Fréchette has also served as Canada’s Permanent Representative to the UN and as Ambassador to Argentina. In 1989, she was sent on a secret mission to Cuba to persuade Fidel Castro to support the Gulf War.