Robert Baines is the President and CEO of the NATO Association of Canada, where he is focused on communicating the importance of NATO and the international-rules based order to Canadians. The Association is a charitable non-profit which hosts events across Canada, publishes hundreds of articles online every year and engages young Canadians about NATO through social media. Robert is a regular commentator on NATO issues in the Canadian media and has represented the NATO Association at the side conferences of the 2016 NATO Warsaw Summit, the 2018 Brussels Summit and the 2019 NATO Leaders’ Meeting in London.
In 2017 he became a director of the Canada-Turkey Business Council. Formerly he was Executive Director of the Canada-Albania Business Council and Corporate Development Officer of the NATO Association. Robert is Past President of the St. George’s Society of Toronto (Toronto’s oldest charity) and is Past Co-Chair of the Young Professional Board of the Canadian Opera Company.
He received a Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Philosophy, and History from Trinity College at the University of Toronto and a Master of Arts in History from York University. Robert also serves in the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve at Toronto and has received the Canadian Forces Decoration.