International Organization of La Francophonie | The mysterious departure of Catherine Cano

(Ottawa) The sudden and hasty resignation of Catherine Cano from her position as administrator of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) caused a real commotion in the highest ranks of Canadian diplomacy. We did our utmost to ensure that the departure was done with “dignity”, but above all, so that the pact concluded between Canada and Rwanda at the Yerevan summit in 2018 was respected.

Melanie Marquis
The Press

On October 16, 2020, Catherine Cano meets the Secretary General of the OIF, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda Louise Mushikiwabo. The one that Ottawa had agreed to support – thereby letting go of outgoing Secretary General Michaëlle Jean – in exchange for support from France and the OIF countries in Canada in its quest for a seat on the Council. security, and the guarantee of having a Canadian in the number two position.

The head-to-head was brief.

“The meeting between Catherine and the SG Secretary General took place as planned this morning, and in less than 5 minutes,” wrote Isabelle Hudon, who was then Canada’s Ambassador to France, in an email exchange.

The start was quick.

At 2:45 p.m. that day, Catherine Cano took off from Paris to return to Montreal. And given the “content of the conversation” between the two women, the former ambassador thought it best to let the dust settle, we read in the same email exchange dated October 16, 2020.

This correspondence between senior officials based in Paris and Ottawa lasted several days. And like several other contents in documents obtained by The Press under the Access to Information Actshe demonstrates that the divorce was not happy.

At the OIF, we wanted to take control of the message and defend the boss.

Louise Mushikiwabo’s collaborators were promptly sent to the front. Its director of communications criticized the “chaotic” management methods of M^me Cano and accused her of driving employees into burnout.

“We suggest that you indicate that you have left office for personal/family reasons,” a senior Global Affairs Canada official advising Catherine Cano was told in an email, October 17, 2020.

” Its good. It must also be made clear that our objectives are to ensure a smooth transition, agree on a story allowing everyone to come out with dignity, and replace Catherine with another Canadian in order to keep this position as a Canadian position”, reacted the next day another senior official.

“Execrable” relationship

The reasons for the startling departure of this manager from the media world, whose base salary was approximately $235,000, are not specified in the documents. The passages referring to the letter of resignation that she sent from Canada two days after slamming the door are redacted.

The main interested party preferred to reserve her comments. The same goes for former Ambassador Hudon, who is now President and CEO of the Business Development Bank of Canada, and who also still holds the position of Sherpa to the Prime Minister for La Francophonie.

Canadian government and diplomatic sources consulted for this report were critical of the style of the Rwandan, and were also still surprised by the arrival at the helm of the OIF of a nation that replaced French with l English as the language of instruction in schools and whose human rights record is far from stellar.

When Michaëlle Jean was knocked out at the top of Yerevan, in 2018, splashed by financial scandals, the OIF was crumbling under reproaches. Opacity, poor accountability, poor governance. In her victory speech, Louise Mushikiwabo had promised to clean up practices. An article published in April 2021 in the daily Release suggests that there is a “deleterious climate” under his leadership.

“Almost all of the directors have been replaced, around twenty employees have been bluntly dismissed and several executives have resigned”, and the relations between the general secretary and her administrator were “notoriously execrable”, “never seen to the OIF”, writes the journalist on the strength of certain testimonies.

In the wake of the resignation of Catherine Cano, in Canada, we were delighted that such criticism was circulating. « The item [caviardé] is interesting in the sense that it ends with a questioning of Louise Mushikiwabo’s management style”, underlined an official on October 23, 2020. But “we do not want to aggravate the situation”, warned one of his colleagues.

Canada guards the fort

Canada, however, managed to keep the number two position. It was Geoffroi Montpetit, a former chief of staff at the Federal Ministry for International Development, who took over the torch in March 2021. A presence that is entirely justified at the table, even if the vast majority of French speakers are found in Africa. , argues a Canadian source who requested anonymity in order to speak more freely.

“We sometimes hear the South criticizing the North on the pretext that the number of French speakers is greater in Africa. A moment. Canada is the second largest donor to the OIF, after France. It is completely normal that we can control the management”, insists this person.

The secretary general of the organization of 88 states and governments is touring Canada this week. It begins with a speech Monday morning at the Council on International Relations of Montreal (CORIM) – the very place where Catherine Cano spoke virtually on October 15, 2020, the day before her resignation.