Robin Sears

Robin Sears, Deputy Secretary-General of Socialist International

Robin V Sears is a veteran communications, marketing and public affairs advisor with experience on three continents for public and private sector clients. Robin joined Navigator as a partner in strategic communications in 2004. Since then he has lead Navigator client teams in healthcare, financial services, and in the film and television industry, amongst others.

Robin Sears has worked on public policy issues and public affairs issue management since the late 70s. As national director of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 1974 to 1981, Sears focused on improving the party’s policy making, and policy promotion infrastructure, creating its first popular issues publication, its first external review of economic and then security policy, and its first national policy outreach campaigns.

He launched the NDP’s first nation-wide qualitative research programmes and its first national direct marketing projects. He served as national campaign director, and executive producer of the radio and TV campaigns for the three most successful national election campaigns in the party’s history.

Socialist International

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SI Congress in Portugal (1983) left to right Mário Soares, Bernt Carlsson, Shimon Peres, Willy Brandt and Pentti Väänänen

Bernt Carlsson laying down the law about Namibia

From 1981-85, Robin Sears was Deputy Secretary-General of the world’s largest organisation of political parties, Socialist International, under former German Chancellor Willy Brandt. In that role he was responsible for communications, administration, as well as Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. Robin worked with both SI Secretaries-General Bernt Carlsson and Pentti Väänänen, and with world leaders in the Middle East, Central America, and Southern Africa. He also edited the policy journal of the SI organisation.

Bernt Carlsson

In a 1989 tribute, Robin Sears wrote about the pressure put on Bernt Carlsson by apartheid South African "bastards":

"Others have paid more formal homage to his important political and diplomatic achievements. But as a fascinating and complex human being he was little known. These thoughts are an attempt to reveal some of the joys of knowing Bernt Carlsson.

"We stood on the beach outside the Tel Aviv Hilton watching the teenagers at play, having just returned by helicopter from the devastated battle zones in Lebanon. More in wonder than in anger he said: 'How can they be so unaffected by the horrors. It's only a few minutes from here.'

"The contradictions of political life didn't sit easily with him. Bernt had just come back from overseeing the despatch to burial in another country of his friend Issam Sartawi — assassinated the day before — ashen and grey with grief and anger. 'And they will never pay...', He muttered.

"Sitting in the umpteenth airport departure lounge that month, Bernt whispered breathlessly about the break-in at the squalid little apartment in London he rarely saw. 'They messed things up and pawed through my papers. Then just to make sure I knew it wasn't a simple burglary they piled my money in the centre of the living-room rug.'

"South African goons were active in London at the time, and some had a bizarre sense of humour. 'But don't talk about it, and I'm not going to report it. That would just give the bastards their little victory'."

Canadian politics

From 1985-90, Robin Sears served as Chief of Staff to Bob Rae. During the 1985-87 "Accord" government period, he managed the complex relationship between the Peterson cabinet and the NDP, stewarding the legislative and political agenda of the two parties. He was appointed Ontario’s senior diplomatic representative to the Asia Pacific in 1990.

As Agent-General, Robin Sears was based in Tokyo and managed a network of seven trade and investment offices from Korea to India, promoting trade, investment, cultural and tourism exchange. He worked on behalf of leading Canadian corporations in every major market in the region, focusing on telecommunications and finance. Clients included Nortel, TV Ontario, Ontario Hydro, Manulife, and Teleglobe Canada.

Headhunter

In 1994, Robin Sears joined Korn/Ferry, the world’s leading executive search firm. Named partner in less than two years, he managed several regional and global practices for the firm over a decade, first in Tokyo then in Hong Kong and Toronto. He launched and was the first Asia president of the firm’s internet subsidiary, Futurestep, for two of those years.

News editor

Robin Sears began his career as News Editor under Moses Znaimer at the launch of City-TV in Toronto in 1972. He attended Trent University, but left to pursue his political career before graduation. He is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business AMP program.

Family

Robin Sears is married to Dr Robin Harris and is father to one son, Matthew. His father Val Sears was an editor of the Toronto Star. Colin Cameron MP, his maternal grandfather was a founder of the CCF.