Canada has a new top diplomat in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Ken Lewis took over as the Representative of Canada in Kandahar at a ceremony at Kandahar Airfield on Saturday.

Lewis replaces Elissa Golberg, a 35-year-old Montreal native who held the post for 11 months.

Roughly 75 people attended the swearing-in ceremony at Canada House, a gathering place for troops on the base.

Dignitaries at the ceremony included Kandahar's newly minted governor, Tooryalai Wesa; Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan, Ron Hoffman; the deputy commander of NATO forces in Kandahar; Col. Jamie Cade; and Ahmed Wali Karzai, chairman of Kandahar's provincial council and half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Lewis was the senior trade commissioner in Beijing before he volunteered for the Afghan posting.