Dominic Barton (born 1962), known as Bao Damin (Chinese: 鲍达民) in China, is a Ugandan-born Canadian business executive, author, and diplomat.

[11][12] In his childhood, his family's house was occupied by general and future dictator Idi Amin, who was rising to power in Uganda at the time.

[28][29] During Barton's time as Global Managing Director of McKinsey & Co between 2009 and 2018, the firm was embroiled in several scandals, e.g. - South Africa, Valeant, Insider trading by its investment affiliate, and association with several authoritarian regimes around the world.

[32] Barton served as chair of the Advisory Council on Economic Growth, the Canadian federal government's blue-chip panel, starting in 2017.

[45] Throughout their detention, Barton conducted regular consular visits with Kovrig and Spavor respectively,[46][47] often delivering coded messages to avoid interception from eavesdropping prison guards.

[48] The Toronto Star also reported that Barton's work on this file pre-dated his appointment as Ambassador, as his network and understanding of the relevant stakeholders helped pave the way for open communication channels between Chinese, Canadian, and U.S.

[49] In April 2021, this included meetings in Washington where Barton received a commitment from senior U.S. officials to put intensity into their pressure on Beijing.

[50] The Wall Street Journal also reported that Barton maintained a line of communications with Xie Feng, China's Vice Foreign Minister, to coordinate the logistics of an eventual resolution that would bring the prisoner standoff to an end.

[51] It was reported by Canadian media that this flight followed weeks of consecutive meetings held with Barton and Chinese officials as part of a "highly choreographed" effort.

[52] On December 6, 2021, it was announced that Barton would step down from the role after completing the "core mission" that he had been appointed to achieve: securing the release of Kovrig and Spavor.

Barton led a research team that conducted interviews with ordinary Chinese citizens and captures his findings with a series of short stories about daily life.

This book lays out a plan for global business leaders to manage their organizations through hazardous economic environments, providing advice to executives on how to navigate increasingly volatile financial markets.

Re-Imagining Capitalism builds on Barton's previous writing, which reflects on the 2008 economic crisis, rejecting the "false choice" between serving stakeholders and shareholders while advocating for long-term planning from business leaders.

[60] In October 2022 the Eurasia Group, a global political risk consultancy, announced that Barton was joining the firm as a Strategic Counselor.

[61] Barton co-founded Century Initiative, described as "a diverse, non-partisan network of Canadians” dedicated to advocating for policies and programs aimed at increasing Canada's population to 100 million by 2100.

In addition to immigration, this work focuses on urban development and infrastructure, early childhood supports, employment and entrepreneurship, and education.

As chairman, Barton has advocated for the role of mining and materials industries in the fight against climate change, pledging that Rio Tinto will be a partner to governments and customers to in the energy transition.

[73][74][75][76] Barton, whose principal residence is in Beijing, was married to Canadian-born glass artist and scion of the Canadian beer family and former securities lawyer, Sheila Labatt.