David Osborn Braley (31 May 1941 – 26 October 2020) was a Canadian businessman and politician who was the owner of the
BC Lions
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place.
The Lions played their first season ...
and previously owner of the
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...
and
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...
. He was appointed to the
Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The Senate is modelled after the B ...
in 2010 as a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
, but resigned three years later
stating no official reason.
["PM names football tycoon to Senate"]
''Globe and Mail'', May 20, 2010 He was a member of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the ...
and the
Canadian Football Hall of Fame
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...
.
Early life
Braley was born in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
and raised in
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
, where he attended
McMaster University
McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...
. Braley began his business career with GMAC (now
Ally Financial
Ally Financial is a bank holding company organized in Delaware and headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The company provides financial services including car finance, online banking via a direct bank, corporate lending, vehicle insurance, mor ...
) in Hamilton, before joining
London Life Insurance
The Canada Life Assurance Company, commonly known as Canada Life, is an insurance and financial services company with its headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The current company is the result of the 2020 amalgamation of The Great-West Life Assura ...
. In 1969, he purchased William Orlick Limited (now Orlick Industries Limited), a leading auto parts manufacturer based in
Stoney Creek, Ontario and remained its owner and president. He lived in
Burlington, Ontario
Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton met ...
.
[
]
Sports career
Braley owned the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...
from 1987 until 1990 when the team returned to community ownership.["David Braley"]
, www.argonauts.ca He returned to the CFL with his purchase of the Lions in 1997.[ He also owned the Vancouver 86ers soccer club, later the ]Vancouver Whitecaps
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...
, of the A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
, keeping professional soccer alive from 1997–2000. In early 2010, he also became owner of the Argonauts, becoming the only person to own two CFL teams simultaneously. In an effort to minimize the ensuing controversy, the league has scheduled games between the Lions and Argonauts early in the season in order to avoid possible playoff implications. He announced the sale of the Argonauts to Bell Media
Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies.
Establishment (2011–13)
On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
and Larry Tanenbaum
Lawrence M. Tanenbaum (born 1945) is a Canadian businessman and chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE). He owns a 25% stake in MLSE through his holding company Kilmer Sports Inc.
Early life
Tanenbaum was born to a Jewish family, ...
on May 20, 2015, with the deal to close at the end of the year.
Braley served as the chair of the CFL's Board of Governors and was the CFL's interim
An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities.
Interim may also refer to:
Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept)
*Provis ...
commissioner from March 2002 to November 2002.["David Braley – Owner, BC Lions Football Club – Alternate Governor, CFL"]
bclions.com He was also chairman of the 2003 World Cycling Championships
The UCI world championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winne ...
in Hamilton.
Braley was a director of Ontario's successful bid to host the 2015 Pan Am Games
Fifteen or 15 may refer to:
*15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16
*one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015
Music
*Fifteen (band), a punk rock band
Albums
* ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005
* ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...
and was subsequently a member of the board overseeing preparations for the games.[ Braley resigned upon his appointment to the Senate, as the body's by-laws specifically bar elected officials and Senators from serving on the board.
Numerous institutions across Hamilton, Ontario are named in his honour. These include the ]David Braley Athletic Centre The David Braley Athletic Centre, is an athletics facility located at the campus of McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Named after former Canadian senator David Braley, the facility was opened in 2007, with McMaster students paying a ...
and the David Braley Health Sciences Centre at McMaster University
McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...
, the David Braley Athletic and Recreation Centre at Mohawk College, and the David Braley Research Institute at the Hamilton General Hospital.
Braley was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...
in 2012. He was appointed to the Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the ...
in 2019, in recognition of his contributions to the CFL and his community.
Political career
Braley was appointed to the Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The Senate is modelled after the B ...
on May 20, 2010, to represent the province of Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
three days after Conservative Senator Wilbert Keon
Wilbert Joseph Keon (May 17, 1935 – April 7, 2019) was a Canadian physician. A heart surgeon and researcher by profession, Keon was a longtime Canadian senator.
Biography
Born in Sheenboro, Quebec, Keon received a Bachelor of Science from S ...
reached mandatory retirement age. A member of the Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...
caucus, Braley had made donations to the Conservative Party and Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
among others, totaling $86,500, prior to his appointment.
In contrast to the opposition expressed by other professional sports leagues, Senator Braley spoke out in favour of the private member's bill
A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...
C-290, which went before the Senate and, if passed, would allow the provinces to license single sports betting
Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basket ...
. He further stated that, due to his position as a sports team owner, he would abstain from voting on the bill. The bill was ultimately stymied in the upper house and did not pass.
Braley resigned from the Senate on November 30, 2013, without stating a reason. However, he had earlier told a newspaper that his wife asked him to consider leaving as the ongoing Canadian Senate expenses scandal was hurting the reputation of all Senators.[ Braley told the ''Hamilton Community News'' in September 2013 that "There are four people who are causing the problems for the other 100 senators" and "We are being tarred and feathered" as a result.][
]
Later years and death
Braley was hospitalized in 2016 with a foot infection related to diabetes. He died in his sleep on October 26, 2020, at his home in Burlington, Ontario. He was 79, and suffered from an undisclosed long-term illness.[
In his ]will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
, Braley is reported to have left a considerable amount of money to the BC Lions organization with the intent that the team be funded for several seasons and be debt free when sold to its next owners.3DownNation: David Braley put aside money to allow the Lions to operate for ‘several seasons’
29 October 2020, retrieved 15 October 2021
References
External links
*
Senate biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braley, David
1941 births
2020 deaths
Anglophone Quebec people
BC Lions owners
Businesspeople from Montreal
Businesspeople from Ontario
Canadian Football League commissioners
Canadian senators from Ontario
Canadian sports businesspeople
Conservative Party of Canada senators
Canadian chief executives
Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees
Hamilton Tiger-Cats owners
Hamilton Tiger-Cats team presidents
McMaster University alumni
Officers of the Order of Canada
People from Burlington, Ontario
Politicians from Hamilton, Ontario
Politicians from Montreal
Toronto Argonauts owners
21st-century Canadian politicians