Last month, incumbent candidate Sam Sullivan lost the Non-Partisan Assocation's mayoral nomination to councillor Peter Ladner. So it should come as no surprise the mayor's chief of staff Daniel Fontaine is also departing politics. In an email to friends, Mr. Fontaine writes "that effective August 18th, I will be moving on from the Mayor's Office and will start my new position as the Vice-President of Communications and Marketing for MITACS (The Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems)." The following is a complete copy of that email.
From: Fontaine, Daniel
Sent: July 4, 2008 2:46 PM
Subject: Moving on from Mayor's Office
Dear Friends,
I am writing to let you know that effective August 18th, I will be moving on from the Mayor's Office and will start my new position as Vice-President of Communications and Marketing for MITACS (The Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems) www.mitacs.ca.
Established in 1999, MITACS works in partnership with over 250 private companies, crown corporations, federal and provincial government departments and not-for-profit organizations and more than 450 university researchers across Canada to advance research in the mathematical sciences. MITACS leads Canada's effort in the generation, application and commercialization of new mathematical tools and methodologies within a world-class research program.
MITACS is working to improve Canada's international competitiveness by focusing its research on five key sectors of the economy: Biomedical & Health, Environment & Natural Resources, Information Processing, Risk & Finance and Communication, Networks & Security. MITACS also manages ACCELERATE BC - BC's Graduate Research Internship Program. The program connects BC graduate students with companies across the province through collaborative research projects.
I will be working out of their Burnaby headquarters located at the Simon Fraser University campus.
It truly has been an honour and a privilege to work closely with Mayor Sullivan, staff and Council over these last 2 1/2 years.
I will provide you with my new coordinates once they are all confirmed.
Sincerely,
Daniel
If my memory is right, Daniel Fontaine was once an assistant to Colin Hansen, during Hansen's days in opposition. Previously he had been an executive assistant to "The Two Bills" at the federal Employment Insurance bureau.
I was not aware that Fontaine had any background or interest in math.