James A. Durrell (born December 15, 1946) is a Canadian business owner, former politician and president of the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

. He served as

Mayor of Ottawa The mayor of Ottawa () is head of the executive branch of the Ottawa City Council. The mayor is elected alongside the city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in office, mayors are styled ' ...

from 1985 to 1991. Durrell has extensive governance experience and has served on numerous boards including the Business Development Bank of Canada, chairman of the Ottawa International Airport's Board of Directors, and chairman of the Ottawa Convention Centre. He also sat on the Ottawa Police Services Board. He has worked with numerous charities and organizations including the Ottawa Hospital, the United Way/Centraide Ottawa Campaign Cabinet, the Salvation Army, and the Kiwanis Club. Durrell received the Order of Canada in 2013. His Order of Canada medal capped off a year filled with tributes. In June he was awarded the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce's inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, and three months later was given the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. In November, he received the Order of Ottawa. He owns Jim Durrell Capital Dodge. Durrell, an insurance executive, was elected to

Ottawa City Council Ottawa City Council () is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 24 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each councillor represents wards throughout the city. Council member ...

in 1980. When long serving mayor

Marion Dewar Marion Hilda Dewar (February 17, 1928 – September 15, 2008) was a prominent member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), List of mayors of Ottawa, mayor of Ottawa from 1978 to 1985 and a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1987 to ...

retired Durrell defeated Marlene Catterall running on a right-of-centre platform. During his time as mayor Durrell was most closely involved in

professional sport In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger a ...

s. He worked to obtain tax grants for the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team, encouraged a Triple A baseball team to locate in Ottawa, and most notably he won an

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

franchise for the city. Early in his term, he secured the 1988 Grey Cup for Ottawa, and was involved in Ottawa's bid for the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

, which were later granted to

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. In 1990, Durrell ran for the presidency of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

, but dropped out due to a police investigation into campaign donations during the 1988 election. In December 1990, Durrell was named president of the new

team, maintaining this job and his position as mayor. However, he resigned as mayor in January 1991 due to the demands of his Senators job. He served in this role for a number of years, before being forced to leave due to the deep financial troubles of the team. He also served president and chief executive officer of the Ottawa Rough Riders for four months during the team's final season. Durrell bought a car dealership called Capital Dodge Chrysler Jeep and served on a number of boards including being Chairman of the Ottawa International Airport and Chairman of the Ottawa Congress Centre. In December 2012, he was named as a Member of the Order of Canada. He was the Chair of the Ottawa Hydro Board. In early 2014, Durrell successfully fought skin cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durrell, Jim 1946 births 20th-century mayors of places in Ontario Living people Mayors of Ottawa Ottawa-Carleton regional councillors