John Russell Baird (born May 26, 1969) is a retired Canadian politician. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2015 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He had been a member of the federal cabinet, in various positions, since 2006. Previously he was a provincial cabinet minister in Ontario during the governments of Premiers Mike Harris and Ernie Eves. Baird resigned from Harper's cabinet on February 3, 2015, and as a Member of Parliament on March 16, 2015.
A long-time resident of the former city of Nepean, where he attended Bell High School, and a graduate of Kingston's Queen's University, he was the member of the House of Commons of Canada for the riding of Ottawa West—Nepean until 2015. Baird was elected there as a candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2006 federal election, when his party defeated Paul Martin's Liberal Party and established a minority government. Baird was sworn in as Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, replacing Jay Hill, on August 6, 2010. Prior to this, Baird served as Transport Minister starting October 30, 2008, Environment Minister starting January 2007, and President of the Treasury Board during the Conservatives' first year in power.
Baird served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2005 for the riding of Nepean—Carleton (part of Nepean until 1999), and was a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves. He served as the Minister for Children, Community and Social Services, Energy and Francophone Affairs in addition to being the Government's Chief Whip. After the Conservatives' defeat by Dalton McGuinty's Ontario Liberal Party, he was the party's critic for key portfolios including finance, culture and health. Baird had been a member of the Conservatives since 1985, when he was the youngest delegate at that time and was also a political aide for the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in the late 1980s.
During his tenure in the Harris Cabinet he supported an attempt to sell Hydro One, the publicly owned utility firm. As the federal President of the Treasury Board in the Harper Cabinet, he moved the Federal Accountability Act, which was put in place after the Gomery Commission which investigated the federal sponsorship scandal in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As Minister of the Environment, Baird signalled the Canadian government's opposition to the Kyoto Protocol. He also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and President of the Treasury Board.
Early life and career Baird was born in Nepean, Ontario, the son of Marianne (née Collins) and Gerald Baird. He became involved in politics when he backed a candidate for the local federal PC nomination in 1984. The next year, aged sixteen, Baird was the youngest delegate to attend the party's January 1985 provincial leadership convention,Jake Rupert and Shannon Proudfoot, "Baird takes Liberal stronghold", Ottawa Citizen, January 24, 2006, pg. D3. as a supporter of Ontario Attorney-General Roy McMurtry.
He was later president of the youth wing of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, and aligned himself with Dennis Timbrell during the latter's abortive campaign for the PC leadership in 1989 and 1990. He backed Mike Harris when Timbrell withdrew from the contest. Baird was charged with trespassing during the 1988 federal election, after he tried to question Ontario Premier David Peterson about free trade with the United States during a Liberal Party campaign stop in a Kingston shopping mall.Duncan McMonagle, "Peterson cites examples of U.S. woe in bid to block deal", Globe and Mail, November 7, 1988, A8. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Studies from Queen's University in 1992.
Baird worked on the political staff of Perrin Beatty when Beatty was federal Minister of National Defence in the early 1990s, and followed Beatty through the subsequent cabinet shifts that culminated in his becoming Secretary of State for External Affairs in the short-lived 1993 government of Kim Campbell."A sketch of Environment Minister John Baird", Canadian Press, January 4, 2007. After the defeat of the Progressive Conservatives in the 1993 federal election, Baird worked as a lobbyist in Ottawa.Daniel Drolet, "Youngest MPP comes of age", Ottawa Citizen, September 5, 1995, pg. B3.
Baird says he has been a vegetarian since 1997. However, he admits to eating fish, and he reportedly ate seal meat on a trip to the Arctic in 2009."Harper to Canada's seals: I will eat you" , David Akin's On The Hill, August 19, 2009; retrieved November 18, 2009.
In June 2008, he was selected by the Ottawa Business Journal as a recipient of the "Forty Under 40" award.Ottawa Business Journal, June 16, 2008, pg. 3.
Provincial politics
Government backbencher While Baird had been associated with Red Tories such as McMurtry, Timbrell and Beatty, he became associated with the conservative ideology of the Mike Harris-led Ontario PC party upon entering provincial politics. He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 1995, defeating Liberal incumbent Hans Daigeler in the Ottawa-area riding of Nepean. The youngest member of the legislature, Baird was appointed parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Labour on July 13, 1995."John R. Baird MPP: Parliamentary History , Legislative Assembly of Ontario, online document; accessed September 6, 2015.
He became parliamentary assistant to the Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet in April 1997, and was promoted to parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance in November of the same year. As a backbencher, Baird proposed a bill naming Highway 416 as the "Veterans' Memorial Highway" and successfully steered its passage through the legislature.Local dignitaries cry out for Veterans Memorial Highway, Perley Rideau, Fall 2006, pg. 8; retrieved October 24, 2007. He was easily re-elected in 1999, defeating longtime Ottawa councillor Gord Hunter by a margin of almost 15,000 votes.
