predecessor successor birth_place office birth_date term_start article_title term_end name
marion dewar marc laviolette montreal , qc 53rd mayor of ottawa december 15 , 1946 1985 jim durrell
 february 15 , 1991 james a. durrell
jim durrell

james a. durrell was mayor of ottawa from 1985 to 1991 , he later served as president of the ottawa senators hockey team .
durrell has extensive governance experience and has served on numerous boards including the business development bank of canada , chairman of the ottawa international airport 's board of directors , and chairman of the ottawa convention centre .
he also sits on the ottawa police services board .
he has worked with numerous charities and organizations including the ottawa hospital , the united way/centraide ottawa campaign cabinet , the salvation army , and the kiwanis club .
durrell received the order of canada in 2013 .
his order of canada medal caps off a year filled with tributes .
in june he was awarded the ottawa chamber of commerce 's inaugural lifetime achievement award , and three months later was given the queen elizabeth ii diamond jubilee medal .
in november , he received the order of ottawa .
he owns jim durrell capital dodge .
durrell , an insurance executive , was elected to ottawa city council in 1980 .
when long serving mayor marion dewar retired durrell defeated marlene catterall running on a right of centre platform .
during his time as mayor durrell was most closely involved in professional sports .
he worked to obtain tax grants for the ottawa rough riders football team , encouraged a triple a baseball team to locate in ottawa , and most notably he won an nhl franchise for the city .
early in his term , he secured the 1988 grey cup for ottawa , and was involved in ottawa 's bid for the 1994 commonwealth games , which were later granted to victoria , british columbia .
in december 1990 , durrell was named president of the new ottawa senators team , maintaining this job and his position as mayor .
however , he resigned as mayor in january 1991 due to the demands of his senators job .
he served in this role for a number of years , before being forced to leave due to the deep financial troubles of the team .
he bought a car dealership called capital dodge chrysler jeep and serves on a number of boards including being chairman of the ottawa international airport and chairman of the ottawa congress center .
in december 2012 , he was named as a member of the order of canada .
he is the chair of the ottawa hydro board .
in early 2014 jim successfully fought skin cancer .
