May was most recently envoy to Brazil between August 2019 and July 2022, and previously ran Global Affairs Canada’s defence and security relations division. (The Logic)

Talking point: Ottawa has lacked a permanent representative in Beijing since former McKinsey global managing partner Dominic Barton departed at the end of last year. May is the first of the Liberal government’s three appointments to the post with prior diplomatic experience—including a four-year stint in China in the early 2000s. She takes the role as Ottawa is developing a new Indo-Pacific strategy laying out its approach to economic and security issues. In January, the Liberal government opened trade talks with Taiwan. In June, it finally made a decision on Chinese telecom-equipment firm Huawei’s involvement in 5G networks, promising to exclude it; Beijing responded negatively.