Bob Attersley

Robert Alan Attersley (August 13, 1933 – March 12, 2010) was a well known Canadian ice hockey player who competed in the 1960 Winter Olympics. He was born in Oshawa, Ontario, to Ernest and Doris Kilburn Attersley.During his lifetime he owned and operated several businesses and had a political career which extended to being the mayor of Whitby.

Return to hockey Attersley returned to hockey in 1989 when, along with Wren Blair, he purchased the then Kingston Raiders. The new owners kept the team in Kingston and restored the old Frontenacs name.

Business career After working for General Motors, Attersley became supervisor of maintenance at the new Dunlop Tire plant towards the end of 1954. On April 1, 1960 he opened his first Attersley Tire store and expanded into the commercial truck area of expertise by the year 1964. He continued to expand himself across many areas of commerce and in 1981, and was recognized by the Whitby Chamber of Commerce naming him "Business Person of the Year."

Political career Attersley's political career began to 1964 when he was first elected to the town council of Whitby. He served as a councillor from January 1964 until August 1966 when the reeve of Whitby, Everett Quantrill, resigned. At that point the deputy reeve George Brooks took his place and Attersley took over as deputy reeve and finance committee chairman. He stayed in those positions until the end of 1969 when he retired from council. He returned to council from 1971 to 1973 following the resignation of Hugh O'Connell, and again in 1977. In this latter term, he also served on Durham Regional Council.

Mayor In November 1980, Attersley ran for mayor unchallenged. In his first year as mayor, Attersley faced a large challenge when in the summer of 1980 one of Whitby's largest industries, Firestone, had closed bringing with it a loss of 650 jobs and $65,000 in taxes.

Another duty that Attersley assumed as mayor in 1980 was to serve as one of the Regional Council's representatives on the then named Durham Police Commission. He spent a total of 11 years on the commission, nine as chairman (1983–1991), unchallenged for each of those years. While on the Durham Police Commission he was responsible for the introduction of the Crime Stoppers program into Whitby. He took a major role in modernizing police equipment and introducing a computer system.

A major goal of Attersley's as mayor was to increase commerce in Whitby. He realized tourist promotion to be a necessity for the welfare of Whitby and established a temporary Tourist Information Centre. On June 29, 1982, a permanent Tourist Information Centre was opened with financial assistance from Len Cullen, owner of Cullen Gardens. In an attempt to increase industrialism, brochures were made up in English, French, German and Japanese to promote Whitby. In times of a recession for Ontario, Whitby posted record numbers for building permits, industries and stores being opened, and a population increase.

In July 1982, Attersley ran, again unchallenged, for a second term as mayor. Whitby received global attention when it was visited by 15 Japanese mayors on July 9, 1984. It was the only Canadian stop by the mayors, who wanted to see how a town like Whitby operated.

On August 25, 1984, Attersley presented Anne Ottenbrite with the Key to the Town of Whitby and named a swimming pool in her honour. He also later unveiled a plaque at Camp X in memory of Sir William Stephenson.

Attersley served as mayor until the 1991 municipal election.

Attersley was appointed Honorary Colonel of The Ontario Regiment in July 2001.