Ron Stewart (football player)

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Ron Stewart was a star Canadian running back for Queen's University and the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League.

As a player at Queen's University, one of Canada's most prestigous schools, between 1953 and 1957, he was the team's most valuable player 3 times and played on two Yates Cup championship teams (1955 and 1956).

Stewart, though somewhat smaller than most players at 5 foot 7 inches, went on to a 13 year career with the Ottawa Rough Riders (1958 to 1970.) He was an Eastern Conference all star running back in 1960, 1961 and 1964. He played on Grey Cup winning teams in 1960, 1968 and 1969, and also played in the 1966 Grey Cup on the losing side. Finally, he capped his fantastic 1960 season by winning the CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award and by setting the CFL record for rushing yards in one game with 287 against the Montreal Alouettes on October 10, 1960. His totals were 139 rushes for 1,020 yards that year. He rushed for 5,690 yards on 983 attempts and tallied 42 touchdowns in his career.

He is a member of the Queen's University Sports Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1977.

After his retirement from football, Stewart 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, Ms. Sheila Fraser. Her report (of November 28, 2006) alleges that Stewart "who retired from the Correctional Service of Canada in 2003, repeatedly failed to attend staff meetings, was frequently unavailable to aides and otherwise shirked his duties." Additionally, the former ombudsman for federal prison inmates often skipped work and collected $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 RCMP for invesigation.