Ambassador Marc-André Blanchard is the Executive Vice President and Head of CDPQ Global, a leading global private equity, infrastructure and real estate investor which actively invests in all developed markets and in targeted growth markets. Previously, he served as the Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations from April 2016 to August 2020. In May 2018 he was named as Canada's Representative to the Ismaili Imamat, an announcement coinciding with the Canadian Diamond Jubilee visit of His Highness the Aga Khan. In 2017, he was named as a member of Canada’s North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Council. Prior to his appointment as Ambassador, Ambassador Blanchard was Chairman and CEO of McCarthy Tétrault, one of Canada's largest law firms, and a former president of the Quebec Liberal Party. In 2014, he was identified amongst Canada’s top 50 most powerful business leaders. He served on Justin Trudeau's transition team following the 2015 and the 2019 elections. In 2013, Blanchard was named among the 25 most influential lawyers in Canada by Canadian Lawyer Magazine, and Catalyst Canada awarded him the CEO Recognition Award for his leadership in gender diversity. In 2016, Blanchard was awarded Advocatus Emeritus by the Quebec Bar Association. Blanchard is a graduate of the Université de Montréal, the London School of Economics and Columbia University.