Earl Turcotte, a veteran Canadian diplomat and arms control specialist, has been appointed Chairperson of the Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (CNANW), succeeding Bev Delong, who held the post for more than twenty years.

WFMC is one of 18 member organizations of the CNANW.

Turcotte served as Director and Senior Coordinator for Mine Action with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, and also United Nations Development Program Chief Technical Advisor to the Government of Laos in the Unexploded Ordnance Sector. He is based in Ottawa. The full press release announcing Turcotte’s appointment is available here.

WFMC and eight other CNANW members recently co-signed a civil society letter to Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland which notes Canada’s apparent reluctance to offer concrete support for nuclear disarmament in the NATO context and calls on the government to contribute in a tangible way to reducing global tensions and nuclear risks.