They grew up together in the same Calgary neighbourhood. Geoff Orr and Bob Hunter lived three doors apart. Stuart O鈥機onnor was a couple of blocks away.
There was a basketball hoop, a ball, hours spent together on the makeshift court.
Forty-five years later, O鈥機onnor is the only one left in Calgary. Hunter lives in Dundas, Ont., and Orr is in North Saanich, where last week he was elected mayor for the first time.
But despite distance and the passage of time, the three childhood pals are still as close as ever. Each year, they get together with a group of friends somewhere in sa国际传媒, or occasionally outside the country, to play golf and reconnect.
It鈥檚 such an important part of Orr鈥檚 life that he took a break from campaigning last month to attend the 36th annual gathering in Nanoose.
鈥淭his group was single at the start, and then families and kids,鈥� Orr said. 鈥淲e have people all over the place now. Houston, Calgary, Vancouver, Ontario, and every year we鈥檝e gotten together to do different things.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 just a connection back to a real solid group of people that are doing different things professionally, but there鈥檚 a strong bond there.鈥�
Hunter and O鈥機onnor say the fact that Orr has maintained those connections for so many years says a lot about the new mayor of North Saanich.
鈥淗e values traditional, long-lasting friendship,鈥� Hunter said.
鈥淗e is a decent guy and those kind of people, they don鈥檛 come along every day,鈥� O鈥機onnor said. 鈥淪o, if you can develop a friendship with someone like that, you maintain it at all costs.
鈥淢y point really for you guys is you guys are lucky to have him out there on the West Coast.鈥�
Orr, who has been living in North Saanich since 2002, earned a decisive victory in the mayoral race last week.
After topping the polls as councillor in聽2014, he beat Dorothy Hartshorne 2,592聽votes to 1,415 and will replace Mayor聽Alice Finall, who is stepping down after three consecutive terms.
Finall described Orr as a 鈥渄iligent鈥� member of an effective council and believes his community profile likely helped him against Hartshorne, who last served on council in 2005.
Finall said it鈥檚 hard to know how Orr will fare in the top job. 鈥淗aving served as both a councillor and a mayor 鈥� it is a very different role,鈥� she said.
Coun. Murray Weisenberger, who endorsed Orr for mayor, has no doubt that he will succeed. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a good group, and because of his collaborative nature, he鈥檒l do just great,鈥� he said.
Orr, 57, brings considerable business and community leadership experience to the job.
He graduated from the University of sa国际传媒 with a degree in mechanical engineering before getting into business with his brother, who was starting a software firm with a couple of partners.
Orr became a part-owner and stayed with the firm for the better part of 15聽years until it was sold.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where I sort of cut my teeth in terms of all things business,鈥� he said.
The job took him and his family to Perth, Australia, for three years before they returned to sa国际传媒, settling in North Saanich.
Orr led the local residents鈥� association for eight years, coached hockey and served on the executive of Peninsula Minor Hockey. He still plays with the same group of old-timers every Tuesday morning and golfs with another group of regulars on Mondays.
He took up the saxophone late in life in what, he jokes, might have been a bit of a mid-life crisis. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say I 鈥榩lay鈥� the sax, but I have an interest in it,鈥� he said.
His three children 鈥� two boys and a girl 鈥� went through Deep Cove Elementary, North Saanich Middle School and Parkland Secondary.
All three helped out with his election campaign along with his wife, Susan, and Orr鈥檚 brother, sister and parents.
鈥淚 was just so thankful to have the whole family and then extended friends just take part in this whole thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the most rewarding thing of this whole exercise.鈥�
Orr hopes to bring that same focus on strong relationships to council.
One of his main goals over the next four years is to establish closer ties between North Saanich and the Pauquachin and Tseycum First Nations.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a real important one for me,鈥� he said.
He also wants to see council step up the fight against climate change, provide more affordable-housing options for low- and middle-income people, and improve communication with the district鈥檚 residents.
John Kafka, who heads the North Saanich Residents Association, expects Orr will employ the same respectful, thoughtful style that was evident during his time with the association.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you鈥檒l probably find him being very positional on items,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 very sort of analytical in his approach. He deliberates extensively.鈥�
Hunter, who has known Orr since they were 12 and 13, makes a similar point.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he鈥檚 like a Democrat or Republican or a Conservative or a Liberal,鈥� he said.
鈥淗e thinks like an engineer. If there鈥檚 a problem ahead, let鈥檚 work our way through it and figure out how to solve the problem.鈥�
He鈥檚 definitely not your typical politician, O鈥機onnor said of his longtime friend. 鈥淗e鈥檚 in politics for the right reasons. That鈥檚 why I say you guys are lucky to have him out there.
鈥淗e really will make the right call for the right reasons.鈥�
