John Baird is a senior advisor to various enterprises and a former senior cabinet minister in the Government of Canada. An instrumental figure in bilateral trade and investment relationships, Baird has played a leading role in the Canada-China dialogue and worked to build ties with countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In addition, he has worked closely with international leaders to strengthen security and economic ties with the U.S. and Middle Eastern countries.

A native of Ottawa, Baird spent three terms as a member of Parliament and four years as minister of foreign affairs. He was also president of the treasury board, minister of the environment, minister of transport and infrastructure and leader of the government in the House of Commons. Prior to entering federal politics, he spent 10 years in the Ontario Legislature where he was minister of community and social services, minister of energy and government house leader.

Currently, Baird is a senior business advisor with Bennett Jones LLP, a premier Canadian law firm. In addition, he sits on the advisory board of Barrick Gold Corp., the corporate boards of Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (Canfor), the FWD Group and PineBridge Investments. He’s also a global strategic advisor to Hatch Ltd., a Canadian global multidisciplinary management, engineering and development consultancy and is a senior advisor at Eurasia Group, a global political risk consultancy.

Baird also volunteers his time with Community Living Ontario, an organization that supports individuals with developmental disabilities, the Prince's Charities, the charitable office of the prince of Wales and is a board member of the Friends of Israel Initiative. He holds an bachelor of arts honours in political studies from Queen’s University.