23 Facts About Bob Bratina

Robert Bratina was born on 1944 and is a Canadian politician and former broadcaster who was the 56th mayor of Hamilton from 2010 to 2014.

Bob Bratina was born in 1944 in Hamilton and grew up in the city's East End.

Bob Bratina's father immigrated to Hamilton from Zagreb, Croatia at the age of six, and worked for Dofasco.

Dissatisfied with the nature of his work at Dofasco, Bob Bratina pursued his childhood dream of working in radio broadcasting.

Bob Bratina was the morning show co-host with Shiona Thompson on CHML Radio in Hamilton, until September 2010, when he decided to resign his co-host job to run for Mayor of Hamilton.

Bob Bratina re-introduced phone-in talk radio to CFRB, and achieved highest listenership in Toronto in his time period.

Bob Bratina filled that role for Toronto Argonauts, combining for a total of 20 seasons, and never missed a broadcast for more than 500 games.

In 1998, Bob Bratina was inducted as a member of the Football Reporters of Canada Hall of Fame.

Bob Bratina was a nominee for Hamilton Citizen of the Year, won Hamilton Mountain Citizen of the Year, member of GO Transit Board of Directors, Art Gallery of Hamilton Board of Directors, Theatre Aquarius Board of Directors, and HECFI Board of Directors.

Bob Bratina was elected in a 2004 by-election called upon the previous councillor, Andrea Horwath's, election as MPP for Hamilton Centre.

Bob Bratina campaigned on a platform of citizen participation at City Hall, downtown revitalization and greater integrity at city hall.

Bob Bratina advocated for transportation changes in Hamilton, such as returning rail passenger service to Hamilton GO Centre and moving idling buses from the downtown Gore Park area to a new transit terminal on MacNab Street.

In late summer of 2010, Bob Bratina announced that he would not seek re-election in Ward Two, opting instead to run for mayor against incumbent Fred Eisenberger and former mayor Larry Di Ianni, citing his reasoning as what he believed to be Eisenberger's poor handling of the site-selection process for a proposed stadium to be built in preparation for the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games.

In December 2011 Bob Bratina defended a $30,000 pay increase for his chief of staff, Peggy Chapman, by saying that the raise was the result of a standard re-evaluation of salaries by the city's human resources department.

Hamilton City Council approved the city's Rapid Ready LRT plan in February 2013, but Bob Bratina but continued to speak out against it.

Bob Bratina did not run for reelection in the city's 2014 municipal elections, opting instead to seek nomination as a Liberal candidate in the 2015 Canadian federal election.

In October 2015, a report by the Manning Centre on the dynamics of Hamilton City Council during Bob Bratina's tenure found that the mayor was the only member of the council to have attended every council meeting, and that despite conflict with council, Bob Bratina had always voted with the majority on the council.

Bob Bratina was acclaimed the Liberal candidate for the riding on October 29,2014.

In campaigning for Parliament, Bob Bratina emphasized a platform of serving as a strong voice on Parliament Hill and continuing his fight for increased transportation funding for the GTHA corridor.

Bob Bratina later said he regrets the "inferences" that came out of a meeting.

In May 2021, Bob Bratina announced that he would not seek re-election in the 2021 Canadian federal election, citing his disagreement with the federal decision to contribute 1.7 billion dollars to the Hamilton LRT as a major reason.

Bob Bratina endorsed the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2025 Canadian federal election and left the Liberal party.

Bob Bratina was an avid marathon runner, finishing 18 marathons, including the Boston Marathon, ten Around the Bay Road Races in Hamilton, and numerous other distances.