Robert Kirwan was born on May 28, 1950 to Tom and Audrey Kirwan. He was the oldest of five children with two brothers, Frank and Wayne, as well as two sisters, Carol and Janet.

For the first five years of his life, he lived in Coniston where his father was employed with INCO.

Then, at the age of five, the family moved to Lively to be closer to where his father worked at the Iron Ore Recovery Plant in Copper Cliff.

Robert went to Lively Public School #1 and then went on to graduate from Grade 13 at Lively High School in June of 1969.

He attended Waterloo University for one year and then returned to Laurentian University where he completed his three-year B.A. in Math and Economics. Upon graduating in the spring of 1972, Robert married Valerie (Starcevic) whom he had met while they were both in high school in 1968. 

Robert and Valerie moved to North Bay immediately after their marriage where they lived from July 1972 until June 1973 while Robert attended Teachers' College at the Canadore College site. That was the first year the new school was opened.

After graduating from Teachers' College, Robert accepted a position with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board in September 1973 and remained with the board until his retirement, 28 years later in June 2001.

Robert and Valerie purchased a house in the spring of 1974 on Noel Crescent in Val Therese and have lived in that same house ever since.

They raised three sons, shown in the photo from the left:   Warren (1977), Ryan (1975), and Marty (1979). All three went to St. Anne School in Hanmer, St. Charles College in Sudbury, and then graduated from the School of Business and Commerce Program at Laurentian University. Ryan, currently lives in Val Caron where he works as an independent Mortgage Broker; Warren is an elementary school teacher in the Simcoe District School Board near Barrie; and Marty is a police officer in the canine division with the Peel Regional Police Department.

Robert has operated a private practice as a marketing consultant and publisher since 1985. He currently publishes the Valley East Today Community Web Site which was founded in 2003; is the administrator for the Valley East Facebook Group which has over 1300 members; and is the host of a weekly live talk radio show, The Learning Clinic, which is broadcast every Monday afternoon at 12 noon from Laurentian University’s CKLU 96.7 FM. He operates a private practice as a Business Development Manager, working mainly on education-based marketing & training programs as well as strategic planning for small businesses and organizations.

Robert and Valerie have seven grand children: Hailee (9), Hannah (7), and Cade (5) who live with their parents, Ryan and Angele (Rochette) in McCrea Heights; Brittney (18) and Austin (15), living with Warren and Cindi (Meyer) in Barrie; and Keelan (5 ) and Aislin (2) living with Marty and Julie (Auger) in Brantford. Rockford.

The following is the family photo which was taken at Christmas 2013.

   
Robert Kirwan Declares Candidacy For Councillor of Ward 5

 
January 2, 2014 (Val Therese):
Robert Kirwan official registered today as a candidate for the position of City Councillor for Ward 5 which consists of Val Caron, Blezard Valley, McCrea Heights and the Northwest section of Sudbury

Kirwan currently represents Wards 5 & 6 as a Trustee with the Rainbow District School Board and is completing his first term.

“The next four years are going to be the most important transition period for the City of Greater Sudbury since amalgamation,” Kirwan declared when explaining his decision to run for City Council. “Our future as a community is going to depend on how well we adapt to the 21st Century needs of each and every one of our citizens, but especially our youth and our seniors. We must also find more effective ways of ensuring that there are rewarding, long-term career opportunities for young adults in order to guarantee economic development in the region and make this a much more desired place for people to raise their family. With my background and experience I feel I can contribute positively to the future of the Greater Sudbury Area as a member of City Council where I will be able to provide the kind of intuition that may help us make better decisions in the best interests of our current and future citizens.”

Kirwan stated that he intends to continue to place a great deal of emphasis on education if he is elected to City Council. “I have gained incredible insight into the state of education during my time as a Trustee with the Rainbow District School Board. That being said,  I feel that my influence on the education sector can be much more effective as a member of City Council where I can help implement policies that will enhance the learning opportunities and experiences for children from all school boards from elementary to post-secondary levels.”

