John A. Rae C.M. (born 1945) is a Canadian businessman, political organizer, and political adviser. He joined the large Canadian firm Power Corporation, and served on its board from 1988 to 2016. He served in many roles with the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

and with leading Liberals, including executive assistant, senior political adviser, and national campaign manager. He is a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

Early life, family, and education

Rae was born in 1945, the second child of Canadian

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

Saul Rae Saul Forbes Rae (December 31, 1914 – January 9, 1999) was a Canadian diplomat during the Pearsonian era of Canadian foreign policy. Life and career Rae's father was born Goodman Cohen. in Palanga, Lithuania. The Cohen family had moved to ...

and his wife Lois Esther (George). Politician and lawyer

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

is his younger brother. Rae studied at

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

in Kingston, Ontario from 1963 to 1967, graduating with an honours degree in politics and economics. While a student, he served as editor of the student newspaper The '' Queen's Journal''.

Political and business careers

He served as executive assistant to federal Cabinet Minister of National Revenue

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...

from 1967 to 1971, which was Chretien's first term in the Liberal

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

;

Lester Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...

was then serving as Canada's prime minister, and would retire from that role the next year, with

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

becoming prime minister, and with Chretien remaining in the Cabinet as Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Rae joined Power Corporation of Montreal in 1971, served as a member of its board of directors from May 1988 until the end of 2016, and became its executive vice-president in 1996. Rae served as national campaign chair for Chretien's two leadership campaigns, in 1984 and 1990. During Chretien's terms as prime minister, from 1993 to 2004, Rae served as a key political adviser. Rae served as national campaign coordinator for the 1993, 1997 and 2000 Liberal federal election campaigns, which all won majority governments. Rae served as chair of the board of trustees at Queen's University in the early 2000s, and received an honorary

LLD Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation#Plural forms, abbrev ...

from Queen's at its fall convocation 2017. He is a

, and a member of the Order of Canada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, John A. 1945 births Living people Queen's University at Kingston alumni Businesspeople from Quebec Canadian philanthropists Members of the Order of Canada