Standard-Bearers for Multilateralism: Canada, Ireland, and the UN

As a founding member of the United Nations, Canada’s commitment to multilateralism is the cornerstone of that country’s foreign policy. As the globe faces a confluence of multiple crises, UN member states, such as Canada and Ireland, have called for a recommitment to the UN Charter, and for necessary UN reforms to achieve a United Nations that is effective, efficient, relevant and accountable.

With a distinguished career at the UN and at the highest levels of Canadian politics, Ambassador Rae discusses how countries, like Canada and Ireland, can bring a strong voice on human rights, advancing peace and security and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals to the world stage through their engagement at the United Nations at this roundtable event.

About the Speaker:

Mr. Robert Rae is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York. He served as Premier of Ontario from 1990–1995, interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2011–2013, and was appointed as Canada’s Special Envoy to Myanmar (2017) and Canada’s Special Envoy on Humanitarian and Refugee Issues (2020). From 1996 to 2008, he was a partner at Goodmans LLP and wrote government reports on the Air India bombing and higher education in Ontario.

Mr. Rae also served as Chair of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Institute for Research in Public Policy, and the Forum of Federations. Mr. Rae taught law and public policy at the University of Toronto and in the VicOne programme at Victoria College, and was a partner and senior counsel to the law firm OKT LLP from 2014 to 2020, specialising in indigenous law and constitutional issues. Mr. Rae is a Privy Councillor, a Companion of the Order of Canada, and a member of the Order of Ontario.