Navdeep Bains

In the 39th Parliament, Bains held Official Opposition critic portfolios for Public Works and Government Services, the Treasury Board and International Trade, respectively.

Bains was also member of the Liberal Caucus Committees for Planning and Priorities, Canada and the World and Economic Prosperity.

During the 40th Parliament, Bains held Official Opposition critic portfolios for Natural Resources and Small Business and Tourism.

Navdeep Singh Bains (born June 16, 1977) is a Canadian politician who served as Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry from 2015 to 2021.

Bains was born in Toronto, Ontario on June 16, 1977, to Indian parents, Harminder and Balwinder Bains.

Bains graduated from Turner Fenton Secondary School in Brampton, while it was known as J. A. Turner Secondary School and Turner Fenton Campus.

After completing high school, Bains attended York University, where he received his Bachelor of Management Studies.

He then went on to finish his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Windsor.

Bains worked as a financial processing analyst at Nike Canada from 2000 to 2001.

He also worked for the Ford Motor Company as a revenue and costing analyst from 2000 until 2004.

He previously represented the riding of Mississauga—Brampton South from 2004 to 2011.

As Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, he held responsibility for overseeing the economic development and corporate affairs of the Government of Canada, as well as developing and implementing research and development policy aimed at increasing productivity and the quality of life.

Bains unexpectedly retired from politics in January 2021 and joined CIBC as Vice-Chair, Global Investment Banking in September 2021.

In May 2023, he became the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer for Rogers Communications, a major telecommunications provider in Canada.

In his first election in 2004, Bains won the Liberal nomination for the riding of Mississauga—Brampton South, and won the seat with over 57% of the total vote; beating his next nearest opponent by over 33%, or over 14,000 votes.

At that time, Bains was 26 years old and the youngest Liberal MP in Parliament.

Bains was elected chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Development of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade in April 2005, and held it until October 7, 2005, when he became parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, which at the time was Paul Martin.

In October 2005, Bains also became a member of the Red Ribbon Task Force that released a 2006 report on revitalizing the party organization.

As parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, Bains was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council, and served until February 5, 2006, the day before the Conservative government of Stephen Harper was sworn in after the 2006 federal election.

In 2006, Bains was re-elected in his riding with just under 54% of the vote.

Also in 2006, Bains co-chaired the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario)'s annual general meeting Toronto.

Because of his position in the Party and the roles he has been given, Bains was seen as a rising star, and had been selected three years in a row in the Hill Times survey as the best up and comer.

During the 2006 Liberal leadership convention to replace Paul Martin, Bains threw his support behind Ontario Education Minister Gerard Kennedy, and after Kennedy dropped out before the third ballot, he joined Kennedy in supporting the eventual winner and new party leader, Stéphane Dion.

In January 2007, he was appointed to the National Election Readiness Committee as a Caucus Representative and in March 2007 served as the Youth Liaison to the Young Liberals of Canada.

In January 2009, he was selected by Michael Ignatieff along with Steve MacKinnon to serve as Co-Chairs of the Special Committee on Party Renewal and tasked with heading a consultation process with the party membership on how to strengthen the party.

In March 2009, Bains was appointed Chair of Platform Development and oversaw the creation of the party's next electoral platform.

As part of his recommendations for party renewal, delegates at the 2009 Liberal leadership election voted to ensure that all future leadership elections would be under a "weighted one member, one vote" system, where each riding has 100 points that are distributed to leadership candidates based on the percentage of votes from party members in that riding.

In January 2011, Bains claimed that the Bloc Québécois was using "the politics of fear" and argued against their attempt to ban the ceremonial Sikh kirpan from the parliamentary buildings after an incident in which the Quebec National Assembly denied entry to a group of four kirpan-wearing Sikhs.

In the 2011 federal election, Eve Adams, a former Mississauga City Councillor, beat Bains by over 5,000 votes.

Bains was a director of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation from September 2012 to September 2015.

Bains also entered academia and became an adjunct lecturer in a Master of Public Service program at the University of Waterloo and a distinguished visiting professor at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University, starting in 2013 for a one-year term.

He received his Certified Management Accountant designation, subsequently becoming a Chartered Professional Accountant in 2014.

He also served on the Ontario Provincial Board of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, including a stint as Vice Chair starting December 2014.

Bains is also on the board of advisors for the Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy.

Bains was touted as a possible candidate in the 2014 municipal election in Brampton and was included in January 2014 polling alongside candidates like Susan Fennell and John Sanderson in which he finished third among voters polled.

Provincial Liberal Linda Jeffrey subsequently ran for mayor and won.

A member of the Liberal Party, he represented the riding of Mississauga—Malton in the House of Commons from 2015 to 2021.

His teaching contract at Ryerson was extended, and he was still a professor at the time of his re-election in 2015.

Bains was the Ontario co-chair for the federal Liberal campaign, and was returned to the House of Commons in the 2015 federal election in the new riding of Mississauga—Malton.

In 2016, he was awarded the prestigious FCPA designation by CPA Ontario for his "outstanding achievements including community leadership".