In a diplomatic shakeup announced Friday by the federal government, the Speaker of the Ontario legislature, Alvin Curling, has been named one of Canada's newest ambassadors. He resigned his post and his seat Friday, and will become Canada's ambassador to the Dominican Republic.

"I feel quite honoured," Curling said today. "A bit surprised, but quite honoured, because I think to serve Canada is the best position that anyone could have."

Curling, 65, is a Jamaican-born Liberal who was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 1985. He held two cabinet posts in the government of former Liberal premier David Peterson, then spent 13 years as a member of the opposition before the Liberals were re-elected in 2003.

"I have no doubt that Alvin will make an excellent representative for Canada," Premier Dalton McGuinty said in a statement. "We will miss him in the legislature, and as a member of our government."

While Speaker, Curling often faced criticism that he favoured his Liberal colleagues. In March 2005, New Democrat MPP Peter Kormos announced he planned to introduce a resolution calling on Curling to resign as Speaker. He also came under fire for attending a Liberal fundraiser in 2004 while Speaker, something he later apologized for in the legislature.

But on Friday, Ontario's opposition leaders were nothing but polite.

"I think he tried his best given what I think is the often questionable behaviour of the members of the legislature," said Conservative Leader John Tory.

And NDP Leader Howard Hampton called Curling "a political trail-blazer," noting he was Ontario's first black cabinet minister and also the province's first black Speaker.

Curling admitted Friday he's never visited the Dominican Republic, although he lived in Jamaica until he was in his 20s, and has visited Haiti, Cuba and other nearby countries.

"People have always seen me as someone who has interacted in the Caribbean and, as a matter of fact, internationally," he said.

The full list of diplomatic appointments announced Friday by Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew:

(in alphabetical order)

  • Joseph Caron becomes Ambassador to Japan.
  • Timothy Coughlin becomes Consul General in Guangzhou (People's Republic of China).
  • Alvin Curling becomes Ambassador to the Dominican Republic.
  • Louis-Robert Daigle becomes Ambassador to Burkina Faso.
  • Abina Dann becomes Ambassador to Ukraine.
  • Roxanne DubĂ© becomes Ambassador to the Republic of Zimbabwe, with concurrent accreditation to the Republic of Angola.
  • Michael Leir becomes High Commissioner to Australia, with concurrent accreditation to the Solomon Islands, and Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia.
  • Gabriel-M. Lessard becomes Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
  • Robert McDougall becomes Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro.
  • David Summers becomes High Commissioner to Malaysia.
  • Renata Wielgosz becomes Ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
  • Robert Wright becomes Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, with concurrent accreditation to Mongolia.