Richard Merrill Mills Jr. is an American diplomat who currently serves as U.S. Chargé d'Affaires for Canada. Mills has been in the position since Kelly Knight Craft left for the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Craft's last day was August 23, 2019.
As we have recounted, Craft's tenure as U.S. Ambassador to Canada was filled with silence and numerous trips back to Kentucky.
Canada has had large gaps in between official stints for ambassadors. David Jacobson didn't take over until October 2, 2009. The gap in between Jacobson and Bruce Heyman lasted from July 15, 2013 to March 26, 2014. Craft didn't take over until October 23, 2017.
This current gap may not be filled even on January 20, 2021.
As far as we know, Aldona Wos, a retired physician and former U.S. Ambassador to Estonia from 2004-2006, is still the nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Canada. Wos hasn't made the news lately.
Given the track record of Craft, Mills might be an ideal ambassador by comparison. Wos would lend a permanence to the position. Mills was the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia from February 2015 until October 2018.
Mills has been based in Canada since October 23, 2018 in the position of Deputy Chief of Mission in Ottawa before rising to his current interim position. His official biography lists that Mills can speak French, something Craft might not have known. Mills might have knowledge or interest in Canada. By not having the permanent title, Mills won't be able to do much publicly. The Twitter feed @USAmbCanada has been dormant since Craft left.
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You could argue that the U.S. Senate will be busy with an impeachment trial and about ⅓ of the senators running for re-election. True. Though Canada hasn't been a priority lately in Washington.
The current U.S. regime wants Canada to pass the USMCA | CUSMA soon. The legislation passed the U.S. House 385-41 last month.
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Donald Trump tweaked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the trade deal when he blamed Trudeau for a CBC television edit on Home Alone 2 in 2014, back when Trudeau was the Liberal Party leader and not prime minister.
The potential trade deal will do a lot of damage to Canada. The chirping is a sign of a bad winner.
We will report back if the Senate does take up the nomination of Wos. Craft is from Kentucky, home of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and her nomination took months.
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Kirsten Hillman is the acting Canada Ambassador to the United States. Hillman succeeded David MacNaughton, who left the post after 3 years.
Hillman has been a deputy ambassador since August 2017. According to her LinkedIn page, Hillman was assistant deputy minister, trade policy and negotiations for the Government of Canada from April 2014 – August 2017, where she was Canada’s chief negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
François-Philippe Champagne has not been Foreign Affairs Minister for too long. We are very willing to predict that Canada will fill its position long before the United States will fill its position with a permanent replacement.
photo credit: U.S. embassy to Ottawa
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