We are continuing on our quest to meet every Ontario Premier past and present! Last week we had the honour of meeting Ambassador to the United Nations and Former Premier of Ontario, his Excellency the honourable Bob Rae.
Ambassador Rae’s long career across Canadian politics offered us insights on the changes he has seen and the impact of policies he has championed. He spoke of his early career in the House of Commons and move to provincial politics where he served as the leader of the Ontario NDP for 14 years and Premier between 1990 and 1995. We appreciated his thoughts on partisanship in Canadian politics and his own decision to change his political stripe by rejoining the House of Commons as a Liberal.
We also appreciated hearing about Ambassador Rae’s current role at the UN representing Canada’s interests and human rights issues globally. Especially his advocacy for the Rohingya people in Myanmar and for the Uyghurs in China as Canada’s Special Envoy on Humanitarian and Refugee Issues. We also enjoyed hearing his personal reflections on holding the same position his father once held at the UN.
Thank you to Ambassador Rae for taking the time to meet with every OLIP cohort since 1982 no matter where in the world he is! We learned so much from hearing about his long career in so many levels of Canadian government.