Robert Kirwan and his wife Valerie, are life-long residents of the City of Greater Sudbury. They moved to Valley East in 1974 and raised three sons, Ryan, Warren and Marty. During the past 40 years he has been heavily involved in all aspects of the community, including positions of leadership in sports and recreational organizations; editor of the Valley Vision, a community newspaper; and he was an elementary school teacher for 23 of his 28 years with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board.

Kirwan currently publishes the Valley East Today Community Web Site which was founded in 2003; is the administrator for the Valley East Facebook Group which has over 1300 members; and is the host of a weekly live talk radio show, The Learning Clinic, which is broadcast every Monday afternoon at 12 noon from Laurentian University’s CKLU 96.7 FM. He operates a private practice as a Business Development Manager, working mainly on education-based marketing & training programs as well as strategic planning for small businesses and organizations.

Kirwan feels that next City Council will be all about leadership and finding creative solutions to the many challenges facing our community. “As a member of City Council my job will be to aggressively advocate for the residents of Ward 5 while at the same time being considerate of the needs of the City of Greater Sudbury as a whole. Ward 5 is going to experience tremendous growth during the next four years because of the new developments that have been approved, the available space in the industrial park and our proximity to the amenities in the Sudbury core. Council will also need to get control of municipal taxes by eliminating waste of both human and physical resources through increased productivity at all organizational levels.”

“We need Council members who are able to apply creative solutions to the issues that are put in front of us week after week.” Kirwan went on to explain, “We need people elected to Council who are able to debate passionately and aggressively and then make a decision to get the job done. The 21st Century is all about making decisions and moving forward. I am known as a person who gets the job done and I am looking forward to working with like-minded Councillors."

   
ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT INFORMATION
For information about Robert Kirwan's career path - Click Here
For information about Robert Kirwan's formal education - Click Here
For Robert Kirwan's formal resume effective January 2014 - Click Here
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Why did you run for Council instead of trying for a second term as a Trustee with the Rainbow District School Board?
  

The main reason I decided to run for Council in Ward 5 instead of for a second term as a Trustee with the Rainbow District School Board is because I feel I can make more of a significant contribution to “all” of the people living in the City of Greater Sudbury in a role as Councillor, specifically in Ward 5, which is arguably going to become the growth centre of the City during the next four years.

My background and experience has provided me with a unique perspective on how the resources we have in the community and in the schools can be coordinated and integrated in order to allow teachers and parents to provide their children and youth with rewarding learning opportunities that are outside of the traditional classroom setting.

I was born, raised and worked my entire life in the City of Greater Sudbury. I went to school in the public school system. I taught for 28 years in the separate school system. And my grandchildren attend a French language school. The past four years as a Trustee have convinced me that most of the major decisions about education are taken care of by the Ministry of Education, so local Trustees have very little influence on local policies. But what I have found, is that the priorities, needs and challenges facing parents and children are the same in all school systems.

I truly believe that the two most important influences on education today are “home” and “community”. If I can help improve the community resources we have available for families and if those resources help schools become more involved with their community, then I believe I will have made a huge contribution to the education of all children and youth and I will have made it much easier for parents to fulfil their responsibilities.

I also think that it is important for residents of Ward 5 and Ward 6 to see their Councillors working together for the benefit of both wards. I live in Val Therese, which is right in the middle of Valley East. This allows me to honestly declare that consider myself to be a resident of “Valley East”, so I want both Councillors to demonstrate that regardless of where people live, they can count on both of us to look out for their interests. We need to communicate and we need to work together.

Also, as Councillor for Ward 5, I would have an opportunity to encourage the interaction and engagement of the residents who live in the Sudbury portion of the ward with those who live in the Valley East portion of the ward. Ward 5 is the most centrally located Ward in the entire City of Greater Sudbury. It has one of the most diverse business communities; it has hundreds of building lots already approved for housing developments; it has an industrial park that has plenty of room for expansion; and it contains one of the busiest intersections in the City, making this a crossroads for so many other Wards and sections of the City of Greater Sudbury. I want to encourage people living in Sudbury to become involved in the activities and events that are going on in Valley East and I want to encourage people living in Valley East to support the activities and businesses along the Notre Dame and Lasalle Blvd. corridors that lay within Ward 5.

