Ronald L. Stewart (born September 25, 1934) is a former professional

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

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 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. He played for 13 seasons for the Rough Riders, winning three

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

championships and won the

CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award The Most Outstanding Canadian Award is annually awarded to the best Canadian player in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Lew Hayman Trophy winner from the East Division, and the Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy winne ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Queen's Golden Gaels The Queen's Gaels (also known as the Queen's Golden Gaels) is the athletics program representing Queen's University at Kingston, Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The main athletics facilities include Richardson Stadium (Kingston) ...

Early life

Born in Toronto, Stewart played football at

Riverdale Collegiate Institute Riverdale Collegiate Institute (Riverdale CI, RCI, or Riverdale) is a semester high school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada owned and operated by the Toronto Board of Education until its amalgamation in 1998 into the Toronto District School Boa ...

in Toronto and then at Queen's University in Kingston between 1953 and 1957, where he was the team's most valuable player three times and played on two

Yates Cup The Yates Cup () is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the Ontario University Athletics football conference of U Sports. It is the oldest still-existing football trophy in North America, dating back to 1898 and surpassi ...

championship teams (1955 and 1956). He was voted MVP of the 1957 season.

Professional career

Stewart, though smaller than most players at 5 foot 7 inches, went on to a 13-year career with the

from 1958 to 1970. Stewart was an Eastern Conference all star running back in 1960, 1961 and 1964. Stewart played on

winning teams in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, and also played in the

1966 Grey Cup The 54th Grey Cup was hosted at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia on November 26, 1966. The Saskatchewan Roughriders won their first Grey Cup after 53 years of competition for this trophy, after losing eight times. With Eagle Keys as ...

on the losing side. He especially starred in the 1969 Grey Cup with 2 TD receptions for 80 and 32 yards. Stewart rushed for 5,690 yards on 983 attempts and tallied 42 touchdowns in his career. He capped his 1960 season by winning the

and by setting the CFL record for rushing yards in one game with 287 against the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

on October 10, 1960. His totals were 139 rushes for 1,020 yards that year. Stewart was voted the winner of the

Lionel Conacher Award The Lionel Conacher Award is an annual award given to Canada's male athlete of the year. The sports writers of the Canadian Press (CP) first conducted a poll to determine the nation's top athlete, of either gender, in 1932. Separate polls for the ...

as Canada's top male athlete of the year. Stewart has been inducted into the Queen's University Sports Hall of Fame, the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

(1977) and

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

(1989).

Accusations

Stewart graduated from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

with a law degree. After his retirement from football, he was appointed the ombudsman for the federal correction system in 1977, which post he held until his retirement in 2003. Since his retirement, Stewart has been the subject of an investigation by the Office of the

Auditor General of Canada The Auditor General of Canada (French: La vérificatrice générale du Canada) is a Supreme audit institution which acts as an officer to the Parliament of Canada tasked with highlighting accountability and oversight by conducting independent f ...

, Sheila Fraser. Her report of November 28, 2006 made allegations regarding Stewart, who the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported was accused of "often skipping work and collecting $325,000 in improper or questionable salary, vacation pay and expenses during a six-year period of his 26 years in office." The file was handed over to the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

for investigation. The list of allegations included: * hundreds of thousands of dollars in questionable payments, including money for days he spent on vacation * travel to cities hosting the Grey Cup championships that he billed as a trip taken to “investigate inmate complaints” * the purchase of two computers used by his family * collecting nearly $100,000 for vacation pay (claiming he hadn’t taken a vacation for 14 years of his 26-year stint as ombudsman) * handing out performance bonuses over six years and of budget surpluses to staffers, disguised as overtime payments, that totaled over $260,000 The RCMP investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing. Stewart eventually agreed to pay back $77,500 of the money.
The Auditor-General’s Top 10,

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

, Tamsin McMahon May 30, 2011

Personal life

He is married to Wendy Stewart, a former Ottawa city councillor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Ron 1934 births Living people Canadian football people from Toronto Players of Canadian football from Ontario Canadian football running backs Queen's Golden Gaels football players Ottawa Rough Riders players Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Canadian Award winners Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees University of Ottawa alumni