Rick Borotsik

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Rick Borotsik (born September 8, 1950 in Brandon, Manitoba) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. His school years were spent in Brandon, and he graduated from Brandon University in 1972. In 1978, Borotsik was elected as a Brandon city councilor. He was elected mayor of the city in 1989 (defeating incumbent Ken Burgess), and served in this position until 1997. In his time in office, Borotsik brought the Canada Games and the World Curling Championships to the city of Brandon, attracting a substantial amount of tourism and interest to the quiet city.

In the 1997 federal election, Borotsik was elected as a Progressive Conservative MP for the federal riding of Brandon-Souris, defeating Reformer Ed Agnew by a narrow margin. He was the first Progressive Conservative MP to be elected in western Canada after the party's near-destruction in 1993, and his victory was regarded at the time as a significant upset. Unlike other prominent Manitoba Tories, such as Vic Toews and Brian Pallister, he opposed a merger with the Reform Party and supported Joe Clark for the leadership of the PC party in 1998.

Borotsik emerged as a popular local figure, and was supported by some constituents who might have voted for the Liberals or NDP under different circumstances. He was re-elected over a candidate of the Canadian Alliance in the federal election of 2000, this time joining Clark as one of only two Progressive Conservative MPs from the west (former Canadian Alliance Manitoba MP Inky Mark joined them in 2002).

Borotsik held many opposition critic portfolios in the parliamentary PC caucus and served for a period as the party's deputy leader. He eventually gained a reputation as a Red Tory, supporting official bilingualism and opposing initiatives toward privatized health care. In 2003, he surprised many political observers by announcing his support for federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Borotsik supported fellow westerner Jim Prentice in the Progressive Conservative party's leadership convention of 2003. After the convention, he was openly critical of the manner in which newly-elected leader Peter MacKay brought about a merger between the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives, and openly mused about joining the Liberals after the merger was finalized (he was also in attendance when Scott Brison announced his own defection to the Liberals). Ultimately, Borotsik chose to sit with the newly-formed Conservative Party of Canada, but made no secret of his opposition to party leader Stephen Harper and the party's social conservatism. He declined to run in the 2004 election, and was succeeded by Conservative candidate Merv Tweed. He publicly endorsed two Winnipeg-area Liberal candidates in the 2004 election: former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray in the riding of Charleswood—St. James and Terry Duguid in the riding of Kildonan—St. Paul.

In announcing his retirement from the Commons, Borotsik made the following statement: "I got involved with Jean Charest and Joe Clark because I knew what their vision of the country was. I knew that they actually understood the differences and diversity between Atlantic Canada and B.C. and Quebec and Manitoba. I don't believe that a regional party with the regional ideology of Stephen Harper can reflect that."

In 2006, Borotsik accepted the nomination from the provincial Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba to run in the next provincial election in the riding of Brandon West against Scott Smith.

[edit] Electoral record

2000 federal election : Brandon—Souris edit
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	(x)Rick Borotsik	13,707	37.41	$43,992.66
	Canadian Alliance	Gary Nestibo	11,678	31.87	$59,234.19
	Liberal	Dick Scott	6,544	17.86	$42,860.78
	New Democratic Party	Errol Black	4,518	12.33	$13,475.28
	Communist	Lisa Gallagher	102	0.28	$383.70
	N/A (Christian Heritage)	Colin Atkins	94	0.26	$1,000.00
Total valid votes			36,643	100.00
Total rejected ballots			116
Turnout			36,759	67.04
Electors on the lists			54,829