Someday there may be a Ward boundary review and it is possible that the boundaries may shift to exclude the Sudbury section of Ward 5. That means that where I live right now will most likely be included in Ward 5 because it is right on the border of the two Wards. In the meantime, I am absolutely committed to making the current system work and I think the best way is to do what I can to encourage the integration of all sections of Ward 5, both in the Sudbury segment and the Valley East segment. This is a remarkable Ward and I can see so much being accomplished as a member of City Council for all age groups, especially for our children, youth and families.

CONCLUSION:

I was born in Sudbury; went to school in Sudbury; had a career in Sudbury; raised my family in Sudbury; and want to spend my retirement in Sudbury. So I feel it is time for me to make a significant contribution to the future of the City of Greater Sudbury by using my experience and perspectives to help City Council plot a course for the future which will allow others to enjoy the quality of life that I was blessed with over the years. I am running for City Councillor of Ward 5 because I think it is the right thing to do and because I think I can help make life in this region a whole lot more satisfying for people of all ages.

 

Shouldn't a Candidate live in the Ward in which he is running?
 
I've always viewed Valley East as one community, so living in Val Therese I have never really considered myself as either a Ward 5 or Ward 6 person and I have always considered Ron Dupuis and Andre Rivest to be my dual representatives when it comes to Municipal Affairs.

As a matter of fact, there have been so many debates during the years as to where Val Therese belonged that at some times we were considered to be part of Val Caron because that would have split the population of Valley East communities in half.

When amalgamation came there was a deliberate effort to attach the outlying communities to a "section" of Sudbury in order to establish some sort of connection. That is why you see Valley East and Rayside Balfour as well as Walden divided into two Wards each. One of the Wards is completely in the old community and one has an attachment to Sudbury. They could have kept 12 Wards with 6 in the City and 6 in the outlying areas, but that would have been exactly the way it existed pre-amalgamation.

I feel as much a part of Val Caron as I do Hanmer since I live in Val Therese which is right in the middle. Therefore, at some point when they do another census and when the population figures for the entire region are recalculated, I do expect that the boundaries for Wards 5 and 6 will change in order to reflect the population distribution. The boundary line in Valley East is going to fluctuate in Val Therese because that is where the middle is.

For example, there were 10,000 registered voters in Ward 6 in 2010, all from Hanmer and Val Therese. There were 6400 registered voters in the Val Caron section of Ward 5 and another 2500 registered voters from the Sudbury section. The difference of over 1000 voters between the existing boundaries for Wards 5 and 6, coupled with the fact that it is possible that the population has increased a lot with the completion of the Dominion Parc development, means that if the boundaries do change for the Wards, or if the adjustments are made in the City portion to reflect the decline in population in the City coupled with the increase of population in the outlying areas, then it is likely that I will end up becoming part of Ward 5 anyway because I live right on the boundary where the division would be made.

I also expect that we may see a redistribution of Ward boundaries which will include the 2700 registered voters from Capreol as part of Ward 6. It makes more sense than lumping them with the rest of Garson. If that happens, then Val Therese will certainly be moved to Ward 5 and the Sudbury Section will be divided up between two of the Wards in Sudbury.

So I agree with you that a person should be part of the community he represents, but I do feel that in the case of Wards 5 and 6, both Councillors basically work as a team representing the Valley and our section of Sudbury. I do expect to receive calls from residents of Hanmer dealing with services that are being provided to the entire community. Also, as indicated above, the Ward boundaries are sure to change during the next term which will move me to Ward 5.

All I can do at this point is guarantee that I will be a dedicated representative for Ward 5, but I will always at the same time be speaking on behalf of the entire Valley.
 
 
 
 
 

 

ROBERT KIRWAN
CANDIDATE FOR CITY COUNCILLOR - WARD 5 - CITY OF GREATER SUDBURY
Phone: (705) 969-7215


rkirwan@infocomcanada.com