Daryl Bennett

Daryl Bennett
Mayor of Peterborough, Ontario
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 1, 2010
Preceded by Paul Ayotte
Personal details
Born May 27, 1948
Peterborough, Ontario

Daryl Bennett (born May 27, 1948) is a politician in the Canadian province of Ontario. He is the current mayor of Peterborough, having won the position in the 2010 municipal election.

Contents

Early life and business career

Bennett was born in Peterborough and graduated from the Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School. His father, George Bennett, was a city councillor from 1971 to 1980, and his father-in-law, Keith Brown, was a Progressive Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from 1959 to 1967.[1]

Bennett worked for his father-in-law's businesses after graduating high school, founded Liftlock Coach Lines in 1974, and later established the Liftlock Group of Companies.[2] He chaired the Greater Peterborough Business Development Centre and the Greater Peterborough Community Futures Development Corporation in the 2000s.[3] Bennett was also a founding member of the Market Hall Fund-raising Committee,[4] and in 2003 he was named to a committee that oversaw plans for Peterborough's centennial celebrations.[5]

He served on the board of governors of Trent University from 2000 to 2004, and there was some surprise when his position was not renewed; Bennett has suggested this may have been because of difficult questions he posed to university officials.[6] He organized a campaign for local businesses affected by a major flood in mid-2004 and shortly thereafter was named as person of the year by the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce.[7]

In the 2003 provincial election, Bennett co-chaired the unsuccessful re-election campaign of Progressive Conservative incumbent Gary Stewart.[8] He supported Sylvia Sutherland's re-election as mayor of Peterborough in the same year's municipal election.[9]

Politician

Bennett challenged one-term incumbent mayor Paul Ayotte in the 2010 Peterborough municipal election and won by a significant margin. Bennett's supporters included former MPPs Keith Brown, John Turner, and Gary Stewart, as well as prominent municipal politician Paul Rexe (who died before the election).[10] Ayotte has said that some of his financial backers from 2006 shifted to Bennett's campaign in 2010.[11]

Electoral record

2010 Peterborough municipal election, Mayor of Peterboroughedit
Candidate Total votes  % of total votes
Daryl Bennett 14,061 58.46
(x)Paul Ayotte 9,990 41.54
Total valid votes 24,051 100.00

References

  1. ^ Paul Rexe, "Businesses with their roots in community," Peterborough Examiner, 3 July 2002, A4; Brendan Wedley, "Daryl Bennett stresses leadership in launching campaign to become mayor of Peterborough," Peterborough Examiner, 2010, accessed 13 November 2010.
  2. ^ Brendan Wedley, "Men who would be mayor: Bennett," Peterborough Examiner, 2010, accessed 13 November 2010.
  3. ^ Daryl Bennett for Mayor: About Daryl, accessed 13 November 2010; Karen Snider, "Warrant issued for man wanted in cabbie stabbing," Peterborough Examiner, 27 March 2002, B1; "Business program gets funding," Peterborough Examiner, 26 October 2002, B1; JoElle Kovach, "Jobs co-operation vital," Peterborough Examiner, 21 March 2003, B3.
  4. ^ "Peterborough Civic Award winners," Peterborough Examiner, 6 June 2001, A5.
  5. ^ JoElle Kovach, "Negative campaigning," Peterborough Examiner, 5 December 2003, A1.
  6. ^ Ingrid Nielsen, "Downtown colleges `most profitable,'" Peterborough Examiner, 29 November 2000, B2; Don MacKay, "Trent governors out of touch," Peterborough Examiner, 14 July 2004, A4; Lee Berthiaume, "'The silencing of Trent': Profs speak out against secrecy by board of governors," Peterborough Examiner, 17 July 2004, B3.
  7. ^ Matthew van Dongen, "Businesses hurt by flood can access interest-free loans," Peterborough Examiner, 24 July 2004, A1; Matthew van Dongen, "Bennett named Citizen of the Year," Peterborough Examiner, 21 October 2004, A1.
  8. ^ R. Gary Stewart, "Negative campaigning," Peterborough Examiner, 6 June 2003, A4.
  9. ^ Elizabeth Bower, "Cost mayor more to get elected in 2003, papers show," Peterborough Examiner, 30 March 2004, A1.
  10. ^ Daryl Bennett for Mayor: Campaign Launch, accessed 13 November 2010.
  11. ^ Brendan Wedley, "Ayotte blames late start, lack of ad dollars, Peterborough Examiner, 2010, accessed 13 November 2010; Joel Wiebe, "Firefighters Association endorses Bennett, MyKawartha.com, 21 October 2010, accessed 13 November 2010.

External links