John Gero was the Assistant Deputy Minister in charge of Trade Policy and Negotiations Branch at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Last November, he was named Canada's ambassador and permanent representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva.

This week, he was named the chairperson of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body.

... was -- shall we say? -- mixed. From today's Senate Question Period ...

So, just to review:

• Jobs to be lost this year: 325,000
• Government job creation target: 190,000

I'm back in the business pages in some papers today with:

Months before Canada's steel industry found itself at the centre of a brewing trade war with the United States, it was pressing the federal government to either put up trade barriers to protect it from what it called unfair Chinese imports or somehow exempt it from pending environmental regulations.

Canwest News Service has learned that Canada's steel companies, which collectively employ about 150,000 people, have been aggressively lobbying politicians, including Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Environment Minister Jim Prentice, and senior government officials for months.

The industry's dilemma underlines one of the thorniest issues that policymakers in Canada and other developed nations must face: How to live up to environmental commitments in the face of an economic downturn.

...

A briefing note prepared for Mr. Flaherty last spring said the Canadian Steel Producers Association is pushing the government to put up trade barriers that would limit or restrict the amount of steel being imported into Canada from countries like China, so that "that the domestic steel industry is not put at a competitive disadvantage," the note said.

You can read the rest here ...

The Bloc Québecois will use the current legislative session to push for changes to employment insurance and pay equity. It will also try to position itself as a defender of funding for arts and culture

Senator Michael Duffy, as he is styled in Hansard, gave his maiden speech in the Senate yesterday and used the occasion to praise the prime minister and then please the prime minister with some shots at Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams and PEI Premier Joe Ghiz He also forced some debate on the use of BlackBerrys in the Senate. Some highlights. . .