Normally diplomatic appointments are announced via press release, but Baird said it was done in the House of Commons by the prime minister because "we're tremendously proud of this appointment" and it gave Harper the opportunity to mark Hollande's victory

His nomination - announced shortly after NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus went after Harper in the House of Commons for making too many patronage appointments - follows the appointment of several other defeated Tory candidates to the Senate and other posit

Cannon lost his western Quebec seat in last year's election, falling victim to the NDP wave that captured 59 of the province's 75 seats, while almost wiping the Bloc Quebecois off the political map.

He said Cannon’s appointment “speaks to the importance of Canada’s relationship with France with whom we have important cultural, linguistic and historical ties.”