Agent-general


An Agent-General is the representative in cities abroad of the government of a Canadian province or an Australian state and, historically, also of a British colony in Jamaica, Nigeria, Canada, Malta, South Africa, Australia or New Zealand and subsequently, of a Nigerian region. Australia's and Canada's federal governments are represented by high commissions, as are all Commonwealth national governments today.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, a growing number of British colonies appointed agents in Great Britain and Ireland and occasionally elsewhere in Europe to promote immigration to the colonies. Eventually, agents-general were appointed by some colonies to represent their commercial, legal, and diplomatic interests in Britain and to the British government and Whitehall. They were appointed, and their expenses and salaries provided, by the governments of the colonies they represented.
Starting in 1886, Quebec and the federal Canadian government also appointed agents-general to Paris. The first, Hector Fabre, was dispatched by the province of Quebec but was asked by the federal government to represent all of Canada. He and his successor, Philippe Roy, continued to represent both Quebec City and Ottawa in France until 1912 when the federal government asked Roy to resign his Quebec position to avoid conflicts of interest. Canadian provinces have also appointed agents-general to other countries and major cities.
Following a military coup in Nigeria in 1966, the federal system was abolished, and the posts of the agents-general of Nigerian regions in London were subsumed in the Nigerian High Commission.
By the 1990s, some Australian state governments regarded the office of their agent-general in London as a costly anachronism, even for promoting tourism and investment, and have since been closed and subsumed into the Australian High Commission. The majority of Australian states continue to have agents-general in London, but operate from Australia House rather than maintain separate premises.
Many Canadian provinces similarly are no longer represented by an agent-general, although Quebec continues to have a Government Office in London and in several other cities around the world. Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have representatives who work out of the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC.

Diplomatic and legal status

Status in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, Agents-General of Australia and Canada are granted the same Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities held under international law by virtue of the, this privilege is granted under, these privileges including the right to freedom from arrest and exemption of duties and taxes. Agents-General of other countries are not afforded these privileges.

Status in Australian and international law

Under international Agents-general have no diplomatic or legal status, privileges or immunities under international but may be granted the privilege of a Diplomatic Passport by some originating countries during their commission.

Australia

In the Australian colonies and Province of South Australia, prior to each achieving responsible government, each was represented in the United Kingdom by the Colonial Agent. The position was appointed by the British Secretary of State for the Colonies to work within the Office of the Crown Agents for the Colonies; each colony was represented by the same Agent, Edward Barnard, who was not appointed or paid by the colonies.
Growing dissatisfaction among colonial governments led, following each colony and province achieving responsible government, to the appointment of individual Agents-General appointed by the relevant colonial government to represent their interest to the Crown and Empire.
South Australia was the first Australian colonial government to appoint an Agent-General, with Gregory Seale Walters taking the post in January 1859. Most Australian states continue to maintain Agents-General in London.

Agents-general for South Australia

Agents-general for New South Wales

Agents-general for Queensland

Agents-general for Tasmania

Agents-general for Canada

;to the United Kingdom
;to France
As it was difficult to compete with larger provinces like Ontario and Quebec, the province of Manitoba decided to leave trade promotion to the federal government and accordingly recalled their agent-general in 1965 without appointing a replacement.

Agents-general for New Brunswick

; to the United Kingdom
  • Southworth
  • Richard Reid Died in office
  • Brigadier-General Manley R. Sims
  • G. C. Creelman
  • William C. Noxon
  • vacant
  • James S. P. Armstrong
  • Allan Rowan-Legg
  • Ward Cornell
  • W. Ross DeGeer
  • Thomas Leonard Wells
  • Robert Nixon
  • Taylor Shields
  • Sophia Arvanitis
;to Asia-Pacific
  • Tim Armstrong
;to South East Asia
  • Bernard Derible
;to France
;to Japan
;to New York City
  • Carlton Masters
  • Tyler Albrecht
;to Chicago
  • Earl Provost
;to Dallas
uses the title agent-general or delegate-general. In 1936, legislation was passed by the government of Maurice Duplessis closing all Quebec government offices abroad. The government of Adélard Godbout repealed the legislation and opened an office in New York City in 1940. When Duplessis returned to power in 1944, his government retained the New York City office and its agent-general but opened no others. In the early 1960s, the government of Jean Lesage began to open additional offices abroad appointing in Paris, London, Rome and Milan and subsequent governments opened offices in Chicago, Boston, Lafayette, Dallas and Los Angeles, Munich and Berlin, Brussels, Atlanta, Washington, Mexico City and Tokyo, Beijing and Santiago, Shanghai and Barcelona, Mumbai, São Paulo and Moscow. In 1971, the title of agent-general was officially changed to delegate-general although previous title is still often used, particularly for the government's representative to London.
, the Government of Quebec has 35 offices abroad, including 9 delegates-general.
; to the United Kingdom
;
;to France
  • Hector Fabre
  • Philippe Roy
  • vacant
  • Charles Lussier
  • Jean Chapdelaine
  • François Cloutier
  • Jean Deschamps
  • Yves Michaud
  • Louise Beaudoin
  • Claude Pug
  • Jean-Louis Roy
  • Marcel Bergeron
  • André Dufour
  • Claude Pug
  • Marcel Masse
  • Michel Lucier
  • Clément Duhaime
  • Wilfrid-Guy Licari
  • Michel Robitaille
; to Belgium
; to Germany
  • Claude Trudelle
; to Japan
  • Claire Deronzier
; to Mexico
; to the United States
  • Charles Chartier
  • Jean-Marc Roy
  • Général Jean V. Allard
  • Guy Poliquin
  • Marcel Bergeron
  • Richard Pouliot
  • Raymond Gosselin
  • Rita Dionne-Marsolais
  • Léo Paré
  • Reed Scowen
  • Kevin Drummond
  • David Levine
  • Diane Wilhelmy
  • Michel Robitaille
  • Bruno Fortier
  • Robert Keating
  • John Parisella
  • André Boisclair
  • Dominique Poirier
  • Jean-Claude Lauzon