Rob Burton
Rob Burton | |
---|---|
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45th Mayor of Oakville | |
Assumed office 2006 | |
Preceded by | Ann Mulvale |
Personal details | |
Spouse | Wendy Burton |
Residence(s) | Oakville, Ontario, Canada |
Alma mater | Columbia University |
Website | oakville.ca |
Rob Burton is a Canadian businessman, journalist and politician. He currently serves as the mayor of Oakville, Ontario, in Canada. He was elected in the municipal elections of 2006,[1] having failed to unseat Ann Mulvale in 2003.[2] He was re-elected to office in the 2010[3] and 2014 municipal elections.[4]
In a 2014 endorsement of his re-election campaign, the Toronto Star editorial board called Burton "among the best mayors in the Greater Toronto Area."[5]
Early Career and Education
Burton graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in history and economics before receiving a Master's of Science in Journalism from Columbia University.
After receiving his master's degree in 1971, he became a journalist for the Watertown Daily Times in New York State. He was recruited shortly after by CBC to help establish their new consumer rights programme Marketplace. He worked as a journalist and television producer until 1988, when he led the creation of the youth-focused television station YTV.[6] After founding the station, he went on to work as the general manager and vice-president of programming and production.[7]
Political Career
Burton first ran for Mayor in 2003. A dark-horse candidate up against five-term incumbent Ann Mulvale, Burton ultimately lost his first bid for Mayor by a grand total of 28 votes.[8] Burton ran again in 2006, managing to unseat Mulvale by a nearly 2000-vote margin. [9] Mulvale challenged Burton for the mayorship once again in 2010, but was soundly defeated by over 4000 votes.[10]
In his time as Mayor, Burton has been an outspoken advocate for growth control, environmental protection and greenspace. He is a vocal supporter of Ontario's Greenbelt, founding the "Municipal Leaders for the Greenbelt" alongside Ajax Mayor Steve Parrish and Toronto Councillor Glenn de Baeremaker, which he still chairs today. He is a vocal critic of Ontario's development industry, describing large developers as a 'cartel' in 2017, after suggestions that developers wanted to ease planning restrictions and greenspace protections to improve housing affordability.[11]
In 2015, Burton apologized for a series of tweets comparing Stephen Harper's use of veterans in the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires to Mussolini's Blackshirts and Hitler's Brownshirts.[12]
Burton is the founder and chair of the Ontario Auto Mayors, a group of municipal leaders in communities with a large automotive manufacturing presence, advocating for more coordinated support of Ontario's automotive sector among all three levels of government.[13] He has also served as the Chair of the Halton Police Services Board since 2014.[14]
See also
References
- ^ "Burton bounces Mulvale in upset". The Hamilton Spectator. 15 November 2006. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ "Oakville's 12-vote election hangover". The Globe and Mail. 15 November 2003. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ "Oakville: Burton romps to victory". Toronto Star. 25 October 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ "Rob Burton re-elected in Oakville". Toronto Sun. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ "Most Halton Region mayors deserve re-election". Toronto Star. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1987/DB87-903.HTM
- ^ http://www.robburton.org/About.aspx
- ^ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/mulvale-keeps-job-in-oakville-recount/article18261458/
- ^ https://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/2898532-mulvale-lets-go-after-18-years-as-mayor-of-oakville/
- ^ https://www.thespec.com/news-story/2175225-burton-trumps-ex-mayor-mulvale/
- ^ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/programs/metromorning/oakville-mayor-burton-greenbelt-housing-market-development-1.4049190
- ^ Aghbali, Arman (29 August 2015). "Mayor criticized for comparing Harper's use of private security to dictators' militias". CBC News. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ^ http://www.automayors.ca/
- ^ https://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/5294944-oakville-mayor-rob-burton-to-chair-halton-police-board-again/