Community and Social Services minister Baird joined Premier Harris's cabinet on June 17, 1999, as Minister of Community and Social Services, where he became responsible for implementing and expanding Ontario's workfare program."Baird brings clout, baggage to his new job" , Toronto Star, January 5, 2007 As one of Harris's few bilingual ministers, he was also named as Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs.
1999 Baird's first press conference as a cabinet minister was held in July 1999, and was intended to highlight the Harris government's record in reducing the provincial welfare rolls. He told reporters that 15,000 people had left the system since the introduction of workfare, and used this figure to argue that the government's policy was a success. At the time, he lacked information on the number of workfare recipients who actually found jobs, and he also did not account for 40% of the welfare recipients who had been cut from the list.Jane Coutts, "15,000 fell off welfare in July, Tories say ", Globe and Mail, August 17, 1999, pg. A7 and Caroline Mallan, "Workfare stats elude minister", Toronto Star, August 17, 1999, pg. 1. A number of media reports subsequently criticized both the principle and the implementation of workfare in Ontario.One political columnist, Ian Urquhart, described the program as "largely a fraud". See Ian Urquhart, "Workfare program a fraud", Toronto Star, August 18, 1999, pg. 1.
A September 1999 report from Baird's ministry showed that 10,600 workfare placements had been created in the first six months of 1999, a figure which the Toronto Star observed was significantly lower than that which had been predicted by the government."Hardly a triumph", Toronto Star, November 5, 1999, pg. 1. Baird indicated that he would continue with the workfare program, and that the proportion of welfare recipients on workfare would be increased from 15% to 30%.Richard Mackie, "Ontario workfare plans won't work", Globe and Mail, December 31, 1999, pg. A7.
Baird sparked criticism in late 1999 for refusing to cancel a five-year contract that had been signed between his department and the Bermuda-based private firm Andersen Consulting (later Accenture), worth up to $180 million. The contract, signed when Janet Ecker was Community and Social Services minister, entrusted Andersen with providing technological upgrades to the province's welfare management system. The arrangement was criticized by Auditor General Erik Peters, who observed that there was nothing in the contract to prevent Andersen from increasing its hourly rates.Theresa Boyle, "Some consulting service fees higher, ministry confirms", Toronto Star, December 10, 1999, pg. 1. A published report in early 2000 indicated that Andersen was charging an average of $257 per hour for work that had previously been done by ministry staff at $51 per hour. Another report indicated that the firm had charged a total of $55 million to find roughly $66 million worth of savings."Ontario Tories real perpetrators of welfare fraud", Toronto Star, January 15, 2000; Colin Perkel, "Tracking device angers opposition", Toronto Star, March 31, 2000, pg. 1. In response to opposition questions, Baird said that he would not terminate the contract but would endeavour to negotiate a lower rate."Ontario rejects call to fire firm", Winnipeg Free Press, December 10, 1999, pg. B6. In 2005, a glitch in Accenture's computer system prevented an increase in payments for Ontarians with disabilities. Baird opposed the Harris government's plan to amalgamate the city of Ottawa with neighboring municipalities, which was approved by the legislature in 1999.Dan Nolan, "Tory MPPs talk merger with caucus", Hamilton Spectator, November 30, 1999, pg. A1.
2000 In January 2000, Baird unveiled a series of initiatives designed to reduce fraud and misuse in the welfare system. This was highlighted by the establishment of a welfare fraud hotline"Government Continues Crackdown on Welfare Fraud and Misuse", Canada NewsWire, January 6, 2000, 10:45 report. and a complementary conditionality three months later, in which anyone convicted of welfare fraud would run the risk of being given a lifetime ban from the program."Ontario's Zero Tolerance Policy on Welfare Cheats Effective Today", Canada NewsWire, April 1, 2000. The investigations Baird initiated during the fiscal year of 2000 uncovered $58.2 million in social assistance that people were not entitled to receive, and $16.6 million in avoided future costs, but critics of this approach, including opposition members, poverty advocates, and scholars, suggested that the Harris government was overstating the extent of fraud in order to undermine public confidence in welfare programs.Richard Mackie, "Ontario 'inflating' welfare fraud", Globe and Mail, January 7, 2000, A8. In mid-year, Baird announced that workfare placements had reached departmental quotas for most of the province.James McCarten, "Ontario workfare placements finally up to snuff: Baird", Canadian Press, June 5, 2000.
Baird revealed a $50 million program in May 2000 to help people with developmental disabilities become integrated into their communities."Disabled people to get more funds", Globe and Mail, May 6, 2000, pg. A9. He later affirmed that the province was considering closing its remaining three institutions for the mentally handicapped as part of a larger strategy focusing on home care. Baird expressed concern about the physical condition of these institutions, saying that their residents "deserve better".Tom Blackwell, "Ontario could close institutions for mentally disabled", National Post, September 15, 2000, pg. A4. Later that same year, he stated that his department would spend $26 million on shelters and other funding for the homeless.James Stevenson, "Ontario to spend $26 million on shelters and programs for homeless", Canadian Press, December 21, 2000.