OTTAWA — The office of former foreign affairs minister John Baird says neither he nor the Canadian government were consulted on a 2014 seminar invitation list that included convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Baird’s name appears in documents related to Epstein recently released by the U.S. Justice Department, including work-related guest lists and a document inviting Epstein to a one-week seminar in Austria that was supported by the foreign ministries of Canada and Norway.

That document was signed by then-minister Baird, by Norway’s foreign minister of the day Borge Brende, and by the heads of the International Peace Institute and the Salzburg Global Seminar.

Epstein’s name does not appear on a list of participants for the 2014 event.

A statement from Baird’s office says he “had never heard of the individual” at the time and “had no reason to believe he had ever met him.”

The statement also says Baird had “no knowledge whatsoever” of Epstein’s 2008 conviction in Florida on charges of soliciting sex with a minor.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2026.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press