Career
He later served as president of the Ottawa Senators hockey team Durrell has extensive governance experience and has served on numerous boards including the Business Development Bank of Canada, chairman of the Ottawa International Airport"s Board of Directors, and chairman of the Ottawa Convention Centre. He also sits on the Ottawa Police Services Board.
In November, he received the Order of Ottawa.
He owns Jim Durrell Capital Dodge. Durrell, an insurance executive, was elected to Ottawa City Council in 1980.
When long serving mayor Marion Dewar retired Durrell defeated Marlene Catterall running on a right of centre platform. During his time as mayor Durrell was most closely involved in professional sports.
In December 1990, Durrell was named president of the new Ottawa Senators team, maintaining this job and his position as mayor.
However, he resigned as mayor in January 1991 due to the demands of his Senators job. He served in this role for a number of years, before being forced to leave due to the deep financial troubles of the team He bought a car dealership called Capital Dodge Chrysler Jeep and serves on a number of boards including being Chairman of the Ottawa International Airport and Chairman of the Ottawa Congress Center.
He is the Chair of the Ottawa Hydro Board.
In early 2014 Durrell successfully fought skin cancer.
