Bob Rae

Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian politician and diplomat who served as the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations from 2020 to 2025. Rae previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party from 1982 to 1996, and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2011 to 2013. Between 1978 and 2013, he was elected 11 times to federal and provincial parliaments. Since December 2025, Rae has been serving as the Visitor of Massey College.

Rae was a New Democratic Party (NDP) member of Parliament (MP) from 1978 to 1982. He then moved to provincial politics, serving as leader of the Ontario NDP from 1982 to 1996. After leading his party to victory in the 1990 provincial election, he served as the 21st Premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995. He was the first person to lead a provincial NDP government east of Manitoba. While in office, he brought forward initiatives which were unpopular with traditional NDP supporters, such as the Social Contract. Rae's government was heavily defeated in the 1995 provincial election. His subsequent disagreement with the leftward direction of the NDP led him to resign his membership.

In 2006, Rae joined the Liberals; he had previously been a Liberal in the late 1960s and early 1970s. That year, Rae was a candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party, but was eliminated after placing third on the third ballot. He returned to the House of Commons in 2008 as a Liberal MP after winning a by-election. He was re-elected in the 2008 federal election. Rae ran again for party leadership in the 2009 leadership race, but withdrew in December 2008. He was re-elected in the 2011 federal election and was named interim leader of the Liberal Party after Michael Ignatieff resigned his leadership; he served in that position until Justin Trudeau's election as party leader in 2013.

In June 2013, Rae announced his resignation from Parliament in order to become chief negotiator for James Bay area First Nations in their negotiations with the provincial government. His resignation became effective that July. Rae joined Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP, a law firm specializing in representing Aboriginal clients, as a partner in 2014. He sits as an advisor to Canada's Ecofiscal Commission. Rae was Canada's special envoy to Myanmar from October 2017 to April 2018 and advised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the Rohingya crisis. He is also a Senior Fellow to the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and a Distinguished Fellow at the Munk School at the University of Toronto. In July 2020, Rae's appointment as the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations was announced by Prime Minister Trudeau. He served until November 2025.

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