Burney, Derek, 1939- : Derek Hudson Burney was born at Fort William (Thunder Bay) Ontario in 1939. He was educated at Fort William Collegiate and Queen's University - BA 1962, MA 1964. Mr Burney married Joan Peden.
Burney joined the Canadian diplomatic corps in 1963 and served successively in New Zealand (1965) Japan (1965-1972), in Ottawa and as ambassador to the Republic of Korea (1978-1980). He was the administrator of the 1980 G7 summit at Montebello, Quebec. As a senior official at External Affairs (1981-1987) Burney worked extensively on Free Trade issues. As Chief of staff to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (1987-1989), Burney led the Canadian negotiations of the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (1988). Burney was Canada's ambassador to the United States (1989-1993) during which time he also served as the prime minister's personal representative preparing the G7 summits in Houston (1990), London (1991) and Munich (1992). He also helped lead negotations for the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) which came into effect in 1994, and concluded the Acid Rain Accord.
After retiring from the federal public service, Burney served as chairman and CEO of Bell Canada International (BCI) from 1993 to 1999. He then served a president and CEO of CAE Inc. (formerly Canadian Aviation Electronics) until 2004. He sits on the boards of several companies.
Mr Burney led Prime Minister Stephen Harper's transition team in 2006.
He served as Chancellor of Lakehead University (2013-2017), was awarded the Public Service of Canada's Outstanding Achievement Award in 1992, and became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1993. He holds honorary doctorates from Lakehead, Queen's, Carleton and Wilfrid Laurier universities.
In 2005, Mr Burney published 'Getting It Done: A Memoir,' followed in 2014 by 'Brave New Canada: Meeting the Challenge of a Changing World,' which he co-wrote with Fen Hampson. He is a regular contributor to newspaper, television and radio in Canada, notably the National Post and the Globe and Mail.
The bulk of the Derek Burney fonds consists of documents relating to his career with the Department of External Affairs. The word 'diary' appears in many file titles. These are not personal diaries, but rather chronological collections of documents created, sent and received by Mr Burney during his official duties. There is also a small amount of material documenting Burney's work in private business after retiring from the federal public service.
