Rick O'Connor
Instructor
Having earned a BA Honours degree and a Master’s Degree in History in the early 1980s from the University of Western Ontario, Rick headed to the Nation’s Capital and graduated from the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law in 1987. Becoming, a solicitor with the former Region of Ottawa-Carleton, he practiced in the areas of municipal, labour and employment law, as well as administrative litigation, since his 1989 call to the Bar in Ontario. With the amalgamation of the City of Ottawa in 2001, he was appointed Deputy City Clerk while retaining the title of Legal Counsel. In 2006, he became the City Solicitor and less than three years later was appointed the first City Clerk and Solicitor in Canada. Thirteen years later, Rick helped appoint his own successor as the City Solicitor and finished his career as the City Clerk for the City of Ottawa this past October.
A member of numerous municipal and provincial bodies, Rick has participated in various legislative initiatives and developments over the decades including:
- The Association of Municipalities Ontario’s (AMO) Conflict of Interest Task Force: “A Response to Open Local Government – Draft Legislation Re. Conflict of Interest, Open Meetings and Disposal of Property” (1992);
- Savings and Restructuring Act, 1996;
- Better Local Government Act, 1996 which established the Municipal Elections Act, 1996;
- Who Does What Advisory Panel (1996);
- A Proposed Legislative Framework: Ontario’s Municipal Act (1998);
- New Directions – A New Municipal Act for Ontario (2001);
- Bill 111 – the Municipal Act, 2001;
- Bill 177 – the Municipal Statute Law Amendment Act, 2002;
- Bill 92 – the Municipal Amendment Act, 2005;
- Bill 53 – the Stronger City of Toronto Act for a Stronger Ontario Act, 2006;
- Bill 130 – the Municipal Statute Law Amendment Act, 2006;
- Bill 68 – Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act, 2017;
- Bill 3 – Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022; and
- Bill 23 – More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022.
A former member of A.M.O.’s Fiscal and Labour Policy Committee (1996-1997), Rick was previously the Vice-Chair of the Legislative Committee for the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario (AMCTO) from 2002-2004, and participated in the development of their Code of Ethics and Values in 2014-2015. As a community volunteer, he was previously Vice-Chair of a municipal Committee of Adjustment, Chair of a Property Standards Committee and was also a longtime Executive Member on the Ottawa Children’s Aid Society’s Board of Directors.
Rick also testified as an expert witness on ethics and conflict of interest in two judicial inquiries: the first involving the City of Toronto in 2005 by Madam Justice Denise Bellamy, and in 2020 by Associate Chief Justice Frank Marrocco.
Rick has also been honoured for his work in the “Muniverse” including: the Prestige Award from AMCTO in 2006; the Elaine Robinson Volunteer of the Year Award in 2012 from the Ontario Good Roads Association; and the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for his ongoing efforts in making local government more open, transparent and accountable.
The author of numerous legal and procedural articles, as well as being a regular speaker to various local government conferences, Rick co-authored Conduct Handbook for Municipal Employees and Officials (2nd ed. 2003), Open Local Government (2nd ed. 2004), Ontario’s Municipal Conflict of Interest Act: A Handbook, 2019 edition and is also Editor-in-Chief of the bi-monthly national newsletter, Municipal Liability Risk Management as well as being the Editor for O’Briens’ Encyclopedia of Forms – “Municipal Corporations”.