Bob Rae is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York. He has served in this post since August 4, 2020. In this role, he has been active in all aspects of the work of the UN, culminating in his election to the Presidency of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for 2024-25, the second Canadian to assume this role, joining Lester Pearson and George Davidson as Canadians elected in their personal capacity to preside over UN Charter bodies.

Mr. Rae served as Premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, and interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2011 to 2013. He was elected to federal and provincial parliaments eleven times between 1978 and 2013, and has been honoured by the alumni of both bodies for his distinguished service.

He received his Honours B.A. in Modern History from the University of Toronto, an M.Phil in Politics as a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford University, and graduated from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 1977. He was a Lecturer in the Faculty of Business (1976-77) and assistant to the Canadian General Counsel of the United Steelworkers (1975-1977). He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1980 and named a Queen’s Counsel in 1984.

Mr. Rae worked with three law firms—Sack Charney Goldblatt and Mitchell (1977-1982), Goodmans LLP (1996-2007), and Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP (2014-2020)—drawing on his skills as a scholar, advocate, mentor, and mediator. He led the restructuring of the Canadian Red Cross and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, chaired the Royal Conservatory of Music, and authored studies such as “Lessons to be Learned” on the Air India bombing and “Ontario a Leader in Learning.”

Between 2013 and 2018, he served as Chief Negotiator for the nine First Nations of the Matawa Tribal Council in Northern Ontario. Returning to Parliament in 2008 for Toronto Centre, he was Foreign Affairs spokesman and interim Liberal Leader in 2011. From 1996-1999 and 2013-2020, he taught law, politics, and public policy at the University of Toronto and was senior counsel at OKT LLP, specializing in Indigenous law and constitutional issues.

Mr. Rae is a Fellow of the Forum of Federations (co-founder), Massey College, the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. In October 2017, he was appointed Canada’s Special Envoy to Myanmar, producing the report “Tell Them We’re Human” in 2018. In March 2020, he became Canada’s Special Envoy on Humanitarian and Refugee Issues, publishing “A Global Pandemic Requires a Global Response.”

He is a Privy Councillor, Companion of the Order of Canada, member of the Order of Ontario, and recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees. Mr. Rae is also the author of six books, including “From Protest to Power,” “The Three Questions,” and “Canada In The Balance.” His hobbies include music, reading, writing, tennis, golf, and fishing. He is married to Arlene Perly Rae, a writer and public advocate, and they have three daughters and six grandchildren.