Riley Brockington

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Riley Brockington
Ottawa City Councillor
Assumed office
December 1, 2014
Preceded byMaria McRae
ConstituencyRiver Ward
OCDSB Trustee
In office
December 1, 2003 – December 1, 2010
Preceded byBrian Gifford
Succeeded byShirley Seward
ConstituencyZone 11 (River Ward)
Personal details
Born (1975-11-13) November 13, 1975 (age 48)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Political partyIndependent
ResidenceRiverside Park

Riley Sterling Brockington (born November 13, 1975)[1] [2] is an Ottawa City Councillor for River Ward and former trustee of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.[3]

Personal[edit]

Brockington was born at the Grace Hospital to parents Bruce and Marilyn Brockington (née Hunt).[1]

Brockington grew up in the Riverside Park/Mooney's Bay neighbourhood of Ottawa's River Ward and attended public schools in the community. He attended Brookfield High School where he was the student council co-president in his final year, and graduated in 1994.[4] After high school, he attended the University of Ottawa where he obtained a degree in economics.[5]

Career[edit]

Brockington first ran for office for Ottawa City Council as he was graduating as an OAC high school student at Brookfield[4] and starting his studies at the University of Ottawa in the 1994 Ottawa municipal election in Ward 8 (later named Mooney's Bay Ward).[6] He turned 19 the day before election day, making him eligible to run for office. He campaigned in opposition to the building of government offices at Confederation Heights until proper studies could be done. He also wanted the preservation of parks in the ward, to keep taxes low, more funding for fire departments and police and opposed the tearing down of the Prince of Wales Youth Centre.[4] He opposed building a casino at the airport.[6] In the election, he won 535 votes, with 5% of the vote, 5th place behind the winner, Karin Howard.[7]

Prior to being elected to city council, Brockington worked for 16 years at Statistics Canada.[8] as a wholesale trade statistical analyst.[5] He spent a number of years in the Education Division, managing a national education survey and publishing both pan-Canadian data and research papers on the same subject. Later in his career, he took on two publications related to international travel statistics.

In addition to his work at Statistics Canada, Brockington was also on the board of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, serving for two years as national vice-president and three years as chair of the finance committee.

Prior to entering politics, he served as President of the Riverside Park Community and Recreation Association.[5]

In the 2003 municipal elections, Brockington ran for a seat as a trustee on the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board for Zone 11, which corresponded to the city's River Ward. He ran on a platform of smaller class sizes for kindergarten to grade 3, the recruitment of "talented teachers and administrators", the renovation and the repairing of schools, having adequate resources for special education, French immersion, and English as a second language, as well as a "reinvestment in field trips".[5] He was elected to the school board, winning 2,274 votes (41%), defeating opponents Marita Moll and Patty Anne Hill.

Rrockington was easily re-elected in the 2006 municipal elections, defeating Patrick Ready, 5,617 votes to 2,626. During his two terms on the school board, he served in several capacities including Chair of the Business Services Committee, Budget Committee, and Vice-Chair of the Board.[3] In 2009, School Board Trustees from across Ontario elected Brockington the Vice-President of the Ontario Public School Boards Association.[9] Brockington planned to run for re-election in the 2010 municipal elections, but dropped out on the final day of nominations. He cited having accomplished his goals as trustee, having to juggle a full-time job at Statistics Canada and all the meeting for reasons for dropping out.[10]

After four years out of politics, Brockington secured permission from his employer (as is required from public servants) on the last day of nominations to run for a seat on Ottawa City Council in the 2014 municipal elections. Brockington ran in River Ward, which had become an open seat upon the retirement of incumbent Maria McRae.[11] He was easily elected to the seat on October 27, 2014, and was sworn in on December 1, 2014. On October 22, 2018, River Ward residents re-elected Brockington to serve until November 14, 2022. He endorsed Jim Watson for mayor.[12]

During his second tenure, Brockington serves on the Planning Committee, Environment Committee, Transit Commission, Ottawa Public Library (COVID ad hoc committee and Fundraising Committee), Built Heritage Sub Committee, Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and Canadian Capital Cities Organization.

Brockington is considered a moderate on City Council, fiscally conservative, yet often championing social causes that reflects his diverse, urban ward.[citation needed]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Brockington". Ottawa Citizen. November 18, 1975. p. 40. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  2. ^ @RiverWardRiley (November 14, 2019). "Celebrating @dianedeans 25 years as a City Councillor (Nov 13, 1994) and my 44 years on Earth (Nov 13, 1975). Look…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b "About Riley". rileybrockington.ca. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "He's been called to the office". Ottawa Citizen. June 10, 1994. p. 18. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d "Zone 11". Ottawa Citizen. November 4, 2003. p. 50. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Riley Brockington". Ottawa Citizen. November 8, 1994. p. 26. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  7. ^ "The winners". Ottawa Citizen. November 16, 1994. p. 26. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  8. ^ "Councillor Riley Brockington". City of Ottawa. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Meet the candidate: Riley Brockington; Former school trustee wants to represent River Ward". Metroland Media. Ottawa South News. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Trustee candidates fill up the slates". Ottawa Citizen. September 11, 2010. p. 21. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  11. ^ "Record number of people running in local election". Ottawa Citizen. September 13, 2014. p. 3. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  12. ^ https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawa-votes-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-candidates-in-river-ward