I am David William O'Brien.  I am a resident of Ward 1 since 2001 with my wife Tonya and my twin boys. Prior to 2001 I lived in Ward 2. I was born in the original Royal Victoria Hospital when it was still on Ross Street across from Queens Park and the population of Barrie was 26 700.

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I would like to continue to represent Barrie Wards 1,2 and 3 as your Simcoe County School Board Trustee. I was an active volunteer at my son's elementary school including chairing the parent school council for six school terms. At that same time I joined the SCDSB Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) that supports all school councils within the board in 2013. I was then elected to chair this committee for three terms from 2014-2017. In that role I was able to attend a number of education conferences put on by the Ministry of Education and by a parent led organization called People for Education where I gained a much broader understanding of the current status and possible directions of education in Ontario.  

Since being elected as your trustee, I have chaired the Business and Facilities Committee, vice-chaired the Human Resources Committee and been a member of the Special Education Advisory Committee. I have also participated in School Parent Council meetings for the majority of the schools in my three Barrie wards.   

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I am also a 29 year volunteer for the Canadian Adaptive Snowsports (CADS) with the adaptive ski and snowboard program at Horseshoe Resort.

I started out as a volunteer helper, then became a certified Level 3 instructor.  Over the years have taken on a number of roles within the organization including President of CADS Ontario; chair of the Ontario Technical Committee; Member of the National Technical Committee; CADS National Board member and for fifteen seasons coordinator of the program at Horseshoe Resort. I find it very rewarding to help individuals with a disability to get active and on the slopes.