Summary

Making Good Things Happen

Rob Burton’s background in journalism, business and public service coupled with his lifelong passion for preserving and enhancing the environment have served him well in the role of Mayor of Oakville.

His experience as a journalist has given him the communications skills to raise public engagement to a new level. His experience in business has given him the skills to manage a multi-faceted corporation – the Town of Oakville – in a complex world. And his experience as a volunteer has given him first-hand understanding of the needs of children and families.

He has filled leadership roles with national professional organizations, provincial boards, and arts, environmental, civic and sports groups. He holds a Master of Science degree from Columbia University.

Rob’s career in TV and business

Rob began his television career in journalism in 1972. He immigrated to Canada and became a Canadian citizen after being recruited by the CBC to help start the world's first consumer journalism show - Marketplace. After Marketplace, he produced public affairs TV shows for CBC and CTV. He was a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa, news producer of the CBC Eastern Ontario Regional TV station in Ottawa and an award-winning documentary film-maker before shifting to the entertainment side of the industry. Moving to entertainment, Rob produced several seasons worth of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" for Universal Studios and helped produce the classic children's TV comedy show "You Can't Do That On Television." He was managing director of Nelvana Canada, the noted animation company.

Rob capped a successful career in film and TV by creating YTV. He put together and led the group that founded YTV, the Canadian children's, youth and family television network, in the 1980s (click to read CRTC Decision 87-903) After winning the license for YTV, he served as the general manager and vice-president of programming and production, implementing the business plan he wrote and helping put YTV in the black ahead of plan. He later moved to the board of directors of YTV after the network was successfully established.

His personal favourite project was “They Went to Fight for Freedom,” a film he made with Lorne Green to commemorate the sacrifice and glory of Canada's veterans in World War II.

During this period, Burton served on the National Executive of the Directors Guild of Canada and the Canadian Film and Television Production Association. He also led the DGC's creation of its labour-sponsored venture capital firm, Entertainment Ventures. He led successful industry efforts to create a master labour agreement and restore provincial tax credits that made possible the economic boom of the '80s and '90s in film and TV.

Rob’s environmental leadership

Rob’s passion for the environment goes back to his days as a Scout, where he learned to “Always leave your campsite better than you found it” and made the principle part of his attitude towards public service.

During his university days, he organized the first international students' conference on the ecology, which preceded Earth Day. His master’s thesis tied together the effects of air pollution on health and was presented at the U.N.'s first international conference on the environment in Stockholm. In 1974, as a young TV reporter, Rob did the first story on acid rain in Canada.

Rob co-founded the Ontario Municipal Leaders for the Greenbelt, too.

Rob’s community leadership

In 1994, Rob moved his family to Oakville and was quickly drawn to community service. He became the Joshua Creek residents' association's newsletter editor and president. In that role, he participated in several Ontario Municipal Board cases, helping to win most of them. He also served as a manager, coach, convener and board member for the Minor Oaks Hockey Association. He sat on the Oakville Galleries and the Oakville Library boards and was a member of the Town of Oakville's Task Force on Intensification, Renewal and Redevelopment.

In 2000, Rob created and led a coalition of Oakville and Mississauga residents' associations that won environmental protection for residents from a 900-megawatt electricity generation station planned for the border of the two cities. The group also challenged developers and the Town of Oakville at the Ontario Municipal Board after developers appealed Official Plan Amendment 198 to remove green policies from the plans to urbanize North Oakville. He negotiated a settlement to the case that enhanced OPA 198 and created the Oakville Environmental Fund -- and saved the Town's taxpayers millions of dollars in hearing costs. In 2004, Rob a co-founded the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance to help secure a permanent greenbelt around the GTA.

Rob's political leadership

Rob first ran for mayor in 2003, losing by less than 30 votes. In 2006, Oakville residents chose Rob Burton as their new mayor with a mandate to make the Town the most livable community in Canada.

Rob serves on the board of directors for Oakville Hydro, Halton Health Services and the Halton Children’s Aid Society. He also served for two years on the GO Transit board, where he was the only member who regularly used the GO trains and buses to get to meetings.

He and his wife, Wendy, a PhD candidate in urban geography at the University of Toronto, have been married and raising their family for 35 years. Wendy was editor and publisher of “Our Oakville: A Community's Self-Portrait,” a popular book celebrating Oakville at the turn of the millennium. They have three children - Rachel, a health policy analyst; Sarah, a musician, and Robbie, a university student. They share their home with the world's friendliest Airedale Terrier, Tessa.