Rick Borotsik

Rick Borotsik (born September 8, 1950) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada.

Borotsik was born to a Ukrainian family in Brandon, was raised in that city, and graduated from Brandon University in 1971.

He was elected to the Brandon City Council in 1977 and served for three terms before standing down in 1985.

He joined the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 1978.

Borotsik was an employee of the shopping centre firm Bramalea Limited during the 1980s.

He was transferred from Brandon to Calgary in 1985, and again to the firm's head office in Toronto one year later.

He remained the city for three years, and became director of 32 centres.

Borotsik sought the provincial PC party's nomination for Brandon West in the buildup to the 1986 provincial election, but lost to Jim McCrae.

He served as Mayor of Brandon from 1989 to 1997, was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2004, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in 2007.

Borotsik is a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba.

Finding it difficult to adjust to life in Toronto, he returned to Brandon in 1989.

He ran for mayor in that year's municipal election, and won an upset victory over four-term incumbent Ken Burgess.

A colourful and bombastic figure, Borotsik was elected on a platform of aggressive municipal development and became known for his efforts to promote the city.

He brought the Canada Games and the World Curling Championships to Brandon, and presided over a period of significant agribusiness expansion.

He was also given credit for saving the city's airport.

He supported the introduction of Video Lottery Terminals into Brandon, and pressured the provincial government to turn over VLT revenues to the municipalities.

He also called for a casino to be set up in the city, and endorsed unrestricted Sunday shopping.

In 1992, he supported the Charlottetown Accord on constitutional reform.

Borotsik sought and won the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada's nomination for Brandon-Souris in the 1997 federal election.

The party had been reduced to only two seats in the previous election, and was trying to rebuild its support base.

Borotsik was a strong supporter of party leader Jean Charest, and was considered a star candidate.

He indicated that he opposed the ideology of the rival, right-wing Reform Party of Canada, which he described as a "flash-in-the-pan regional party" with no national perspective.

He was narrowly elected over the Reform candidate, while pushing Liberal incumbent Glen McKinnon into third place.

The Liberals under Jean Chrétien were re-elected to a second consecutive majority government in the 1997 election, while the Progressive Conservatives won twenty seats for a fifth-place finish.

Borotsik was his party's only elected representative from western Canada.

He served critic for agriculture, the Canadian Wheat Board and western economic diversification, and had unofficial duties for the western provinces.

Charest resigned as party leader in 1998, despite requests from Borotsik and other MPs that he remain in the position.

Borotsik was subsequently chosen as national caucus chairman, and endorsed Joe Clark's successful bid to succeed Charest as leader.

Borotsik was also an opponent of the United Alternative, a Reform-sponsored drive for a new political party that resulted in the creation of the Canadian Alliance.

Borotsik opposed the Canadian gun registry, which he described as unworkable.

He endorsed a 1998 bill that reversed Louis Riel's conviction for treason, and recognized him as a Father of Confederation.

Later, he broke with his party's official position to support the Chrétien government's Clarity Bill.

There was speculation that Borotsik would seek the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba in 2000, but he declined.

Borotsik was narrowly re-elected in the 2000 federal election over a candidate of the Canadian Alliance, as the Liberals won a third consecutive majority government nationally.

The Progressive Conservatives fell to twelve seats and remained the fifth-largest party in parliament, but avoided the loss of official party status that some had feared.

Borotsik was subsequently named as party whip and Critic for Agriculture, Indian Affairs and the Canadian Wheat Board.

Borotsik took part in preliminary discussions between the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance in early 2001.

He said that a "mutual compromise" would have to be reached before the next election, in order to prevent the Liberals from remaining in power.

No agreements were reached, and Borotsik later called for disgruntled Canadian Alliance members to rejoin the Progressive Conservative Party.

Clark resigned as Progressive Conservative leader in mid-2002.