Rawlson King

Rawlson King is a Canadian politician, who was elected to Ottawa City Council in a by-election on April 15, 2019.[2] King is the city's first-ever Black Canadian city councillor.

To advance anti-racism and race relations initiatives in 2020, King was appointed Council Liaison for Anti-Racism and Ethnocultural Relations Initiatives.

King is Chair of the Built Heritage Sub-Committee and serves on the Standing Committee on Environmental Protection, Water and Waste Management, and on the boards of the Ottawa Police Service, Crime Prevention Ottawa, Ottawa Community Housing Corporation, Ottawa Community Lands Development Corporation and Quartier Vanier BIA.

Previously, King was a long time community volunteer, where he served as president of the Overbrook Community Association, a board member at the Rideau-Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre, and co-chair of the Ottawa Police Service Community Equity Council.[2] He holds both a bachelor of journalism (with concentration in legal studies), and a M.A. in communication from Carleton University.

King identified his early priorities as developing a poverty reduction strategy for impoverished neighbourhoods; working to improve roads, public transit and social services; and improving the relationship of people of colour with the police.[3]

In his bid for election, King was endorsed by a number of high-profile progressives in Ottawa, including NDP MPP Joel Harden, city councillors Catherine McKenney and Shawn Menard, and former city councillor Clive Doucet.[4]

He succeeded Tobi Nussbaum as councillor for Rideau-Rockcliffe Ward.[5] King had previously run in Rideau-Rockcliffe in the 2010 municipal election and ran for a trustee seat on the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board in the 2018 municipal elections. He was unsuccessful on both occasions.

King's parents were teachers from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and his father was born in Aruba.[6]