David 'Dave' Bronconnier is a Canadian politician, currently serving as mayor of Calgary, Alberta.

Biography

Bronconnier was born on October 7, 1962. A third generation Calgarian (his great grandmother was born in Calgary in 1895), he grew up in the southwest community of Glenbrook and attended Viscount Bennett High School. Bronconnier enrolled at the University of Calgary but left after a short while to pursue work opportunities. He worked for the City of Calgary Electric System and for Alberta Government Telephones and then in 1983 started a small construction company. In 1987, Bronconnier and his business partner founded First General Services. The company specializes exclusively in insurance restoration and fire damage repairs and now employs 15 people.

Political career

Bronconnier served on Calgary's city council as the Alderman for Ward 6. He was first elected in 1992 and then served 3 terms before deciding to run for mayor. Long serving and very popular mayor Al Duerr was retiring leaving the position wide open. Bronconnier narrowly defeated Bev Longstaff, Deurr's protege, winning the mayoralty race of 2001. He became Calgary's 35th mayor. Since then, his ratings have been mixed. Although he has generally been seen as an average mayor, his unusually venomous remarks about other council members and opposition figures have raised eyebrows. Bronconnier was re-elected in 2004 with nearly 80% of the votes, although he did not have significant competition. He is a member of the Liberal Party, although Canadian municipal politics does not work on a party system.