| Honorific-Prefix: | His Worship |
| Rob Burton | |
| Order: | 45th |
| Office: | Mayor of Oakville |
| Term Start: | November 13, 2006 |
| Predecessor: | Ann Mulvale |
| Birth Name: | Robert Burton |
| Residence: | Oakville, Ontario, Canada |
| Party: | Independent |
| Spouse: | Wendy Burton |
| Alma Mater: | |
Rob Burton (born 1946)[1] is a Canadian businessman, journalist and politician. He currently serves as the 45th mayor of Oakville. He was elected in the municipal election of 2006,[2] having failed to unseat Ann Mulvale in 2003.[3] He was re-elected to office in the 2010,[4] 2014[5] and 2018 municipal elections.[6]
In a 2014 endorsement of his re-election campaign, the Toronto Star editorial board called Burton "among the best mayors in the Greater Toronto Area."[7]
Burton graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in history and economics before receiving a Master's of Science in Journalism from Columbia University.
After receiving his master's degree in 1971, he became a journalist for the Watertown Daily Times in New York State. He was recruited shortly after by CBC to help establish their new consumer rights programme Marketplace. He worked as a journalist and television producer until 1988, when he led the creation of the youth-focused television station YTV.[8] After founding the station, he went on to work as the general manager and vice-president of programming and production.[9]
Burton first ran for mayor in 2003. Up against five-term incumbent Ann Mulvale, Burton ultimately lost his first bid for mayor by a total of 28 votes.[10] Burton ran again in 2006, managing to unseat Mulvale by a nearly 2000-vote margin.[11] Mulvale challenged Burton for the mayorship once again in 2010, but was soundly defeated by over 4000 votes.[12]
In his time as mayor, Burton has been an outspoken advocate for growth control, environmental protection and greenspace. He is a vocal supporter of Ontario's Greenbelt, founding the "Municipal Leaders for the Greenbelt" alongside Ajax Mayor Steve Parrish and Toronto Councillor Glenn de Baeremaker, which he still chairs today. He is a vocal critic of Ontario's development industry, describing large developers as a 'cartel' in 2017, after suggestions that developers wanted to ease planning restrictions and greenspace protections to improve housing affordability.[13]
In 2015, Burton apologized for a series of tweets comparing Stephen Harper's use of veterans in the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires to Mussolini's Blackshirts and Hitler's Brownshirts.[14]
Burton is the founder and chair of the Ontario Auto Mayors, a group of municipal leaders in communities with a large automotive manufacturing presence, advocating for more coordinated support of Ontario's automotive sector among all three levels of government.[15] He has also served as the Chair of the Halton Police Services Board since 2014.[16]
Rob Burton won re-election in October 2022 by a narrow margin.[17]