Adrian Foster is a Canadian politician who serves as the current mayor of

Clarington Clarington ( 2021 population 101,427) is a lower-tier municipality in the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario, Canada. It was incorporated in 1973 as the town of Newcastle with the merging of the town of Bowmanville, the Village of Newca ...

. As mayor, he also sits on

Durham Regional Council Durham Regional Council is the political body for the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario, Canada. Created in 1974, it consists of 29 elected representatives, including the Regional Chair. Durham Region is governed by Durham Regional Council, ...

Education

Foster was educated at the

University of Toronto Scarborough The University of Toronto Scarborough, also known as U of T Scarborough or UTSC, is one of the three campuses that make up the tri-campus system of the University of Toronto. Located in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the campus is set upo ...

, where he studied psychology and French, and received a

Bachelors of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1983. After graduating, he worked as a counsellor for developmentally disabled children and their families. He then worked as an investment advisor for 26 years. He also served as the President of the Clarington Board of Trade. He was awarded with the

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'or de la Reine Elizabeth II) or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

in 2002 and the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

in 2012.

Political career

Foster first entered politics upon being elected to Clarington's municipal council in 2003, defeating Suzanne Elston by just over 200 votes in Ward 1. He was re-elected to council in 2006, winning two-thirds of the vote against Oudit Rai. He ran on the need for a "central defining feature" for the ward's main community of

Courtice Courtice () is a community in Ontario, Canada, about east of Toronto, within the Clarington, Ontario, Municipality of Clarington. Adjacent to Oshawa, Ontario, Oshawa, it is west of Bowmanville, Ontario, Bowmanville, which is also part of Clari ...

, and the need to "get a handle on the planning of the Highway 2 corridor". Foster was first elected as Clarington's mayor in the 2010 municipal elections, defeating incumbent mayor Jim Abernethy by fewer than 900 votes, in a close three-way race. He campaigned promising "working together for a change", and his number one priority was preventing the construction of a garbage incinerator in the municipality. He was re-elected in 2014 in a close race against former Progressive Conservative

MPP MPP or M.P.P. may refer to: * Marginal physical product * Master of Public Policy, an academic degree * Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), Canada * Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape), South Africa * ''Merriweather Post Pavilio ...

John O'Toole John O'Toole (born ) is a retired politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2014, representing the riding of Durham for the Progressive Conservative Party. Background O'Toole is the son ...

, the father of future

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

leader

Erin O'Toole Erin Michael O'Toole (born January 22, 1973) is a Canadian politician who has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Durham since 2012. A member of the Conservative Party, O'Toole served as the party's leader and the leader of the Official ...

. Foster's priorities in 2014 included expanding

Go Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven millio ...

, job creation, bettering quality of life, and developing deeper relationships with other levels of government. Foster was easily re-elected for a third term in 2018, winning over two-thirds of the vote against Mark Canning. His priorities have been trying to extend the

GO Train GO Transit rail services are provided throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) and the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The GO Transit rail fleet consists of 90 MPI MP40 locomotives and 979 Bombardier BiLevel Coaches. In , the system had ...

to the municipality, renovating Lakeridge Health Bowmanville and building a hospice in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. As of 2020, Foster is the longest serving Mayor of Clarington, surpassing 10 years in office. In 2022, he was re-elected for his fourth term, with 42% of the vote. As mayor, he has sat as the chair of Durham Region Finance, and as the Chair of the Canadian Association of Nuclear Host Communities. During his time as mayor, he has led the municipality though rapid growth.

Personal life

Foster's wife, Deborah is an ordained

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

minister.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Adrian Living people University of Toronto alumni Mayors of places in Ontario Financial advisors People from Clarington Year of birth missing (living people)